← Back to sermon library

So please turn with me in your 
Bibles to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. Our focus 
this morning will be verses 34 to 40. Remember last time we 
saw that the Sadducees had come to Jesus and asked Him a question 
concerning the resurrection. Prior to that, Pharisees and 
Herodians had come to Jesus asking concerning the payment of taxes 
to Caesar. We can certainly say one thing 
about these religious leaders. They were persistent men. They 
had continually been shot down by our Lord Jesus, but that does 
not stop them in their desire to try and set Jesus Christ against, 
or rather, set the people against the Lord Jesus Christ and rally 
the nation of Israel to oppose our Lord. Well, I want to read 
verses 34 to 40, and we'll take up the lawyer and the great commandment. 
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, 
they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked 
him a question, testing him and saying, Teacher, which is the 
great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall 
love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, 
and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you 
shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang 
all the law and the prophets. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
blessed Father and our holy God, we thank you for this beautiful 
day, we thank you for the works of creation and providence, and 
we thank you for that blessed work of redemption wherein you 
sent your Son into this world, sinners to save. And now we thank 
you and praise you that you've included us in that number. We 
know, God, we're not here redeemed because of anything good in us, 
but because of your sovereign mercy and your sovereign grace. 
We thank you for the life and the death and the resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank you for the power 
of the Holy Spirit who has applied these things to us. And we would 
pray this morning that the Spirit would be at work in our minds 
and hearts and help us to understand the written word. Help us as 
believers to receive with thanksgiving this word and may it affect us 
in a positive way. And for any and all who have 
come here this morning outside of Christ, we pray that they 
would be faced with the very law of God Most High, that they 
would see themselves as guilty before a holy God, and they would 
see the remedy in our Lord Jesus Christ, that faith in Him by 
grace alone will prove most blessed in their cases. We ask that you 
would forgive us now for all of our sins and all of our unrighteousness, 
Again, we pray that Your Spirit would guide us and lead us and 
direct us, and we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Remember, 
we're on Tuesday in the Passion Week. Our Lord Jesus in a series 
of confrontations with the religious leaders that had begun in chapter 
21. Verses 23 to 27, they specifically 
ask Him concerning His authority. Then Jesus gives three parables 
to highlight the guilt of the religious leaders and thus of 
all Israel. And then there is this series 
of confrontations, three questions posed by his opponents, and then 
I did not read, but the last section, as we hopefully will 
consider next week, is a question directed by our Lord to his opponents 
concerning the identity of David's son, the Messiah. So we take 
up this morning the Lawyer and the Great Commandment in verses 
34 to 40, and I want to look at it under two considerations. 
First, the question posed by the Lawyer in verses 34 to 36, 
and then secondly, the answer provided by the Lawgiver in verses 
37 to 40. Note first, with reference to 
the question, we ought to refresh ourselves concerning the setting. 
Verse 34, "...but when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the 
Sadducees..." Remember, Pharisees and Herodians had asked Him about 
the payment of taxes. Then come the Sadducees and they 
ask Him concerning the resurrection. Jesus successfully shut both 
parties down. He successfully and wisely answered 
both those questions. And with reference to the Sadducees, 
the Pharisees even marvel at His ability to do this. And we 
see that underscored in verse 34, when the Pharisees heard 
that He had silenced the Sadducees. They were unable to respond. 
They were unable to come back. They were unable to give a report 
concerning, well, you just don't understand. They are speaking 
to wisdom Himself. They are speaking to the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and He is obviously able to confound them. And so 
the Pharisees heard that, and they gathered together. And it's 
interesting, because we see this language used, this gather together. It mimics the language of the 
Psalter in Psalm 2. And perhaps Matthew is bringing 
that to bear on this particular situation. In Psalm 2, at verse 
2 we read, And the rulers take counsel together. The fact that 
Christ is referred to specifically in the following section may 
make this an obvious statement. that Matthew is reminding us 
that in us, in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the rulers, 
not just political, but as well the ecclesiastical, the religious 
rulers, take their counsel together. They oppose Yahweh. They oppose 
His Christ. They want to rid this world of 
Him. They want to cast away His fetters. They want to throw off 
that moral government of God Almighty. As well, when we consider 
this particular setting, we ought to consider it in Mark's Gospel. 
You'll notice, if you read this passage alongside of the parallel 
in Mark, there's a couple of differences. Not contradictions, 
but differences that reflect the author's intent. In Mark, 
there's no mention whatsoever of the Pharisee testing Jesus. And as well, after Jesus responds, 
the Pharisee, or the lawyer specifically, identified in Mark as a scribe, 
says, you have answered well, and then Jesus says, you are 
not far from the kingdom. So it's far more positive in 
Mark. I think that Carson wisely observes 
that what's going on in Mark is that the author is focusing 
on the confrontation between Jesus and the scribe. What Matthew 
is doing is showing us the larger context. that it's the Pharisees 
who are over this. It is the Pharisees who send 
this lawyer to test Jesus. It is the Pharisees, along with 
the Sadducees, along with the elders, along with all the other 
religious leaders there in Israel that are opposed against or opposed 
to our Lord Jesus. Now, note the question. He's 
identified as a lawyer. This doesn't mean he's Judge 
Judy. does not mean that he occupies 
the people's court. Lawyer here has to do with being 
skilled in the Mosaic law. As I said, he's identified as 
a scribe in the parallel in Mark. Matthew highlights the fact that 
he is a skilled interpreter of the Mosaic law. As one lexicon 
defines, he is a lawyer and expert in the law, a man learned in 
the law of Moses that is a scribe belonging to the Pharisaic party. So in the first dispute, Pharisees 
and Herodians concerning an issue that is political in nature, 
certainly has theological ramifications. In the second dispute, the Sadducees 
ask a question about eschatology, or the resurrection, the study 
of last things. Here a Pharisaic lawyer comes 
to ask him concerning nomology, the study of the law. It has 
to do very specifically with Christ's interpretation of the 
Old Testament law as a rabbi in Israel. And note his motivation, 
he is testing him. Again, he's not trying to find 
the truth. He is not trying to have a dispute 
or a debate that is healthy in nature, that seeks truth as its 
end game. No, the Pharisees, along with 
the Sadducees, along with the other religious leaders, are 
opposed to the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the Pharisees here would 
have sided with Christ on His answer to the Sadducees, but 
they side with the Sadducees in their opposition to the living 
God, to the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate Him. They despise Him. They've been plotting against 
Him. They want to seek His ruin. Christ identifies this in chapter 
22 at verse 18. Why do you test Me? This testing 
has been presented in Matthew chapter 16. This testing first 
arises in Matthew's Gospel in the wilderness in Matthew 4. 
The devil himself tests Jesus when he's out in the wilderness. 
This is wicked man trying to disrupt the Savior of sinners 
who has come on his particular mission. Now note his question. He says, Teacher, which is the 
great commandment in the law? You might wonder why he would 
ask that particular question. According to the literature, 
this was a hot topic in rabbinic debate. In fact, outside of the 
Bible, there is a written document concerning rabbis and their discussions, 
and they summarized eleven principles concerning the law from Psalm 
15. Six principles concerning the 
law in Isaiah 33, 15 and 16. three principles concerning the 
law in Micah 6, 8, two principles in Isaiah 56, 1, and one in Amos 
5, and one in Habakkuk 2. They wanted a summary. They wanted 
a succinct statement. There's an account of a particular 
rabbi who was asked to stand on one leg and explain the law 
while he was standing on that one leg. In other words, summarize 
it. Which is the greatest? Which 
is the heaviest? Which is the most significant? 
And this was a rabbinic discussion, things concerning weightiness 
and light, things concerning a small and great. In fact, in 
23-23, when Jesus condemns the religious leaders, He says, you 
tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin, but you have neglected 
what? The weightier matters of the 
law, which are justice, mercy and faith. If you take the Old 
Testament, there are 613 commands. 248 of them are positive in nature. Do this. 365 are negative. That means they are prohibitions. So it is, on the one hand, a 
legitimate question. How do we summarize? How do we 
boil this down? How do we bring this to bear? 
But the intention of this particular lawyer is to try to expose Jesus 
as a fraud. You see, Jesus is put in another 
difficult position. You can't make everyone happy, 
can you? Jesus affirms this law. He's 
going to make those who think that law is more important upset. If Jesus affirms that law, then 
he's going to make this group more upset. In fact, France says 
any answer must risk pleasing some at the expense of alienating 
others. When your wife says, does this 
dress look good or does this one look good? Don't ask me, 
honey, because I don't think it's going to go well. These 
are difficult questions. These are hard things. I don't 
want you to smack me if I answer poorly. France says any answer 
must risk pleasing some at the expense of alienating others, 
and therein perhaps is the element of test from an unsympathetic 
dialogue partner, particularly in view of the suspicion already 
noted in 517 that Jesus had come to abolish the law. Isn't that 
the context of the Sermon on the Mount? Before Jesus gets 
him to the nuts and bolts, as Pastor Cam read this morning, 
Jesus deals with hermeneutics in Matthew 5, 17-20. Do not even begin to think that 
I've come to abolish the law. I didn't come to abolish it, 
but rather I've come to affirm it or fulfill it. The Lord Jesus 
Christ was looked at with suspicion. He's a new rabbi in Israel in 
the first century. Certainly we have to test his 
mettle. Certainly we have to know that he's in line with Moses. 
Certainly he has to pass muster or we will condemn him. France 
goes on to say, if Jesus differed radically from mainstream Jewish 
orthodoxy, this question ought to reveal it. So you see, on 
the one hand, which is the great commandment in the law? On the 
other hand, it opens up Jesus again to this charge that he 
isn't the sort of man that we want as a rabbi, let alone savior. Now note the answer provided 
by the lawgiver. We'll look at it under two considerations. 
The answer itself and then the implication. Note the answer. 
Again, Jesus doesn't need my affirmation of His brilliance 
and of His wisdom, but He is brilliant and He is wise. We 
see continually in these confrontations the wretchedness of these religious 
leaders, and we see the wisdom of Christ. Remember back when 
He told them to take out that coin from their pocket and say, 
whose inscription is on it? Well, then give it to Him! It's 
a beautiful statement, isn't it? Render unto Caesar the things 
that are Caesar's, and render unto God what are God's. I mean, 
just amazing, right? The Sadducees, you do err, not 
knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. And he explains 
the power of God in the resurrection. He explains the Scriptures from 
the burning bush in Exodus 3. I mean, just brilliant, isn't 
he? And here is the same thing in a sublime answer, a two-fold 
answer, if you will. Our Lord Jesus underscores which 
is the great commandment in the law. Our Lord quotes from Deuteronomy 
6.5. He says, You shall love the Lord 
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with 
all your mind. If you read Deuteronomy 6.5, 
you'll see there's a bit of difference at the end. Where Jesus says, 
Mind, Deuteronomy 6.5 says, Strength. And if we ask the question why, 
I can point you to several pages of answers that would really 
be unprofitable to bring to you right now, but perhaps Jesus 
is underscoring the whole idea of intellect. You see, with reference 
to the Hebrews, with reference to the Hebrew language, the word 
heart contained the notion of mind. You hear that in Christianity 
often. You say, well, there's this disconnect 
between the heart and the mind, the mind and the heart, the head 
and the heart. That's not in the Bible. It's 
not the case that we affirm stuff up here and then we do good things 
from here. No, in the Bible we see that 
internal part of man is oftentimes lumped together. There is the 
flesh and there is that which is spirit, soul, heart, mind, 
whatever you want to call it or identify. But the Lord Jesus 
Christ points him to the Shema. And Shema simply means listen 
or hear. It's the first word in Deuteronomy 
6, 4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and 
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with 
all your soul, and with all your mind, is what Jesus says. Mark's 
Gospel records the inclusion of verse 4. This was the fundamental 
confession of faith among the Jews. It was recited morning 
and evening. and touching on that whole subject 
of heart religion. The Old Testament, the Bible 
as a whole, everywhere has always held forth heart religion. The 
Shema, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. How 
do you respond to this one God? You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your 
mind. It's not the case that the old 
covenant religion was simply external or simply formal. No, that's what it had been reduced 
to in the hands of ungodly men. But they were always called to 
love Him from the heart. Just like in the New Covenant, 
we're called to love Him from the heart. If you are simply 
going through religious motions, if you are simply an externalist, 
if you are simply a formalist, you are not what God calls you 
to be. Notice, very specifically, with 
reference to the recitation here, You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 
mind. Jesus underscores this is the first and great commandment. 
You want to know what's most important in your life? Love 
to God. Right? I wouldn't have thought of that. 
Yes, you better have. Love to God is everything because 
He is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand. He is infinitely 
worthy of praise and worship and adoration. So when our Lord 
is pressed, which is the great commandment in the Law? He goes 
right to the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is One, and you shall respond to this Lord God 
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 
mind. Don't give Him your leftovers. Don't show up at church falling 
asleep. Don't show up at His sacrifices 
with the lame and the blind and the maimed. Don't say, well, 
I'm going to give the leftovers to God. I'm going to include 
God at the end of the month. No, He is infinitely worthy of 
all that you are, of all that you have. You shall love Him 
with your heart. You shall love Him with your 
inner man. You shall love Him completely 
and totally. You shall love Him with your 
soul. You shall love Him with your 
intellect. Boy, if ever a word needed to be preached to an anti-intellectual 
age, where Christianity is seen in this light, that we almost 
have to be idiots to be worshippers of the living God. The best worshippers 
are those who know their God. those who understand, those who 
engage the intellect, those who love Him with their minds, those 
who present themselves unto Him as living sacrifices, body and 
soul, everything given unto the service of our great God. So 
Jesus here highlights this first and great commandment. And there 
are several things we ought to consider with reference to Deuteronomy 
6, 4, and 5. In the first place, it is a theological 
confession. Yahweh is the true and the living 
God. He is unique and incomparable. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God is one. He's not a competitor with these 
pagan gods. He's not just a little bit better 
than Baal. He's not just a little bit better 
than Moloch. He's not just a little bit better 
than you or angels. The Lord our God is one. He is unique and incomparable. 
He is in a class, in a category all by Himself. Listen to Gil's 
comments and ask the question, do I think of God like this? He says, the doctrine of which 
is that the Lord, who was the covenant God and Father of His 
people Israel, is but one Jehovah. It's another name for God. We might say Yahweh, we might 
say Jehovah. Those two words depict the four-letter 
description of God given to us in the Old Testament. Yahweh 
or Jehovah. Simply a name that is given to 
describe God as He reveals Himself at the burning bush. So Gil goes 
on to say, he is Jehovah, the being of beings, a self-existent 
being. Do you understand that? You are 
always derivative. You always depend. Apart from 
God, you perish. There's nothing outside of God 
by which, if it ceases, he perishes. He is self-existent. There's 
nothing outside of God that he depends upon to supply God air, 
or God food, or God blood, or God life, or God is self-existent. He says, eternal and immutable. That means he's unchangeable. 
And he is but one in nature and essence. This appears from the 
perfection of his nature, his eternity, omnipotence, omnipresence, 
infinity, goodness, self-sufficiency, and perfection. For there can 
be but One Eternal, One Omnipotent, One Omnipresent, One Infinite, 
One that is originally, and of Himself good, One Self, and All-Sufficient, 
and Perfect Being, and which also may be concluded from His 
being the First Cause of all things, which can be but One, 
and from His relations to His creatures as their King, Ruler, 
Governor, and Lawgiver. You see, our Lord Jesus points 
us to a statement that concerns theology. Second, the statement 
is practical. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your 
God. Isn't that beautiful? Don't you love that word, your? 
Do you love Thomas' confession in John 20, 28, when he lays 
his eyes on the resurrected Christ? What does he say? He says, my 
Lord and my God. He doesn't say the Lord and the 
God that others have talked to me about. He doesn't say the 
Lord and the God that others have written about. But he sees 
Christ and he says, my Lord and my God. What does the Apostle 
Paul say concerning our beloved Jesus in Galatians 2.20? He talks 
about the fact that Jesus loved me, Paul says, and gave himself 
for me. And back in the Shema, this personal 
element is underscored. You shall love the Lord your 
God. He is your God, Israel. He has 
brought you out of bondage, Israel. He has brought you to the plains 
of Moab, Israel. He is going to bring you into 
the Promised Land, Israel. He is going to protect you. He 
is going to govern you. He is going to guide you. He 
is going to watch over you. He is going to direct you. He 
is your God as well. It is a practical confession. 
It describes our response to this God. Hear, O Israel, the 
Lord our God, the Lord is one. Okay, what do we do with that? 
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with 
all your soul, with all your mind, in sum, with every fiber 
of your being. Isn't it intriguing that we're 
to love our neighbors as ourselves? We're not to love God as ourselves. 
We're not to love God as our neighbor. We're to love God as 
it were, but He's in a different class, a different category. 
We love Him with every fiber of our being. If you love yourself 
with all your heart, soul, and mind, you're a wretch and an 
idolater. Certainly, you should have a 
bit of self-love. You don't put your hand in the 
fire. You don't put your head under a guillotine's blade. You 
don't ingest poison. You don't do those sorts of things 
because you love yourself, but you don't worship yourself. You're 
to worship God, the living and the true God. This is a practical 
confession, a personal confession, and one that yields obedience 
from His children unto Him in terms of love. And as well, I 
would submit, it is a logical confession. By the time we get 
to Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 and 5, what has Yahweh done for Israel? 
What has Yahweh done for Israel? He has brought them out of the 
house of Egypt, out of bondage. He brought them through the Red 
Sea. He brought them through the wilderness. He brought them 
to the plains of Moab. He defeated all of their enemies. He set them poised on those plains, 
just about to enter into the promised land. Moses would die. God raises up Joshua to bring 
them into the promised land. He had done all this. Isn't it 
logical? Isn't it rational? Isn't it reasonable 
that to a God who has done everything for us, we respond by loving 
Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind? Isn't this Paul's emphasis 
in Romans chapter 12? He says, Therefore, by the mercies 
of God, beloved brethren, I beseech you to present your bodies as 
a living sacrifice unto God, which is your reasonable or your 
logical or your rational or spiritual service. based on Romans 1 to 
11, based on the fact that you are liable, justly, to God's 
punishment, wrath and curse. God sent forth His Son to die 
and to rise again, and God gave you grace to believe on Him, 
and God gives you the Spirit to keep you and preserve you. 
God has promised to bring you to glorification. Based on Romans 
1 to 11, does Romans 12, 1 and 2 surprise us? Should it make 
us go, wow, that's just unwarranted. Why would God want me to dress 
up and to be happy and to be well-adjusted and to worship 
Him as He is due? Why would He do that? It's rational, 
it's reasonable, it is fit, it is just, it is right, based on 
the fact that He's pulled you out of the slave market of sin. 
He's given you a righteousness that is not your own. He has 
given you the forgiveness of sins. Brethren, we ought to be 
here with bells on. We ought to be here with great 
joy and happiness. Why is it a struggle to mumble 
through three hymns on a Sunday morning? But it's not a struggle 
to give our energies and our attention and our whole hearts 
and our soul and our mind to a hobby, to another person, to 
a particular pursuit that in and of itself isn't sinful. But 
have you ever asked yourself the question, why can I pour 
heart and soul and mind and energy and strength and vitality into 
this, why is it that when I come on a Sunday morning, and if I 
dare come back on a Sunday night, I can scarcely stay awake? You 
haven't caught the connection. You haven't reckoned with the 
reality. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is one. By virtue of the fact that He 
is your Lord, your covenant God that brought you out of the house 
of bondage, therefore respond to Him this way. Love Him with 
all of your heart. Love Him with all of your soul. 
Love Him with all of your mind. This is your rational service 
to the living and true God. Jesus underscores that this is 
indeed the first and great commandment. But He doesn't stop there. Look 
at what else Jesus does. He says, and the second is like 
it. By saying, and the second is like it, he highlights that 
it's important. It's of value. It's of worth. 
You need to ponder this. You need to consider this. You 
need to hold on to this. This isn't the first time that 
Jesus has cited this particular commandment. He cites it in Matthew 
5, verse 43. He cites it in Matthew 19, verse 
9. Paul the Apostle cites it in 
Romans 13, Galatians 5. James calls it the royal law 
in James 2. It is Leviticus 19.18. and 1934, note specifically what 
Jesus says, and the second is like it, you shall love your 
neighbor as yourself. Now these two commandments go 
together practically, don't they? Don't they? He's going to tell us they do 
upon these, hang all the law and the prophets, But consider 
then, practically, love to God, love to man. Love to God is the spring from 
which love to man flows. If we don't have love to God, 
we won't have love to man. That's why when you go back into 
the prophetic literature, when you look at the writing prophets 
in Israel's history, you will see that when they rejected God, 
society was bankrupt, morally. When they resisted Yahweh, when 
they turned their hearts to Baal and to Asherah and to Molech, 
when they turned their hearts away from the living and the 
true God, what happened in their society? Bloodshed, sexual perversion, 
all manner of wickedness and lawlessness. Paul tells us the 
same thing is true in this new covenant setting in Romans chapter 
1. Before Paul gets to this catalog of vices concerning the evils 
of men, he starts off with theology. He says, "...because that which 
was known about God was manifest to them, but they did not honor 
God as God, nor were their hearts thankful." They reject God. So what happens when they reject 
God? They engage in all manner of lawlessness when it comes 
to society. When you look at our society, 
and you see abortion, and you see euthanasia coming down the 
pipe, and you see sodomy, and you see all manner of wickedness, 
and self-righteousness, and the things that people do under the 
guise of respectability, understand that we have a theology problem. Understand that men are given 
over to perverted forms of sex because they have rejected the 
true and the living God. Understand that connection. You 
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and 
mind, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. The two go together hand in hand. Without the former, 
you don't have the latter. And if you don't have the latter, 
it indicates you don't have the former. If you hate men, if you 
despise men, if you reject men, if you do not love your neighbor 
as yourself, then it evidences to us that you know nothing of 
the love of God, because the two go hand in hand, brethren, 
in interpretation, in summary. This is what our beloved Lord 
Jesus Christ has taught us. And the second is like it. You 
shall love your neighbor as Again, I hope you don't walk around 
kissing yourself and patting yourself on the back and parading 
yourself as a champion of morality and virtue and excellence and 
everybody ought to be more like me. I mean, I think that's our 
default setting. I think that's probably how we 
all are, but we manage to put a governor and a muzzle over 
our mouths so that we don't, you know, let it flow out. Brethren, 
self-love, biblically defined, isn't that. It's not to fawn 
over oneself. It's not to stand in the mirror 
and just gaze longingly and lovingly. I mean, if you do that, you've 
got big problems. There is a legitimate self-love. 
Paul tells husbands they love their wives as themselves. Why? Because there is this one flesh 
union that has developed. How do we love each other? Matthew 
7. Treat people the way you want 
them to treat you. Isn't that an expression of self-love? I'm going to treat you the way 
that I want you to treat me. I'm not going to cut in line 
at the border, because I wouldn't want you to do that to me. I'm 
not going to leave the bathroom a mess because I wouldn't want 
you to do that to me. That's the self-love that's in 
view here. That's the standard by which 
we love creatures. You see again, with reference 
to God, it far excels that. With all your heart, with all 
your soul, with all your mind, with every fiber of your creaturely 
being, give it to God. When it comes to men, treat them 
the way that you want them to treat you. Now, note our Lord's 
implication. Verse 40, He says, "...on these 
two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." I submit 
that these two words summarize the Ten Commandments. These two 
laws, Deuteronomy 6.5, Leviticus 19.18, are a summary statement 
of the Decalogue. Deca means ten, log means word. If you ever hear me say, or Pastor 
Cam say, Deca-log, it is a reference to the Ten Commandments. You 
see what Christ is doing here. We all know this from our catechisms, 
I hope. We all know this from preaching, 
I hope. What is the first table of the 
law about? Our duty toward God. We can summarize 
that by saying our love to God. What does the second table of 
the law indicate? It is our duty toward men, or 
our love for men. You see how that works. Jesus 
takes these two, Deuteronomy 6.5, Leviticus 19.18, and He 
summarizes the Ten Commandments. He summarizes the Decalogue. 
What would this do to His opponents? What would this do to the Pharisaic 
lawyer that asks him the question? It would shut his mouth. Jesus 
has answered masterfully. He is not anti-Moses. He is not 
an antinomian. He is not a neonomian. He has 
not come to radicalize or to individualize or to do away. No, Jesus has come to fulfill, 
to confirm, to affirm, Christ silences enemies. In fact, in 
Mark's Gospel, it says that after this, they went away and dared 
not question Him anymore. You see, it's a brilliant answer. 
He upholds the abiding validity of the moral law of God. The 
Ten Commandments given at Sinai, repeated on the plains of Moab, 
and in play in the New Covenant. Our beloved Lord Jesus Christ 
does. In this statement, affirm the 
blessedness and the reality of God's holy law. It affirms or 
confirms what he does in Matthew 5. Remember, I did not come to 
abolish, but I came to fulfill. And then he gives that whole 
list of practical, concrete applications. Pastor Porter read last week 
and the week before. You have heard that it was said 
to those of old, but I say to you, Pastor Porter properly pointed 
out that there was no problem between Jesus and Moses there. 
It's between the Pharisees and the corruption that had come 
to the Word. When Jesus says, you have heard 
that it was said to those of old, He's not saying by Moses. 
He's saying by Moses' perverted interpreters. Such that when 
he says, but I say to you, he's not correcting Moses, he's correcting 
the perverted interpreters. The Lord Jesus Christ has no 
problem with the moral law. The Lord Jesus Christ is the 
giver of the moral law. According to his deity, according 
to the form of God, our beloved Jesus is law giver. I mean, talk 
about an unfair fight. This lawyer, this Pharisaic lawyer, 
comes to the lawgiver himself and asks for help or tries to 
test him on interpretation. Be like me coming into your workplace 
and seeing something that you've orchestrated beautifully and 
me saying, trying to test you. Well, you know, you built that 
this way. Why? Well, let me just tell you. He's talking to the 
lawgiver himself. And the Lord Jesus gives him 
this beautiful answer and underscores The reality of God's abiding 
law. Our Confession says, concerning 
the moral law of God, in chapter 19, paragraph 7, as it talks 
about the uses of the law, it says, neither are the aforementioned 
uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly 
comply with it. So the Lord Jesus, in conclusion, 
in summary, effectively answers the question posed to him by 
this Pharisaic lawyer. He shuts his mouth. As I said, 
after that, no one dared question him. Mark 12, 34b. Well, as we draw out a few concluding 
thoughts in the first place, let us not forget the context 
of confrontation. This is the Tuesday of the Passion 
Week. The disputations begin in Matthew 
21. It will end at the end of chapter 
25. What Jesus will do after these confrontations, after these 
disputes with these religious leaders, the Lord Jesus will 
return to Bethany on the Tuesday evening. The Lord Jesus will 
sit upon a hill, and the disciples will ask Jesus about that temple 
that is standing. And then Jesus will, by way of 
prophecy, say the very same things that He says by way of parable 
in Matthew 21 and 22. Our Lord Jesus meets the wretchedness 
of these religious leaders with great wisdom, with a prophetic 
word, and with the ability to shut their mouths and silence 
them by answering effectively concerning the payment of taxes, 
concerning the resurrection, the age to come, concerning this 
whole issue of which is the great commandment, the first of the 
commandments. And our Lord Jesus will in turn 
put them on the horns of a dilemma. God willing, we'll see that next 
week when he asks them concerning the identity of Messiah. In the 
second place, we ought to make an observation concerning the 
law. You will notice that we hold 
to the law. This is why we are reformed Baptists. We're not dispensational Baptists. We're not some sort of Baptists 
that reject a major portion of God's Holy Word, vis-à-vis the 
Old Testament. We see the abiding validity of 
God's law. That includes all ten commandments, 
brethren. Typically, we're pretty good, 
hopefully, with the first three and the last seven. That fourth 
one, though, we could all use a shot in the arm with reference 
to the Sabbath. You attend, and some of you are 
members of a Reformed Baptist church. Our confessional standards 
haven't changed. They reflect accurately what 
the Bible teaches. If you need a rehearsal or you 
need a refresher, take a confession home, log on to our website, 
find chapter 22 and read. Reformed Baptists hold to the 
law of God as taught by the Lord Jesus, as taught obviously by 
Moses, as affirmed and confirmed throughout the entirety of the 
Bible. We see that our Lord here confirms 
the validity of the moral law. The Lord Jesus is not an antinomian. Anti- means against. Nomian means 
the law. He is not anti-law. Now, certainly 
we don't teach law for salvation. We'll deal with that in a moment. 
But after we've been justified freely by His grace, what does 
Jesus then do? He points us to the law as a 
pattern of sanctification, as a rule of life. How do I know 
what it is to love my brethren? Paul tells me in Romans 13. He 
cites from the Old Testament law, don't murder your brethren. 
That's a proof that I don't love you, or that I love you. I haven't 
brought a gun in and murdered all of you. That's a proof that 
you love me. See, love, in our minds, gets 
all fuzzy and feeling and emotive. No, I'm not saying fuzzy, feeling, 
and emotive are wrong. In fact, husbands, make sure 
you get a good bit of dose of fuzzy, feeling, and emotive in 
your love for your beloved. Sometimes we get that as our 
definition. Hollywood or the latest romance 
novels or society dictates what love is. Look at Paul in Romans 
13. Let's listen to Paul when he 
tells us how it is the church is to love one another. Romans 
13, 8, Oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who 
loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you 
shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not 
steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. 
And if there is any other commandment are all summed up in this saying, 
namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That may lack the 
feeling and the emotive and the vibrancy of, you know, a stack 
of flowers or a cup of coffee or some other tangible expression. 
Those things aren't wrong. Those things have their place, 
to be sure. But brethren, do you see that 
obedience to God's law is what love is? Conversely, how do we 
love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all 
our mind? Don't put other gods before Him. 
Try that. Don't put yourself before Him. Don't put your pursuits before 
Him. Don't put your comfort or your 
ease before Him. You know another way that you 
can love God with all your heart, soul and mind? Don't make idols. Don't be an idolater. Don't try 
to picture the true and the living God, because you will always 
fail, and you've been strictly forbidden to do so. You know 
another way that you are to love the Lord your God with your heart 
and soul and mind? Don't blaspheme His name. You 
say, well, I'm pretty good with my tongue. I don't ever say those 
bad words. We can blaspheme God's name by 
our actions. Remember that statement from 
Nathan when he rebukes David concerning his sin with Bathsheba 
and Uriah. What does Nathan say? By this 
you have given cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. Sabbath. I've got to say, when 
my kids were young, and even now as they're older, you know 
how I know that I'm valued by them? When they spend time with 
me. It's great. I just like to be with you, Dad. What's the fourth commandment? 
God says, spend time with me. What a gracious command. Spend 
time with me. He's not saying, you know, go 
stand in the corner and ingest strychnine. He's saying, spend 
time with the one who's altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand. I'm surprised that all churches 
are sabbatarian in their confession and practice. I mean, what a 
blessed command. Have you ever teased out some 
of the commands of Scripture and paralleled them with the 
pagans? God commands us to be happy. Oh, what a harsh taskmaster, 
huh? Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice, Paul says. God takes your joy seriously. He takes your rest, your sanctification, 
and your blessings seriously, so He's given you the fourth 
commandment. He truly is blessed, to be sure. The Lord Christ summarizes 
the Decalogue in these two words. And therefore, we conclude that 
what He summarizes abides as well. In other words, if he summarizes 
the Decalogue and says that this summary statement is binding 
upon persons, then we conclude that that which it summarizes 
is binding upon persons. And it's in a most sublime, in 
a most beautiful and most excellent way. Love to God, love to men. Listen to Ryle. How simple are 
these two rules, and yet how comprehensive. How soon the words 
are repeated, and yet how much they contain. How humbling and 
condemning they are. How much they prove our daily 
need of mercy and the precious blood of atonement. Happy would 
it be for the world if these rules were more known and more 
practiced. Now that we've established the 
abiding validity of God's law, let's look at it with reference 
to believers. Do you know what you're supposed 
to do as a brother or a sister in Christ under a sovereign God? You're to love God and love men. 
It's just summarized in a neat little package. And again, teased 
out for you in the entirety of the Decalogue. You're not left 
with guesswork. You're not left scratching your 
head trying to develop ways to love God and to love men. God's 
told you what you're supposed to do. Brethren, hear the demand 
of the text. You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your 
mind. We ought to examine ourselves in light of such texts. We ought 
to consider our state before a living God with reference to 
such texts. Ask the question of ourselves, 
am I loving God with all my heart? Or have I fallen into this rut 
of an external form? Have I fallen into this rut where 
my religion is simply showing up or going through motions? 
Have I lost the heart? God, restore to me the joy of 
Thy salvation. Lord, give me a fresh understanding 
of what it is to love you with my heart, my soul. I think that defines the entirety 
of our being. God, am I a divided man? Am I 
a divided woman? Have I put other things on par 
with you or on a level with you? Is my heart, my soul, my affections, 
my will, my desires, my very being, is it being spread thin 
or am I focusing upon this true and living God? With my mind. Why aren't we in our Bibles? 
Why aren't we growing in knowledge? Why aren't we understanding more? 
Why aren't we committing the Word of God to our minds and 
hearts? Why aren't we hiding it there so that we might not 
sin against Him? Why aren't we musing on texts? Why aren't we 
rolling them about? Why aren't we beholding our God 
as He's revealed to us in this book? Certainly take a walk out 
in nature and see the glory of God displayed in the creation. But brethren, don't miss the 
glory of God displayed in Revelation. Listen to Spurgeon. He says, 
Who can render to God this perfect love? None of our fallen race. Salvation by the works of the 
law is clearly an impossibility, for we cannot obey even the first 
commandment. There is one who has obeyed it, 
and the obedience of Christ is reckoned as the obedience of 
all who trust Him. being free from legal condemnation, 
they seek ever after to obey this great and first commandment 
by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within them. See, 
in the final analysis, that's what you've been saved for. It's 
to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all 
your mind. And you need to love your neighbor as yourself. If 
neighbor, then certainly brother. You can turn to 1 John. I said 
these two commandments go hand in hand. I think John teases 
this out beautifully, vividly, and shows us how important it 
is that as those who profess love to God, there must be love 
to men. Men in general. Jesus teaches 
that even enemies are considered neighbor in Matthew 5. Men in 
general, to be sure, you ought not to treat unbelievers in a 
godless way. Brethren, certainly in the household 
of God, certainly in families that are lovers of God, certainly 
husbands to wives and wives to husbands and parents to children 
and children to parents, Look at what John says concerning 
the supreme value of love in terms of our relationships. Notice 
in 1 John 2 at verse 9. He who says he is in the light 
and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother 
abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in 
him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness 
and does not know where he is going because the darkness has 
blinded his eyes. Notice in 3.13-15, Do not marvel, 
my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed 
from death to life because we love the brethren. Look at what 
John says. We know that we have passed from 
death to life because we love the brethren. This is a sign, 
a marker, an evidence. Remember I said, the absence 
of the latter, love to men. shows the absence of the former. 
John validates that. John highlights that. We know 
we have passed from the darkness if we love brethren. We don't 
love them like I should. I don't love them the way I hope 
to one day, but I love them. And I'm seeking by the grace 
of God not to violate the second table of the law with reference 
to them. I love this brother. I'm not going to murder him, 
whether physically or in my heart. I love this brother. I'm not 
going to commit adultery with his spouse, whether physically 
or in my heart. I love this brother. I'm not 
going to steal from him. I'm not going to bear false witness 
against him. I'm not going to covet his... 
I love this brother. I know that I've passed from 
death to life because I love brethren. I'm not saying just 
I, me. All of us. And notice as well, in 420 and 
421. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he 
is what? He's a little inconsistent? He's 
lost his way a bit? No, he's a liar. For he who does 
not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God 
whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have 
from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also. Again, 
Ryle makes this observation. We cannot have fruits and flowers 
without roots. We cannot have love to God and 
man without faith in Christ and without regeneration. And I love 
what he says here, the way to spread true love in the world, 
the way to spread true love in the world is to hold signs that 
say hashtag love each other and take a picture and put it on 
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. That's the way. by gathering neighbors and joining 
down there in center square or five corners there, holding hands 
and engaged in a nice rousing bit of kumbaya, that'll promote 
the love of man to man in society. Listen to Ryle. We cannot have 
fruits and flowers without roots. We cannot have love to God and 
man without faith in Christ and without regeneration. The way 
to spread true love in the world is to teach the atonement of 
Christ. I wish every church in the world 
would read Royal here. I would only object to one thing. 
I'd say teach and preach. We need to preach the atoning 
work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. What 
produces love? Not rousing tunes of kumbaya, 
not hashtag love one another, but a crucified and a risen Savior. blood atonement, washed, purified, 
justified, sanctified with the promise of glorified, the power 
of the Holy Spirit spread abroad in our hearts so that we love 
one another. That's what's desperately needed. 
And for the final observation, before we leave, this text, or 
this law, or this summary, or statement concerning the law 
and the unbeliever, You are supposed to love God with all your heart, 
with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you're supposed 
to love your neighbor as yourself. It's not just a Christian word, 
but God commands this of all creatures. And the love that 
you're supposed to render or the obedience that you're supposed 
to show is supposed to be perfect. It's supposed to be exact. It's 
supposed to be entire, and it's supposed to be personal. That's scary, isn't it? I hope 
you're thinking with me right now. I hope you, if you are not 
a believer in Christ this morning, are starting to think, wait a 
minute, if I'm supposed to love God 24-7 with heart, soul, and 
mind, and I'm supposed to love my neighbor as myself, I don't 
do those things. I love the Heidelberg Catechism, 
3 to 5. How do you come to know your 
misery? The law of God tells me. What does God's law require 
of us? Christ teaches us this in summary 
in Matthew 22. Love God, love man. Can you live 
up to all this perfectly? No, I have a natural tendency 
to hate God and my neighbor. Now, that may be offensive to 
you, that may rub against your delicate sensitivities. You may 
be sitting here at the Free Grace Baptist Church on April 3rd, 
2016, saying, wait a minute, I don't love God, I don't hate 
God, and I don't hate my neighbor. I may not love him as I ought, 
and I may not love my neighbors as I ought, but I don't hate 
them. Well, let's just look back at 
that law that these two summarize. Is there something between you 
or something before God in your life? Yes. Are you an idolater? That doesn't mean you bow to 
sticks and stones and boulders. It means you bow to anything 
that isn't God. Yes. Are you a blasphemer? Well, I try to tame my tongue. Try isn't good enough. It must 
be perpetual. It must be exact. It must be 
entire. It must be personal obedience. 
And if in your tongue you don't curse the name of Christ, in 
your actions you most certainly do. So, check. What about Sunday? Well, I get church over and I 
go do whatever I want. Check. What about insubordination 
to lawful authority? How are you toward your parents? 
Check. What about a murder? Well, I've 
never actually cut someone's throat or gunned someone down 
from the clock tower, but you've hated them in your heart without 
cause. Check. What about adultery? Young men, young women, shall 
we even begin to examine this commandment? Not just young and 
old, everybody. What about it? Seventh Commandment? 
Oh yeah, I'm upright, I'm holy, it's perfect, it's exact, it's 
in tyrants, but how about we just go ahead and say check? 
What about theft? Well, I don't go into Walmart 
and steal things. Do you steal from your employer? I wonder 
how many minutes, how many hours, how many weeks, how many months, 
how many years have been stolen from hapless employers who trust 
their employees. What about lying? Well, I try 
to tell the truth. Again, with the try. Great, you 
try. Try hard. You can't do it apart 
from the power of the Holy Spirit and the atoning blood of Jesus. 
But let's go ahead and throw a check up there for lying. What 
about coveting? Remember that rich young ruler? 
Teacher, what good thing should I do to inherit eternal life? 
Jesus says, you know the commandments. Jesus rattles off the second 
table of the law except for the tenth. What does a young man 
say? All these things I've kept from 
my youth, what one thing do I lack? Jesus brings the tenth. Go, sell 
all of your possessions, give the money to the poor and follow 
me. What happened? He went away sorrowful because 
he was a covetous wretch. He broke God's law. The point 
of this exercise is to show you something. You are a sinner and 
you stand in need of the Savior, the one of whom Spurgeon says, 
there is one who has obeyed it. Love to God, love to man. And 
the obedience of Christ is reckoned as the obedience of all who trust 
Him. Sometimes in the Christian church 
we use language that's not always easily deciphered by those outside 
the Christian church. Reckoned simply means given to 
you. The beauty of Jesus Christ is 
that He did what God commands perfectly, exactly, entirely, 
personally, and for others, That He did that always. That He went 
to the cross and died as a sacrifice and a substitute. That He rose 
the third day, such that any and all who look to Him in faith 
will receive the forgiveness of sins and that righteousness 
that avails with God. It is reckoned to their account. Any believer you see here this 
morning isn't going to heaven because of their perpetual, exact, 
entire, and personal obedience. They're going to heaven because 
of Jesus' perpetual, exact, entire, and personal obedience. It's 
because of what Christ has done. By grace, through faith in Him, 
believe in Him, and you receive the benefits that He secured 
for all those whom the Father had given Him. So listen to me 
and listen closely. These two show you your sin. These two show you your misery. These two show you your brokenness 
before a holy and an awesome God. But look to the One who 
is able to save you to the uttermost. Look to the One, even Jesus Christ 
our Lord, who saves broken, bruised and battered sinners. When they, 
by grace, look, they live. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your holy word, and we thank you for our blessed 
Lord Jesus Christ, and what a glorious gospel we have, what good news 
this is for sinners. We ask that this word would be 
proclaimed throughout the earth, that the atonement of Christ, 
the power of the Holy Spirit, these things would take root 
in the hearts of men, women, boys and girls, and we pray that 
for our meeting here this morning, that you would save sinners. 
And for us, as your people, those who by grace have believed, help 
us to love you as we ought, God, and help us to love our neighbor. 
Help us to love our brothers. Help us to love our family members 
in a way that truly is glorifying to you, our God. Go with us now, 
we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.