Law of Love

I don't know about you, but some of the best teachers that I've had over the years were ones that encouraged us as students to ask questions. And maybe you have a similar recollection, you know, as you think about a teacher over the years. And a lot of times, the way that they would try to encourage us to ask questions, if we didn't understand the concept that was being taught, was they usually say, there is no foolish question. There is no such thing as a stupid question. If you really don't know, simply ask. And then it can be explained.

So maybe you had a situation like that that comes to mind over the years in the classroom. Sometimes we wish we could ask the teacher. We think about God, and we think about Jesus Christ as being a great teacher. You know, sometimes we wish, you know, if only I could simply ask the question. You know, there's something I don't quite understand as clearly as I'd like to.

And I just wish, you know, that I could open the door, have Jesus Christ come in to the room, sit down as you would at the dining room table, or sometimes you have discussions, just have an opportunity to ask a question directly to our Creator or to the Son of God.

You know, we often think about that. Someday, you know, in the kingdom, I'm going to ask God why this happened, or why did this allow it to be happened.

Or a clarification on understanding I just didn't have.

You know, we don't have that opportunity just yet.

But you know, when Jesus Christ walked the earth, there were a few that had the opportunity to ask Him questions.

Let's notice an example of that over in Matthew 22 and verse 35.

Matthew 22, verse 35.

There's a question that's asked here of the greatest teacher of all.

And I think it's a good question. You may recognize it when we get there. Maybe not. But Matthew 22, verse 35 is where we're going to pick it up here.

We're going to see that there was a lawyer here that had a chance to ask Jesus Christ a question.

Matthew 22, verse 35. It says, Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him.

So we know a little bit of the reason he's asking.

Testing Him and asking, teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?

Now, when you think about that, that's a pretty good question.

Even though his motive maybe was to test, I think that's still a good question.

The question he asked is, what is the great commandment in the law?

Now, before this was asked and answered, because we know what the answer is, but, you know, what if that question had never been posed? You know, before, if it had never been posed, it had never been asked, it had never been answered, what would we have thought was the great commandment in the law?

Would we have thought maybe it was one of the ten commandments?

Maybe one, you know, maybe the fourth commandment? Maybe one of the other, there's over 600 commandments and laws in Scripture? What would we have thought? We may have talked about it. We may have speculated about it.

But here, this lawyer asks the question, and it's an important one.

And the teacher responds in verse 37. Jesus answers the question.

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. This is the great, first and great commandment.

You know, it's another way, the way he says it, you know, with all of your soul, with all of your heart, with all of your mind and other Scriptures that say, with all of your might, it's a way of saying basically that we love God with all of our being, with everything that we have, that this is the first and the great commandment.

Now, the teacher could have stopped there, because after all, he did answer the question, didn't he? But Jesus goes on, this great teacher chose to go further, because there was a very important point here, an additional point that he wanted to make. And so he goes on to address an issue that was not asked, in verse number 39.

And the second is like it, that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

And on these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets. He says these are the two great commandments. And on these two commandments, not on the great one, but on the great one and the second one that is like it, hang all the law and the prophets. The first being that you shall love the Lord your God with all of your being.

And the second, that you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. Let's turn over Luke chapter 10 and verse number 25. Luke chapter 10 and verse number 25.

We'll pick it up here in Luke chapter 10, talking about these commandments.

Luke chapter 10 and verse number 25.

You may remember this story. It's a parable that Jesus Christ gave in answer to a question that was given by a certain lawyer. Verse number 25, who stood up and tested him and saying, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That's a good question too, because I think all of us want to be able to have that opportunity to be in the family of God and to have eternal life. So I'm glad that he asked this question. Maybe you are too. He asked the question, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now in verse 26, Jesus begins to respond. He doesn't give him the answer. He asks the question.

Well, he says, What's written in the law? What is your reading of it? And so he answered, and he said, Well, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus said, You have answered rightly. He says, That's right. That's the answer that I was looking for. That is the answer that I would have given had you given the wrong answer.

And so he says, You have answered rightly. Do this, and you will live. And I think he's talking about eternal life, don't you? Because that was the question. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And so he says, You have answered rightly. Do this, and you will live. But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, So there's more here. There was a test. And who is my neighbor? Then Jesus answered, and he said, Well, there's a certain man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, who wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.

So here was a man that was on a journey. He was going from city to city. He was going from Jericho to Jerusalem. He was accosted by thieves, and they beat him up pretty bad. Nearly half dead. And they basically took everything he had, even the clothes off of his back. They left him naked. They pretty much took everything.

And verse 31, now by chance... Now Jesus is addressing the question, Who is my neighbor? Good question to ask. And the teacher begins to speak. And he says in verse 31, Now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

So we're talking about a religious leader of the people of God. He was a priest of God. And he saw, he said, he saw him. So he knew that he was probably in difficult straits, that he didn't have any clothing on, that he was half dead. And it says he went by on the other side, passed on the other side.

Verse 32, a second person comes. This time it's a Levite of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So again, part of the people of God. Verse 32, Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked. So he saw, and then he passed by on the other side.

In verse 33, but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and he saw him. And when he saw him, he had a different reaction. He had compassion on him. Now I think when we look at these three different men that came by, we see the Samaritan.

He was not of the twelve tribes of Israel, not of the people of God. He was a heathen. He was a Gentile. He found himself living in the northern part of Israel, in the area of Samaria. It was a Samaritan. It says he had compassion on him. So of the three, this is the one that had compassion. Verse 34, He went to him and he advantaged his wounds, and he poured on oil and wine.

And he set him on his own animal, and he brought him to an inn, and he took care of him. And then the next day, he departed and he took out two denarii, he gave them to the innkeeper, and he said, Take care of him. And he said, Whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. And Jesus asks a very interesting question to the lawyer here in verse number 36.

You know, I think we'll find here, as Jesus answers the question of who is my neighbor, that wasn't really the right question to ask, because Jesus is trying to help him to see something. He says in verse 36, Of which of the three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves?

Which one was being a neighbor? Not asking the question of who is my neighbor, but whether you or I am being a neighbor. That's the right question. Are we being a neighbor? Jesus says in verse 36, So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And the lawyer said, He who showed mercy on him. And Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise. So Jesus, our teacher, our master, answers the question. Not whether or not who is our neighbor, but whether we are being a neighbor, as we fulfill the second command to love our neighbor as ourselves. You know, these two commandments are found, these two great commandments are found in the Old Testament.

They're found in both of them. I'll just refer to them. Loving God with all of our heart, Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4. And also loving our neighbor as ourselves. Leviticus 19 and verse 18. So these two great commandments are actually found in the Old Testament, as well as the New.

These two great commandments reveal a lot about God. They reveal a lot about what's important to Him. What it is that's important to Him. They reveal a lot about His character, of who He is. And they also reveal much about the character that He's attempting to develop in His sons and in His daughters, in you and in me. We talk about commandments. My wife sometimes gives me commandments, in a sense. You know, the other day she sent me out in Samaritan.

She said, okay, I've got all these places I need for you to go. I need you to pick up the dry clean. I need you to stop by the post office and mail these letters. I need you to go by the grocery store.

I need you to get this, this, this, and this, and this. I'm thinking, I'm going to remember all this. And so when I get back home, she's going through everything, and she goes, or she says to me, she says, Dave, where are the bandages that you were supposed to buy at the grocery store?

I forgot. I didn't write all this stuff down. You know, it was all going to be up here, you know, or I could remember. I had forgotten. I had forgotten about the bandages. I got everything else, but I forgot about the bandages. Sometimes I forget because there is no underlying or central theme. You know, brethren, when it comes to the commandments of God, they all have a central underlying theme.

And that central theme is love. All of them. All of them. They're all done out of love. All 600 plus. The two great commandments. I wonder if we thought about that before. All of God's commandments have an underlying theme of love. Let's turn over to 1 John 2 and verse 3. 1 John 2 and verse 3. Towards the end of the New Testament. There are a few books right before the book of Revelation.

1 John 2 and verse 3. This is written by the Apostle John, one of the twelve disciples. He wrote several books. Book of Revelation, Gospel of John, these three books here, the first, second, third letters of John. And it says here now, by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments.

Now the word know here expresses more than a mere casual acquaintance with God. With Him, with His character, with His perfections. The Greek word for know is ginosko. Ginosko. And it means to know absolutely. It means to know absolutely. By this we know. And it includes a lot of things here. It includes love and reverence and obedience and honor and gratitude and affection. Supreme affection. It means to know God as He is. To regard Him as a lawgiver, as a sovereign being. And that word sovereign has the word reign within it. The God reigns. He's sovereign. We yield to Him, we love Him, we trust Him, and we obey His commandments. In verse 4, He who says, I know Him. That Greek word again, know Him absolutely. And does not keep His commandments is a liar. And the truth isn't in Him.

But notice verse 5, but whoever keeps His word, does keep His commandments, in other words. Truly the love of God is perfected in Him. Wow, there's a connection there. Between actually, by knowing God, we keep His commandments. And then it says, God's love, and God is love. It says, His love begins to become perfected in you and in me.

When we keep His word. Just the opposite. Can't say we know God and don't keep His commandments. But if we do keep His commandments, as it says in verse 5, whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him. So a process begins. And by this, we know that we are in Him. By what? By keeping His word and then having His love begin to be perfected in us. That way we know that we are in Him, and He in us. Verse 6, He who says He abides in Him, ought Himself also to walk just as He walked. Because we're referring to our elder brother, Jesus Christ, to imitate Him.

You know, Jesus did all these things in verse 5 and 6. Jesus knew the Father, didn't He? Absolutely. And He kept His Father's commandments, didn't He? He kept His Father's word. And He loved God. And that's why He kept His commandments. And God expects you and me to do the same.

As we go through the rest of the message, we're going to be spending a lot of time with some of John's writings. 1 John here. And you know John is looked at by some as a soft apostle. You know, he talks about love a lot here on this topic. But you know, he wasn't a soft apostle. This is not the case. Actually, God had begun to work with him and to teach him about this topic of love.

Now, this is the same John that Jesus Christ referred to as the Son, one of the sons of thunder. The same John that one time when they were coming to a city and they were proceeding Christ, and this city was not going to receive them, that John turns to Jesus Christ and He says, should we call down fire to consume them as Elijah did? Same John. Jesus Christ responded and rebuked him. He said, you don't know what spirit you're speaking of or speaking from. That's in Luke 9, verse 54. But eventually, God began to teach John about these two great commandments. And He began to get it, and He began to share it with us. 1 John 3, verse 22. 1 John 3, verse 22. John writes to you and me, He says, So ever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments, and we do those things that are pleasing in our sight. No, we do those things that are pleasing in His sight. It's part of how it works. Verse 23, and this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now, in verse 22, some people are thinking, well, the commandments that He's talking about are the commandments of Christ. We're not talking about God, the Father's commandments. We're talking about Jesus Christ's commandments. But that's not what the context shows here. We're talking about, this is the Father that's speaking here. Let's read verse 22 and verse 23, and understand that. Verse 22, and whatever we ask, we receive of Him, referring to the Father, because we keep His commandments, referring to the Father, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight, referring to the Father, and this is His command, referring to the Father, that we should believe on the name of His Son. So we're talking about the Father, aren't we? We're not talking about Jesus Christ's commandments, we're talking about the Father's commandments. Father's commandments, verse 23, is that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another. That's coming directly from God the Father. This isn't something that Jesus Christ brought. I mean, He brought His Father's commandments, He didn't speak His own words, He spoke what the Father told Him to speak, but this is the Father's commandment, that we should also, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Let's turn over to 1 John 5 and verse 1. 1 John 5 and verse 1. Is this the page over here? In my Bible. 1 John 5 and verse 1. And whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Greek word can also in Hebrew be Messiah, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, or Messiah, is born of God, and everyone who loves Him, referring to the Father, who begot also loves Him, referring to the Son, who is begotten of Him. And by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. Brother, these two commandments are intertwined. They begin to become intertwined here in verse number 2, these two great commandments. It says, by this we know that we love the children of God, referring to our brethren, referring to those that are God's sons and daughters, when we love God and keep His commandments. Now there's a contrast here, in a way, a first contrast, if you want to write that down in your notes, a first contrast, is that we cannot love, you cannot love your brother if you don't love God. You can't love, you and I can't love our brothers and our sisters if we don't love God.

You can't have one without the other. Did you see that in verse 2? By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. So we see also we can't love God without keeping His commandments in the latter part of verse number 2. Verse 3, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. So we begin to touch a little bit on an attitude, don't we, that we heard about in the first message, that we love God so much, and that we're loving Him with all of our heart, with all of our being, with all of our strength, that we trust Him, that the commandments that He gives to you and me are out of love, that they're what's good for us, and we're willing to do it. We're willing to do it. That is not going to be grievous to us. Let's turn over to James 2 in verse number 8. James 2 in verse number 8. This commandments that God gives to us. This law that He gives to us. A law of love. We've heard that, many of us before. Maybe we haven't thought about it, that everything that God has done has this central theme to it. Of love. Verse number 8 of James 2, If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. Now, this is the only place in Scripture that it refers to the royal law. It's for kings. It's for royalty. It's a law that enables men and women to be royal. It's a law that has the underlying theme of love. Of loving God and loving our fellow man. Let's go back over to John. He's got some more information to share with us. 1 John chapter 1. Let's go back to 1 John.

I've spent a lot of time in 1 John today. 1 John chapter 1. And verse number 5. It says, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. That is an amazing thing to contemplate. That in God there is light, and He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship with Him, and that word fellowship we've talked about in the past could also be translated partnership.

Like a husband and wife become partners together, they too become one. We're talking about a oneness that God talks about. And if we say that we have this partnership, verse 6, or fellowship with Him, with God, but we're walking in darkness, then we're lying. We're not practicing the truth. There's a second contrast here. We can't say we have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness. We're living a lie if we do that. We can't have fellowship with God and walk in darkness. Verse 7, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we can have fellowship. And notice with one another, not just with God, but with all of us together, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

You know, we're not going to walk in the light perfectly all the time. That's just not the way it is. We are going to fall short, and we're going to sin. Verse 8 talks about that. If we say we have no sin, then we're deceiving ourselves, and the truth isn't in us. If we confess our sins, verse 9, God's faithful. And He is just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we get off the narrow path, if we begin to work way out of the light and towards darkness, God says we can be restored.

Verse 9, if we confess, He's faithful and just to forgive, and can clean us up again. Verse 9, but there's a process that we have to go through to do that. We do have to confess, and we do have to come before Him, and then He promises to clean us up. Verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. So we all sin, brethren. We all fall short. But God does expect us to start the process of restoration.

Let's go to the next chapter, chapter 2, verse 11. 1 John 2, verse 11. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and he walks in darkness. And he doesn't know where he's going, because darkness has blinded his eyes. I think what God's trying to tell us there through John, is that if we get into that area of hating our brother, that we enter into a time of darkness.

It's going to affect everything that we do. It's going to affect everything that we are. It's going to affect the things that we think about. In fact, we're going to enter into a state of blindness that we don't even know where we're going. As he talks about, he doesn't know where he's going, because darkness has blinded his eyes. So, that's what can happen when we don't love our neighbor as ourselves, and where it leads.

Sometimes we talk about it's a matter of life and death, and we have our attention. Somebody says, this is a matter of life and death. Let's turn over to 1 John 3, verse 14. How important is this to you and to me? In 1 John 3, verse 14, we'll see that he talks about death versus life here in the Scripture. He says, we know that we have passed from death to life.

Because, why? Because we love the brethren. Well, whether we pass from death to life can be determined if we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. And whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. So, when he's talking about life and death, he's talking about eternal life again. That's the context here, as he basically says the same thing in verse 15.

He has no eternal life abiding in him. I'd like to focus on verse 16. By this we know love. How? How? How do we know love? Because he laid down his life for us, referring to our elder brother. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He says that's how we know love. If we are willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters, just like our older brother did, that is the indicating factor for you and for me.

That's how we know, absolutely, that we have God's love working in us. There's a third contrast I'd like to mention here in your notes. If we don't love, then we don't know God. If we don't love, then we don't know God. We don't really know God if we're not loving one another. Let's notice that in 1 John 4, one more chapter over in verse 7. 1 John 4, verse 7. He says, beloved, and he uses that word love to those that he's writing to.

Let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. And he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Brethren, we see that there. If we don't love, we don't know God. Verse 8, he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. So that's the way that he is, and that's the way he deals with everyone. And so, of course, he's trying to build that characteristic within you and me. Let's jump to verse number 20.

If somebody says, I love God, but he hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also. So the two are tied together, aren't they?

God says, if you don't love your neighbor, you're not loving me. You've missed something. They're intertwined. It can't be one without the other. It has to be both together. It says in verse 20, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.

He's not telling the truth. He doesn't really love me. That's what God is saying, because he's hating his brother. Let's notice the fourth contrast in these two great commandments. Words versus deeds. A fourth contrast is words versus deeds. Let's go back one chapter here in 1 John. 1 John 3 and verse 17. 1 John 3 and verse 17. Pick it up here in verse 16 to get some of the context here. 1 John 3 and verse 16. By this we know love, because he laid down his life.

We've read this already for us. We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But he goes on in verse 17. Whoever has this world's goods, and he sees his brother in need, and he shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. So we see real love, real Godly love, involves more than just lip service, doesn't it?

It involves something that we do, helping somebody in deed and in doing it in truth. We have many brethren in the church that have needs, real needs.

And I suppose as we look and examine our own lives and look at ourselves and think, maybe we're doing okay, maybe we're not, but what have we done to help some of the needs of the brethren lately? No, I can't answer that question for you, or I can only answer it for myself. You can only answer it individually. Let's not love in word or in tongue as it says, but in deed and in truth. So what does this look like practically? You know, as we look at the practicality of all of this, what does it mean for us? What does it mean for us here in this congregation?

Well, let's turn over to James 2 in verse 8. James 2. We'll pick it up here in verse 8. We've read verse 8 already, but we haven't read verse 9. It says, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and you're convicted by the law as transgressors. Partiality does not mean that we're loving our neighbor.

What are we talking about with partiality? Partiality means we have respect to persons. In other words, we're showing respect selectively. Partiality is showing respect to some. In other words, favoritism. Showing respect to some over others. There's two F's here that we're going to go through a couple of words that begin with F.

Basically, if we will either flunk or fail this command, this royal law, if you will, let's look at one of the first words that begin with the letter F. If we have these things, we're going to fail. We're not going to be able to pass, in a sense. We're not going to be able to do what God would have us to do. And the first one is favoritism.

Favoritism. Let's take a look at a couple of examples of favoritism in Scripture. Let's notice Genesis 25 and verse 24. Genesis 25 and verse 24. Usually, when favoritism is present, things don't go very well. This is one reason why God tells us not to show partiality or favoritism. Let's look at a couple of examples here.

Genesis 25 and verse 24. It says, when the days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first one came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over, and they called his name Esau. And afterwards, his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was 60 years old when his wife bore them, so the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a mild man, and he dwelt intense.

And notice verse 28. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, and Rebekah loved Jacob. You know, they each had their partiality here, didn't they? I mean, it's pretty clear here that Esau was Isaac's favorite, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite.

When you have these dynamics working with the partiality, a lot of times things don't go very well. They really don't. And these two had favoritism when it came to their own twin sons. Let's look at Genesis 37, just a few pages over in verse 3. Let's look at another example, Genesis 37. And we'll see this working again. We'll pick it up in verse number 3. It's talking about Jacob, whose name had been changed to Israel, and he's got all these children.

Genesis 37, verse 3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all of his children, because he was the son of his old age. And also he made him a tunic of many colors. But notice verse 4, But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more, they could see it too. They could see it. When they saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, they hated him. They didn't have good consequences to show favoritism. They hated him, and they could not speak peaceably to him.

Now sometimes that's a difficult thing as a parent not to show partiality, because you can have a natural inclination towards maybe one of your children that's more like you. We tend to show that partiality when someone's like us. We tend to connect a little bit easier. And sometimes it's a real challenge in families that the parents make sure that they don't show partiality.

But Israel showed partiality towards Joseph. And it actually almost cost Joseph his life. Why does favoritism cause problems? Well, let's look at James 2. Back to the New Testament. James 2 and verse 1. Why is it that it causes problems? Well, the Scriptures tell us. Let's take a look.

James 2 and verse 1. Right after the book of Hebrews. James 2 and verse 1. James is writing, he says, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. You know, this truth that we've learned, these two great commandments and how all the rest of it hangs on these two commandments, this faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, our elder brother who's showing us the way, showing us the example, don't hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

For if there should come one into your assembly, a man with gold rings, and fine apparel, nice clothing, fine jewelry, and there should also come in a very poor man who has filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes, and you say to him, you sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you stand there, or sit, of all places, at my footstool.

Verse 4. Haven't you shown partiality? Haven't you shown favoritism, in other words, among yourselves? And you've become judges with evil thoughts. We see where this leads, brethren. Favoritism or partiality causes us to become judges, and it leads to becoming judges with evil thoughts. Let's look at another interesting example in Deuteronomy 1. Verse 16. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 1 and verse 16. God has more to say about this here, in this context of Scripture here, of Deuteronomy 1 and verse 16.

Moses is speaking, he said, Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously, between a man and his brother, or the stranger who was with him. No partiality within one, even the stranger. Verse 17. You shall not show partiality in judgment. I think the old King James says, you shall not show respect. And you think, well, what's wrong with showing respect? Well, respect selectively over others is what he's talking about with partiality. I think that's why partiality is a better translation.

You shall not show partiality in judgment. You shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not be afraid any man's presence. You might have somebody who's got power, maybe, wealth, what have you. You shall not be afraid any man's presence. For the judgment is God's. And if the case is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it. Let's go over to the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, and we'll see it's just as wrong to show partiality to the poor.

Now, that can be done, too. You can be showing partiality to somebody who's wealthy, or you can be showing partiality to somebody who's poor. Let's notice Leviticus, chapter 19, and verse number 15. Don't show partialities, or favoritism is what the Scripture is telling us. Leviticus, chapter 19, and verse number 15. You shall do no injustice in judgment.

You shall not be partial to the poor. Nor shall you honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness, you shall judge your neighbor. So even if it comes to judgment, not showing any partiality. Be fair. Be consistent. Don't favor the talkative over the quiet, or the charismatic over the serious thinker. You don't show favoritism in that way. I heard a story while we were there in a Bible study about... I guess it was the Feast of Tabernacles, and they were having a choir rehearsal. And somebody said something that probably shouldn't have been said. It was rude. It was said to somebody, and it wasn't said in a very, very good way.

And later they found out who it was that they had offended, and they went over and said, well, you know, I'm sorry. I did not realize that you were the elder's wife. But you know, it shouldn't have made any difference, should it? Obviously, according to Scripture. It shouldn't have made any difference. You know, we can't be partial to anyone, is what God is trying to tell us. Let's turn over to Romans 13, verse 8. Romans 13, verse 8.

God's fine-tuning us, isn't he, brethren? He's trying to fine-tune us. It's important. These are very important commandments to keep. We can't keep one without the other. Now, we can't be partial when it comes to God. God said, I am the God that brought you out of Egypt. You shall not have any other gods. You can't have partiality with God. We can't be having this back-and-forth stuff with these false gods and with the true God and the syncretism of mixing things together. We can't be partial to God. And we can't be partial with one another. Romans 13, he probably got there before I did. Romans 13, verse 8. So we'll pick it up. Paul writing to the Romans and to you and I, the Christians there, Oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. You know, we talk about, or God talks about here through Paul, is that we shouldn't owe anything to anyone except to love them. We owe it to each other to love each other, is what God is saying. We have that as a debt that's going to have to eternally be paid. That we owe love to one another. Verse 9, for the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, they're all summed up. We've talked about they're all based on love. They have that central theme, don't they? If there's any other commandment, they're all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And love does no harm to a neighbor. I think the old King James says, love does no ill to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment. We're talking about agape. Throughout all of these words of love here that we've covered, we're talking about that agape, love, the highest form of love. Further, what effect do you think this favoritism has on a congregation? We saw how it can affect families. How can it affect the congregation? Imagine a church where some people are treated better than others. What do you think it does to the congregation? Well, let's look at ourselves. Let's examine ourselves. You know, as we think about it, do we show concern for mainly the same people, each Sabbath? You know, maybe that's something we can take as a challenge of ourselves, in a sense, to get around to maybe a few more people. You know, in this life, here in this place, in this congregation, is a good opportunity for us to practice non-partiality, non-favoritism. What God would have us to do, if we're going to be a representation of what that all is in the Kingdom of God, God would have us to learn that now and to practice that now, and to extend courtesy to all, and to encourage all. So let's challenge ourselves. Maybe think about it just a little bit. If we're doing okay, that's fine. And if we're not, maybe we need to work a little bit more. Because we're all one in Christ. There is no Jew. There is no Gentile. We're one in Christ, is what the Scripture talks about. So if we find ourselves showing favoritism, that's one of the words that begin with F, that we would fail. We would fail the law of God, these two great commandments, if we practice that. Let's look at a second word that begins with the letter F, that we would fail, in regards to these two great commandments. Let's notice it in Job 32, verse 21. It's a little bit of a surprising one, a little bit, but the Scriptures talk about it, so let's take a look at it. Job 32, verse 21.

Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone. So that's the one we've already covered. This favoritism also can be translated partiality. He says, let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone, nor let me flatter any man. That's the second one, it's flattery. Maybe we haven't thought about that so much before, and maybe we have an issue with that personally, maybe we don't. But that's the second word that begins with the letter F, that if we flatter, that we could be in danger.

He says, verse 22, For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away. So flattery must be pretty important or pretty serious. I think what God is trying to tell us here, as we'll begin to read some other Scriptures, is that non-sincere flattery isn't love. Non-sincere flattery is not love. Trying to get something from someone or having some other motives, utilizing flattery isn't love. Let's go over to Proverbs chapter 26 and verse 22. Proverbs chapter 26 and verse number 22. Now, obviously, this is a pretty big topic, isn't it? You can give several different sermons on how to really love God and how to really love our neighbor. I wanted to share some things with you today. Proverbs chapter 26 and verse number 22. Talking about how words are words and how important they are and how they can help or hurt. It says, The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds. Someone likes to tell stories. They bear tails. They bear as wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the valley. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a pot-shirt covered with silver dross. He that hates, and I think we're talking about hating our brother here, he that hates dissembles with his lips. Wow, that's quite a lot that said in those few words. It's like taking somebody apart, tearing them apart. He that hates dissembles with his lips, and he lays up deceit within him.

When he speaks fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart, seven in the number of completeness. So someone is being dangerously corrupted in a bad way. Verse 26, whose hatred is covered. It's not necessarily seen. The hatred is covered by deceit. His wickedness, though, shall be showed before the whole congregation.

So eventually the truth comes out. Whoso digs a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolls a stone, it will return upon him. This is the 28th one I want to focus on. A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin. So flattery is also working ruin as well. You know, as an example, we're going to turn to Matthew 22. There's an example of the Pharisees trying to flatter Jesus Christ. Let's take a look at that. But they had motives. Let's look at Matthew 22 and verse 15.

It says, They took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. So we know they've got a little motive here. They wanted to try to entangle him in his talk, and they sent out unto him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and that you teach the way of God in truth, and you don't care for any man. You don't have partiality, in other words.

Nor do you regard the person of men. So here they're speaking all these good things to Jesus Christ, but they really had some motives here. Verse 17, Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? So they're trying to build him up here, but Jesus didn't fall for it. Verse 18, he sees right through that. But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and he said, Why do you tempt me, you hypocrites?

Of course, hypocrites means that you're pretending to be something that you're not. So he perceived it right away. He saw right through their flattery and the motives that they had. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 5, again with the second word of flattery. 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 5. Paul is writing to Thessalonians. He's saying in verse 4, But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness.

God is a witness. So Paul didn't utilize flattery. He knew that God spoke pretty clearly about not utilizing it, but just to be plain, to be true, to be honest, and not to try to build somebody up to try to have a different type of motive. Romans 16 and verse 17. Partiality and flattery basically brings about troubles and difficulties and divisiveness. Romans 16 and verse 17. Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark those which cause divisions and offenses that are contrary to the doctrine with which you have learned and to avoid them.

For they are such that serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own, their own belly. And by good words and fair speeches, so there's the deceptiveness that goes sometimes along with some of this, whether it be partiality or whether it be flattery, by good words and fair speeches are deceiving the hearts of the simple. So he says to note those who cause divisions, whether it be partiality, whether it be flatterings, that they're looking for something for themselves, and they're deceiving the heart of the simple, and they're causing divisions.

And often this is done to someone in charge, but it can be done to anyone. If you think about it, has anyone ever complimented you, but really it hasn't been sincere? They didn't mean it? You know, it's not true love. And if we've been guilty of it ourselves, God would have us to repent and to change. It's not true love.

God wants us to be honest at all times, and we don't want to fail. We don't want to fail keeping these commandments either in partiality or flattery. But we want to be sincere. We want to be sincere in everything that we do. What's the measuring stick of these commands?

Let's turn over to Ephesians 5, verse 29. Ephesians 5 and verse 29. It says, no one ever yet hated his own flesh, but he nourishes it and cherishes it, even as the Lord, the church. You know, most people love themselves, and that's okay. That's okay. You know, others maybe don't love themselves as much as they should. And that's not an excuse, though, not to love our neighbor. We are to love ourselves. God loves us.

We are to love our neighbor. But Jesus Christ gave us an even higher measuring stick than this. Final Scripture. Let's go over to John 13, verse 34. John 13 and verse 34. We talked about these two great commandments. Loving God with all of our being, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus Christ gives us an even higher measuring stick here with this second great commandment. John 13 and verse 34. Shortly before his death, he says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, not as we love ourselves. If we read on, he says, that you love one another as I have loved you.

So that changes this commandment, and that's why he calls it a new commandment. Because it's different than the old one. Similar, but it's a little different. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. In other words, in the same way that I've loved you, I want you to love each other. By this, this new commandment, all men shall know that you are my disciples. That's going to be the sign of who God's people are, of who they are and where they are. By this, shall all men know that you are my disciples, if, that little two-letter word, if you have love for one another.

Apparently, it's a love that's so rare, it's a love that's so unusual, that it's really noticed when it's there. It really stands out when it's there, and people are going to be able to know who God's people are. It seems pretty simple in some ways, but it's pretty profound in others. If we could love God with all of our heart, with all of our strength, with all of our soul and all of our mind, and to love one another as Jesus Christ loved us, then we could interpret all the rest of the commandments with this central theme of love. So, brethren, God's challenging us as we go forward to be able to keep these two commandments, to be able to not show partiality when it comes to our love for God, and not show partiality when it comes with our love for one another. And, brethren, not to flatter, but to be sincere in everything that we do, to be honest and straightforward in everything that we do or say with one another. So, brethren, let's love one another as Christ has loved us.