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A loving and gracious father we thank you lord for this morning for the rain that you provide and for your spirit who? Illumines our hearts and minds to the truth of who you are and the glories that you inhabit.
Help us a lot this morning to Worship you as our minds rest in your word and our hearts are transformed By your power in Christ name we pray amen. Okay. We are about to do a little switch from what we've been looking at in the last several weeks.
In this adventures in theology, we've looked at the Word of God. We've looked at the doctrine of God and we looked at several attributes and we ended with the attribute of love. We spent a lot of time on that and last week we looked at the Implications of the love of God For our love Toward God and to our fellow man.
And so today we'll hopefully complete it and then we will switch on into Anthropology to the doctrine of man Providentially. With Andrew Smith's class you already did the order saluters. So you've looked at some of the things that transform the way the God saves men and women and how he Works in our lives to Be able to do the very thing that you're going to be talking about today.
Well when we talk about loving God and loving our fellow man. So we're probably not going to go in the same order. I'm going to just rely on what Andrew has done for that section, but then we'll pick up with the doctrine of man next time so For those of you who weren't here last week.
We are on we we started with Some examples in the section B of man we looked at how Abraham Demonstrated his love for God That exceeded his love for his son. Or his trust in God that the Lord was able to provide his son back and then we looked at briefly at the object of love how we must love our Enemies because of the love of God that is that constrains us and So with that today, we are going to look at the rest of the section.
So we'll begin with the section on money. Can I have four readers four people who would like to read? Would volunteer one two. Three four, thank you. So Freddy if you can read the first one and maybe just in that same order.
We'll read the first four verses. You can just write read them right out of the sheet and then we'll go to the text After they are all read. Thank you. So the first and the last verses are Explicit in the contrast between the love for God and the love for money.
So though if anyone just came in there are handouts by the back. You can just pick one of them. So the Matthew verse and the first John verse do this contrast between the love of God and the love of money and the first Timothy and Hebrew passages talk about the dangers with Placing our affection upon money.
So turn with me to Matthew's. Oh, well actually before we turn there What do you think is the context of Matthew 6 24? What's happening in the broader? Sermon on the Mount so that goes from Matthew 5 to Matthew 7 so you have Jesus He is giving his kingdom rules as it where he is Proclaiming he here is the king and here is how?
Business is done in his kingdom in a crass way of saying it. So here he is sitting down and preaching to these multitudes about What the kingdom of God is like and how the inhabitants of that kingdom must live so with that let's turn to Matthew 6.
And I want you to Scan that chapter as you are there and then tell me what you see the context for verse 24 in Connection with the rest of the chapter. What else do you see in chapter 6 that? Relates to what you see in verse 24 excellent.
So verse 19 that section there is what begins this. It ends with 24 and it begins by saying don't lay up treasures on earth and so that's the focus. You know there is something there that You shouldn't be setting your heart upon so that's one very good.
And I think that's the immediate context anything else you see very good. So there is something more about you know How do you how what kind of a steward are you with what's been given and those who have need for the things that you?
Have excellent and again while you're giving you want to have your motives, right? You're doing it for the love of God in one sense. You're not doing it just in order to look good in front of people and things like that.
Did I see another hand? Amen, and again, that's You're getting to Why really money you could very asking the question why money, you know, God could say love God or love something else, but We intend to rely upon money.
So that's that section there in the Lord's Prayer. I see a couple more hands. Yes, very excellent. Actually, maybe we'll just take a moment talking about that and then we'll continue. We started by saying this is the kingdom rules.
This is the how the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of God the kingdom of Jesus Christ Operates and the kingdom of man the way we are used to operating is Like you said inward focus. We are looking to find out how I can provide for my needs and I tend to rely on money because money tends to do that it becomes a Place where I can put my confidence in and then because that is so then I look for finding more and more ways to Gain money for myself or even when I give give it in a way that it's bringing more rewards for myself here on earth.
But the kingdom rules of Jesus are upside down it's Recognizing that God is the one who is the source of our confidence. God is the one who provides us all these good things. So we need to be stewards of what he gives us to those who are around us.
And there is certainly a sense of reward in heaven. God rewards his subjects As they recognize. What is what are things that please him and they do it with a motive to honor him here on earth. Excellent.
Any I thought I saw one more hand and then we'll get into Applying this was there one more person who had something to say or was it already said? Oh. Same thing. Okay, and I think you know just the last section that follows after verse 24 kind of culminates what this This text is putting the weight upon which is you know the anxiety that comes in trying to provide for our needs and to look for That base confidence.
What is it that is that we are relying upon and then Jesus goes on to say really you have no ability to Take care of anything. But you need to be trusting in me and we ought not to be relying upon money, but rather we should be relying upon God who is the source of all our provision?
Now with that broader context in mind Let's just focus on the theme that we have here, which is love you cannot serve two masters. You will hate the one and love the other Devoted to the one Despise the other and you cannot serve God and money.
It's interesting that he uses Jesus uses the terms master and serve in the context of Loving loving God and loving money. What can you think of the connection what in what way you know normally when I'm thinking of love?
I'm thinking of people that I love. I think of things that I love and I normally don't Relate to them in the sense of master or service. You know love doesn't seem to connect with With the object of our love in this Servitude or in terms of the mastery of the object of our love.
Why do you think in this particular text actually the last one the fourth one two has the same theme? What do you think? Jesus uses the love and them and the mastery. In this particular verse what in what sense does the object of our love being God and money have mastery over us?
Priorities very good. Yes. Excellent and again these in the earlier part of the same section I think There are some theologians who are not very very Good in their theology, but they say some things that are very very cool and one of the quotes that I see I think that's from CS Lewis and he talks about treasures and our pleasures and the things that satisfy us and Sometimes when you think of love love of God I Don't think we dwell on it with the weight that that term deserves.
You know in my mind like when I go through the order of the day I have things in mind start with some devotion. I try to Do some more devotion during the day through the day. I try to think of some of the activities that I'm Godward focused in what I'm doing, but if I stay back at the end of the day and look back at how the day has gone It just seems like you know, God has taken Maybe a little higher priority than some of the other things but God doesn't seem to Engulf my day with the kind of master servant Devotion that I think that the Bible calls us to do.
I'm not saying this is true for all of you and I'm sure many of you are seeing a change in your life as you look back as a as a Christian in terms of the ways in which the Our God is invading your life in the sense that you know, he is taking Opening your eyes to the way that you must serve him.
You must love him in the various actions that happen. But I think this text I think was very helpful because Let me ask you a question this week if you had to think through the various times that you had to consider money or its derivatives the implications of money and then just made a list on one side and then think about the various times when you thought about God or meditated upon God and The derivatives of that in the way it applied in your life.
How how do you think that would look the list between the list on your right hand and the list on your left hand. The bills the Paycheck the Car with a broken Gas well, and and where is that going to get provided for and you know, really when we think about it.
It's I think this text is one of those texts that calls us back to the root of who we are as a Christian and really That was what Abraham's choice was last week when we looked at it. Here is your son the beloved son the only son whom you love sacrifice him on this mountain and the question was okay.
I have this list over here and I have God on the other side and where is really the the Central deep complete love that I have for one or the other and I think Jesus makes it makes it Intentionally exclusive so that way we don't you know, it's so easy for me to rationalize and say oh, you know what?
I have to be wise with the way I do things and that is a true statement, but What we fail to often realize is the way we that we used to think as an unbeliever. The way the world around us thinks as you know.
People who need to provide for their own needs by relying upon the confidence of the money are pervasive and unless we are Conscious of saying, you know I have one master and one master alone and that is God and that I'm going to make all these Choices that I'm making in light of the one single priority that is overriding above everything else these choices that I make are Going to compete with the love that I have for God.
That makes sense. Any thoughts any comments on how we can apply this Truth of you know, not serving two masters in our in our lives today sounds too grim to start a Sunday morning. You didn't we didn't think we'll get.
So let's actually go through the rest of the text any other thought anyone has any thoughts to share before we move to the next? Section. Okay, let's let's go to the next verse and Actually turn with me there to first Timothy 6 verse 10 again context.
Who's the recipient of this letter from Paul? Timothy and Timothy is a Young pastor and here is someone who is in ministry into him he is Paul is giving instructions. How do you minister in the church?
So verse 10 once again, if you just look at the this is not the entire chapter but the but there are sections in the entire chapter that talk about This aspect of love of money being a danger, but what what do you think is the theme?
That this verse is focusing on when it says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil excellent so the second part of the verse talks about how there is actually evidence that Some have wandered away from the faith that this love for money tends to be that magnet that pulls people back into the world and So this is a real and present danger in the church.
And so the pastor gets this Warning to remind Timothy to remind the others that this is this ought not to be so. But there is if you go a little bit earlier You see there is something positive that he is talking about as well.
What what is the context in which verse 10 is actually it's like culminating verse 6. Yes, I I didn't go that far. I'm not really sure if that directly relates to our verse here. But you're right I think there is a broader sense in which the slaves and masters the relationship that we have Needs to be God honoring rather than man would focus.
But I think verse 6 is key there in looking at godliness with contentment. Ferdie Amen, and I think that's really the crux of what I want to bring from this section if you look at it again. He's contrasting everything else around.
So, you know those who think of godliness as a means of gain verse 5. Verse 7 we brought nothing into the world. We can take nothing out of the world, you know why do we value things and and objects so much when we have.
We have God and God has provided for these things and ultimately contentment is Resting in the provision that God gives as opposed to you know All the greed and everything else in verse 4 that he's talking about.
So then it comes love of money this Focus on money and what it seems to provide for us here on this side of on in on earth is really not just minor distraction, but rather a very very. It is a danger that actually does Draw people away from the faith pierces them them with many pangs.
And so when we think of the mastery of who do we trust in who's our Lord? We want to remind ourselves that is the love of God that is central. So let's go to the next any other thoughts on this section because underlying this.
This desire for money and the love for money is the fact that you think money and I think one of it was it Steven? Who said this is our idol? We we we put money up as a God saying this God will provide for my needs if I have more money than I have my bills paid for and everything else and then our focus turns from the God who provides us with the money and the provision for money to This little God that becomes our confidence our trust and really when we talk about faith and we will come to this in a moment.
Confidence is really trust. We are a people who have faith in God who have our trust in God and instead it has now become our faith and confidence. And trust in money, we'll come back to the connection with faith in them.
Once you finish these verses. Any other thoughts? That was good. Let's turn to actually we don't need to turn to Hebrews 13. But I think you know if you just look at the verse on your sheet. You have The command, you know keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have and then the counterpart to that is.
So far it looks like first Timothy 6, but then the second half takes it further. For or because God has said I will never leave you nor forsake you so once again, the confidence is not in money and Love of and the gaining of possessions but rather that we have God with us and he needs to be the source of our love and affection.
And then the last one is first John 2 15 and I think that is Probably a verse most of you are very familiar with. Let's maybe just talk about that for a moment. Do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world.
The love of the Father is not in him actually turn with me there because 16 and 17 expand upon that first John 2 15 and 15 to 17. Can someone read the rest of the verses 16 and 17 to please? Yes, actually, why don't you read from 15 to 17?
Thank you. There's there's a lot there, but I think it just this gives you the context of what? John is talking about in terms of loving God loving the world or loving loving or having the love For the father and I think that's how you want to translate the end of verse 15.
Do you truly love God the Father. And the evidence for that is whether you have an Overriding love for the world. So if you have an overriding love for the world and then he describes that You know lust of the flesh lust of the eyes pride of life that is an indication that the love of the Father is not in you because Those kinds of love Do not have their souls in the father and that's what was 16 is talking about these things don't come from the father and if you are a child of God whose love is directed toward God then your love will not be directed toward these These three Samples of the love of the world that the world actually loves so those who are children of the devil These are what that they can place their affection upon and but if you are a child of God Those are not what you have and then as a warning to a believer verse 17 says, you know.
This is how you remind yourself about the transience of these Objects of your love the he says the world is passing away with all of its desires. You know when we live as people in time, we get to see the things around us we get to Want those things that seem so necessary.
Like today tomorrow next year and try to focus on these objects that seem so valuable. And then John reminds us that these things are passing away and your love for it will pass away. There's going to come a time when you know either on our deathbed and that's what the earlier verse was earlier passage was talking about.
These don't you don't bring anything. You don't take anything out. There's going to be all of eternity when all of these like gold is your pavement, right? I mean, there is really no value in all those things that we place upon and so for a believer.
This is a reminder here is how we remind ourselves. These in and of themselves have no value intrinsic value are they have value because they are. They are provided to us by God and our focus should be to the source of these objects, which is God himself.
Any thoughts on this verse make sense, okay, so let's now Take a few moments to to Flesh this out in our life as it were, you know, what is the impact of this? So let's go back broader we started by a couple of weeks back talking about the love of God that God loves us and God is love that is his character.
This is who he is and Because this is a essential attribute of God and it is a communicable attribute. We have the ability to love and actually if you go back in your verse in your handout to Object of love we looked at their Unbelievers having love also, what are the things that they love that if you look at Matthew 5 43 to 48 He says don't love like them because they have certain loves that You know, you could probably have which is not an illegitimate love, but it is not Complete it's not perfect.
It doesn't reflect the love of God. What are the people? What are the things that? Actually, I think the Luke passage is clearer there look 632 to 35. What are things that Tax collectors love. Or sinners love loving those who love them.
So if someone is nice to me someone provide, you know Gives me things then I love them because you know We have a mutual relationship and then there the contrast is that you actually love those who? Hate you your enemies those who persecute you and there you demonstrate the love of God, which is unconditional it is the We love God because God first loves us.
And so there is that contrast but even with among Image bearers of God who are not yet redeemed you can see the love of God reflected in the relationships that they have in the families. You know the the children that they have and the and the objects that they can pour their love upon because they have that ability to To love because they are made in God's image.
It's mud and now the supernatural kind of love we can reflect only as redeemed people who have the love of God poured out in our hearts that we can love God and through that love love others also, so So the source of our love.
And all these four verses they are impossible to do for an unbeliever who does not have a redeemed heart who does not have the Supernatural love of God by the by the Spirit poured out into our hearts that we can love back God and through that not love the Little gods such as money but rather to love other people as ourselves, so we're going to look at that in the next verse.
But in prefacing the next verse let's talk about faith and love. What do you think is the we kind of touched upon it a little bit already? What is the connection between faith in God and Loving God. And having a deep enduring love for God.
How do they both connect? We're getting there. Thank you. There is that connection because love is actually it there is how do you know you love? It's because of the evidence of what you do as a result of the love and I think that's where you're going.
That's good. So any other thoughts on the connection? If anyone wants to build up on what Ferdie just said, yes. You had like three or four things there and I think what you concluded with is what I wanted to end with which is faith this Temporal in some ways because I think first Corinthians 13 talks about faith hope and love abide.
But love is one of those things that will endure through all eternity because the eyes of faith. You don't need any more when you're in the presence of God himself and and really I and I want you to keep that in mind because We'll come to that as we conclude this section but When we talked about faith and love There are a few things about faith that we think of one you may be thinking of Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11 1 faith is the evidence of things so for the substance of things not seen we trust in the person of God. Counting upon what he will accomplish whether our salvation one day in eternity in heaven.
For the provision for our daily needs while here on earth. So these are all various aspects of faith in terms of what we trust in God for and I think The other aspect of faith that I want us to focus on is to go to Efficience 2 8 I have this memorized.
We always code it wrong. So let me just turn there and read that for you. So Efficience 2 8 says for by grace you've been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God not a result of works so that no man may boast for we are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus for good works Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them and again when you think of faith in the bigger like Andrew Smith's class Context so faith is that gift that God gives us so without faith.
Really none of us have the ability to love God and I think you you talked about that. God is the one who Pours out his love. We love him back and there is that initiation of love that big happens because faith is a conduit through which we look to and apprehend God we say I Repent and I believe because God has given me that gift through which I with a regenerate heart can reach out to him and so faith is what Begins and when we look at I think the aspect that you were talking about Ferdie was the actions of love those when the reason I kept trying to emphasize this aspect of confidence and trust and reliance upon God rather than these other objects is Because what our life as a believer begins with faith we it is because of what God has given us we see the invisible God and we love him and we are we give our whole life to him and that's really what Repent and believe is, you know, I've been living life on my own I give it up and I say your way is what I want I believe that you are the source of life.
You are you are life itself and I want my life to be directed as you would choose it to be that's what we say when I I give up my Old self and I want to live for Christ. And so when you come back to this verse here, what it really says here is that God gives us this faith.
We now have committed our lives to him and now the actions that we that follow these are The good works that God has prepared that we now walk or we act upon them and that's a demonstration of the love that That God has That we have for God as we live our lives in response to it.
So so really just keep those things about faith in the back of your mind while we look into the next passage and I think we'll probably Look at this and we'll actually finish the next section too. So let's turn to mark chapter 12 verse 28 to 33 I'm sure many of you have memorized this passage also Once again context if you'd know mark chapter 12 That's a very key passage in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.
So if you just scan chapter 12 you get to see Why? This love and I think that's this is where I want us to end with in terms of thinking about the aspect of love but if you look at mark chapter 12, it begins with the Primacy of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
He's talking about the parable of the tenants. And in fact, if you look at verse 12 at the end of that passage the Leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because he was indicting them that they had Rejected the son of their Lord their master while he had come and then you have a series of questions verse 13 you have Pharisees and Herodians enemies who are in Joining hands in order to pull Jesus down to trap him and the issue there is taxes money where should it go should it go to Caesar should it go to the temple and their their focus there was really to trap Jesus and say, you know, you're you're Subversive you're speaking against Rome and you need to get arrested and then Jesus makes it clear the the priorities to the state and ultimately to God and then you have verse 18 the Sadducees and the resurrection and then pastor Mike taught on this last week I think and the emphasis on who God is and then the this is your described the super Smart Guy who comes and asks the question and that's where we center on this aspect of love.
So if if someone can just read verse 28 actually, let's read 28 to 34 Looking at the application of this. I want to ask you a couple of questions. How do you love someone who is invisible? Excellent that that is one of the evidences of your love for the invisible one is by how you love Others there are strangers.
There are people in the household of the faith your family and those are all evidences of how you where your heart is toward the invisible one any other thoughts on invisible God and Loving him. I'm sorry.
Can you say that again? Excellent so the when you love your spouse your spouse is always there and Sometimes you that may be a good thing or a bad thing. Because my sinful heart doesn't always want to respond with kindness and love at all times, but the thing is you see the person that you love and you have affection for that person and You are constantly thinking of ways in which you can actually demonstrate that love for this person that you see who's before you and And What what we just heard from John is that this person is actually a source of Who they are while they are with you, right?
You see them, you know what their needs are. What is it that? Who is this person? What are ways in which you can please them. You can see their face reacting in a not nice way when you gave them that gift and you're like, okay, you know I don't think they like this kind of thing and then you change what the way you respond to them but when you talk about the invisible God and John you actually got right where I was hoping to go which is how do we know about this God and Demonstrate our love for him.
There are two general ways in which we Look to loving God. One of them is general revelation and with that I probably club experience too because I think you know as Believers we get to see things that are happening in our lives that we can we can interpret through the lens of Scripture.
We can have the Spirit of God. Enabling us to see like, you know That person who is in our life that God has just brought that we need to demonstrate our love in a very tangible way you can see the hand of God and the and the work of God in our lives through those trials through those Various circumstances that he places and on the other hand we have The word we we the Bible is God's love letter to us.
He has revealed himself his love for us and what is pleasing to him through the pages of Scripture. So when we want to look at this person whom we love this invisible God. We go to the Word of God to say my god, you are beautiful.
You are lovely and I want to respond in these ways to the love that you have for me. And I think the challenge for us as believers today is not so much that we don't know in our trials to look to God for prayer and To look to him rather than in our own resources.
Not just that we should read the Bible because we know that is essential. But rather to look back and say, you know Here are the ways in which I am looking at the invisible God Who has invaded my life that daily I get to see him Even though he is not physically present in my midst.
So when I'm reading the Bible, I want to be conscious of the God of the Bible. That is that he is revealing Himself to me actually, I think Corey and I now work in the same place. He was telling me with his children He does this devotion where?
He asked him. What do you learn about God from this passage and that's a standard question. They need to I think write it down and so I started this with my own children and I and as I was doing it In my own devotion.
I was like, you know, there is so much these scriptures no matter what passage you're reading that talk about the character of God the work of God the love of God the person that I am in love with and really that's what we want to be focusing on because once our heart that does truly love God is immersed in the person of God then those actions that we Need to do on a daily basis can get evaluated can always go back to this Person whom we are pleasing while we make those choices while we do those things in the world.
So whether we are helping others and so forth and then coming right now into this text Jesus basically quotes two passages from the Old Testament. You shall love the Lord with all your heart all your soul.
With all your mind with all your strength basically with every single aspect of your faculty to the complete extent of its resource and Really, you know when someone says I've not sinned we just point Them and point ourselves to this, you know the fact that this is one of those things that is that encompasses everything but no one is able to completely do on this side of eternity and.
But this is so this should be our goal. This should be our object and each of us should be asking ourselves How can I love God in this way today? And what can I do? In order to Gaze at the invisible God that I might use my faculties with all of these strength and then You've mentioned the second part of it there where you love your neighbor as yourself.
We are a people who are inwardly focused want to provide for our needs and really God Opens that up and our focus needs to be outward. We are here as God's agents as God's stewards for a time and we reflect the love of God both to unbelievers and to believers around us when we love our neighbors as Ourselves and really all other Commandments.
Come under these. I'm not going to look at the rest of the verses here. Maybe we might touch up on these when we look at the nature of man but I want you to just reflect upon the various verses in the section command and really people.
It can be very puzzling to people to say let me just pick one verse a New commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you. You are also to love one another when you put the word command and you put the word love that seems to be Odd.
We looked at earlier, you know, we look at love God and he is your master and they kind of seem like odd and really the challenge there is we the more we grasp the extent of the Love that God has on us and the extent of the love that we are to have upon God.
We realize that we are a people who do not love and we are a people who need to be transformed by the love of God we need to be a people whose mind are continually transformed into thinking the ways of God and the precepts of God and yes the Commands of God that these are the things that we want to align our lives to as we love God and love our neighbors.
Okay, let me stop here any any thoughts any comments any questions? All right. Let's let's pray a loving God and Heavenly Father. We thank you for loving us. Enough to send your son. Thank you that your son loved loved you and loved us that he would give his life on the cross.
Thank you for your love in pouring out your spirit. That we can experience your love with a new heart and In every circumstance that we live. Help us. Oh Father this morning as we worship. To pour out our love to you from hearts filled with gratitude with hearts filled with With the joy that you that we have of knowing you and of your goodness and your abundant love.
Help us Oh Father to be a people that also pour. Who also reflect your love to the world around us in Christ's name we pray. Amen.