The Great Commandment

Melinda Song

The word great catches our attention. The Great Wall of China, the great Pyramids etc. or the greatest footballer, Pele and the greatest squash player, our very own Nicole David.

When they asked Jesus, which is the greatest commandment, it came with a motive to trap him.

Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
22: 34- 40pp – Mk 12: 28- 31
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mark 12:28-34
The Greatest Commandment
12: 28- 34pp – Mt 22: 34- 40
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

There were constant debates during the time of Jesus. The passage above showed Jesus faced challenges from the the experts of the time.

v16 The Herodians posed questions to Jesus about paying taxes hoping to trap Jesus. Jesus answered them by showing the Roman coin

v28 The Sadducees, the influentials wanted to trap Jesus by questioning him about the woman who married seven times.

Jesus answered them via the scriptures and they were silenced.

The Pharisees, the separated ones expert in the law took Jesus to task. They sent a lawyer, a scribe to ask Jesus a difficult question.

Which is the greatest commandment? This was a question they themselves could not answer. If Jesus were to contradict Moses, he would be labelled a heretic.

Jesus answered by keeping to the law but emphasis was not on can or cannot but on love.

Mark 12:29
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Jesus said: Love the Lord your God. The "love" here is a verb not a noun. Love here is an action. Jesus demonstrated that love on the cross. Paul said it is this love that compels him.

If we love God, it needs to be shown through action. It is not just an expression of the word. Love is not just what we say. It's what we do.

The second lesson we can learn is that: If we get the love right, we will get the law right.

The first part of the 10 commandments is about loving God and the second part is on loving others. It hangs on love.

As Christians, it is not about what we can or cannot do, it is about what we want or don't want to do.

When you love someone, you will not stray. And our love to God is total. The verse says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Our lives cannot be compartmentalised, it is total. Note the "all" that is being emphasised.

This love is with our mind too and not just emotional. It takes both to love God. It is with our all.

We need to live a God saturated, Christ centred, Spirit filled life.

A Few Good Men

David’s Mighty Men

by Pastor Gideon Lee

2 Samuel 23:8-17

8 These are the names of David’s mighty men:

Josheb- Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.

9 Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered [at Pas Dammim] for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, 

10 but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.

11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. 

12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.

15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord.

17 “Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

David, though great did not achieve success on his own. He needed his 30 mighty men.

First was Josheb-Basshebeth, one of the three in the inner circle who struck down 800 on that day.

Then there was Eleazar, who stood his ground when his men fled and abandoned him. He fought and won till his sword froze on his hand.

Shammah, the third of the great men defended a field and the Lord granted them victory.

David was longing for a drink during the hot harvesting season, when the three men responded to his need by going into enemy territory and drawing water for David. He did not ask the men to get the water, nor commanded them. He was just thinking to himself but the men immediately went to get the water without his knowledge.

But David did something unexpected, he poured it onto the ground as an offering to the Lord. He knew how difficult it was to get the water. But he felt the water was brought with great risk of his men.

Lessons to Learn

1. They were loyal to David.

They were committed to his cause. They followed David without question.

2. They were close to David.

If we want to be mighty men of God, we need to be close to God. It has to be a lifestyle. How?

• pray always (pray without ceasing - in constant communication with God)
• worship (draws us close to God)
• listening to God (what does God says to you in His still small voice. Can only happen when you set aside quiet time)

3. They were committed.

They did what he wished for and not just what he commanded. They knew his heart. Are we committed to God? Or are we only committed when it suits us. Our giving, our time. Today God needs Christians who are committed. It's okay to be labelled a fanatic for God by unbelievers. Our commitment is visible.

4. They were courageous.

They were willing to do exploits in the face of danger. They brought water just for David, not for themselves. Christianity is not for wimps. God asked Joshua to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS. These mighty men possessed these qualities. Courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of fear. To stand up for God takes courage. It is done humbly, never brash.

Our courage stems from the fact that the Lord our God is with us.

David was known as a man after God's heart. This is because everything God put in David's hand brought glory to the Lord. A cup in his hand was offered to God. It is an act of dedication where his life is poured out as an offering to God.

From Fear to Faith

Pastor Gideon

Matthew 14:23-33
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

In today's age, this passage of scripture may not make sense to many. It will attract cynics and critics who says no one can walk on water. But we all miss the point of this scripture.

The previous verses showed he fed 5,000 which was a great miracle. The disciples partnered with Jesus as they helped distribute the fish and bread.

Verse 22 says "immediately". This is a lesson we can learn. We have no time to bask in the work of God. All glory goes to God. Jesus needed rest and he went up to the mountains to pray. There is no better place of rest than the presence of God.

V27, when they were afraid Jesus immediately told them to take courage, do not be afraid. Peter's response was typical of him, act first think later. He just wanted to be with Jesus, not so much to walk on water.

We all have dreams and desires, but let it be God centred. Peter was the first to ask Jesus and he is the only other that walked on water. He dared to ask God for the impossible. We must dare to dream and we must dare to ask God to fulfill that dream as long as it is God centred.

Sis Melinda once shared: "Where there is no vision the people perish. Where there are no people the vision perish." This is so true.

What are our dreams for our church? That dream needs to have Jesus as the foundation. If we want to walk on water, we need to step up and step out. Peter had to step out of the boat, his comfort zone. We need to step up and step out and follow Him.

Henry Ford had a dream to make cars for everyone. But he made mistakes. His first car never had a reverse gear. His car was too big to leave the garage door. He made mistakes but we need to make mistakes falling forward. It is progress.

Church is made of believers, not doubters. We have to be a people of action. Let's dare to dream for TOP. It's not about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. Let's work on getting OUR grass greener.

Moses and David was busy tending sheep when God called them. God love doers. They were faithful in what they do.

Peter may be bold, but that does not mean we are not being cautious. We will not do anything that risk our relationship with God.

As we step out, the thing that will stop us is fear. Jesus said "fear not". It's not no fear. Doubt is our enemy, fear our adversary.

If you want to walk on water, you must focus on Jesus. The moment we take our eyes off Jesus, we're going to sink. Jesus took hold of the sinking Peter and called him "you of little faith". In the process of our dreaming and venturing, let's fix our eyes on Jesus. Otherwise, we will accomplish nothing.

When God says "do it", let's not be afraid.

We have a dream for this church. We want a bigger place where people who come is fed, a vibrant youth and Sunday school. It will be a cutting edge church that reaches out to the community. The church of God must advance.

We may dare to dream, but let's not just dream. Let's do it.