Love Thy Neighbor

In Mark the 12th chapter the 30th verse, Jesus Christ is in Jerusalem just a few days before his arrest, before his false prosecution, his crucifixion. And while he's there, scribes and Pharisees are doing everything that they can to trip him up. They want to prove that this carpenter from Nazareth is no authorized scholar, that he's not even a real rabbi and his disciples who used to be fishermen have no authority or power or purpose as far as the will and the work of God on earth is concerned.

So, in an effort to disqualify him, they choose to debate him. And they ask a series of gotcha questions, questions that have no win answers. If he says one thing, well, then he's boxed himself in over here. And if he says another, then he's boxed himself in over there.

It was a fool's errand because not only did Jesus know what their purpose and intent was, but Jesus is the source of all truth. I mean, if you're going to play trivial pursuit, don't play with him. And so one of the scribes and Pharisees comes and asks, "Is it legal to pay taxes?"

And this is the conversation in which Jesus says, "Pull out money from your pocket and tell me whose picture you see on it." And the Pharisee says, "Well, that's Caesar's picture." He says, "Well, if it's Caesar's picture, it's Caesar's money, so give it to Caesar." And then the next guy comes up and says, "Hey, what's the greatest of all commandments?"

And Jesus immediately answers with Deuteronomy chapter 6 in which it is said, "Behold, O Israel, the Lord our God is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength."

And then Jesus adds to the CONVERSATION AND SAYS, "AND you shall love your neighbor as yourself." He lets him know it's not just enough to be in love with God, but it's only manifested by how you treat others. >> And there's a lot of people in this world that will claim that they love Jesus, but they don't treat other people that Jesus loves very well. >> The Bible says that if we love God and hate our brother, the truth is not in us.

And in the end of this conversation, the attorney agrees with Jesus because he's not only answered correctly, but Jesus tells the attorney, "You are close to the kingdom." Say that with me. You are close to the kingdom. But there's some things you NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIS KINGDOM.

It doesn't operate like the world operates. And when you try to function in his kingdom, in the world's way, YOU'RE GOING TO BE FRUSTRATED BECAUSE YOU'RE TRYING to do the right thing the wrong way. >> So, how does his kingdom operate? Like all kingdoms and foreign lands, it requires currency.

And currency is something that you use in exchange for something of value. In Mark 12:33, Jesus settles the debate about what his kingdom will accept as currency. And it comes down to one word and one word only. And that word is love. Love is the currency of the kingdom.

Say that with me. Love is the currency of the kingdom. Consider what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. He said, ' If I knew all that there was to know, if I could do all that there was to do, if I could give all that there was to give, but I do not have love, I'm nothing.

Here Jesus tells the Sadducee and the Pharisee who are asking him about the most important of the commandments. He speaks to them and he says, "It's exchanged in love. Love the Lord your God." And then he lists five accounts. He says, "With all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your strength, and your neighbor as yourself."

John told us in first John, "We love God because he first loved us." And if we say we love him and hate our brother, the love of God is not in us. When it comes to this exchange, God is not interested in how much you give. God is not interested in how much you know.

God is not interested in how many good deeds you're willing to do. God is interested in how much you are willing to sacrifice yourself in love for God. The Bible tells us that we are kings and priests unto God. We read that in Revelation 1:9 and we read that in the book of First Peter.

First Peter said, "You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation." John the Revelator said in John chapter 1 that Christ has made us kings and priests unto God. Now the purpose of a priest is twofold. One, a priest brings God's word to people. But two, a priest in the Old Testament was where you went for the sacrifices that needed to be made in order to appease the law of God.

As a royal priesthood, one of the purposes that we have is to bring God's word to the world. But the more difficult part of your responsibility as a priest unto God is not declaring the gospel to all of the world. That's easy. Telling people what God has done, that's easy.

The most difficult part of your responsibility as a part of this royal priesthood is sacrificing unto God what he requires. And you say, "Well, I thought all the sacrifices were paid in Jesus Christ." Indeed, they were for your sins and for your salvation and for your opportunity to go boldly into the presence of the Lord.

But this is why Paul said, "I die daily." >> He was saying, "It's my responsibility to kill my flesh in love so that my will does not be accomplished, but his will be done. This is what it means to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength.

In the Bible, we're called the bride of Christ. It's one of the word pictures that paints the relationship that the church has with Jesus. And one of the challenges that we face in this world that we live is having the boldness to tell the world about how we feel about our Lord and Savior.

You see it all the time. People come up and they ask you, "Are you a Christian?" Well, let's just stay with this picture of the bride. How many of you are married? >> Okay, we're we're sure, right? What if you went somewhere with your spouse and somebody asked her, "Are you two married?"

And she went, "Well, I don't want to offend, but we've been together for a long time. He's there for me. He walks with me. He talks with me. He tells me I'm his own. But if you know someone else that you'd rather be with, I don't want to judge you for being you.

I don't know about you, but that wouldn't fly too far with me. How do you think Jesus feels when he sees somebody ask you, "Are you a believer in Christ?" Well, >> I want to be sensitive and answer this in a proper, appropriate, politically correct way. I want to do all that I can to be non-offensive to everyone who's offended about everything that's offensive anyway.

No. When you love the Lord, you're not concerned about who it offends to let them know how you feel about Jesus. Love is the currency of this kingdom. And the thing that you are to use the currency for is to win the lost. >> Lord, >> to win souls. >> Lord, >> because the most valuable thing in God's eyes is a soul. >> L. >> This is why Jesus put into the scales all the wealth of the world.

And he said, 'What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world >> and loses his soul? >> So when you have kingdom currency, the thing that you're to be acquiring with it is someone who needs Jesus, >> which I hate to offend some of you.

Not really, >> but if everybody you know already knows Jesus, you need to go find somebody who doesn't. Well, all of my friends are already saved. You're hanging around too many Christians. Go find you a sinner. BECAUSE THE MOST VALUABLE THING THAT THERE IS IN THIS world is a soul.

And when it comes to acquiring the soul, that's the work of the Holy Spirit and the blood of the lamb. But your job is to exchange this love so that they can feel from you what Jesus did for them. The currency of the kingdom has accounts. And it's important that you're willing to make a deposit in these accounts.

The first account that we're given is that you are to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. And the Bible tells us very clearly that where a man's treasure is, there his heart will be also. You don't have to wonder what somebody treasures. All you have to do is watch how they treat things and they'll tell you what they treasure.

I know some people that treasure their vehicles. They rub their vehicles. They talk to their vehicles. They cover up their vehicles at night. I know some people that treasure their pets. They rub their pets. They talk to their pets. They cover up their pets at night. Some of them let them dogs sleep in the bed with them.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything. In my new book, From the Tomb to Triumph, I take you through this resurrection truth from the suffering of the cross to the empty tomb and into the authority every believer is called to live in today. This month, for your gift of any amount to support the work of Hegy Ministries, we want to send you Pastor John Haggy's new book, From Tomb to Triumph: Claim the Victory of the Resurrection.

And with your love gift of $125 or more, we'll send you our handcrafted Genesis 123 olivewood anointing oil set box from Israel. And with your gift of $500 or more, in addition, you'll also receive the Prophecy Study Bible and His Glory Revealed. >> The Risen King reigns now and his power is at work in you. >> Call the number on your screen.

Use the QR code or go to jhm.org/spring. You don't have to wonder what you treasure. Just watch people and they'll tell you what they treasure. Some people treasure their money. >> Some people treasure their family. >> If you're like me, you treasure relationships with people you love. But the question is, if that's where your heart is, how do you give that to God?

And the answer is by submitting your will to his. If you love money and you love the Lord with all of your heart, you read what the Bible says about giving and you give cheerfully. >> Why? Because the Bible says if you're not obedient in giving, you're cursed with a curse.

If you love possessions, you'd gladly GIVE THOSE POSSESSIONS TO GOD. WHY? BECAUSE HE'S THE one who gave them to you. >> Every good and perfect gift comes from above. And if you love relationships and you love your family, then you give your family, you give your household to the Lord that he would use it for his glory and his will be done and not yours.

You say, "How does that work?" Look at what Abraham did. He was willing to lay Isaac down because the Lord asked him to. God said of Abraham, the reason why he chose him is because he knew that Abraham would train his descendants to honor the Lord. Consider Joshua in his generation.

What did he proclaim? As for me, in my house, we will serve the Lord. Look at the impact that the woman Hannah had on the nation of Israel when she went to the house of the Lord, seeking God to intervene in her life and give her a child. and she prayed and made an oath to God that if God would give her the blessing of a baby boy, she would give that boy back to God all the days of his life.

The son that God gave her was named Samuel. Samuel is the prophet that brought the word of God back to Israel. Samuel is the man that God told to anoint King David. Samuel served the Lord as Hannah said all the days of his life. But it was because Hannah was willing to make the sacrifice in love that God was able to use Samuel to change the nation.

Here's the question. If you love your family and you treasure them, what are you doing with your family for the kingdom? Dad, are you training up a child in the way they should go? Or are you letting the world shape their point of view? Mom, are you showing your daughter what a wonderful blessing a home and a marriage is?

Or are you telling her that the bonds of holy matrimony are greater than what you can bear? Are you letting the teacher in the public school class shape the view of your child? Or are you using God's word like a chisel in your hand to shape them and show them what the word of God says? >> People say that takes a lot of time.

No, it takes a whole lot of time. EVERY MINUTE YOU'VE GOT THAT TAKES a lot of effort. No, it takes every ounce of strength that you've got. IT TAKES A LOT of investment. No, it takes every dime you're ever going to make. Kids are the most expensive thing you'll ever have, but they're the greatest return on investment that you will ever make.

For Psalms 128 says, "The man who fears the Lord, God will bless you out of Zion, and you will see your children and your children's children." When you give your family to God, it pays off for generations. >> Some people treasure their time, and time is a good thing to treasure.

That's why the Bible says, "Redeem the time." When you redeem time, it means that you don't waste it. One thing about time is you're never going to make any more of it and you're losing it every day. But people say, "How can I give God my time? If you sacrifice it in love, it becomes kingdom currency."

You see, when you exchange with God in kingdom currency and you sacrifice out of love, whatever you treasure in your heart, God will give back to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. >> You love the Lord your God with all of your heart. You love him with all of your soul.

What's the soul? The soul is what I call the middleman. Now, there are hours of discussion that can be taught on this topic, but here it is in very short synopsis. You are a triune being just like God created in his image. God is father, son, and holy spirit.

You are spirit, soul, and flesh. Now, the spirit man is the part of you that is born of God. When you read in the Bible that we were dead in our sins, the part of us that was dead was the spiritual man. And Jesus brought that man back to life whenever he redeemed us with his blood. >> Now your flesh is the fallen and corrupt man.

And this is why you read in the Bible that the carnal mind is at enmity with God. Your flesh will always try to refute and argue and doubt God's word and do everything it can to disobey it. Your flesh is the part of you that likes comfort. >> Amen. >> But then there's the soul.

And the soul is the man in the middle. The soul is the one that if he submits to God and resists the devil, the devil will flee from him. And likewise, if he gives into the flesh, then he sws corruption back into himself. And whether or not you know it, you've been watching this doctrinally play out in Tom and Jerry cartoons all of your life.

You remember the little devil that used to come up on Tom's shoulder and say, "Eat Jerry." And the angel would say, "Don't eat Jerry." And Tom's in the middle going, "Eat him. Don't eat him. Eat him. Don't eat him." This is the same thing that happens in your life with decisions that you make.

The spiritual man is saying, "Submit to God. Obey his word. Do what he commands." The flesh man is saying, "Well, if you understood everything that you've been through, you have an excuse why you can break this rule." And when you love the Lord your God with all of your soul, there's no debate. >> You tell the flesh you're crucified.

Amen. >> This is why Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but it is the spirit of God that lives in me." >> Now, here's the thing about this crucifixion. Nobody does it for you. You have to crucify yourself. That's why Jesus said, "If any man comes after me, let him lay down his life, take up his cross, and follow me."

I know lots of people that keep asking God, "Crucify my flesh. Crucify my flesh. Crucify my flesh." Hey, you are never going to get somebody else to crucify your flesh. It's your job to execute that. So when you love the Lord your God with all of your soul, the man in the middle always goes with the Holy Spirit.

When you love the Lord your God with all of your soul, you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. When you love the Lord your God with all of your soul, you offer him a sacrifice of praise with your whole heart.

And you know that in his presence is the fullness of joy. The next account that we're supposed to love the Lord in is our mind. The mind is the battlefield of spiritual warfare. In first Corinthians, it tells us that our weapons are not carnal, but they're mighty for the pulling down of strongholds and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

And here in this battlefield of the mind, what you have to understand is that God wants you to have an open mind to what his word promises. And the devil wants you to have a divided mind. Have you ever heard somebody describe someone as close-minded? What they're saying is there's no space for a new thought.

And many times God's kids get closedminded because they would rather cling to what they've heard than read what he said. >> And the devil is the one who's laughing the whole time because he knows that if he can get you to doubt God's word, then he can keep that word from being a blessing in your life.

So whenever the DEVIL TRIES TO DIVIDE YOUR MIND, the Bible says that you can go into heavenly places and pull down those strongholds. >> It's like ripping the dark curtains off of a window. The second you pull it down, the light shines in. >> When you love the Lord your God with all of your mind, what you read in his word, you believe to be true.

I hear people who profess to be Christians say all the time, "Well, I believe parts of the Bible. It's either all true or none of it's true." I say this in closing. The fourth account is that you love the Lord with all of your strength. And your strength is a talent that God gave you.

Your strength is nothing that you did to earn. It's just something that he decided to bless you with. >> And what you need to know is no matter what that strength is, he has a purpose for it. Don't let other people talk you out of it. I've seen God do too much with people who were willing to say yes.

Even if in church we've decided the usable strengths versus the unusable strengths. The reason that Cornerstone Church has the ministry that it has, the impact that it has, not just here, but all over the world, is because individuals were willing to love the Lord their God with all of their strength.

I could tell you story after story for years about people who showed up here and just said, "Pastor, I want to help and I'll mow the lawn." And the church grew and I'll bake cookies and the church grew. I can tell you about men whose strength is car mechanics.

And you say, "Well, what's that got to do with church?" Well, when those men get together and they go change oil for single moms who can't afford an oil change, >> they're ministering. I know ladies with buticians licenses. They've got great salons. And you say, "Well, what's that got to do with church?"

Well, when they're cutting the hair of kids that want to get a nice haircut before they go back to school, but they can't afford it, and the church shows up and does it, they're ministering. >> We've had a missionary in Mexico for more than 50 years. 50 years after he's been down there, his Spanish is still bad.

But do you know what God gave him an ability to do? Coach football. And when he went down to see Victoria, Mexico, and found out that the university was looking for a football coach, he volunteered. Decades later, he's still the coach and his church is full of former players.

Don't underestimate what God can do when you're willing to exchange in currency with him >> with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength. Can we stand in the presence of the Lord? And church, I want you to know that when you're willing to exchange in the sacrifice of love with King Jesus, you'll find him to be El Shai, >> the allsufficient God, the one who can meet your every need according to his riches and glory.

I want to thank you for joining us today. I pray that you were blessed by this program. And I want to remind you that if you would like to see this program in its entirety, you can always watch by going to jhm.org. I pray that the word of God was a revelation to your heart and life about how you can have an impact each and every day, showing others his love, being his hands and his feet, and learning to love thy neighbor as thyself. >> In a world filled with noise, one message still brings peace.

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