Matthew 22:34-40
God tells you everything you need to know to live the life He wants you to live. He tells you how He wants things done. When we live this life how God wants you to live it, everything works great.
When you don’t live life the way God wants you to live it, things are tough and they will get tougher. And when you won’t do things the way God tells you do them, you won’t get God’s help. And if you don’t have God’s help, things will get tougher and tougher.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
All Things Work Together for God When You Follow God’s Commandments
This is a very important verse. “WE KNOW that ALL THINGS work together for GOOD to them that love God.” Look, if you want all things to work together for good, you must love God. So, how do you love God?
Matthew 22:36-40
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Hey, what’s the greatest commandment? That’s a great question. What is the greatest commandment? What does God want us to do more than anything else in our lives? Jesus answers that question.
Jesus says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” He says this is the first and great commandment. And it always has been.
The second greatest commandment is like the first, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus says that ALL THE LAW and ALL THE PROPHETS hang on those two commandments. Everything is summed up in that alone.
1 John 4:21
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
So, to get your life in the order God wants it, what’s the most important thing for you to do? Love God first. Now, how do you love God? If you love God, you will also love your neighbor. You will also love your brother. So, how do you love God? The Bible tells us.
I want you to see this so please pay close attention here.
Romans 13:8-10
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
I Don’t Owe You Anything But To Follow God’s Commandments
So, I don’t owe you anything here and you don’t owe me anything but one thing. BUT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER. “For he that loveth one another hath fulfilled the law.”
At the very end, the Bible tells us what love means. The Biblical definition of love is right there. “Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
When you follow God’s laws or commandments, you love God and you love others. When you won’t follow God’s laws or commandments, you don’t have love for God or others.
For example, take a look at verse 9. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” If you commit adultery by laying with another man’s wife or another woman’s husband, you don’t love anyone. You’re hating that man, that woman, yourself, and God. You do evil. Now, if you don’t commit adultery, you love God, that man, that woman, and yourself. You do good.
Thou shalt not kill. If you kill, you break God’s commandment and you have hate for others. Thou shalt not steal. If you steal from me, you hate me. If you don’t steal from me, you love me. Hey, love or following God’s commandments worketh no ill to your neighbor.
How do you love your neighbor? Do what God says.
And allow me to make this clear. Loving someone doesn’t mean giving them everything they want. For example, you might want money from me to buy cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol. You aren’t getting it from me. I am not giving you money so you can break God’s commandments.
If you lie to me about why you need the money, I give it to you, and you go and break God’s commandments by using it for something evil, this is pure evil. And I might not know, but I can guarantee you that God knows. And you weren’t following God’s commandments. He’s watching. Be very careful. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hey, thou shalt not bear false witness. Don’t lie one to another or you have hate. You don’t have love when you break God’s commandments. For example, we have love for you here because we want good for you. We follow God’s commandments here. We love you. Why would you want to do bad to us? You should want to do good to us.
Same thing with God. He’s only ever done good for you. If you’ve been punished by God as we all have, you deserved it. Everything God does is good. Everything God does is perfect.
1 John 5:2-3
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Love God and Others By Keeping the Commandments
We love God by keeping His commandments. We love others by keeping His commandments. Now, remember how we started the sermon today. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” When you follow the commandments of God, all things work together for good for you.
Do you understand that? If you won’t follow God’s commandments, things aren’t going to work together for good for you.
1 John 3:22-23
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 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.
When we are following God’s commandments and we begin to ask for the right things from God, we receive those things from God.
For example, I’m not asking for riches from God. I don’t pray and ask God for us to win the lottery. I don’t want to be rich.
Proverbs 30:8-9
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
These are commandments from the word of God. You may have not known these commandments. You might pray for riches. The Bible says, “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” That’s what we pray for. We don’t want to be poor and steal from others. We don’t want to be rich and deny God because we don’t need Him.
We Should Not Ask for Riches
If we ask for riches, we break God’s commandment. That’s not loving God. Instead we simply ask God to supply us with what we need. If we always have what we need, what more could we ask for?
1 Timothy 6:6-8
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
It’s better to be Godly by following God’s commandments. It’s better to be content with food and raiment or clothing. If we have food and clothing, we should be content or happy. That’s what the Bible says. So, we provide help with food and clothing here to those who need help with those things.
Getting your life in order is putting God first by loving Him and keeping His commandments. In order to keep His commandments you must know what they happen to be. Here’s the order of things according to God Almighty.
- STEP 1: Get saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- STEP 2: Get baptized in water.
- STEP 3: Go to a good church.
Get saved, get baptized, and go to a good church. At the church you choose, they must be teaching you the entire Bible. You must be learning the commandments of God. There’s hundreds of them. Love God is number one.
John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
After you’re saved, the first step is to get baptized in water. That’s the first step after you’re saved. If you take that step, God sees this. He sees that you are showing that you love Him. You are keeping His commandments. You continue coming to church. You are hearing the word of God preached.
You are learning from His words. You start reading your Bible to learn more. You pray to God often. You let Him know that you love Him. And you keep going to church. You keep learning His commandments. You join the church. You find your place in helping within the church. You continue doing God’s work in this community.
Show God That You Love Him
You show God that you love Him. He protects you. He takes care of you. He gives you what you need.
So, listen, we’re talking about getting your life in order. When you set the priorities in the right order, all things will work together for good for you.
The church is here to help you get saved, get baptized, and following God’s commandments on a daily basis. We are here to train you to do God’s will in your life. The work of God is a top priority. When you do the work of God by following His commandments, God is on your side. Now, listen to the perfect word of God here in Matthew Chapter 6.
Matthew 6:25-26
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
So, we’re talking about food and clothing.
Matthew 6:27-29
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:30-31
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Matthew 6:32-33
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Seek God First and All These Things Will Be Added Unto You
Seek the things of God first in your life and all these things shall be added unto you. God says He will take care of that for you. That’s God’s promise to you. Seek the things of God first.
Don’t seek money, a career, a job, a new car, a new house, video games, phones, electronics, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, men, women, jewelry, sleep, education, food, family, children or anything else over the things of God. SEEK GOD FIRST.
For example, if your job is more important than church, you’re going to have issues. If your husband is more important than soul winning, you’re going to have issues. If you’re children are more important than God, you’re going to have issues.
Get saved, get baptized, go to church, follow God’s commandments.
The church is there to help you to do what God has asked you to do. Some people will say, “Well, I don’t need to go to church.” Okay, you aren’t going to church, you aren’t following God’s commandment to do so, and you think you don’t need to do what God asked you to do?
We see the New Testament church beginning in the New Testament. We see the church in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We see the church in Acts. We see entire books of the Bible named after the churches in the New Testament. Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Those were churches.
Church Attendance is Everywhere in the New Testament
We see letters written to church leaders in 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. We see the seven churches listed in Revelation:
- Ephesus
- Smyrna
- Pergamos
- Thyatira
- Sardis
- Philadelphia
- Laodiceans
When people tell me they don’t have to come to church to follow God’s commandments, they are picking and choosing what they want to follow as they break God’s commandments. Church is everywhere in the Bible.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
We assemble together, as God designed, in a church that follows the requirements within the Bible. The leaders meet the requirements in the Bible. The church is here provoke unto love and good works. What does that mean? That means following God’s commandments. Our job here is to get you to follow God’s commandments.
And why is that? Once you’re following God’s commandments, God promises you that ALL THINGS will work together for good for you. Understand that. That’s why we’re here. We are here so that you get God’s help in your life.
We love to help, but we can’t do anything like God can do for you. We are here to teach you how to follow God’s commandments.
This is a top priority in your life because loving God is number one in your life. You will learn how to love God here.
Above other things in your life, get to church. Why? Because you learn how to love God here by following His commandments. Our job is to provoke one another unto love and good works. Good works are equal to following the commandments of God.
Get saved. Then get baptized in water. If you were baptized in water before getting saved, you should get baptized again. I did. That’s the order God wants. Then get to church as much as you possibly can. I have a lot of things to do too. And I show you the priority in my life. I get to church. I get to soul winning. I get all of this ready. I’m leading you in the right way.
We will observe the Lord’s Supper four times per year or once every three months. This is a commandment from God. If you haven’t been partaking in the Lord’s Supper, it’s time to start. That’s a commandment from the Lord God Almighty. We’re going to help you follow that commandment.
We are going to preach against sin to help you to stop doing those sins. We aren’t preaching against sin to make you feel horrible. We’re preaching against sin just as the Bible commands us to do here as leaders of this church. We want you to get things right.
Get Your Life in God’s Order
We’re going to help you get your life in the right order. That starts with putting God first, getting to church, reading your Bible, and praying to God often every day.
We will continue this series about getting your life in order, but I’m going to keep reminding you that loving God is the greatest commandment and we love God by doing what He’s asked us to do.
And listen, today is the day to start doing your absolute best for God. There’s no better day than today.
James 4:14
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
I’m telling you right now to make the absolute best of the live God gave you. He gave you this life. He tells you what He wants from you. If you decide right now to do what He’s asked you, you have a great church here to help you to do that. That’s why we’re here. Stick with us. Show up to church. God sees. God helps you.
Remember, your life is like a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanishes away. God gave you this life to show Him how much you love Him. The rest of your eternity in heaven depends on what you do right now in this life.
Choose to do good. Choose to do right. Put all the other things away. Come here. Work with us. Have the best time of your life working for God Almighty. I’m telling you right now that there will be no better choice you’ll ever make.
Let’s pray.
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