By David J. Stewart | November 2019
Matthew 22:35-39, “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
I heard a wonderful sermon today by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) called:
“THE TWO GREATEST SINS THAT ONE CAN COMMIT.” The greatest sin that a person
can commit is the breaking of the greatest commandment in the inspired Word
of God, which is: TO LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL
THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND!
And the second greatest commandment is like unto the first: THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF! Who is my neighbour? It is your enemy. It is the one that loves you and the one that hates you. Who is my neighbour? It is the one that does you good and the one that does you bad. The Bible doesn't say to love your nice neighbour, it says to love your neighbour! It doesn't say to love your loving neighbour, it says to love your neighbour! It doesn't say to love your good neighbour, it says to love your neighbour! The Bible doesn't say to love your friendly neighbour, it says to love your neighbour! It doesn't say to love your kind neighbour, it says to love your neighbour! It doesn't say to love your helpful neighbour, it says to love your neighbour! Who is my neighbour? ...
“Your neighbour is anybody on the face of this earth, a creature of almighty God; and if you do not love your neighbour as yourself, you've committed a sin worse than stealing, worse than lying, worse than murder, worse than adultery, worse than covetousness—God said it, I didn't say it, take issue with God about it! You Pharisees, take issue with God about it!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the precious sermon titled: “The Two Greatest Sins That One Can Commit”
That means no matter what kind of venomous arrow you shoot at me, I am to love you back. That means no matter how you treat me, I am to love you back. I doesn't mean to love their soul and hate their guts either! The Bible says to love others... AS YOURSELF!!!
What is man? Even the most brilliant human being among us
has only been alive for less than a century! How much can humans really know
about time and space, and the universe, and God? Oh friend, the King James
Bible is the inspired Word of God, which God has given as the greatest gift
the world has ever known. Love and truth are synonymous. Ephesians 4:15a,
“But speaking the truth in love...” Galatians 5:13, “For, brethren, ye have
been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another.” God set the
example in love, by giving His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for sins of
the world. We could never love God as much as He loves us! 1st John 4:19,
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
The Bible is God's Love Letter to the Human Race
I
wrote a love letter a couple years ago to a woman who goes to Harvest
Baptist Church on Guam that I really like. The first time I saw her she was
mowing a lawn. My heart leaped and I couldn't stop thinking about her. Her
meek and humble smile was so alluring. Her modest culottes impressed upon my
heart. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. I saw her hood open
on her pickup truck, and I went over to talk with her and offer my
assistance. She was shy but friendly, and I liked her even more. We didn't
say much, but she had my heart. Week after week I went out to cut my grass
on Saturdays, because she came to cut her grass on Saturdays, so I could be
outside with her. I would sit outside and play my guitar, when I saw her,
trying to impress her with my amateur musical skills.
I tried to figure out the best way to tell her how I felt about her. I bought some really fancy writing paper with a pretty design on it at the local stationary store, and some nice looking heart, animal and smiley stickers to put on the letter for her. It was about five pages long. I kindly told her I wanted to get to know her through a proper courtship at church, and that I was wanting to find a Christian wife. I went to Amazon.com and ordered her a really nice customized Teddy Bear, that read: “Can I Be Yours ____?” It was a cool bear! But then I began to wonder if it would get held up in the mail, so I ordered another bear from a different company, which read: “I love you ____!” And I even ordered a third bear, which had no message on it, because I so much wanted to tell her how I felt about her, and I didn't want to wait 6-8 weeks for a bear to arrive...lol! I'm not good with my audible words, so the bear route was the way for me to go, and a heartfelt letter. I so much wanted to let her know how I feel about her (and still feel), and I planned to give her all the bears, over time. As I mentioned, I am not too good with my audible words (because I get nervous and put my foot in my mouth), but I am good with my written words (because I have time to think). That is my gift in the Spirit, writing.
Finally, the day came, and my heart was beating 200 times a minute. I showered and put on my best clothes to meet her. I nervously walked across the street with the Teddy Bear (with the imprinted affectionate message on it), and a gift package which contained a DVD of Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible. I also gave her one of my favorite music CD recordings by Evangelists' Bruce And Sammy Frye in North Carolina called: “ONE DAY CLOSER HOME.” My favorite song is track number 3: “Lord Of My Heart.” I had heard the inspirational song on Harvest Baptist Church's 88.1 FM KHMG radio station, and back in 2014 I ordered 35 copies bulk quantity for half price from Faith Music Missions in Indiana, which I gave away at HBC to people I sat next to or knew. I still had 3 or 4 CD's left, so I gave her one also, because I wanted to share my heart with her, and a song that I like. And I gave her a King James Bible, because it is also dear to my heart. I told her I was hoping to get to know her through a proper courtship. I am a very expressive person, 100% sincere, a truth-teller, and I speak what's in my heart. I have never felt it wrong or improper to tell the truth about one's feelings. My high school teacher taught me something that I have never forgotten. She said: “David, if you like someone, you should tell them!” I am glad she gave me that good advice.
To my dismay, I found the first bear with a letter by my door that evening, telling me never to contact her again. I was brokenhearted. When she gave the first bear back, I couldn't keep the bears in the house. They haunted me. I gave them all away in the collection box for the poor, at Post Net. She told me never to contact her again, so I respect her wishes. I always wave to her when I see her, but that is all I can do. Just seeing her makes me heart leap. It hurts to love someone, and you want to be with that person, but they don't feel the same. That is how God feels when someone rejects His love letter (the Bible). I love Jesus more than anyone in this world, but I have never met Him. I have never seen Him. I don't know what His voice sounds like. All I know is what the Holy Bible tells me about Him (John 5:39). You don't have to know a person well to love them. I have web visitors around the world who dearly love me, but have never met me. I have had countless web visitors invite me to stay in their homes, if I ever travel and need a place to stay. Did you know that the word “ LOVE” appears 283 times in the Old Testament, and 263 times in the New Testament? God is love! I can relate to Michael P. Bowen's book, “I NEVER KNEW YOU” (an awesome .PDF book), in which he shares his own frustrations of not being able to find a wife, and effectively applies it to the Gospel.
Being in love with someone is painful if they don't love you back. Yet, there is a greater form of love, which is God's unconditional love. I saw my wannabe-wife (I don't like the term girlfriend) having a family party one night, and although in my heart I wished I could be part of their festivities, I rejoiced in my soul knowing that she was having a good time. That is real love, when you desire for someone else to be happy, even if you are not. When I see her, I feel like I have two left feet, and my heart aches to spend my life with her, but all I can do is wave to say hello. She is at the top of my prayer list. I pray for everyone in my life, even if I only see them in passing. It would break my heart to see her with another guy, but that is life. I knew a middle-aged Christian man in Chicago who used to come down to the rescue Mission, who was engaged to his fiancée, but at the last minute she broke it off and went and married another man, and the poor brokenhearted man commit suicide. Kindly, women are fickle. I trust that God will find me a companion, in His time.
I shared this story with you, to relate to God's love for humanity. God aches in His heart for everyone to be saved. 2nd Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” I do not believe that I could feel more compassion, longing and love for a woman, than our great God would for a lost sinner to repent and come to Christ. Even if she doesn't want me, I still love her with God's unconditional love, which surpasses all human love. God knows that if I found out she has cancer, I would still marry her in a heartbeat. That is God's love! I am shy by nature, and quiet, until I get to know someone, and then you can't shut me up...lol. I am thankful for God's love. Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
It is pouring down rain right now, and I can wonderfully hear the rain splashing on the ground outside my door. I absolutely love when it rains, and I always have. I love snow too but it has never snowed on Guam! There will never come a time when our love for God will exceed God's love for us! Only God can love me the way I desire to be loved. God loves us so much, that He chose to literally live inside our spirit, soul and body in the form of the blessed Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). God the Father, and God the Son, live inside me as God the Spirit. There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), but He exists in three Persons. Modalism is a Devil's lie that says God does not exist in three individual persons, but He does! When every believer dies and goes to Heaven, we will see Jesus sitting on the right-hand of the Father. We will see them both! Colossians 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” That is beautiful.
There is nothing sweeter than walking with God, and there is
nothing more lonely than living in sin and knowing that you are out of
fellowship with the Lord. I am speaking about fellowship here and not
sonship. We become an adopted son of God by receiving Christ as our personal
Savior (John 1:12); and then we follow on in believer's discipleship and
fellowship with the Lord by obeying the Scriptures. In order to obey the
Scriptures we must first “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES” to know them (John 5:39).
Amen! By searching the Scriptures, we get to know Jesus. John 5:39,
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life:
and they are they which testify of me.” Revelation
19:10, “...for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.” The Bible contains 31% prophecy; whereas the
Muslim Koran contain 0% (that's right, zilch, nada, NONE!). This is but one
of thousands of compelling evidences that the Bible is the inspired Word of
God. 
