The Impossible Command I would like to begin today by asking you a question. Have you experienced being asked to do something which you know is impossible? Ever been commanded to a task which is beyond human ability? Perhaps, you were in the office. It was about 5.30 in the evening. You had a full schedule. You were very tired. You had been looking towards the end of the day. All you wanted to do is to get home. Then, out of nowhere. Out of the blue. Ring. Ring. Ring. Your boss called you. "Hello. Yes, boss. Yes, I understand what you want. Yes, I will have it for you. First thing in the morning, boss" You were angry. Frustrated. Don't really know what to do. He had given you a task. He wants it completed by the first thing tomorrow morning. You sized it up. You know that it will take you about 20 hours at least to do it. It is impossible. But you did not want to upset him. So, you did not say a thing. But deep in your heart, you know that this is an impossible command. Perhaps you are a student. It is Friday. You were looking forward to the weekend. All of a sudden, the mathematics teacher gave all of you an assignment of 500 problem questions to do. To be submitted on Monday. You know that this is an impossible task. You did not want to waste your weekend. You would rather go out with your friends. Come Monday. Teacher asked whether anyone has done all the 500 questions. No one. He asked how many the class had done. One boy did 20. The most number done. He got a prize from teacher. You thought to yourself. I could have done 25. But you did not do anything. You did not know teacher was trying to teach an important lesson for life. You missed out because you had thought this was an impossible command. Well, you may think that an impossible command can only come from a nasty person such as your boss. After all, he had been asking for impossible deadlines. Or perhaps a nutty professor such as your teacher. But, what if ….what if the command comes from God? God, whom you know, is good all the time. God, who is loving. God, who is understanding. God, who is reasonable. What if an impossible command comes from God? But why would God issue an impossible command? Why would He do it? It is not like Him. Why God call us to do something which He knows we cannot. Today, we will see what this command is and why it is impossible. We will also see why God has issued it. What is his reason for giving us an impossible command? And come to an understanding of how we should respond to this impossible command. What direction should we go with this impossible command? It's Jesus himself who gives us God's impossible command. During his ministry on earth, Jesus was often challenged by the Jews. Their leaders wanted to trap him, so they asked him all sorts of questions. Questions they hoped would prove he was a heretic. Questions they hoped he would find difficult to answer. One of their questions was about which is the greatest of all God's commands. And Jesus answered with two quotations from the OT. And his reply gives us God's impossible command. It's given to us in Matthew 22:37-40. Let's turn and read it: Here is God's impossible command. MT 22:37 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." The impossible command from God is this commandment, the Great Commandment. But how can this be, pastor? All good Christians are expected to fulfill this commandment. So, how can the Great Commandment be an impossible commandment? This is heresy. Is it? The Great Commandment is to love God completely. And to love others compassionately. It is the fulfillment of the Law. It is to do what the Prophets have called us to. If we can fulfill the requirements of this commandment, we will fulfill the requirements of all the other commandments. But can we fulfill this commandment? Do you love God completely? Is there anything that has captured your attention more than God has? Ever been distracted and found yourself wandering away from God? Ever felt spiritually dry? When you receive your pay packet, is giving to God the first thing on your mind? Which do you choose - attending a prayer meeting or a party with a friend? How much time do you spend with God each day? Do you really love God completely? You may say. But, pastor, I love God. Yes, but the point in this commandment is not whether you love God. It is whether you love God completely - with your heart - with your soul - with your mind. With every inch of your being so much so that nothing matters except God Himself. Nothing is so important except doing the will of God. Nothing is more desirable than fulfilling the Word of God. Do you love God completely? Is this command easy? Is it even possible to fulfill? or is it an impossible command? Do you love others compassionately? Have you ever had ill feelings towards your parents? How old are your parents? Retired? Do you ensure their material comforts? Have you ever said anything bad about someone else and murdered their character? Do you rejoice with your colleague when he was promoted and not you? Have you ever taken advantage of someone? Do you really love others as yourself? Is this command that possible? or is it an impossible command? Indeed, if we are honest. If we can be totally open about it. We will say that we do not love God and others as we should. We have tried and tried and tried. Every time we hear a sermon exhorting us to love we have tried. Before long however we know that we have not succeeded. We have failed. We think there is something wrong with us. We do not realize that God has purposefully given us an impossible command But why would He do that? Why would God give us a command which He knows we cannot fulfill? Why would He say that this is the greatest of all commandments? Why would He call us to it when He knows that there is no chance - no chance for us to meet its requirements? Why has God given us an impossible command? Like the maths teacher - it is to teach us an important lesson for life. Firstly the reason for the Law - the reason for the Great Commandment - the reason for this impossible command is to show that we are sinners. That we have come short of the glory of God. That we have rebelled against God. That we are cut off from God. If there is no law we would not know sin. If there is no law, we would not know when we do something wrong. If there is no law, we would not know what is right and what is wrong. If there is no single white line along a road we would know that we are not allowed to park along that road. If there is no law to say that the tanks of our cars must be three quarter full when we cross the Causeway all of us will go to JB with empty tanks. If there is no law to prohibit smoking in some areas we will all be breathing polluted air. We would not know what is right and what is wrong. We would not know what is expected of us. If God did not say that fornication is wrong we will be like animals. If God did not say that stealing is wrong we will treat people's things like our own. So, the law of God is given - the Great Commandment calling us to love - so that we will know what is expected of us by God - so that we will know what He requires of us. But on our own, we can't. it is an impossible command because we are sinners. Sinners who can never meet the requirements of God. Secondly, the reason for the Great Commandment - the reason for God giving us the impossible command is to show us how much we need Jesus. Where we can't on our own fulfill the Great Commandment, through Jesus Christ we can. He has fulfilled it on our behalf. He has fulfilled the requirements of this impossible command. Through Jesus therefore the impossible command has become possible. On our own it will continue to remain impossible but with Him we have met God's requirements. The Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Jews have got it all wrong. They thought it possible for them to fulfill the impossible command. But they end up just as white-washed tombs no matter how hard they try. Good to look at from the outside but on the inside just dead men's bones. The impossible command is impossible so long as we do not have Jesus. Well, what are we to do with this impossible command? How are we to respond to it? What direction do we go? Is the Law and the Great Commandment then irrelevant when we are Christians? All we need is Jesus. We do not need the commandments. This teaching has been going around in Singapore. Magenaito. Magenaito. Say to the one next to you. Magenaito. This is what the apostle Paul would say. God forbids. Never even think about it. The Law. The Commandments of God. The Great Commandments. They are the standards by which we as Christians should live by. Without them we would not know what God requires of us. But with them, we know how we should live. However, along the route to the fulfillment of the Great Commandment should we fall, should we make a mistake, should we breach one of the commandments, we should never allow anyone to condemn us. Nor should we ever condemn ourselves. God does not. In Jesus there is now no more condemnation. God knows that we will make mistakes. He does not condemn us. So, we should never condemn ourselves. Alex loves God. After he came to Christ, he started attending church. He began to get involved and began to serve. Alex had however been a smoker and a social drinker for many years before. The leaders of the church however were critical of him. You should stop smoking. Alcohol is a no no for Christians. Alex felt bad about it. He tried to kick the habit. He gave up drinking relatively easy. Don't go out with the boys. Spend more time with the guys in church. They are not into that habit. So he kicked the habit fast. However when it came to smoking, it was a real struggle. The church leaders did not allow for God to transform him. Instead they continued to apply pressure on him. Alex felt that there was something wrong with his spirituality. He knows that he should not. He knows what he ought to do and what he should not. Yet he struggled because the opposite kept on happening. He then evaluated the command about loving God, loving himself and loving others after his pastor had preached on it one Sunday. He felt totally disgusted with himself. He found that the very things that he wants are the things that he found difficulties in. He felt unworthy of the company of his church friends. After all, the leaders were not after them. They were after him. So, he started to miss out on cell group meetings. This went on for a few weeks. One Sunday, after a heavy week of work, he overslept and did not make it to church. He felt more comfortable with that than to face those church leaders. So, eventually he dropped out of church totally. Condemnation. Have we the right to condemn others? Should we ever? Should we even condemn ourselves? Especially when God knows that the commandments are impossible. Impossible for us on our own to fulfill. Should we then forget about trying to fulfill the commandments of God? By no means. The impossible command does not give us the excuse to continue to live in sin. Rather, the impossible command shows us how hopeless we are on our own and how much we must draw near to God through Jesus. A proper understanding of the Great Commandment should draw out a greater appreciation of God. A deeper thankfulness to Him for what He has done for us through Christ. A greater hunger for us to seek Him and His righteousness. However, through our pursuit of God and His ways, should we make a mistake, we should never condemn ourselves. Neither should we allow anyone to condemn us. Like the lesson from the maths teacher, it is our attitude that is important. How do we treat God's impossible command. Just cast it aside and do whatever we want. Or do we do our level best to try and do it. God has through Jesus Christ make the impossible command possible. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to help us. To empower us to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. I have found this to be true throughout my Christian life. Every time I do something wrong. Every time I think of something wrong. Every time I have the wrong motives in my heart. I will feel the Holy Spirit convicting me. A still small voice within me telling me that it is wrong. If I have already committed the offence I confess and move on in God. I feel convicted. Not condemned. If it comes before the offence, it is really up to me to obey. Most of the time I obey. I say most of the time because I had disobeyed. When I do, I suffer the consequences but I repent thereafter. It is far better to obey. I have learnt that and am still learning it. So, friends, God does indeed give us an impossible command. The impossible command - the Great Commandment - it is to show us that we are sinners and how much we need Jesus. It is through Jesus that the impossible command becomes possible. Today, let us confess our need for the Lord. Let us draw near to Him. Let us approach Him today with a deeper hunger for Him. Let us approach Him with thanks. Let us praise the Lord forever more..

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