I invite you to turn tonight in your Bibles to Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter 12, as we are continuing our reflections in what we believe and confess, working through a whole treatment of our faith in the year, the Heidelberg Catechism, and we are moving into tonight the second Lord's Day 2, the second Lord's Day. You'll find that on page 872 as I will read those question and answers. But we're beginning with tonight the important section here on Mark chapter 12 and the greatest commandment, which is the heart. And you'll notice even a proof text for our reflections tonight. Beginning at verse 28. And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, the most important is, hear, O Israel, Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbors yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him, you are right, teacher. You have truly said that he is one and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom of God. After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. There ends the reading of God's Word. Actually, we're going to pick up in the second question answer of the Heidelberg. I'll be reading these, and then we'll move into part one, which is our misery in Lord's Day 2. And that first question, after we considered our only comfort in life and in death, the next question is, how many things must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort? And there are three. First, how great my sin and misery are. Second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery. Third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance. And then in Lord's Day 2, how do you come to know your misery? The law of God tells me. What does God's law require of us? Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22, 37 through 40. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the greatest and first commandment and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Can you live up to all this perfectly? No. I'm inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor. Tonight we continue in this great reflection of what we confess and what we believe in these question and answers that we have known for a long time and it's important to do this as I gave that justification last time to have a fresh look at this for I'm convinced all the more that in our day this is so needed for the church here at large and for those who here to have a basic understanding of the faith. And here you'll notice here that as we have studied the Heidelberg Catechism breaks this down into three categories as it works through a whole treatment of Christian doctrine through guilt, grace, and gratitude. That's the whole structure of the book of Romans, which the catechism was based off of. And the reason that's important is to understand a basic breakdown of our faith. What's beautiful about this is, is that the Christian faith is not difficult to understand. It's a very simple message, isn't it? And that's why question answer two is so important when it asks the question, what must you know to live and die in the joy of discomfort, and we have to know certain things. We have to understand certain things, and even a child can begin to understand some of these things, and they grow in these things, and in maturity then profess their faith at the right time, having a full understanding of what the gospel is all about. And notice that we have to have in this first part of the catechism, a good understanding of our sin. Now, that's one of the challenges, isn't it? Because if anything that we have often been accused of, maybe it's being too strong on sin and talking about sin all the time, and I'm not convinced that's so. I guess that depends on the context of where you've been and what churches you've been raised in, and sometimes there was. It was all about sin, and then there was little grace, and then it was all about sin and grace, and then there was little thankful living. There was no application. And that's why this is breaking down. Even the law of God, you'll notice, is put in the explanation of it in the third part of how to live thankfully to the Lord, the application section, the thanksgiving section of the catechism. But tonight we're beginning with where we should begin. How do you come to know your sin and misery? And that's a really important thing to consider because God has given us a great tool to know that. And what you're going to see tonight is it's not just some intellectual agreement with it. It's not just saying, yeah, I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner. It's far more than that. That's why going back to Mark tonight is so important and especially because of the use of the law that we're considering here. Typically, you know, there's three uses of the law that have been accepted throughout history. especially in the Reformed churches. There's the first use of the law where it's exposing our sin, it's confronting our sin, and it's a tutor to lead us to Jesus. And then you have the second use that's been understood as that which restrains evil in society. And then you have the third use of the law, which guides us in how we live as redeemed believers. Very important, isn't it? So when we're looking at the law in this first section, we're looking at what it does to crush us. The law has an intention to show us the human heart and the depths of what's going on there. And that's really important. And that's why we see tonight Jesus doing with the law frequently in the scriptures. Frequently in his contact with people. He was using the law a specific way to achieve a specific outcome, and one of those that is in front of us tonight here is in Mark chapter 12. I want to work through that a bit, and you'll see that exactly what is here is exactly what is being pointed out in Lord's Day 2, such an important passage tonight. You have in this particular section all of these experts of the law coming to Jesus trying to test him to see if they could catch him in a trap. But there was one particular scribe who was a remarkable man, a scribe that is not like the other scribes in the scriptures. This scribe was a thoughtful man, a thinking man, a somewhat humble man. And we get the sense that as Jesus is teaching, this particular scribe has been studying Jesus. He's been listening to Jesus. He's been rather taken by Jesus. He's beginning to be won over by Jesus. Well, after this great dispute, it's a really big moment that one of the scribes came up, hearing them all disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he is answering their questions, he asks him a question. Which commandment is the most important of all? What makes this particular scribe in this particular moment so important in Mark's gospel and elsewhere as these things are shown to us is the sincerity of this particular scribe. He's different that way. He's not coming to catch Jesus. He's not coming with real attitude. He's thinking about these things. And he's thinking about, particularly, which is interesting, priorities in this. The law is what Israel and the leaders always discussed. The law is what they sat around debating all the time. And if you were to boil down the entire law, this is the question that they were wrestling with. This was the question they would often discuss. What is the first and what is the greatest commandment? And they had 613 of them. Imagine this must be exciting council meetings when that's all it was, right? Sitting around discussing the law all night and arguing about it. Who would want that? That's what they did. And this man, seeing how wise Jesus is, comes to Jesus and asks this, I think, in real sincerity. Would you tell us what is the most important commandment? This shows real thoughtfulness. I think in this particular man is real integrity. Jesus answers in a fascinating way, doesn't he? In verse 29. First of all, the first of all the commandments, Jesus answered, the most important is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than these. He joins them and he puts them in order of priority. And that was the second question and answer in Lord's Day 2 that is quoted from Matthew. So what Jesus has done is taken something very familiar in Israel's history that they love to do. This was not an unfamiliar passage in what they called the Shema, which is the Hebrew word for hear. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one. And then he takes Deuteronomy 6-4 and combines it with Leviticus 19-18 and this great text of love. You shall love God and you shall love your neighbor. So we know the tables of the law we talk about. First table being those four commandments that tell us how to love God. And the second, telling us how to love one another. It's really pretty basic stuff, isn't it? At the beginning of the synagogue services, the Jews would say the Shema, and to this day, you walk into a Jewish synagogue, it's still practiced. This is what they do. It's still observed. And Jesus summarizes this by saying all true religion in this life is summarized and may be performed this way, by loving the Lord your God and loving your neighbors who are created in his image. When you do that, you're not even going to have to really debate all these other commandments. They'll fall into place. Really beautiful, isn't it? No objection to this. Something that flowed right out of the law of Moses. The Shema held a port in place. But here's what makes this discussion so remarkable tonight. Listen to what they're talking about. He hears Jesus, and he's appreciating the beauty of the commandment. It really is. Stay with me on this. I don't think sometimes we hear the commandment, and as often the biblical writers would say, oh, how we love your law, oh Lord. Sometimes I think we just hear the no, the no, the no. Absolutely true. When you read the Ten Commandments, you shall not, you shall not. And for sinners, that puts us a little bit on guard. But what you'll notice here is that this becomes a real discussion, which makes this discussion unique about the beauty of what's being required of us. What the law is requiring of us. What is the law requiring of us? Love. Love. It's a wonderful statement. The scribe hears this in verse 32. And he says, you're right, teacher. You are right. You have said that he's one. There's no other besides him. And to love him, listen to this, with all the heart and with all the understanding and with, notice the repetition of all here, And to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. That is a remarkable response to Jesus. Amazing response. Teacher. Excellent. I love what you just said. There's real understanding in this scribe. This is truly amazing. He's excited about this. You can almost sense the joy in what he just heard. He's saying, you are absolutely right, teacher. The law is all about love. Now, this isn't always how people heard the law. That's, I think, the marvel of this. You could talk about the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and kind of pompously says, you know what shall I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus says you want to try to earn that here's here's the standard and then he gives them him the law and what was his response back done it and then Jesus crushes him with the covetousness of his heart having to sell his possessions and he walks away sad that there was no grasp of love there there's something very unique about this particular discussion others were just concerned about the externals of the law In other words, if you looked the look and you talked the talk and you looked it and everything was right externally and you kept everything to a T and you performed the sacrifices and offerings to a T, love really wasn't at the heart of what motivated people. It was the external application of the law. But this guy, he's getting to the spirit of it. That the true bond, as it should be, as from the beginning between God and man, humankind, is love. He came to Jesus not trying to test him about taxes. Not about laws of marriage. Remember all these discussions where they come to try to pin Jesus with all these complex issues? He came to Jesus with the highest and single most important question that could ever have been asked by anyone. And there's even more shocking is the addition that he says, excellent, you're absolutely correct. God is one and he deserves worship. Wow. This guy's really getting it. This guy is remarkable. To love God, that has more value than anything else. It's the highest, purest act of devotion to love him and to worship him with that kind of love. To have everything that you do so directed at him. You can't help and stop but think about the alls here. You know, think of those ten words where those first four commandments that have to do with love of God. That you have no idols in your life. And that you have set aside every other idol. with pure and constant all affection you have devoted yourself to the Lord and to his worship and you have set aside any other worship of anything else you've worshipped him with all your heart according to his word you have honored that name you have put him first you have made his holy day set apart and you have loved him in it you have given yourself to it you have immersed yourself in the word you love him and then you've given yourself to love your neighbor. To never have an evil thought in your heart against your neighbor. Never lust after anyone else that's not your spouse. Never take anything that's not yours. To never use your words improperly. To have all your desires. All of who we are, he says, that is right. That's the standard. loving even the most unlovable, loving not just hypocritically. What I love about this enthusiastic man is he knows that the essence of love comes from where? The heart. That it needs to come out of that heart. It's found in the heart. It's better than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. In other words, I could make every worship service for the rest of my life, And that if it's not done from the heart, it's not right. See what he's understanding here? This guy's remarkable. I hear the words of 1 Samuel that we studied. Has the Lord great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. And he says, that's right. And the summary of it all is love. Get the point. I mean, he really gets it. So here we are, all, all, all. What if I left the sermon at this point? It's 536. You guys could go home early tonight. What if I just left at this point and said, go do it? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself. would you be happy with that? I guess that's not really the question. Maybe you're feeling the weight of that and say, yeah, pastor, you're right. I'm getting what Christianity finally is all about. It's about love. How would we be if I stopped? The rich young ruler heard the law and the first part of it he could get and felt pretty good afterward and then he heard one command and it just didn't set in. Walked away sad. Here's what is the big moment in this particular passage tonight. It's one of the most unique responses of Jesus, I think, in the scriptures having to do with how he dealt with people with law and gospel preaching. Remember, the scriptures come to us in two words, law and gospel. The law says do, the gospel says done. The law says here's the standard. The gospel says Jesus has met that standard. The law has all the weighty requirements that are set before us, and it requires of us, and the gospel says that's why Jesus came. So this guy gets love is the essence of the law. We ought to love God with all, all, all, all, heart, soul, mind, and strength. Unlike anyone I've seen in the scriptures, With a remarkable understanding, Jesus responds. He said to him, verse 34, when Jesus heard that he answered wisely, you are not far from the kingdom of God. Huh? Would you want to hear that? Would you want to hear you're almost in? What comes to your mind? Is that a positive statement? It sounds kind of positive, doesn't it? It sounds like, well, I'm close. You're not far from the kingdom. If this were a football game, and you were in the Super Bowl, and you're fourth and one, and you're at the end zone, and you just got to get over the line, and you never make it, and at the end of the game, the announcer comes up and says, you almost made it. Would you feel good about that? No? You'd feel like you were the greatest failure if you were the quarterback under the sun. You're almost in. You've almost made it. There's something about this man and his heart that is fascinating to me because he's so sincere. This is not an arrogant guy. This is a good guy. The others are concerned to put Jesus to the test for their own self-righteousness. And with all the wrong issues, they haven't even really started to run toward the end zone. This guy, this guy's there. He's just got a yard to go. You see, he begins with his understanding, not just intellectually. But what the requirement of the law is coincides with what is required from the heart. And I think this is the most important moment. For what do we make of it? Sure, the substance of the law, we notice the summary of the law is love from a pure heart. To enter the kingdom requires then what? What does entering the kingdom require? Love. Love with everything of who you are. Now, do you see why the Catechism is so helpful tonight? How do you come to know your sin and misery? The law of God tells me. Well, here it is. What is that law? Love. Love with all your faculties. Love with all of who you are. Love perfectly, and you'll cross the line. can you do it? Nope. Not even close. See, here's the great problem with humanity. Can you live up to all this perfectly? No. Actually, what comes out of our hearts because of the fall of sin is hatred for God and hatred for neighbor. And we live in that struggle our whole life under the sun. That's our whole struggle under the sun, A struggle with God and a struggle with one another. And anyone who tells me I have loved perfectly is the very problem going on all throughout the scriptures. This is a big problem. What if you don't love perfectly? You're not going to pass over the line. One pastor said intellectual convictions need to pass over to the influence of his heart and life. When God's law does not, I mean, God's law transfers over to the heart, there then comes something that we haven't seen in this man. And that's why it leaves this passage wide open. What does it pass over when God's law really gets into the heart? From the mind into the heart comes what? Conviction. Conviction. It has to move to real conviction. Remember Paul in Romans 7? This is one of the best passages to prove this. Where he says in Romans 7 verse 9, I was alive once without the law. Well, he had the law. What he says, I was doing great. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. What do you mean when the commandment came? Meaning, when I was the prodigal son, I took my father's inheritance and I ran off into the pigsty and I'm eating the pods of the pig. And then one day I came to myself. You ever wonder what that meant? Paul's describing it. When the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which I thought was to bring life, brought death. For sin taking the occasion by the commandment deceived me and it killed me. So what Paul is saying there in Romans 7 is, I thought great of myself in life. I didn't think there was a problem under the sun with my life. I was alive without that law coming home to my heart. Paul was essentially saying, I thought great, and you guys all, you know this in your lives. There was a time in your life you didn't see anything, and you ran and did what you ever wanted to do, and you were involved in all kinds of sins, and you justified it, and you said, God's okay with it, and you did all this stuff, and there was no conviction. That's why it's the worst thing when someone comes up and says, don't judge me. well, okay, right, I'm not really the one, but God's law is. And God's law searches deep within the recesses of the heart, and this is exactly what should happen. And this is what we have here. Paul was describing, he would say, I would get out of my bed every morning, and I would be about my business, and it never occurred to me that I was headed for hell. And that's the sadness of what's going on in the world today. These people have missed the biggest problem, the biggest injustice of their own sin. And that's why Paul says, if anyone thinks they're better than me, listen, I was circumcised the eighth day. I was of the stock of Israel. I was of the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Concerning the law, Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Concerning righteousness, listen to this. Concerning righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. Paul says, In my estimation, there was a time where I thought I was blameless if you put the law in front of me. Bad sign. Wouldn't it be a tragedy to live your whole life never entering the kingdom and thinking that you're such a good person? You're in. You see, this is what the purpose of the law is. Its first use is to say, you're condemned. And when we receive that, what kind of heart does that produce when conviction has set in? Remember it in your life? I can speak of it. The first time I began to have real conviction over sin in my life. It's a scary moment. This is the difference from the rich young ruler, what must I do to inherit eternal life, just tell me what I need to do, where when Peter preached in Acts and preached Jesus and preached the law, they asked a far different question. What must we do to be saved? They were cut to the heart. That's what we need in Christianity today more than ever, beloved. People cut to the heart. And the reason that's not happening is because we have abandoned talking about sin in the law. Not even read in churches today. See the importance of it? You see it on the cross when one of the criminals who was there blaspheming Jesus, saying, if you're the Christ, save yourself. But the other rebuked him saying, listen to this. Do you not even fear God, seeing we are together under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds. But this man, Jesus, he's never sinned. He's never done anything wrong. And then he looks at Jesus and he says, Lord, would you remember me when you entered your kingdom? And Jesus says, assuredly I say to you, that one will be in glory with me in paradise today. See what happened? He crossed the line. He crossed the line. He entered the kingdom right then and there. Because he was the one who said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He understood it. He crossed over. The only way we cross over is grace, Jesus carrying us in through his life. And that's why the beauty of the whole structure of the catechism is once we've come to understand our sin, original sin which we're going to go through, and how bad the problem is, then we are overtaken by the grace of God who would love us this way to give such a rich gift and even give us, as we heard this morning, the faith to believe. Lord, I'm guilty. I agree with your law. It's good. Love your law. But my human heart isn't. And I have sinned against you in many ways. Are you ever distressed over your sins? Ever think, I've done so many things in my life I'm ashamed of? You look at a world right now spinning out of control with no answer and you wonder, I haven't even taken my faith that seriously? Does the burden of the guilt at times hit you? You feel like a giant failure? Do you feel the weight of this? Yeah, I haven't loved you, and I haven't loved my neighbor the way I know I should. All these calls in the Bible to come to me, says Jesus, are full assurances to you that he will forgive and wipe away all your sins. As far as the east is from the west, So far have I taken that mound of sins in your life and cast them into the sea. That's the depths of his love. And that's why we need to hear the law so we understand how much we need that love. Let's thank the Lord together tonight in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for instructing us in your truth, guiding us in its light, and for caring to give us this great and holy standard which reflects your holy character that we might see ourselves and begin to see ourselves as you do. And then all the more to fall in repentance, realizing, Lord, as the law has done its work, how much we need the grace of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Forgive our sins tonight. We desire deeply to love you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we desire to love our neighbor as ourself with everything of who we are. and we don't hide the fact, we don't act pompously or proudly that we have done this ourselves. We have failed, and we have sinned. And our cry tonight is, God, be merciful to us sinners. And we know that the one who cried out with that prayer crossed the line for that very night, said Jesus. He went home justified. Hear our prayer. And thank you, O Lord, for your law, and the gospel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.