“For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32).

One of the biggest objections to the gospel invitation to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior is that people are offended that they are viewed as sinners. “What do you mean, calling me a sinner? I am a good person! Just ask anyone. It’s not like I’ve raped or murdered anyone!”

Our world has been programed to think that people are inherently good. But this view is the polar opposite of the view of the Bible and here is the reason why.

Most people think of sin in degrees. But the Bible doesn’t look at sin that way.

We are told that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). How can the Bible say that?

Sin is not graded on a curve but based on God’s absolutely holiness. Let me explain this way. Even the worst murderer in the history of humankind doesn’t murder every day and every waking moment. In fact, if we were to look at how much time the worst murderer in the history of humankind spent murdering compared to the times that he was not murdering, the times of not murdering would surpass the moments spent murdering by thousands of minutes and seconds. It would be incomparable.

But how many times must a person murder in order to be a murderer? Just once.

It would be ludicrous for the murderer to argue that he shouldn’t be deemed a murderer just because of one momentary lapse. In fact, 99.9999999999999% of his life he’s never murdered. So, why would anyone hold that .0000000000001% of his life against him?

That would be a ludicrous defense.

But that’s what people say to God. I am basically a good person. Most of my life is not spent on sinning. I do mundane things most of my time, I do a whole lot of good, and sure there are times when I mess up but it pales in comparison to the mundane and the good.

How many times must a person sin to become a sinner? Just once.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It’s not about sin in degrees or sin based on a curve or averages.

This is why the salvation Jesus offers sinners is such good news. Jesus promises to take on the wrath of God to punish sinners. God doesn’t take pleasure in judgment. He wants us to repent and live!

Hear and receive the good news of Jesus Christ. We are sinners in need of a Savior. The Savior has a name. He is Jesus Christ. Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

“Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD” (Psalm 117).

Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible. It is only two verses long. But this short chapter contains some amazing truths about the purpose of life.

The Psalm opens with a call to worship – “Praise the LORD.” Praise the LORD is actually only one word in the Hebrew – hallelujah. When the Jews heard “Hallelujah,” they knew that they were being called and summoned to praise and worship God.

Notice that the English translations of the Bible write the word Lord in two ways. There are times when God is referred to as the Lord, and then there are times when God is referred to as the LORD. What’s the difference? The Hebrew language had two words/names/titles for God that are translated as Lord in the English.

• elohim – is always written as “Lord” in the English. This word can be translated as Lord, God, gods, ruler, goddess
• yhwh – is always written as “LORD” in the English. This name for God is both untranslatable and unutterable. It is the proper name God gives himself. The best we can do is to understand the name of God as “He who is.”

Next, we are told who is called to “Praise the LORD.” “All you peoples.” All ya’ll peoples. That pretty much covers every single human being who ever lived. All…ya’ll…peoples.

Finally, we are given the reason for praising God – “For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.”

• We worship God because his love for us is great
• We worship God because his faithfulness endures forever

Spend some time this morning on those two qualities of God – God’s love for sinners and God’s amazing faithfulness toward repeat sinners.

When I ponder how God can love a repeat sinner like me, I can’t help but worship God.

The Psalm opened with a call to worship. And it ends with a call to worship – Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD!!!

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31).

A lawyer approached Jesus and asked him a question: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” In essence, the lawyer was asking Jesus, “If you could summarize all of the scriptures into one statement, what would that be?”

Jesus answers this question in typical fashion: Jesus quotes Scripture.

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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 a direct citation of Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The Jews called it the
“shema.” Shema is the Hebrew word for “listen.” This prayer was quoted by Jews everyday to remember who they were as children of God and what their purpose for life was.

But Jesus continues. He adds, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” This is a direct citation of Leviticus 19:18.

Jesus does something fascinating by putting these two citations together. Jesus shows us how a person is to “Love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind and with all their strength.” They love God by loving their neighbor as they love themselves. In fact it is impossible to love God without loving people. Simply impossible.

The writer of 1 John tells us, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20).

As you know the Greeks had at least four words that are translated as love in the English. Guess which Greek word our passages use regarding love? Yup. You guessed it. Agape.

Love is not a feeling. Love is not an emotion we passively feel. Love is a willful and deliberate decision to desire the best for the other. That is unconditional love.

Love God? You love God’s people.