Let us begin reading there in
the thirty-third verse of the eighth chapter. This thirty-third verse is a
response from the Jews to and some things our Lord had to say
about who He was. And if they believed not that
He was the Christ, that they would die in their sins. And they had kind of a false
idea that because they were of the literal and lineal descent
of Abraham, that entitled them to certain priorities. And this is their answer to that. They answered him, We be Abraham's
seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou,
Ye shall be made free? See, the verse prior to this
says, Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free. Well, they were ignorant of what he was talking about. They said, well, we were never
in bondage. We are Abraham's seed. Never in bondage to any
man. Now, what made you say, Ye shall
be made free? Jesus answered them, said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house forever, but
the Son abideth ever. Now, if the Son therefore shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's
seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place
in you. I speak that which I have seen
with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your
father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father.
They kept insisting that this entitled them to certain benefits
because of the fact that they were of Abraham's lineage. They
answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father. Jesus said unto them,
if you were Abraham's children, if you really belonged to Abraham
now, you would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill
me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard
of God." This did not Abraham. Abraham did not act this way,
yet you say you are his children. If you were his children, why,
you would do the works of your father. Now, verse 41, Jesus
said, Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they unto him,
We be not born unto fornication, We have but one Father, even
God. Jesus said unto them, If God
were your Father, you would love me. If God were your Father,
you would love me. Now, no man has the right to call
God his Heavenly Father unless he loves the Lord Jesus. That's
very plain here, isn't it? It doesn't take too much spiritual discernment or intellectual
understanding to come to that conclusion from what that verse
says. And of course, this not only
applies to the literal Jews of the time of the Savior, but it
applies to us right now. If God were your Father, you'd
love me. If God is our Father, then we
would love the Lord Jesus Christ. So, no man has the right or is
entitled to say God is his Father unless he be in love with the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it says. Well, I
want to talk to you a little bit about that this morning,
about love to the Lord Jesus Christ. If God be your Father. you would love me." Now, in the
first place, let me show you the peculiar feeling of the true
Christian. You could sum it up in three
words. He loves Him. He loves the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, a true Christian, a true Christian is not a mere baptized
man or woman. He's something more than that. He's not a person who only goes
to church on Sunday as a matter of form. Many do that. Thousands upon thousands upon
thousands in this life, today, feel some attachment to God,
some attachment to God's religion because They've been baptized. Or because they go to church
on Sunday, and it'll only be a matter of
form. But a true Christian, you see,
is not a mere baptized man or woman. He's something more. A true Christian is one whose religion is in his
heart, as well as his life. He does not go to church on Sunday
morning and then live the rest of the
week as though God didn't exist. His religion is in his heart
as well as his life. And I think to some measure his
religion is seen or evidenced by his conduct. Now, I know that
that's not the general rule. I mean, it's not a hard, fast
rule, because I told you before that men could not see Jesus
in Jesus. And so we're not to be discouraged
or disappointed if men can't see Christ in us. But they'll
see something in us that will evidence that we have been wedded
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It will give an infallible proof
of our being joined to God in Christ. So a true Christian,
then, is one whose religion is in his heart and in his life.
It is felt by himself in his heart. It's seen by others in
his conduct. This individual feels his sinfulness,
he feels his guilt, and he repents. And you ask him, the true Christian,
ask him what righteousness he hopes to stand innocent at the
day of judgment And He'll tell you the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, besides all this, besides
all that I've mentioned thus far, there is one thing peculiar
to this man. That is, he loves the Lord Jesus
Christ. He loves Him. Now, the peculiar
mark of a true Christian is one that's been found mentioned,
I think, several times in the Bible. And that's this expression,
faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this love to Christ
that I've been speaking of, and this love to Christ that the
42nd verse speaks of when the Lord Jesus referred, made this
statement to the Jews here, if God were your Father, you would
love me. Now, this love to Christ is an
inseparable companion to fight. towards the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I'm not talking about an intellectual faith. I'm talking
about saving faith. Love to the Lord Jesus Christ
and saving faith are inseparable companions. Faith in Christ,
love to Christ are companions. They cannot be separated. One
will not go without the other. You cannot have faith and have
the love towards the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot have love
and have not faith. They are inseparable companions. You must have them both. One
will bring the other one. Now, I say it's not a mere intellectual
faith. I want to dwell on that for just
a minute here. It's not an intellectual faith.
An intellectual faith is what? It's faith of the devils. Devils
have that faith. Ye believe in God, James said,
devils believe that. Devils believe in God and tremble.
So it's not a mere intellectual faith, it's not the faith of
devils. A man may have this intellectual faith and not have love. It's
possible for a man to have an intellectual faith. That is,
in regard to the Scriptures, in regard to the Son of God,
in regard to the existence of God, and yet not have love towards
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to notice this,
that love cannot usurp the office of faith. Love cannot justify
anybody. It does not join the soul to
God in Christ. Love can't do that. Love can't
bring peace to our troubled mind and to our troubled conscience. But where there is a real, genuine,
justifying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there will also
be a heart that loves the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures say, he that is
really forgiven is the man that really loves. No man can really
love the Lord Jesus who has not been forgiven. Let me read a
passage to you here, if I can find it. In Luke chapter 7 and verse 47, I believe it is. Yes. In this narrative here, there
is a woman who hath washed the feet of the
Lord Jesus with tears, and wiped them dry with the hairs of her
head. And this woman, since The entrance
of the Lord Jesus into this man Simon's house hath not ceased
to kiss him, to kiss his feet. She kissed his feet. She washed
his feet. She dried his feet and she kissed
his feet. He said in that 46th verse, he
said, My head with oil thou didst not anoint this Simon, but this
woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto
thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven. She loved much,
but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he
said, Unto her thy sins are forgiven. And I say unto you this morning,
brethren, he that is really forgiven is the man that really loves. A man that has not been forgiven,
he doesn't know anything about true love to the Lord Jesus.
This one Simon, this Pharisee who invited the Lord into his
house for an evening meal or an afternoon meal, he knew nothing
about the forgiveness of sins. He knew nothing about guilt in
his heart. So there was not that love to
him, love to the Lord Jesus like there was in this woman's heart.
Her sins were many. But He said, Thy sins be forgiven
thee. And out of a debt of gratitude
unto Him, she sees not to kiss His feet, she sees not to wash
His feet with her own tears. He that hath been forgiven much
loveth much. Let me mention something else
then in regard to love to Him and for Him. Now, we love Him, and I'm going
to get to this part where it says we love Him because He first
loved us. I'll get to that in a minute.
But we love Him for all He's done for us. The true Christian
now loves Christ because of what Christ has done for him. He suffered for him. Christ suffered in our place. Suffered in his own body. Now,
we can understand that. There are some things that we
can't understand as far as this intense suffering of the soul
that the Lord Jesus suffered on Calvary's cross when God the
Father hath forsaken him. And when he who knew no sin was
made sin in our behalf. Now, there are some things there
that we can't identify with. We just can't enter into that
grief and anguish of that aspect of the Lord's suffering. My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We just can't grasp that. We can't enter into it. But we
can enter into bodily suffering, can't we? Because all of us know
something about pain. Now, the Lord Jesus suffered
for us. Now, we love Him because He suffered
for us. And the reason why there's so
many this morning that are not interested in the Lord Jesus,
they're not interested in hearing His Word, they're not interested
in pouring out their heart unto Him in prayer, for this reason. This is the reason why they're
not interested, because God has not literally done anything for
them in Christ. They're not aware of anything
that God has ever done for them. They're aware of the fact that
they live in God's world. They will acknowledge that this
is God's world. They'll acknowledge that the
benefits of this world has been has been conducive unto them
in regard to their well-being while they're here in this life,
but as far as knowing anything about the sufferings of the Lord
Jesus Christ and why He suffered and who He suffered for and the
intent of His sufferings, they know nothing about it whatsoever. So therefore, they're not interested. They're not interested and they
think that when men and women and boys and girls assemble themselves,
regularly, habitually, three and four times a week, and drive
miles and miles to hear of the Lord. They think they're foolish.
They think they're crazy. They think it's a waste of time,
you see. They're not interested. But the
true Christian, you see, he loves Him. He loves the Lord Jesus
for all He's done for Him. He suffered for Him. He suffered
in His place. He was wounded for our transgressions
and God laid upon Him the iniquities. He is wounded for us. So we love Him for all He has
done for us. Suffered in our place, He hath
redeemed us from the guilt, from the power and the consequence
of the penalty of sin. Redeemed us from it. He has given
us repentance. He has given us faith. He has
blotted our sins out. He has freed us from the captivity
of the devil. He has broken the clutches of
the law and freed us. The law now has no demands upon
us because Christ satisfied all the demands of the law in our
stead, in our place. He has given us light instead
of darkness. He has set our face towards heaven.
He has given us a hope of peace. He has given us the peace of
conscience. There is no uneasiness in our
minds now in regard to guilt. We know that our sins have been
blotted out. They have been put away. Someone
asked me not too long ago, where are your sins? Where are your
sins? I say, they are behind God's
back. Wherever that is. Wherever that is, that's where
my sins are. God hath put my sins behind His
back and will not remember them again. God has forgotten my sins. A God who cannot forget has forgotten
my sins. See? A God who cannot forget
has forgotten my sins. Put them behind His back, wherever
that is. So where's your sins? Why, he said, they are as far
from me as the East is from the West. They cannot be measured. So you see, the true Christian
loves the Lord Jesus Christ for what the Lord Jesus has done
for him. Now, is there any wonder then
in light of what I have said? And I mentioned this to you the
other night. Is there any wonder then in light of what I have
said? that where the Apostle Paul teaches,
there in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 22, when he says, If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let that man be damned or accursed
when Jesus comes. If any man loves not Christ,
the Christ of God, let him be accursed when Jesus comes back. Is there any reason why We would
think otherwise in light of this. Listen, Paul does not leave no
loophole here, no excuse. He says a man must love the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's got to. Well, all right,
we love Him for all He's done for us. He's given us the peace
of conscience. instead of uneasiness. He's given
us hope instead of uncertainty. He's given us life instead of
death. Is there any reason why, that
none that I can think of, why a true Christian should not love
the Lord Jesus Christ supremely? Alright, secondly, a Christian
loves Him not only for what He has done for us, but what He
is still doing for us. That is, he daily pleads our
soul's cause before God. He stands as our intercessor,
our advocate, our lawyer. He stands between us and God. I've told you many times, and
I think you know this, most of you know this, that no man can
come to God in himself. He can't do it. You see, God
has said, once and for all, that he would never be approached
by any living human being apart from a sacrifice. You cannot
approach God apart from a sacrifice. You cannot speak to God apart
from a sacrifice. God will not speak to you apart
from a sacrifice. That's the Bible. The Bible teaches
that. If that's taken out of the Bible,
everything else doesn't mean a thing. That God will not speak
to any member of the human race, nor will God be spoken to by
any member of the human race, apart from a sacrifice. So you cannot go to God apart
from a sacrifice. You cannot even pray to God. apart from a sacrifice. Many
people believe that they have spent many hours and many words
in prayer unto God, when the truth is that they have not yet
uttered one word in prayer unto God because they have no sacrifice. No man can come to God apart
from the sacrifice, and that sacrifice that is pleasing unto
God is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. So, the true Christian
then loves the Lord Jesus Christ for what He is still doing. He bears, or daily pleads, your
soul and my soul's cause before God. Alright, not only do we
love Him because He does that, because He is our intercessor,
but because He provides every Christian with a hourly provision
of grace and mercy. He gives you grace for the hour,
grace by the minute, mercy by the day. Every day, thy mercies
are afresh and anew, day by day. And grace, a fellow told me the
other day, he said, we were talking about something And he said to
me, he said, well, he said, if he hadn't have happened to go
at this particular place at this particular time, oh, what would
have been the consequence? If he hadn't have been there
when he was, oh, what a dreadful consequence it would have been.
It was by the providence of God. It was by the grace of God. It
was by the mercy of God that he did go, you see. That he did
go. It was the mercy of God. When
you started to cross the street one time, and here comes a car
real quick, and you just happened to stop at the right time, and
the car went by you. It was the grace of God. It was
the mercy of God. It was the providence of God
that stopped you at the right time. See what I'm talking about?
We love Him because He hourly provides us with mercy and with
grace to enable us to live in this life for His honor and for
His glory. All right? We love Him for what He's still
doing, how He bears up with us. when we are weak and ignorant. Oh, the times when we're so weak,
when we yield and succumb to temptation so very often. And our ignorance, ignorant of
His will, ignorant of His Word, yet He bears up with us. How
He raises us up when we fall, and how He protects us against
the enemies that surround us. how He prepares an eternal home
in heaven for us. That's what He's doing. He said,
I go to prepare a place for you. I go there. He's preparing now
an eternal heaven for those that love the Lord Jesus Christ. So
you see, brethren, we love Him not only for what He's done for
us, but we love Him for what He is still doing for us. He's
preparing an eternal heaven in the sky someplace for us. He's
doing that. He's working. He said there's
many mansions up there. There's mansions there in glory,
and I'm preparing one for you. Listen, does the prisoner in
war love the friend who broke through the enemy line and risked
his life to save him? A child could answer that question,
couldn't he? The prisoner! The prisoner! Does
he love this friend who has seen the bursting of the bombs and
the shells and the danger, yet he was willing to risk his own
life to break through the enemy lines and free this prisoner? Does that prisoner love this
friend that does that? You know he does. What about
that sailor? that drowning sailor. Does he
love the friend who risked his own life to save him from a watery
grave? Does he? A child would answer
that. There he was, floundering out
there in the dark. Floundering. No hope of rescue
at all. But here comes a friend and he
jumps in, risking his own life to save his. Well, this fellow
that he saved, is indebted to him the rest of his life. He
loves him. But listen now, here's the point I'm trying to make.
The point that I'm trying to make this morning is this. The
Lord Jesus Christ did more than risk his life. You see that?
He did more than risk his life to save a friend. He gave his
life. He laid down His life in our
stead, in our place, in our room. And now listen, that's not all.
The Bible said He ever lives to make intercession for us should
we love the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul said, if any man
loves not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Let him be
damned. I say the same thing. If a man
does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. And
he will be damned. And when Jesus comes, Jesus will
pronounce him damned and accursed. He is damned now, but it will
be in effect then. This command will be legislated. It will be executed. It will
be carried out then. He will be cast into hell. All
men who love not the Lord Jesus Christ will be cast into hell.
That's right. That's right. All right. Now,
would you know the secret of this peculiar feeling which distinguishes
true Christians? Would you know the secret of
it? I'll tell you. It's found in 1 John chapter
4 and verse 19. You turn with me there, I want
you to see that. You know what it is. Most of
you know before we even turn what verse that is. But I want
you to see it there in the Bible. I want you to know exactly what
the Bible says about it. And about this secret here, the
secret of this peculiar feeling which distinguishes the true
Christian. It's found in the 19th verse.
It's one verse all in itself. It says we love Him, we love
Him because He first loved us. The true Christian loves the
Lord Jesus Christ because He first loved him. And we can go
back here in the Bible and find out that That had its beginning,
if we could pinpoint a certain time, it had its beginning in
eternity past. Christ loved us from the foundation
of the world. This which happens to us in life,
this reconciliation unto God in Christ is not an afterthought,
it's not an accident, it's on purpose. It's on purpose. God
saved us on purpose. That's what it is. God saves
a man on purpose. Salvation is not by accident. Salvation is not by chance. Salvation
is on purpose. God purposed to save us in Christ
here in time. He purposed to do it. He was
determined to do it. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. And when we find that out, When
we find that out, then we conclude that we love Him because He first
loved us. I can't believe that a man who
doesn't see the doctrine of God's sovereignty in election, I can't
believe that that fellow can really love the Lord Jesus Christ
like he ought to. Do you, Raymond? I can't believe
he does. I know that he might go around
smiling all the time. I heard a fellow say this morning,
he said, the Christian that professes to smile all the time, he said
there's either something the matter with him in here or up
here. And I believe it. The guy that
goes around smiling all the time is a Christian. He's got to smile
all the time. Something the matter with his
heart or there's something the matter with his head. Oh, there's plenty of things
to smile about. But there's plenty of things, brethren, to mourn
and groan and be in despair about our own hearts and so forth.
But nevertheless, we love Him. The secret, you see, of this
love to Christ comes from this knowledge of truth that we love
Him because He first loved us. He first loved us by soul. When we were unlovely, thank
you that, when we were unlovely, Christ loved us. He loved us
without favor. There was nothing in us that
would commend His love to us. It would be different, you see,
if there was something in me. Say, for instance, that there
was this genuine characteristic or virtue or quality of goodness
in me. And God would say, well, I will
love him because of this goodness that I see in him. Then, you
see, it would not be salvation by grace. It wouldn't be by the
grace of God. And I wouldn't be able to say
that I love him because he first loved me because the reason for
his love would be a goodness or virtue that he's seen in me.
But you see, We know that in this body a flesh dwelleth no
good thing. There was nothing in us. There
was nothing in us but corruption, pollution, deadness, hostility,
hatred. All of that was in us. Yet, He
loved us. He loved us, brethren. We love
Him because He first loved us. Now listen. He loved us and gave
Himself for us. And the Bible says that He loved
us unto the end. And His love is so strong, the
tie of His love is so strong, He said that nothing can sever
that love. Nothing can separate the love
of God in Christ from our hearts. Nothing. Life, death, hell, principalities,
powers, Nothing, anything can do it. Alright? Let's talk a
little bit more about it then. Now, if a man loves a person,
if a man loves a person, it's going to be, it's going
to give evidence in his life. That is, we love him because
he first loved us. But now in the second place,
let me show you that this peculiar mark by which love to Christ
makes itself known. How does this love to the Lord
Jesus Christ make itself known? It is shown, it is seen by others
and felt by us. How does it make itself known?
Well, Christ Jesus is in heaven and we are down here. That's
all there are to it. He's in heaven. He's sitting
on the right hand of God. And we're down here. But yet we love Him. And how
is this love expressed visibly that not only we might know it,
but others might see it? I'll tell you how. The same way
as your love to one another. Your love to your family, your
love to your wife, your love to your husband is evidenced
outwardly and visibly. If you love a person, now listen
to me, I'm going to say eight or ten things and then I'll quit.
If you love a person, you love to think about Him. Is that right?
If you love a person, you love to think about Him. If you love
Christ, you love to think about Him. You think about Him. You
don't have to be reminded of Him. You don't have to have someone
come along every three or four minutes and say, Hey, hey, have
you thought about the Lord Jesus Christ yet? No, you don't have
to be reminded by someone of your love to the Lord Jesus Christ
because you think about Him. You think about Him. You don't
forget His name. You don't forget his character.
You don't forget his opinions. You don't forget his taste. You
don't forget his position. You don't forget his occupation.
You don't forget who he is, that he's Lord of your life. You don't.
If you love a person. If you love a person. If you
love a person, if you love your husband, you don't forget where
he works, do you? You know how much money he makes.
You know what time he's coming home. You know where he's going
tonight. You know everything about him.
You know his position, his occupation and all. You know his taste.
You know what he likes to eat. All right. If a man loves a person,
he has thoughts about him every day. If a man loves a person, we like
to hear about him constantly. We like others to tell us about
him. We like him to talk to us. We find it a pleasure in listening
to those who speak of Him. It's a pleasure to our hearts. When someone comes around and
tells us what a fine man our husband is, or what a fine woman
our wife is, that's a pleasure to our hearts. Or to our children,
when someone comes around and says, my, you have fine children,
they're honorable, and they manifest a godly attitude. Oh, I'll tell
you, no one knows. No one knows. The good feeling
that comes in a man's heart when someone brags on his children,
or someone brags on his wife, or someone brags on that which
is his own, you see, that's a good feeling. Now listen, if we love
the Lord Jesus Christ, we like to hear about Him, and we find
it a pleasure in listening to others who speak about Him. That's
the reason we come to church. That's the reason we'll go for
miles to hear the gospel. That's the reason I can't understand
this morning. I can't understand that people
who claim that they love the Lord Jesus Christ, they love
the grace of God, would not come down here to Katie Baptist Church
and hear me preach the grace of God. I can't understand that
when there's no place around here that preaches it. See, I
can't understand it. It's not that I'm trying to hog
the spotlight. I just can't understand why people
who say they believe in the grace of God and they love the Lord
Jesus Christ, you cannot tie them to one of these pews to
hear me preach it, or someone else that preaches from this
place. I believe that if a man loves the Lord Jesus, if he loves
a person, he delights and takes pleasure in hearing others talk
about that person. That's all there is to it. That's
black and white as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't give an
inch on that. I believe if a man loves a person,
he pays attention when others talk about him. when others describes
His ways, His doings, and His plans. They'll pay attention.
Pay attention. They'll not go to sleep on you.
They'll listen. They'll listen. They'll listen
to it. They may not get everything you
say, but they'll be listening. They'll be listening. They'll
be a-looking. They'll be a-looking. They'll be a-listening. Now,
if a man loves a person, we like to read about him. If a man loves
a person, we like to please him. We like to please him. We want
to please him. If I love you like I ought to
love you, then I ought to try to please you. I ought to try
to please you. Me pleasing you sometimes may
not be exactly what you would want, but if I really love you,
I'll try to please you. And that's the reason I'm trying
to preach the truth from time to time to people. If I tell
you the truth, sometimes I might become your enemy by telling
you the truth, but it'll do you good. It'll do you good. If you
love a person, then, you like to read about him. If you love
a person, you like to please him, you're glad to act upon
his advice, and you do things which he approves, if you love
a person. And you'll abstain from things
which he dislikes. And you'll learn to do things
which you are not naturally inclined to do because you believe it
will please him. You believe it will please him. Alright? If you love a person,
you'll like his friends. You'll like his friends. If we
love the Lord Jesus Christ, we're bound to like his friends. We're
bound to love his friends. His friends are those that do
whatsoever he commands. That's his friends. Now, if we
love a person, we're jealous. about his name and about his
honor. A lady was telling me here the
other day, she said, I've just got to do something. She said,
where I work, she said, my supervisor said he constantly, excuse me,
takes God's name in vain. He said, just constantly, he
says, oh my God. Oh my God, he's always talking
like that until he has become... such a byword among the employees
that others, others have picked it up and now everybody's saying
when they're having any problems or there's some startling thing
happens that is beyond our control or some sad experience or good
experience, whatever it might be, everyone's saying, oh my
God, oh my God, that's blasphemy, see, that's blasphemy, blasphemy. So this lady told me, she said,
I've got a problem. She said, I feel so bad. She
said, I feel so bad when they talk like that. She said, I'm
going to have to tell them. She said, that's all they are
to. I'm going to have to tell them. I'm going to have to tell them
they ought not to talk like that because that's blaspheming. Well,
that's right. She ought to do that, not only
because it's wrong, but because when we love the Lord Jesus Christ,
we must defend and honor His name. Well, as Ralph Barnes said,
anything that crosses the path of the gospel, he said, take
your sword. Take your sword and do battle
and do business with him. Alright? If we love a person,
then we like to talk to him. We like to talk to him. We like
to pray. We like to pray to him. Listen,
let me make a confession here. They say that confession is good
for the soul. Let me make one here. Maybe you'll
make one. Praying is not easy with me. Praying is not easy
with me. As much as I believe in my own
heart that I love the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not easy. It's not
easy. It's a chore. It's a chore. It's
hard. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes
it's easy. Sometimes I have no problem.
Most of the time it's difficult. Now listen, you can't find time
to talk with the Lord. You've got to take time. There's
a difference between finding time and taking time. You've
got to take time. You've just got to take time.
If you're ever going to talk to the Lord, you've got to take time.
He said, well, I haven't got time. You never will have time either. You never
will have it. Never in this world, if you live
to be a hunter, you'll never have time. You've got to take time. People say, well, the same thing
about going to church. Folks tell me every once in a
while, well, I haven't got time. I wouldn't mind going to church.
I wouldn't mind going to church. It's not that I just dislike
you or anything, or dislike churches or preachers. I just haven't
got time. You'll never have time. I always
tell them, you'll never have time. You've got to take time. You've
got to take time. There's a fellow I know, he's
got a virtue about him. He's got a virtue that I'd always
admired. He's a fellow that'll take time.
If you go to him, you go to him and he's busy doing this or doing
that, and you go to him and you say, well now listen, how about,
I've got a problem here with my car, or I got, how about,
that fellow'll take time. He'll take time. He can't find
time. He can't find time. Because he's
busy. He's busy doing something else.
But he'll take time. I like that about a man. I like
that about any man who will take time to do something good. And if you're ever going to pray
and talk with God, you're going to have to take time. For this
reason, listen, we've got to pray. We've got to pray. If we
love the Lord Jesus, we love to talk to Him. The man that
does not pray, It does not belong to the church that prays without
ceasing. Paul told us, he said, pray without
ceasing. It doesn't have to always be
audible. Prayer is that which goes from
the heart. It's that breath of the soul
that goes to God in praise and thanksgiving. I hear people say
on the television every once in a while in various places,
Raise your hand and praise God. Raise your hand and praise God.
If that's all there was to it, I could do that all day. I could
do that all day. If that's praising God, I could
go around doing that all day. I can lay down with my hands
up. If that's praising God. But that's not praising God.
That's not talking to God, just raising your hands like that.
That's nothing. That's a physical act. And worship is not a physical
act. It's in the heart. And if we love a person, we love
to talk to him. We love to talk to him. Pray,
pour out our hearts unto God. Tell Him our thoughts, tell Him
our thoughts, innermost secrets that no man on this earth knows
but just God and I. If we love a person, we like
to always be with him. We long to be in his company.
You hear that? If we love a person, We always
like to be in His company. We can just always be around
Him. You ever notice that? Someone
that you particularly love and admire and respect, you just
love to be around them. You just love to be around them.
You don't have to say anything. You don't have to do any talking.
Just leave them talk. You just sit there and leave them talk
and wait on them. And wait on them. Whatever they
want, you get them. How about a cup of coffee? How
about a piece of cake? How about a piece of pie? Sit here. Rest. Pull
up the chair. Stay by the fire. Will you read
this? Can it make you comfortable? Why? Because you love Him! You see? That's affection. You
love Him. You love Him. We love Him. We love the Lord Jesus Christ.
We want always to be with Him. Bless God, one day we will always
be with Him. We will. He said, Where I am,
there ye may also be. I go to prepare a place for an
eternal home in heaven. Where I am, there ye may be.
You'll be with me always. One day this thing will be consummated. This is a marriage that hasn't
been consummated yet. And it will be. The bride and
the groom will come together. We're the bride and he's the
groom, the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll come together one day.
We'll come together one day and that marriage will be consummated.
And we'll be with Him throughout the dateless ages of the forevers.
We'll dwell with Him right here on this earth. Right here on
this earth He will come and that New Jerusalem shall come down. God will purge this world and
burn it all up and those that love the Lord Jesus Christ will
dwell with Him and rule with Him and reign with Him and love
Him throughout the dateless ages of the... time in years to come. Brethren, do you love Him? I didn't say, are you baptized? That's not what I said. I didn't
say, well, are you interested? I didn't say, well now, did you
read the Bible today and yesterday? I said, did you love Him? Do
you love Him? Do you love Him? Do you love
Him? Do you love Him, the Lord Jesus Christ? He said, if God
were your Father, ye would love Me. Love Me. Love Me. And I told you how this love
to Him would be outwardly visible and how it would affect us. Well,
the Lord bless you.