Psalm chapter 31, this evening
we'll be looking at verse 23. The Scripture says, O love the
Lord, all ye His saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful
and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. O love the Lord. Is this not a word of exhortation
to be most obvious to every one of God's saints? When the Scripture
says, O love the Lord, you who are His saints, is that not self-evident? Is that not self-evident that
we should love the Lord? Yet here it is in this Scripture,
an exhortation given to us by the psalmist David. He says,
O love the Lord, all ye His saints. Now to tell a saint of God that
he should love the Lord, It should be like telling a living man
to breathe. Love the Lord. Well, yes, obviously. It should be like telling a stream
to flow downhill. Love the Lord, you His saints.
That would be like exhorting an apple that is loosed from
the tree to fall to the ground. Oh, love the Lord, all you His
saints. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse
8, it tells us concerning those of us who do believe. It says,
whom having not seen, you what? You loved. You loved. Every saint of God, every child
of God has this in his heart. It is our desire. It is our purpose
to love our God. And why is this? Because it is
the very nature of the saints to love him. I know that we don't
love him like we want to love him. I know you, child of God,
do not love Him like you should love Him. But I tell you this,
you do love Him. That is so. That's so with every
child of God. Remember that this was not always
the case. This was not always the case
with us who love the Lord, we who are His saints. Remember
that it was once our very nature to hate God. even because it was then our
only nature. We were born with the Adamic
nature, with the nature, the sin nature of our father Adam. And this nature, the natural
man, the carnal mind, the apostle says, is enmity, hatred against
God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. We at one time in our life,
we recognize this, that we were not lovers of God, we were haters
of God. We by nature were dead in trespasses
and sins, and were by nature the children of what? Wrath,
wrath, even as others. Not children of God's wrath,
for the saints were never ordained to wrath. You who are believers,
you were never ordained to wrath. That's not what that verse is
telling us. We were children of wrath in that we hated God. We hated God even as others. Because we were never meant to
suffer God's wrath, you who are believers. You were never meant
to suffer God's wrath. We were from eternity put into
union with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and we were His vessels
of mercy. You who believe, you were His
vessels of mercy. The saints of God were His chosen
vessels, ordained unto eternal life and glory. The saints were
chosen of God and given to Christ to be our surety, our guarantee
for salvation. We were predestinated in love
to be the sons of God. You who believe on Christ, you
who love God, we recognize it was not always so, but we know
this. God had purposed it always to
be so, that we should love Him. because he loved us. But when
the saints of God were born, when we were born into this world,
even as other men, we were children of wrath, haters of God, and
lovers of what? Self. We love self. We, at one
time, loved sin. That was because that was our
nature. That was our only nature. When man only has one nature,
It is a nature of sin and that only and always, that nature
hates God. Now it does not matter if a man
hate the doctrine of man's absolute depravity of nature or not. The truth of man's total depravity
does not rest upon a man's rejection or acceptance of it. We were
by nature children of wrath even as others. Now whether people
like it or whether people don't, that doesn't make it true or
untrue. It's true because God said it
was true. It's true because God said it
was true. Matter of fact, the Scripture says that man by nature
receiveth not the things of God for they are foolishness unto
them. Neither can he know them because he is spiritually discerned. judged of God. And what did God
find in His judgment? What did God find in His investigation? In Psalm chapter 14, it says,
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, and He found
that there was none good, none righteous, none that understandeth,
none that seeketh after God. That's what God found. That's
what God found with all men by nature. God says, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God and none that understand the things of God. There's no
man that can or will obey the law of God, no matter how sincere
or how hard he tries, because man by nature is dead. Man by nature. We who do now
love God, we know this, that we were once dead. Dead. in trespasses and sins. David said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. God said that we were transgressors
from the womb. And Paul says, "'Wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men, for all have sinned.'" How is it that
we have sinned? We have sinned in our representative. When Adam sinned, when Adam died,
we died in our representative so that there was no hope for
us from birth. From birth, we were born sinners
and there was no way for us to redeem ourselves. There was no
hope. No hope for us. We were haters
of God from the womb. We were haters of God and lovers
of sin. So then all of Adam's race follows
his sin. We try by nature, man tries by
nature to soothe his conscience by covering our sin. Isn't that
our condition one day? We that hated God, we tried to
cover our sin just like our Father did. Men, he used fig leaves, but
men today use religion. They use the sacraments. They
use baptism. They use church membership. They
use making a decision for Jesus. And they even use the knowledge
of the doctrines of grace as coverings for their sin. When you tell man the truth that
God does not desire your sacrifices, God does not desire your good
works. My friend, God demands your perfection. God's not asking for you to do
your best. God demands you be perfect. That's the standard. That's the
standard for everyone to enter into the heaven, into God's heaven. Perfect holiness. Perfect holiness. He demands perfect obedience
and anything less, you will receive a just and eternal vengeance
of God. It is then that hatred that men
like to soothe over becomes stirred up when they hear that. When
men hear that, their hatred for God begins to stir in their natural
hearts and they say, we will not worship such a God who punishes
men forever. Man by nature says, I will not
worship a God who chooses some men to save and others to damn. They say, I will not serve a
Christ who died for the sins of some men, but not all men,
and they will not bow to Christ alone. Some men won't bow to
Christ without their knowledge or their adding something to
His perfect work. No man by nature will ever love
God on his own. We who love God know that. We
who love God know that because that was our condition. We by
nature were children of wrath, haters of God even as others. A man has a heart, a nature, but his heart is corrupt and
man cannot by nature love God. Jesus made it very plain. He
said, if the tree is corrupt, the fruit will be corrupt, but
make the tree good and the fruit will be good. Isn't that plain? That's just simple. The problem
is man's heart is corrupt and therefore all man does is corrupt. So what does man need? Man needs
a new heart. Man cannot by nature love God. Therefore, in order to love God,
God must give us a new heart. And then the love will be good
if God gives a man a new heart. So then what do men need to love
God. They need a new nature. They
need what Jesus said they needed. You must, you must, you must
be born again. This is not a request. It is not an offer. It is a necessity. You must be born again. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Man by nature is like the man
who was born blind. He cannot see the things of God. He cannot love the things of
God because he cannot know the things of God. Except God give
him life, sight to see. No man can see or know that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, except God give him a new birth. He said, if except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. You who are a believer in Christ,
you should take this to heart. That old nature that you were
born with is still just as vile and corrupt as it was when you
were born. More so. I'd say it's more so. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. Don't expect it to change. It
won't change. It's just as vile and corrupt
as it was. That which is born of flesh,
the old nature, is sinful and depraved, born sinful and it
will die sinful. But that which is born of the
Spirit of God is spirit. The nature that God gives to
man by His Holy Spirit is from above. It's from God. It is created by God. It is without
sin, and because it is of the eternal God, it shall never die. This is good news. Jesus said,
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Do
you believe that? Oh, I pray that you do, because
if you do, it's because you've been brought from death to life. You've been given a new nature. It is this new heart that God
promised to give all of His elect people, all of His people, And
by this heart, the saints of God who read these words, all
love the Lord, all you His saints, we say, we love you, Lord. because He has given us a new
heart to love Him. If you can love Him, if you can
believe on Christ, it is because of the miracle of grace. God
has given you a new nature, a new heart, so that you can read this
and do this. You can love Him now because
you have a new nature. This is what God promised us. If you go over to Ezekiel, Ezekiel
chapter 36. Look what God promised to His
saints. Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 20. I'm sorry, verse 22. Therefore, say you to the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for my holy namesake, which you have
profaned among the heathen, whether you have went. And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you
have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know
that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God. I'm sorry, I think
I've got the wrong one. No, here it is. I'm sorry, verse
25, go down there. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart
of flesh. I will put my spirit within you
and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep my judgments to do them. How is it that we can walk in
the love of God, that we can serve God, that we can believe
on Christ? It is because of God's promise.
He said, I will put a new heart in you. I will give you a new
spirit and that spirit That spirit that loves God, that's of God. That's of God. He gave that to
you. He put that in you. So when you
hear that exhortation, oh, love the Lord, all you his saints,
what do you say? I love thee. I love thee. How is it that you love him while
others don't? Because he has given you a new
heart, a new heart. See then, no man can merit the
love of God, no man can earn the love of God, no man can know
the love of God except God give him a new and righteous heart. Are you such a sinner that you loathe yourself? I'm such a sinner as I loathe
myself. I say with Job, I am vile. I confess. I confess what I am. Are you such a sinner that loathes
yourself? Are you such one who knows that
there is no way for you to be accepted of God by your love
or obedience or by your knowledge? The only way for a sinner to
know this is to be taught of God. Be taught of God. Sinners must be taught of God
and sinners must be made to see and know the love of God, not
by looking at ourselves, but rather by looking to Jesus
Christ alone. Behold, sinners, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh. If there is any hope
for man, knowing and loving God, it will be by him. There is no other way for you
or I to be able to love God except by Jesus Christ. Listen to this, for God so loved
the world Now what's the evidence of that? He sent His only begotten
Son. He sent His only begotten Son
into this world that whosoever believeth on Him
should not perish but have everlasting life. Sinners will never love
God except they learn this, that God first loved them. They'll
never know anything of the love of God except they see it through
Jesus Christ. John says this in 1 John 4, 10,
here in his love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us. and sent His Son to be the propitiation,
the mercy seat for our sins. Behold, Jesus Christ is the propitiation
for all of the sins of all those who were loved of God. Jesus,
the most precious, the most beloved of the Father, was sent to lay
down His life for His brethren, those given to Him by the Father,
those loved by the Father, and He came as evidence of God's
love, as evidence. And having loved His own, He
loved them unto the end. He loved them unto the end. See then the most precious and
most beloved and only begotten of the Father, righteous and
obedient, faithful and true to His Father always. Jesus said,
I do always those things that please the Father. He prayed,
Father, I know thou hearest me always. And God said this of Christ.
He said, behold, my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth, he shall not fail nor be discouraged. Consider this, you who love God.
Consider that Jesus Christ, the most beloved of the Father, was
given to do the will of God. And He is loved of God because
He did not fail. He was not discouraged in His
work to set judgment in the earth by His one sacrifice of Himself. By His one sacrifice, Jesus Christ
satisfied the justice of God for all of the sins of His elect. Jesus willingly became subject
to the law and justice of God in order to save His people from
their sins, and He did exactly that. Why is it that you love
God? I love Him because of what He
has done for me. I love him because of Jesus Christ
and his success in my atonement. Behold, John says, what manner
of love. What sort of love is this? What sort of love is this? Matter
of fact, some translate it from, what country is this love? We
don't understand anything of this love. What manner of love
is this? I've never seen any love as great
as this. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us? vile sinners, rebels, haters
of God. What manner of love is this that
God would call us sons? What manner of love is this that
we should be called the sons of God? See then, in order for
man to ever love God, God must have first loved us. That's why I love him. I love him because he first loved
me and gave himself for me. That's why I love him. I love him because he sent his
son to be my representative. I love him for that. You, who
are quickened by the Holy Spirit, given a new heart to believe
on Christ, we are also given a heart to love God because of
His great love, wherewith He hath loved us. I confess that
before He revealed this love to me, I did not love Him. I may have loved religion, I
may have loved the praise of men, but I didn't love God. I
was exactly like Horatius Bonnard said, I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the fold. I did
not love the shepherd's voice. I would not be controlled. I was a wayward child. I did
not love my home. I did not love my father's voice.
I loved afar to roam. The shepherd sought his sheep.
The father sought his child. They followed me o'er vale and
hill, o'er deserts waste and wild. They found me nigh to death,
famished, faint, and lone. They bound me with the bands
of love. They saved the wandering one. Jesus my shepherd is. "'Twas
he that loved my soul. "'Twas he that washed me in his
blood. "'Twas he that made me whole. "'Twas he that sought the lost,
"'that found the wandering sheep. "'Twas he that brought me to
the fold. "'Tis he that still doth keep." And what is his conclusion? His
conclusion is, that's why I love him. I was a wandering sheep. But now I'm found. The shepherd
found me. The shepherd embraced me. The
shepherd saved me. My father loved me. He called
me. He saved me. He redeemed me.
He chose me. He quickened me. You who are
saints of God, you are proof of God's eternal love. And therefore,
we gladly love him. We gladly love him. He is all
our salvation and all our hope. So then, let me ask you this,
why then does the psalmist need to exhort us? Oh, love the Lord, all you His
saints. You who do love the Lord, let
me ask you this, are you always so strong in love that you don't
need an exhortation? When troubles come and circumstances
seem opposed to the truth of God's eternal effectual love
for us, when we are led into dark places and it seems as though
the gates of heaven are shut to our cries, often we begin
then to look for God's love in all the wrong places. We begin
to look within. We begin to try to find some
security, some solace. And so we begin to look at our
love and try to prove His love by
ours. Big mistake. Big mistake. We begin to look at our knowledge
of Scripture or our outward service or our love for others. And what
do we always find? We find that our love is cold. We, like Jonah, even often become
angry with God. We become angry at our troubles,
angry at His providence. Our faith is so small and little,
so mixed with unbelief and fear that it's not even worthy to
be called faith. We look to our works or our service
in the church only to see this selfishness
and sin and unbelief is mixed with all we do. Is this your lot? then this is why this scripture
is here for you. It's to exhort you, love the
Lord. Love the Lord, not based on your
love, but on His. Love Him because of His love,
not because of yours. Hear the exhortation again, O
love the Lord, all you His saints. Love Him not because of what
you see or what you feel, but love Him by looking to Jesus
Christ by faith. That's what David said at the
very first of his prayer. He said, in thee, O Lord, do
I put my trust. Isn't that a good place to always
begin and end? Trusting only in Christ. Remember, it was He that eternally
loved you. It was He that redeemed you by
His blood. It was He that justified you.
Yes, your love is cold, your faith is weak, your works are
not worthy to be accepted, but trust in His love. Look to His
great love and your heart will be stirred to love Him. Remember, our salvation was never
and never will be dependent upon our love for Him. Isn't that good news? That's
good news. That's good news. Our salvation
is totally dependent on His love for us. Absolutely. And so when We are without love
and cold remember to love Him anyway. Love Him anyway. Love Him because of His promises. Look at this. He says, love the
Lord, O you His saints, for, here's a good reason, the Lord
preserveth the faithful. But you say, I'm not faithful.
How unfaithful am I? I'm so unfaithful. In Christ you're not. Do you
not realize that He was faithful? And because He was faithful,
you're counted faithful. Therefore, He will preserve you. Is that not a reason to love
Him? He that hath begun a good work in you shall perform it
unto the day of Jesus Christ. I love this hymn. Bonar wrote
this one as well, he said, Bless the God, bless the Christ of
God, I rest on love divine. And with unfaltering lip and
heart, I call this Savior mine. His cross dispels each doubt.
I bury in the tomb each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering
shade of gloom. Thy work alone, O Christ, can
ease this weight of sin. Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
can give me peace within. Thy love to me, O God, not my
love, O Lord, to Thee. can rid me of this dark unrest
and set my spirit free." So whose love are we trusting
in? His. And because of His, we are able
to say, Lord, I love Thee. And you know what? When you who
are His say that, From the new heart, your love, though small
and cold, is accepted. It's accepted. It's received and embraced by
God. Is that not something? Because Christ's love is your
love. Christ's faith is your faith. Christ's righteousness
is your righteousness. His life is your life. How then can we doubt His love? I'm so ashamed when I doubt His
love. I tell you if I'm doubting His
love it's because I'm looking at my own and not His. May God
help us to look to His love and then we're able to love Him. I pray God will bless this to
you.