If you will take your Bibles
and turn with me to Psalm 18, Psalm's 18th chapter. We'll be just looking at the
one verse this morning, Psalm chapter 18 and verse 1. Psalm chapter 18 in verse 1,
it says, David says, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. I will love thee, O Lord, my
strength. The title of the message this
morning is My Love, His Love, and Our Love. My Love, His Love,
and Our Love. The scripture plainly and clearly
reveals to us who are believers in Christ, we know this, that
the Scripture teaches that no man by nature is able or willing
to love the Lord. We know that no man by nature
is able to desire or determine, as David here does, to love the
Lord. No one. All men by nature are
haters of God. Haters of God. I know that this
is surprising to most people. I know it's surprising to lost
people. But it is not surprising to us.
We know. We know this because we were
haters of God ourselves. We were haters of God. We were
living in darkness. We were born in all spiritual
depravity just like everyone else. The only difference is
God has revealed to us that we could not love Him. We could
not believe on Him. We could not understand. So all
men are born without any love at all toward God. Man is spiritually
dead, and this means that he has no understanding of spiritual
things. What knoweth the things of a
man but the spirit of man? You see, man is carnal. We're born carnal. We're born
fleshly. And the only thing that we can
think about, the only thing we can understand, is fleshly things. Spiritual things we don't understand. Because we're dead in spiritual
things. We're dead in understanding the
things of God. And we're dead to the desire
to understand the things of God. Not only we can't, but it is
not in us to desire the things of God. This is the sad condition
of the human nature. This is the sad condition that
we were in. But God. But God. Had God not been gracious to
us, we too would have still been in this condition. There are
many who go and worship in a gospel church and they are dead to all
that's being said. Now they understand it with their
minds. They understand theology. They
understand these concepts and creeds. But they know not God. They don't know the person. Very clear in Romans 3. Romans
3 and verse 10. This is a very solemn thing.
I know. But I think it is truly necessary
to remind ourselves. To remind ourselves of where
we came from, but also to understand why it is that people cannot
perceive what we see. They don't love what we love.
And this is why, look at this in verse 10, as it is written,
there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good. No, not one. None. None of us has done anything
profitable unto God. Not one of us could add anything
to God. God alone in eternity was satisfied
with Himself. God is holy and perfect and right
and good. And God, we could not add anything. Even Adam, when he was created,
did not add anything to God. Even Jesus Christ, when He lived,
He did not add anything to God. God is perfect. And now, how
much more are we unprofitable because we have sinned against
God? There's none that seeketh after
God. There's none that understandeth. Tell that to a lost man who's
religious. And tell him he's not seeking
God. Well, how can you say that? God said that. God said that. If you've not been regenerated
by the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ alone, apart from works,
you are not seeking God. God doesn't find us because we're
seeking Him. He finds us because He's seeking
us. He's going to get us, not the
other way around. We're never looking for Him.
We were never looking for Him. Not one of us understands. We
are all gone out of the way. In Ephesians chapter 2, it talks
about us who are believers in Christ. It says, "...and you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin." But in
our conversation, in our life before we were converted, we
walked as children of wrath, even as others. What does that
mean? Well, does that mean that we were under the wrath of God?
By no means were the elect ever under the wrath of God. No. It means we were children of
wrath. We were the ones in wrath. We were the ones hating God,
even as others. Even as others. I'll tell you. These words concerning
the depravity of man are offensive. Are offensive to men. Are offensive. The God that David declares to
love, the God that we love, is offensive. The God we love is
not loved by this world. He is not loved by this generation. But hated. Now there is a God
that everybody loves. There is a God that no one hates,
and that's the God of this generation. The God of this generation is
the God of free will, works, religion, and He's not to be
feared. He's not to be reverenced, but
He's to be pitied. Their God is to be pitied. He is a God who wills to save
all men. but has no power. A God who wills and desires to
save men, but has no ability to save them unless man gives
him his permission in some way, gives him the authority to come
into their vile, wretched heart and save them. Their God desires them only to
be happy and healthy and rich, but can't do any of that without
them giving their faith. Their Jesus Christ died for all
of the sins of all men without exception, but unless they exercise
their will or do something to add to it, His death was meaningless. His death was worthless. Friends, there is no reason to
love a God like that. Why? Because a God like that,
His love is worthless. His love is worthless. It doesn't
matter if He loves you, He can't do anything for you. Friends, that God is pathetic.
That God of free will works religion is pathetic. He cannot save whom
He desires to save, and man can thwart Him at his own pleasure. There is no love for Jesus who
makes salvation possible and contingent upon my works. I cannot
love such a Christ. Why? Because there is no Christ
like that. because he does not exist. I
like this in Jeremiah 10, verse 5. God says, don't be afraid
of their gods. Don't be afraid of these false
gods, for they can't do evil and they can't do good. They
can't do anything because they're not real. I love that illustration
that came from Mexico. I think it came from Walter,
about the young boy who was saved and trying to convince his family
that their idols were nothing. They were nothing and that God
was everything, that Christ was all. And his father refused. So one day he broke one of those
idols with a hammer and put the hammer right beside the other
idol. And when his father got home he said, who did this? And
the son said, The idol did it. And his father said, I know that's
not true. That idol doesn't have the ability
to hit. He said, that's what I've been
trying to tell you. They have no power. They have no power. But this God is not our God.
That Christ is not our Christ. We don't love a Christ like that.
Our God is sovereign. Our God is majestic, is glorious. All that our God desires to do,
He does. And praise God, He has desire
to save a people for Himself. Our God does whatsoever He pleases. When Nebuchadnezzar received
his understanding, he said, I know this. God does whatsoever he
pleases, and the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth
are like grasshoppers. They're nothing. They're nothing. That's God. Do you love God? You see, I have no love for a
God who's not sovereign. But God is sovereign. Our God
is sovereign. He does whatsoever he pleases.
And we love him. We love Him. How is it that we
love Him and we understand Him and others do not? How could
David here say, I will love Thee, O Lord? How can he say that? Well, the only way anyone could
love God is to be born again. To be born again. The only way we can truly determine
to love God and have it in our heart and desire to love God
is if God does something for us. He must come down and give
us spiritual life. Because we are born dead in sins,
enslaved to sin, not seeking God, He must come and give us
life. I like the message that this
one pastor preached. It was called, Surprised by Grace.
I don't think I'll ever forget that one. He was explaining that
grace is surprising. Well, because no one's seeking
after God when God reveals Himself to them. It's always a surprise. Paul was not seeking God. He was fighting against God.
And it was at that appointed time that God came and surprised
the Apostle Paul. Surprise! I love you. Surprise! The one you kicked
so hard against the prick is Jesus Christ, my Son. The only Savior. All that Paul knew vanished away
in an instant. All he thought was right was
wrong. All his religion was vain. All
his works were empty. Christ is all. And that's a surprise. Spiritual life is not just an
emotional response to guilt. Being born again is a resurrection
from the dead. It is a miraculous thing. It's
a miraculous thing. I've seen both of my children
born into this world. That was an awesome thing. It was an awesome thing. But
yet, that's only a picture. That's only a type of what happens
in the new birth. It's only a picture, a shadow.
Life comes out. Life comes forth. It shines out. And Jesus said, no man can come
unto Me, no man can come into the kingdom of God unless he
is born again. You must. This is not an added
feature. You've heard people say, born
again Christian. Well, that's just dumb. How can you be a Christian and
not be born again? How can you be born again and
not be a Christian? It's the same thing. It's the
same thing. You must be born again. And being
born again is being born from above. It's not being born from
earthly, carnal enthusiasm. Carnival-like excitement. That doesn't generate life. The
Spirit of God moves where He wills. And He touches whom He
will. And He saves whom He will. And
He passes by whom He will. That's the sovereign God that
we worship. Scripture says that we are his
workmanship. The scripture also says that
the heavens, we studied this on Wednesday, the heavens are
his handiwork. That's as though he did something
like whittle something. It was glorious. But this handiwork, we are His
workmanship. We are His skilled labor. We are His creation. And He creates
in us a new man. And this new man, it gives us
faith and love and desire so that we can say, I will love you. I do love you. I do love the Lord. No man is worthy of this grace.
None of us, we recognize this, that we are nowhere worthy to
receive such grace. This birth, this new heart, this
new life, is by the sovereign mercy of God alone. No man can
determine to love God. You can't just determine it.
You just can't wake up one morning and say, well, today I'm just
going to love God. Every time we determine to do
something, I know this of myself, it just goes the opposite way.
If I just try to pull myself up, if I just really try to get
the gumption to go and do something, usually it just turns to mush.
It never works out like I determined it to. Nothing works out. In the military, we always referred
to Murphy's Law because it would just happen. I mean, anything
that could go wrong did go wrong. And that's the way it is when
we determine. to do something. So a man can't determine this
by his will, his works. He can't make himself do it by
his holy religion, his outward exercise of religion. Can't do
that. All man can do is sin against
God. That's all the old man can do. But we who are given a new man,
we boast not in ourselves, but in our God. My boast is in Christ. My boast is in Him. I love Him
because He is the perfect Savior. He's the perfect Savior. He obeyed
God's law perfectly and gave His righteousness to me. I know you can't see it. But the Spirit of God Himself
dwells in me. And you who are believers, He
dwells in you. If any man hath not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of His. The Spirit of God is not some
second blessing. It is the blessing. It is the
blessing of God. And we have the Spirit of God.
Because of the righteousness and obedience of Christ, that
righteousness has been given to us and His blood has atoned
for our sins. We're not wishing. It has. We trust and believe His blood
to be all our ransom, to pay all our sin debt that we owe
to God. Do you by faith believe in Christ?
It is because you're born again. Because God did something for
you, you are able to love Him. And you're willing to love Him.
We who believe on Christ, we do truly love Him. I don't love Him like I should. I don't love Him as I know I should. And that breaks my heart. I want
to love Him more. And the only way to love Him
more is to know more of Him. And the only way to know more
of Him is if the Spirit of God reveals it to us. In our text, it says, David said,
I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. You see, David's strength
to love God was not in himself. He recognized that my strength
to love you comes from you. I cannot do it myself. Can't. We who believe, we love Him. Therefore, believer, Set your
affections on Him. Isn't that something that we
must do constantly? Because we are tempted to look
away from our first love. The church of Ephesus knew a
lot of doctrine, but they left their first love. To know doctrine
is not necessarily loving Him. But it is to know Him is to love
Him. To know Him is to love Him. We are to set our affections
not on the things of this earth, because none of these things
can give us any love for Christ. And next, I want to see the cause.
What is the cause? The root cause of our love for
Him. His love for us. There is the
root cause for my love for Him. His love for me. The Scripture
says that we love Him because He first loved us. And when did He first love us?
Can you think of a time where God began to love us? Nope. There was never a time that God
did not love us. He did not love us. He has loved
us with an everlasting love. He said, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love and with loving kindness I have drawn
thee. We're to rest in His love. Rest
in His love. If I were to rest in my love,
there would be no rest. He is the reason I can love Him
at all. It's because His love for me. His love for me. Go to Zephaniah
chapter 3. Nephiniah chapter 3 and look
at verse 17. This is to you who are born again
because of the love of God in Christ. He said, The Lord thy
God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing." Have you ever felt such love
that you can't help but sing? That's how God feels about us
all the time. And he rests in his love. Believer in Christ, if you desire
to love Him more, then rest in His love. Labor to enter into
His rest. His love. And how was His love manifest?
Well, of course, it was manifest by Jesus Christ. You want to
know how much God loved you? Look at the cross. The scripture says, and he, Christ,
is the propitiation for our sins. Romans 3.25, whom God has set
forth to be the propitiation through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. How great then is his love for
us. It's beyond measure. How then are we to love. Him. And each other. The scripture tells us. To love
one another. Because God loved us. We should
love each other with the same love. Same love. We should set our affections
on others to help others in need. If we love Christ, then we should
show our love for Christ by loving each other. Jesus said, this is how you'll
know, my disciples, that you have love one for another. If God's love dwells in us, then the manifestation, the result
of this love will be love for each other. And as you love Christ,
as you love Christ and you love each other, I want you to understand
this. You encourage me. You provoke me to love. When I see you love each other,
that provokes me to love you more. Isn't it wonderful when
believers dwell together in fellowship and union? It's precious. It's precious. And we all rejoice
around Christ. I pray that God would bless you
with His Word and His mercy to know His love, to see His Son,
and trust in his love so that we can love him more. Let's be
dismissed in prayer. Father, thank you for this time
and thank you for your blessings. Father, thank you for your love.
Your love that extends from eternity to eternity. Father, thank you
for Christ, for revealing him, revealing his blood and righteousness
to be our hope, our assurance, our comfort. for giving us love,
and by grace keep us loving Thee. We ask these things in Jesus'
name. Amen.