Turn with me, if you would, to
First Corinthians, chapter 16. First Corinthians, chapter 16. In studying for this morning's
message, I ran across this verse of Scripture, and it caught my
attention, and I believe you'll immediately see why. Verse 22
is our text. 1 Corinthians 16, 22. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, Maranatha. Anathema means cursed. And Maranatha means when the
Lord returns. It means the Lord is at hand. If any man or woman love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed when the Lord returns. You know, that is the issue. That is the issue. That's the
issue of eternal life and eternal death. That's the heart of it all. It
is that simple. It's that simple. The Apostle
Paul wrote about the simplicity that's in Christ. It is that
Simple. The Lord asked his disciples
this question. What think ye of Christ? He said, here's the question.
What think ye of Christ? He that hath the Son hath life. He that loves the Son and has
union with the Son has life, eternal life. But if any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, that man is going to be cursed
when the Lord returns. Now, as simple and as clear as
that statement is, That is a very simple and a very clear statement. But as simple and as clear as
that statement is, it is critical that we understand what that
means. Very critical. If we miss this, we will be cursed
when the Lord returns. If we miss this, No matter what
we've heard up to this point. Whatever we heard yesterday is
yesterday. No matter if we've sat in the
pew of a true gospel church or not. No matter what has gone
into this ear so far. If we miss this and find out
in the end, we stand before Him and realize that we did not truly
love the Lord Jesus Christ. on the day that He returns, on
the day that He is at hand, that moment that we stand before Him,
we will be cursed. We will be cursed. If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed when the Lord
returns. Now, let's search the scripture
and find out the answer to this question. What is it to truly
love the Lord Jesus Christ. What does that mean? To truly
love the Lord Jesus Christ. How can I know if I love the
Lord Jesus Christ? If it's that critical. How can
I know if I love Him? I love Christ. Let's see if He'll
give us an understanding of what this means and Convince us that
we truly do love him Now before we get into what it is to love
him. Let's first acknowledge this turn with me to John chapter
5 John chapter 5, verse 42, the
Lord Jesus Christ said, But I know you that you have not the love
of God in you. I am come in my Father's name,
and you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. But he said, you won't receive
me. If a man comes in his own name, preaching his own glory
and preaching his own doctrine, he said, you'll receive him.
But he said, I am come in my Father's name. And he said, you
won't receive me. Now, true love for the Lord Jesus
Christ starts right here. It gets honest. It gets honest. It acknowledges
the truth that this flesh naturally does not love the Lord Jesus
Christ. This flesh naturally. If you love somebody, you'll
tell them the truth. If you love somebody, you will
not lie to them. You will not look them right
in the eye and lie to them. Not if you love them. True love for Christ starts with
an acknowledgment of the truth. David said, I acknowledge my
transgressions and my sin is ever before me. I acknowledge it. The Apostle
Paul said, Oh, wretched man that I am. Oh, wretched man. I acknowledge what is inside
here. I acknowledge it. He said, I
know you that you naturally have not the love of God in you. This
is where it starts. Truth, Lord. Truth. I hate to even say it.
I hate to even say it, but I have to acknowledge that's the truth. That's the truth. Look with me
at Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 7 says, Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, the natural mind, the physical
fleshly carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh, which includes everybody in this room, cannot
please God. Cannot please God. Oh, I think
God's going to be happy with me when I go stand before Him
in that day. Whoever's in the flesh, if we're
in the flesh, we cannot please God. Cannot please God. The carnal mind is enmity. Enmity means an enemy of. It naturally hates God. That's strong language, isn't
it? But it's the truth. It's the
truth. Now if a person hears this and
says, wait a minute. You're not speaking on my behalf. Don't you say that this flesh,
my flesh naturally hates God. Don't you say that. That's not
true. That is not true. Whoever says that is saying you
are a liar. Because no man said this. God
is the one who said this. We are merely repeating and acknowledging
what he has already said. So whoever tries to prove his
love for Christ by saying, you're a liar, don't you tell me I shake
my fist in your face. Well, It starts right here. It starts
right here. I acknowledge the truth. I bow
to the truth. True love acknowledges this is
the truth. This right here is the truth.
Look with me if you would at 1 John chapter 4. 1 John 4 verse 19 says, We love
Him because He first loved us. If we love Him, it is only because
He first loved us. The glory and love goes to Him. It goes to Him. Romans 5 says,
God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians 2 says, We were children
of wrath even as others, but God, who is rich in mercy for
His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead
in sins, He quickened us together with Christ. That's where our
love for Him begins. This is where it all starts. It begins with His love for us. Now, if God has given his love
to us, and if he's given us a love for the Lord Jesus Christ, how
will we know it? How will we know it? Some think
they love the Lord Jesus Christ, but they're going to find out
in the end that they actually don't. How will we know that we love
him? How can a sinner, I mean a sinner,
truly know if he or she loves the Lord Jesus Christ. What is
it to truly love Christ? Well, I'd like for us to see
five things in the scripture. Five things from God's word that
will tell us what it is to truly love the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray he might put this
love in us. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter 22. Matthew 22 verse 35 says, Then
one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the
law? Jesus saith unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God. with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Now do you notice in verse
37 that the word Lord is capital L, lowercase O-R-D. That is Jesus Christ. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one, to truly love Christ
is to love Him for who He is. the Lord our God. He is the Lord our God. Thou
shalt love the Lord our God. People, many people, they think
of this man Jesus as a perfect man. Everybody likes Jesus. He's a perfect man. He's an honest
man, a good man, a holy man. He's a man who has a place in
heaven. He's a man who has been given honor from heaven, but
they can do with Him whatever they want to do with Him, accept
Him, reject Him, put Him in their pocket, let Him be Lord, let
Him save them, and they have no idea who He is. They do not love Him for who
He is. who He is. The highest, almighty
God. The highest, almighty God. The name Lord means sovereign. It's why our sign says what it
says. The definition of the word Lord
is sovereign. Ruler, controller, owner. Don't we love knowing that's
who he is? Doesn't that just bring so much
joy and love into our heart, knowing him and seeing him as
he is? We love him because of who he
is. It brings so much comfort to
a child of God to know that He is the Judge of all heaven and
all earth. I don't trust myself to even
make the right decision. If the decision is in my hands,
I don't know. But it's not. It's not. He is the One seated
on the throne. And we love it. We love the highest
God. To truly love the Lord Jesus
Christ is to love the Lord our God. Lord means God. Jesus means man. Christ means
both. Only one who's both. He is 100%
God and not 1% less. He is 100% man. Don't you love that? Isn't that
amazing? A man is God. He's 100% man and not 1% less. That's what it means to say He's
the Christ. People go around saying, oh yeah, I love Jesus.
Don't you love Jesus? Yeah, but let's be a little bit
more specific. We love the Lord Jesus Christ. We love the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to run out of time.
Let me just show you one of these. Go to Revelation 1. Revelation 1, verse 8. It says, I am Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end saith
the capital L lowercase O-R-D. Which is and which was and which
is to come the Almighty. I had a couple of more that say
the capital L lowercase O-R-D our God. the Lord our God. To love the Lord Jesus Christ,
number one, is to love the Lord our God. All right, now turn
with me to John 21. John 21 verse 15 says, So when
they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Do you love me? Me. To love the Lord Jesus Christ
is to love Him. Him, not just the things about
Him. This is critical. This right
here is where many, many people will miss it. This is so critical. To love the Lord Jesus Christ
is to not just love the things about Him. Not just to love the truths concerning
Him. Him. That is the great revelation
of the Gospel. When the Gospel comes, when the
truly good news comes, and it floods the heart, it's the revelation
of the person, the revelation of the man. Him. A man can be completely enamored
with His sovereignty. Let me repeat that. A man or
a woman can become completely enamored with his sovereignty
in awe of the fact that if he wants to, he can send fire to
this earth and consume everything on it. Just captivated by that. Men love sovereignty. That's how some of these men
on this earth get a following like Saddam Hussein and Hitler
and these guys like that. Although they're not sovereign. But men can be enamored with
the things concerning him. And miss him in the process. Completely miss Christ in the
process. Love his sovereignty, but not
love him. Him. A man can love his true
and glorious doctrines. We love what so many people call
the doctrines of grace. A man can be in love with the
doctrine of election and still not be in love with Him. Him. Why do some men cling to the
doctrine of election? Oh yeah, it's in there. Election,
you better believe it, buddy, it's in there. And it is. But
why do some men cling to election but never come out from under
the false message they're sitting under? Never come to the place
of true worship where Christ's name is glorified and honored
and magnified. Why are they willing to sit there
listening to a man tell lies on Him? And worship the sinful
creation more than the Creator. Why is that? It's because they
love the doctrine of election. But they don't love Him. That's
why. That's why they don't love Him.
Our text did not say, if any man love not election. It said, if any man does not love
Him. Peter said, whom having not seen,
you love. And we do. We do. God's people are so in love with
Him. It's not about heaven. This morning, this is not about
heaven. It's about Him. It's about Him. We're in love
with Him. Our glory is Him. Our life is
Him. Our salvation is Him. Our fellowship
and union is Him. It's Him. To love the Lord Jesus
Christ is to love the Lord our God. And it's to love Him. It's to love the Lord. our God. Number three, turn with me again
to 1st John chapter 4. 1st John 4 verse 10 says, Herein
is love. Not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our
sins. To love the Lord Jesus Christ
is to love his work. I mean love His work. It's to love what He accomplished
for us. Love it. Be in love with it.
Complete redemption in Him. Total redemption in Him. It's
to love the fact that He finished our salvation. Finished it. I will never understand why.
But many people don't love that. I understand why they don't love
that. It's because man is naturally at enmity against him. But I'll
never understand why this flesh, I'm talking about my own natural
flesh, as I am in the flesh. Why does this flesh hate the
free gift of salvation in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why does it reject that? You
tell people that Christ finished the work of salvation by Himself. God is satisfied. And there's
nothing left for them to do but rest in Him. And men become so
offended by that announcement. Why? Why? But if God in mercy, and if God
in grace comes to a sinner, Does a work on that heart? Brings
them to Himself? Opens their eyes? Opens their
ears? Opens their heart? They don't hate it anymore. They're
not offended by it anymore. Those who love the Lord Jesus
Christ, love His work. They love the fact that it's
finished. If it was not finished, they
know we would have no hope. we would have no hope. If I had
to add anything to what he has accomplished, I would die in
my sins. This is a powerful statement. Charles Spurgeon said, if I was at the very threshold
of heaven, and that last step was dependent
on me, I would never make it in. Thank God that last step is not
dependent on me. Thank God. He accomplished the
first step. Now, if you make the first step,
He'll take the... He accomplished the first step. He accomplished
the last step and every step in between. To love the Lord
Jesus Christ is to love the salvation He accomplished all the way to
the end. Thank God. Don't you love that?
Don't you love that? Thank God all the way to the
end. They're all kept. None of them is lost. Even the
children of God who haven't been born yet, they're already not
lost. We love it. Number four. Right
here in 1 John chapter 4 verse 11 says, Beloved, if God so loved
us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God
at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and his love is perfected in us. To love the Lord Jesus
Christ is to love him for who he is, the Lord our God. It's to love him for who he is. It's to love what he has done,
what he has accomplished. And it's to love who he has done
it for. Our Lord said, By this shall
all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one
for another. Love one for another. He said,
If you do something for one of the least of these my brethren,
you've done it for me. I say the same thing about my
family. You want to do something for me? Do something for them.
Nothing could make me happier. If we truly love the Lord Jesus
Christ, we will love each other. It's the byproduct. It's the
evidence. We will. Look at verse 20. If
a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is
a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we
from him, that he who loveth God loveth his brother also."
Don't we love the commandments he's given us? Love the Lord
your God and love all of his people. Boy, they're not grievous. Not at all. Look back at chapter
3, verse 11. For this is the message that
you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. This is the message that has
been given from the beginning. Love one another. Verse 14. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him. My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are
of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him." When
God puts love in the heart of a sinner for Christ, God puts
love in the heart of a sinner for his people. And it's real. It's a real love. All right,
last one. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
4. 2 Timothy 4 verse 8 says, Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. To love the Lord Jesus Christ
is to love Him for who He is. It's to love Him for who He is. It's to love what He has done.
It's to love who He has done it for. And it's to love and
crave and long for His return. is to be overtaken with the desire
to be with Him where He is. Like Him as He is. It is a groaning in the heart
that cries, come quickly. Come quickly. Just like that
Shulamite woman in Song of Solomon. She said, I am sick with love. I'm so sick with love. Just love
sick. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be cursed when the Lord returns. But if
any man or woman truly loves Christ, if any man or woman has
been given a heart, if God has done a work of grace and put
a love in us for the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 8 says, nothing
will be able to separate us from that love. Nothing. Nothing on earth, nothing in
heaven. Nothing. I'll close this message with
a statement from Brother Todd Nyburn. If any man loved not
the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, how could you not? How could
you not? Oh, when grace comes, and mercy
comes, and His love comes, and you see what a vile creature
I am, and what a glorious, merciful God He is, how could you not? How could you not? We love Him
because He first loved us. All right, stand together with
me. Let's turn to 463. 463. Who can
cheer the heart like Jesus by His presence all divine? True and tender, pure and precious
Oh, how blessed to call Him mine All that thrills my soul is Jesus
He is more than life to me And the fairest of ten thousand
in my blessed Lord I see. Love of Christ so freely given,
grace of God beyond degree. Mercy higher than the heaven
Deeper than the deepest sea All that thrills my soul is Jesus
He is more than life to me And the fairest of ten thousand In
my blessed Lord I see What a wonderful redemption, never can a mortal
know How my sin, though red like crimson, can be whiter than the
snow All that thrills my soul is Jesus He is more than life
to me And the fairest of ten thousand In my blessed Lord I
see Every need His hands supplying Every good in Him I see On His strength divine relying,
He is all in all to me. All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me. And the fairest of ten thousand,
In my blessed Lord I see. By the crystal flowing river
With the ransomed I will sing And forever and forever Praise
and glorify the King All that thrills my soul is Jesus He is
more than life to me and the fairest of ten thousand
in my blessed Lord I see. You're dismissed.