Lovest Thou Me

Q: What does the Bible say about loving Christ?

The Bible teaches that true believers must love Christ, as love is an inseparable companion of faith. The importance of loving Christ is rooted in the very essence of Christian faith. In John 21:17, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, highlighting that love for Christ is fundamental to our relationship with Him. The Apostle Paul emphasizes in 1 Corinthians 16:22 that if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, they are to be accursed, indicating that love is a definitive marker of true believers. Furthermore, teachings from Ephesians 6:24 affirm that grace is given to those who love Christ sincerely, confirming that love is a vital aspect of the Christian life. Therefore, genuine love for Christ must be present in all who claim to follow Him, showcasing their faith in tangible ways.

Q: How do we know love for Christ is genuine?

Genuine love for Christ is evidenced by a believer's actions, desires, and faithfulness in following Him. True love for Christ can be recognized through various evidences in a believer's life. A person who loves Christ naturally desires to think about Him, hear about Him, and read about Him, as well as to please Him and be among His people. This desire for fellowship with Christ and His followers demonstrates a heart filled with genuine love. Additionally, as expressed in 1 John 4:19, our love for Him flows from the understanding that He loved us first. Therefore, examining the consistency between a believer's affections and their actions is crucial in discerning the sincerity of their love for Christ.

Q: Why is loving Christ important for Christians?

Loving Christ is essential as it affirms genuine faith and leads to a life of obedience and service. Loving Christ is not just an emotional response; it is foundational to the Christian faith. According to Romans 5:5, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This love compels us to live a life characterized by obedience to Christ's commands (John 14:15). Without this love, professed faith may be mere words without substance. The implications of loving Christ are profound—the believer who loves Christ will naturally demonstrate their faith through actions aimed at pleasing Him and serving others. True love for Christ reflects an understanding of His grace and sacrifice, motivating believers to live in a way that honors Him.

Q: How does one come to love Christ?

One comes to love Christ by experiencing His love, grace, and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. The call to love Christ originates from His love for us, as articulated in 1 John 4:19 where it states, 'We love Him because He first loved us.' Understanding the depth of Christ's love—demonstrated through His sacrifice and ongoing intercession—ignites a response of love within the believer. Additionally, through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, an individual is given a new heart that desires to love and serve Christ. This transformation includes a growing recognition of Christ's presence and work in the believer's life, leading them to live in ways that reflect their love for Him.

The Gospel of John chapter 21. Let me refresh your memories. Just before our Lord Jesus was betrayed, he told his disciples that one would betray him and all would forsake him. And the apostle Peter said to him, Lord though all these should forsake you, I'll not forsake you, not me, not me. And the Lord said to Peter, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I prayed for you that your faith fail not. But this night, before the cock shall crow twice tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times. But when thou art converted, he said, I strengthen thy breath. And Peter did. In his terrible weakness, left to himself for a moment, this man who truly did love the Lord, this man who truly trusted the Son of God, this man who when all was said and done, did die with the Savior. He was prepared to and he did die for Jesus Christ, suffered martyrdom in the name of Christ.

But he denied Christ three times. trembling like a, just like a whipped pup trembling before maiden. He said, I don't know him. And again, he said, I don't know him. And then finally he took up an oath and with cursing, he looked directly at Jesus Christ, the son of God, his savior. And he couldn't have said anything more painful or piercing to the heart of Christ than this. He said, I don't know the man. I don't know the man. As if to imply he's just a man and I don't know him. And immediately the rooster crowed and Peter's heart was smitten within him as the Savior looked at him. And he went out and went bitterly. And in his sorrow, in his lamentation, in his utter disgust with himself, he told the other apostles and disciples, I'm going back to where I was from the Savior's family, I'm going fishing. And they said, hang on, we'll go with you. And Peter went fishing.

Well, after the Lord's resurrection, he told Mary, You go tell my disciples, I'll meet them where I said I would in Galilee, and be sure you tell Peter. Oh, what compassion, what tenderness. He said, be sure you tell Peter. I'm going to be right where I told him I'd be, and I'll be gracious to them. Well, here in John 21, Peter and the disciples were out fishing, and the Lord Jesus appeared standing on the seashore. He called them to come and dine, and after they had eaten, the Lord took Peter aside. And he said to Simon, Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter said, oh yes. And then he said, now Peter, lovest thou me? And Peter said, yes, Lord, I do. Now look at verse 17. And he saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me.

Now I take our Lord's words to Peter for my text and my subject. thou me?" A more important question we cannot consider. Nearly 2,000 years have passed since our Lord asked this question of Peter, but it is just as searching, just as useful, and just as pertinent today with us as it was then with Him. And I've been praying that as I speak to you, the Savior himself by his Spirit may speak to you and put this question to every heart here. I want to talk directly to you and you and you. I want to talk personally to you and I pray that the Son of God by his Spirit will speak through me to your heart. Lovest thou me.

Now love is something everybody understands. It is a feeling, an emotion, a passion that God has implanted in the human heart that cannot be mistaken. Everybody loves somebody or something. No one is incapable of love. Today I simply want to claim a place in your heart and mine for the Lord Jesus Christ who alone, who alone is worthy of all the love of our hearts. I want each of us to love him, truly to love him who loved us and gave himself for us. So give me your attention. This is not a matter of fanaticism. enthusiasm or emotionalism. It's a subject that deserves the most reasonable consideration of every person who professes faith in Jesus Christ and claims to be a Christian.

The Son of God asks, lovest thou me? Now, why is the question so important? Because salvation or the lack of it? Eternal life or the lack of it? everlasting glory or everlasting damnation depends on our ability to answer this question honestly with Peter's words. Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. The simple fact is, all true Christians do love Jesus Christ. And any who do not love Christ in sincerity are not Christians, are not believers, and are not saved no matter what else they may have or profess to have.

Now I want to show you three things from the Word of God that I trust will help you and me as we consider this question and try to answer it honestly. Here's the first thing. Understand this. Every true believer, every true believer loves Christ. I'm using that word love deliberately as it is used in the scriptures. Many are utterly confused about what a Christian is. Many people foolishly imagine that anyone who is raised in what they call a Christian country or a Christian society or under the influence of Christianity is naturally a Christian. Most people imagine that since they have been somewhat affected by Christianity, and since they're not pagans, then they must be Christians. Many imagine that all who profess faith in Christ, all who have been baptized in the name of Christ, all who attend the worship of Christ with some degree of regularity, or even spasmodically, certainly they are Christians. But that's just not so.

A Christian is a person who has been redeemed from the just wrath of a holy God by the blood of Jesus Christ. A Christian is a person who has been born again by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. I know it's a term that is used flippantly today, and I know that the religious world is the cause of that flippancy. I'm aware of that, but it's still true. You must be born again. You cannot inherit the kingdom of God unless you're born again. You cannot see the kingdom of God. You can't enter into the kingdom of God. You can't partake of the blessed grace of God except you're born again. You must be born again. That means God Almighty must in his condescending grace pour out his spirit upon you and give you a new heart and a new life causing you to live before him in faith.

A Christian's a person who believes. on the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, who trust Christ's blood and righteousness alone for acceptance with God. A Christian is a person, old or young, rich or poor, learned or unlearned. A person who, being redeemed, born again, and believing Christ, seeks in all things to follow, obey, and honor Christ. Show him something in this book that Christ requires, and he'll strive to do it. Show him something in this book that Christ demands that he give up, that he not do, he'll drop it with a willing heart. Show him something in this book that Jesus Christ teaches, he embraces it, and he believes it. A Christian is one who strives with a heart of love to follow, obey, and honor Christ in all his life. That's what you were talking about in the lesson this morning. But there's more. A Christian is a person who loves Christ, who loves Him.

When the Lord Jesus came to Simon Peter, the issue that needed to be settled, not for Christ's sake. Bob was saying this to me yesterday concerning various trials and difficulties the Lord sends to us. He says He sends those things because we need to know, not so He can know. He knows everything. He comes to Simon Peter and he says, Simon, lovest thou me? Not so that he might be informed. He knew what was in him. Peter needed to know it and confess it and be assured of it. And Peter said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.

Over in John chapter eight, our Lord Jesus is speaking to the Jews and and he makes this thing of love to Christ tantamount to believing on Christ and living in Christ. In John 8 and verse 42, the Jews are speaking and they said, Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, the Lord Jesus rather is speaking to the Jews. He says, if God were your father, you would love me. If you had God to be your father, if you were indeed the sons and daughters of God Almighty, you'd love me. Without love for Christ, there is no sonship. There is no acceptance with God. There is no claim before God that you are the sons of God. No basis for the claim.

Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians 16. I want you to see the scriptures plainly declared. that those who are born of God, those who are saved by the grace of God are men and women who love Christ. In 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 22, the apostle is bringing to a conclusion his epistle to the Corinthians, and he says, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. That is, let him be accursed. The Lord's coming. Let him be accursed. If any man believe, not yes. If any man trust, not yes. If any man follow, not yes. But Paul says, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed.

All right, look at Ephesians 6. Ephesians chapter 6. The apostle Paul is writing this epistle to the saints at Ephesus. And he's writing to many women, many of whom He had never met. Many women who had been converted after he left Ephesus. He's writing to folks that he hasn't seen. But there are people who are gathered together in the name of Christ in a church fellowship. People who claim to be born of God, who claim to walk with God. And Paul is seeking a way to address this body of believers. Many of whom he had never seen. And he looks for one thing by which he may address them. and by which all of them may be identified, and this is an assumption he makes. Here it is. These folks are born of God. They've been called and redeemed and justified. They believe Christ, why they love Him. And notice what it says, Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 26. It says, I'm sorry, verse 24. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

Without love for Christ, there's no grace, no salvation. If a person truly loves Christ, all is well. If you don't, all is wrong. Can you get hold of that? Love for Christ is the inseparable companion of faith. Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three. But the greatest of these is love. Faith which worketh by love is the kind of faith that God gives to men and women who are born of his spirit. You see, love always goes hand in hand with faith. Love does not usurp the office of faith, but it always attends faith. It is not love that unites the soul with Christ, that's faith. It is not love that draws the waters of grace from the wells of salvation, that's faith. It is not love that brings peace to the conscience, that's the work of faith. However, wherever faith lives, Love lives wherever grace is experienced in the heart love resides

The Lord Jesus put a parable to Simon the leper And he said This person over here owes 50 pence and this one over here owes 500 pence and the debtor frankly forgives them both both now who's gonna love him most and Simon said by the fellow who had nothing to pay, whom his Lord forgave most. And the Lord Jesus said, you said right. That's exactly right. And they to whom much is forgiven, the same love much. If you and I have genuinely experienced forgiveness, if we have genuinely experienced grace, We love the Son of God. And if we don't love it, we haven't experienced that grace and forgiveness.

Love is the motive and mainspring of all work for Christ. When the apostle writes to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 8 in verse 7, and he's encouraging them to give generously to the poor saints of Jerusalem, he says, now this is how I'm going to inspire them. Prove now the sincerity of your love. You love Christ, open up your wallet then. You love Him, then serve Him. You love Him, then do that which honors Him. Very little, you listen carefully, very little has ever been done for Christ from a sense of duty or merely from a knowledge of what is right and what's wrong. Very little. Very little. The heart must be interested, genuinely interested, before the hand will be engaged with commitment and zeal.

Let's see if I can make you understand what I'm saying. Men do things because of a sense of duty. They'll do things because this is just right to do. Tithes. Love gives. Duty comes to church. Gotta go to church this morning, Sunday morning, time to get here. Gotta go to church tonight, Sunday night, time to get there. Gotta go to church tonight, Tuesday night, time to be there. Duty comes to church. Love prepares to worship God. Duty reads the Word. We open the scriptures and read. We try to maintain the reading schedule and we want to read through the Bible consistently. Duty reads the Word. Love tries to understand the Word as the Word of Christ. Duty will do some things for Christ. Sure will. It's his right to do this. lives for Christ. That's the difference. That's the difference.

Let me see if I can illustrate it. When I was in the hospital last year, the nurses up there, very nice to me. They took good care of me. They brought me my pills every time I was supposed to get a pill. They brought me my medicine every time I was supposed to get a shot or every time I was supposed to get something else, they'd bring it to me. Every time they were supposed to check my blood pressure, they were right there, right punctual, check my blood pressure, didn't matter whether I was asleep or not, they were gonna check my blood pressure, because it's time. They were very punctual, very dutiful, and they did exactly what they were supposed to do, and most of them went about it with some measure of politeness and cheer. But Shelby was with me all the time. And she took care of me. And she did so in ways they wouldn't even think of doing so because she's committed to me. They were doing so from a sense of duty because that was their job and they were being paid to do it. She was doing so from a sense of love because she was concerned about me. Those who have done great things in the name of Christ were not just men who held a creed. They were men who loved a person.

Not only is love always an accompaniment of faith, and not only does love motivate and cause us to serve and work for our Savior, but love is the common point of unity for all believers. We may have differences with our brethren about a number of things. Brethren, in other churches and denominations, we may differ with them about the way we observe the ordinances, or with regard to church government, those things, there's differences.

I have a very dear friend I preached for when I was in Australia. He's a Presbyterian. We correspond with one another regularly. We have strong differences, very strong differences, but here, All true believers are one. All true Christians love Christ. They love Christ. They get along because they love the same person. Love the same person. They're in love with the Son of God. That means love for Christ is a point of unity. It's a meeting place where you meet another man or another woman who loves Christ. And before long, you will find you have much more in common with them than you do with your own relatives whom you've known all your life. Because they love Christ. And your hearts are knit together around one person. And that love for Christ dissolves all cultural, racial, and social differences.

Look in Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, I know this and other texts like it are used by the women's libbers and by all kinds of nuts trying to twist the scriptures to teach what they want to teach. But Colossians chapter 3 teaches a very clear principle. The Apostle Paul says in verse 9, lie not one to another, seeing you put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in all.

What does that mean? Does that mean that when a person is born again, a person comes to know Christ, if he's a Jew, he stops being a Jew? If he's a man, he stops being a man. If he's a woman, she stops being a woman. If they're prisoners or in bondage, they cease to be prisoners or in bondage. If they're free, they cease to be free. No, that's nonsense. What does it mean? It means those things don't make any difference. They don't make any difference. I wish I could say this firmly enough and strongly enough and loudly enough that everybody here and everybody who hears this message by any means would understand what I'm saying. In the kingdom of God, social structure, racial class, economic standing, education, literacy or illiteracy, riches or poverty, Power or weakness in the kingdom of God, those things don't matter one iota. That's it. That's it.

What does it mean? Well, this is what it means. Put on therefore, since Christ is all, and we're all in Him, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy. kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another. If any man ever quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye above all these things put on love." That's the bond of perfection. That's what it means.

Love for Christ will be the one distinguishing feature of all the redeemed in glory. In heaven, every man and every woman and that great multitude, which no man can number, will be of one mind. Old differences and old quarrels and old debates will be dropped and forgotten. Around the throne of grace, everybody will love Jesus Christ. They'll be of one heart and one mind.

Now I've said all that and maybe you don't know anything about it. And you think to yourself, well, why? Why all this fuss about loving Christ? Maybe some of you have known someone who genuinely loves Christ. It may be that in your household there's a mama or a daddy, a son or a daughter. Who has something more than a profession on their lips? Who has something more than their name on church row? Maybe there's somebody you know who's flat head over heels in love with Jesus Christ. And you wonder why? What makes you tick? What's the secret? What's the difference between a profession of faith and a heart of love for Christ?

Let's turn to 1 John chapter 4 and I'll show you what the secret is. Why is it that saved sinners love the Son of God? In verse 19, 1 John 4, 19, here's the second point. We love Him because He first loved us. No son or daughter of Adam ever loved Christ by nature. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Always has been, always will be. But all who are born of God love Christ because He first loved us. His love precedes our love. By eternity, He loved us with an everlasting love. His love for us exceeds our love for Him by infinity. He loves us freely, unconditionally, everlastingly, infinitely. He loves us immutably. He loves us. And His love for us is the cause of our love for Him.

Why do you love the Son of God? A man asks a child, one who is indeed a child of God, and he answers, well, I love him because he first loved me. He loved me and gave himself for me. I love him because of who he is. He's God. in human flesh. He is God, that means he's perfect, that means he's holy, that means he's righteous, that means he's worthy of love, but he's God who has assumed my nature so he could make himself known to me and redeem me. He's the God-man. He's the only man alive who's perfectly worthy of love, the only one.

More than that, I love him because of what he's done for me. You see, I was lost and didn't know it. I was perishing and unaware of it. I was under the wrath of God and didn't realize it. I was rushing madly to hell and destruction and would not be turned from it. I had taken my life in my hands because God gave me my reins and let me run freely the course of my mad free will. And I had brought utter ruin and disaster to my soul. And he stepped in. and sprinkled me with his blood, and snatched me from the jaws of hell, and lifted me from the dung heap of fallen humanity, and sent me among princes with the sons of God. That's why I love it. He robed me in his righteousness, and made me accepted before God Almighty forever, and made me to be the son of God. What manner of love he bestowed on me.

And I love him because of all that he is doing for me now. Every day I fall and he lifts me up. Walking through this world, I am defiled with sin. Sin in me and sin around me. He washes me. By the fresh application of his blood through his word, he washes me. He intercedes for me. When I sin, he's my advocate with the Father. When I stray, he fetches me to himself. When I will not hear his voice, he makes me hear his voice. When I will not obey him, He graciously forces me to walk in his way. When I would utterly deny him, he comes to me and he restores my soul. I love it because he supplies me with daily provision, both of grace and of all things temporal. He protects me day by day and has done so all my life. I love it. because he keeps me in the right hand of his righteousness and will not let me go.

You ask any believer, why do you love the Lord? And he can give you abundant reasons. Read the 116th Psalm. David said, I love the Lord because he heard my voice. He said, Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints, because he's full of grace. David writes to the children of Israel and he says, I will love the Lord because he is my rock and he is my salvation.

And yet there are some who would have us to believe that this matter of love for Christ is something that really cannot be known in this world. We really, we really have to kind of live in limbo about this thing. I have often quoted this hymn by John Newton, and I am an admirer of John Newton. But his hymn, that I have been guilty of quoting, has inspired much doubt in the minds of men and women with whom there ought to be nothing but assurance. And with the view that is expressed in his hymn, many seem to have the idea that it is a spiritual thing to be in limbo concerning this matter of whether or not I love Christ.

The hymn goes like this,

"'Tis a point I long to know, oft it causes anxious thought, Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not?

Let me tell you something. There's absolutely no reason for any child of God ever to sing that hymn. No reason. But Preacher, you've had us sing it. I know. I've been mistaken. There's absolutely no reason. Absolutely no reason. Love for Christ or the lack of it. And this is the last thing I want to call your attention to. It's something that can and should and must be known. It's something that can and should and must be known.

In just a few weeks, that little lady over there and I will have been married for 25 years. I'm not that old. She just got me when I was young and tender. But if I should take her home tonight, and we sit down on the side of the bed and start to chat a little bit, and I get kindly misty-eyed, and I start to say to her, there's a point I long to know, oft it causes anxious thought. Do I love my wife or no? Am I hers or am I not? I suspect I might have some explaining to do. Don't you? After 25 years, I'll know something. After 25 years, I hope to be confident in anything about my love for her or lack of it.

You see, love is not ambiguous. It's not ambiguous. Love is not something we have to guess about. It just isn't. And love for Christ is something that a person may, should, and must know.

Brother Maurice Montgomery was Academy I won't get any of his children in trouble, so I won't give the name, lest their special ones hear the tape. But he said, one of them came to him and said, Dad, how do you know when it's the right person? How do you know? Oh, that's confusing. How do you know this man's to be my husband or this woman's to be my wife? It's not really that confusing. It really isn't. The fact is, as long as you've got some question about it, I assure you it ain't love. I assure you it's not.

J.C. Ryle wrote, How do we know whether we love any person here upon earth? How do we know? In what manner does love show itself between people in this world? Between husband and wife? Between parent and child? Between brother and sister? Between friend and friend? How do you know that you love anybody? He said, let these questions be answered by common sense and observation. And the knot before us is untied. Lovest thou me? Just common sense and observation. And then he gives eight characteristics, eight marks by which love is known for certain. You want to know what they are? Eight marks by which I can answer the question. Lovest thou me? Here they are.

If I love a person, I like to think about him. I don't have to be reminded to think about him. I don't have to have somebody tap me on the shoulder and say, Don, did you think about Shelby today? Yes, I gave her a thought or two. I sure did. Why, no, she dwells in my heart. I don't have to Make myself think about it. I've got a picture of her in my wallet. I didn't carry one for a long time. Not because I was at all ashamed of her. I just didn't have one. But I didn't need one. The only time I need the picture is to show you what she looks like. I know exactly what she looks like. I don't need pictures of her hanging around. I like to look at her, but the pictures are insignificant.

And I'm going to tell you something about love for Christ. If you love him, Bobby, You think about it. He dwells in your heart. He dwells in your heart.

If I love somebody, I like to hear about him. You know, I've never met a mother or a father whose attention you couldn't get by talking about one of their children. Have you? Donnie Bell is going to be up here in a couple of weeks. If you want to get Donnie excited, just ask him about that little curly-headed grandson of his. Just ask him. He'll talk to you until you can't stand to listen anymore, because he likes to talk about it, and he'd be real happy if you talked about him. He likes to hear about it. And folks who love Christ like to hear about it. Don't ever get tired of hearing about it. I read a long time ago of a Welsh lady who would always go on Sunday afternoon to hear an English preacher, even though she couldn't speak English. She understood very little English. And finally, somebody got a little exasperated and asked her, said, why do you have to go over there and hear that man all the time? And she answered, he mentions Christ so often, he does my heart good. If you love somebody, you love to hear about them.

If I love somebody, I like to read about Him. If you love Christ, you like to read about Him. Open the Word, read about Him. If you can't read, you're just tickled to death, somebody will come open the Word and read about Him for you. Now, somebody who doesn't love Him, not interested in reading about Him.

The year Shelby and I were engaged, I was separated from her by 1,200 miles, and we called about every day. She'd call me or I'd call her, and we wrote, I guess, every day for a year, for nine months out of a year, wrote every day. And the only interest anybody would have in those letters would be just curiosity. Anybody except her or me. Because it didn't affect anybody else. They were just letters between us. And the only reason anybody has any real interest in this book is because he loves the person of whom this book speaks. Loves to read about him.

If you love a person, I'll tell you something else. You like to please him. Oh, you like to please him. I guess as you get older and your kids grow up, you can't help but to think about those little things that you remember when they were tots. I remember Faith so tenderhearted about so many things, but oh, she sensed She just sensed that somehow I was displeased with her. It'd break her heart. She couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand it. And I'm thankful she still can't. She doesn't like to have any indication of any displeasure or disapproval. That's what it is to love somebody. You love that lady sitting there, don't you, Bob? You need to try to please her. Just make her happy, that's all. And if you love the Son of God, you spend your life delighting to please Him. And you're crushed with any thought that's displeasing to Him.

Okay, something else. If you love somebody, you're like his friends. Like his friends. His friends are your friends. His pals become your pals. And if you love Christ, His people are your people. That's right. You delight with them. You delight to be with them. You delight to be among them. You delight to speak with them.

If you love somebody, if I love a person, I'm very jealous to promote and to protect his name and dishonor. Isn't that true? A man loves a wife, you better be careful how you talk about his wife. Loves his children, you better be careful how you speak about his children. Because he'll stand face to face and fight you no matter who you are for the honor of his wife and his children. He'll do it because he loves them. And if you love the Son of God, folks better be careful how they speak about him around you. because you're jealous for his name and his honor, and you're going to be certain that you promote it.

If I love a person, I sure enjoy talking to him. I don't have to set a schedule to do it, and I'm not saying don't set a schedule for prayer, but I tell you, I get so weary, and I am so fearful of forced religious exercise. I don't know where the happy balance is. Shelby and I, as you know, we work together all the time, but we seldom ever sit down and talk. She comes over here and goes to that office, I go to this one, and we communicate back and forth to get things done. And that's the way the days go most of the time. But we have for the last good while, most every morning, before we get dressed, before we eat breakfast, before we even get up and brush your hair and brush your teeth and such as that, we'll drink coffee, sit in bed, maybe drink a couple of pots of coffee, and we'll talk. We just talk. That's the only time we talk. Now, some mornings don't have time. Yesterday morning I had to get up and go help Ron move, get up and take off. Some mornings you have to do that. And you don't somehow feel like you've been terribly neglectful because you didn't spend that time with talk. We talked when we got home. We sat down and visited a while.

What I'm saying is this. Loving somebody is enjoying being able to speak freely. And folks who love Christ speak freely with Christ. Talk to Him. Prayer is neither more nor less than the communication of my heart with His heart. That make sense to you Merle? That's what it is. Prayer is not saying words. Sometimes folks start to pray, especially praying in public. And I know public prayer is a hard thing to deal with. I have a difficult time trying to lead you in public prayer. But folks start to pray and they'll stand up here or stand out in the congregation and start to pray. And they'll use voice inflections that you'd think there's actors from another country. But nobody talks like that. Nobody talks like that. And they would address God like you would think they were addressing an absolute stranger. They were scared to death to approach.

Prayer is the free, comfortable communication of my heart with my God by faith. That's what it is. If you love somebody, you like to talk to them. And when I get to, I sure do like to talk to the Son of God.

One last thing. If I love somebody, I like to be with them. I like the company. So the question is not hard to answer, is it? You've already answered it. I have too.

Lovest thou me? Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.

You're honest enough. You say to yourself, Don, I don't. I've got a profession of faith. And I've been in the church. But love Christ? No, I don't love him.

What do you do? The only way you'll ever come to love Him, the only way you'll ever come to love Him, I can't talk you into loving Him. I can't do it. I can talk you into joining the church. I can talk you into making a decision, but I can't talk you into loving the Son of God.

The only way you'll ever love Him is if you see Him. And you'll never see Him except He be revealed to you. by the grace and power of His Spirit.

So I urge you to do two things. Somebody wrote to me the other day and said, do you think you ought to tell sinners to pray for faith? I don't know whether I ought to or not, but that's what I'm telling you to do. Pray that God, who alone can give faith, can give you faith. And find your place in the house of God under the ministry of the word, always. If God ever gives you faith, he'll do it through just what you've been listening to for the last 45 minutes, through the preaching of the gospel.

Now, if you love Christ, don't be ashamed to tell it. Don't ever be ashamed to let folks know you love him, to witness for him, to speak of it and to live for it. You can't be overly zealous for the Son of God. Can't be. Sometimes we get a little frustrated because folks have zeal without knowledge and we want to kind of direct the zeal. I've used the word direct. I don't want to temper the zeal. Oh, I don't want to temper the zeal. Keep the zeal, just get it directed and focused.

You can't be overzealous for Christ. You can't commit yourself to him too thoroughly. You can't love him too completely. You can't serve him too fully.

Lovest thou me. God help you honestly answer the question for your soul's sake. Amen.

Lovest Thou Me

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about loving Christ?

How do we know love for Christ is genuine?

Why is loving Christ important for Christians?

How does one come to love Christ?

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Lovest Thou Me

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about loving Christ?

How do we know love for Christ is genuine?

Why is loving Christ important for Christians?

How does one come to love Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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