Loves Logic

Q: What does the Bible say about God's love for us?

The Bible states that God loves us first, as expressed in 1 John 4:19, and His love is the cause of our love for Him. The Bible clearly articulates that God's love for us is foundational and precedes our love for Him. In 1 John 4:19, it says, 'We love Him because He first loved us,' demonstrating that His love is the initiating factor in our relationship with Him. God's love is characterized by its everlasting nature, as seen in Jeremiah 31:3, where it says, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love.' This indicates that God's love is not based on any inherent goodness in us but is a spontaneous and self-originating act of His will. Therefore, our love for God is a response to His unchanging and initiating love.

Q: Why is unconditional election important for Christians?

Unconditional election assures us of God's sovereign choice, demonstrating His grace and love towards us, which is foundational to our salvation. The doctrine of unconditional election asserts that God has chosen certain individuals for salvation based purely on His will and purpose, not based on any foreseen merit or action on their part. This doctrine emphasizes that our salvation is a result of God's grace and not our efforts, as stated in Ephesians 1:4-5, 'According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.' This divine election not only demonstrates God's sovereignty but also assures believers that God's love is certain and everlasting. The assurance of being chosen allows Christians to rest in the knowledge that their salvation is secure, freeing them from fear and uncertainty, ultimately leading to worship and praise of God’s grace.

Q: What does it mean to receive the love of the truth?

Receiving the love of the truth means embracing God's Word and doctrines with our hearts, which is essential for true salvation. To receive the love of the truth signifies an inward acceptance and affection for God's Word and His doctrines, which is a hallmark of being born again. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, it states that those who perish do not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. This love for truth transforms how believers respond to God's Word, positioning it as the very foundation of their faith and practice. It leads them to cherish and uphold the doctrines of grace, motivating them to live according to God's will and to seek fellowship among other believers. Thus, it is critical for true salvation that one loves the truth as it reflects an alignment with God’s character and a response to His love.

Q: How does God's love influence the Christian's love for worship?

God's love cultivates a deep affection for worship in believers, drawing them into communal and private expressions of reverence. God's love directly influences a Christian's desire and love for worship. As God has loved us first, this initiates a natural response from His people to seek and adore Him through worship. Psalm 84:1 expresses the sentiment, 'How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!' indicating that those who experience God's love naturally long to be in His presence with fellow believers. Worship becomes a vital part of their lives as it reflects their love for God and desire to be with His people. Public worship, in particular, offers a communal space where believers can unite in praising God, adhere to His teachings, and grow spiritually. Therefore, genuine encounters with God’s love lead to an intrinsic passion for worship as an essential expression of faith.

I wish this morning to use the
19th verse of 1 John chapter 4 as a basis, foundation text
for our message today. I hope the Lord will be pleased
to give us all hearing ears this morning. I know that Satan would
come and steal away the word of God from our hearts. and would
hinder us from receiving that which the Lord would have for
us and that which would be a comfort and a stabilizing effect and
power in our lives. I believe this morning the message
is of the Lord, I believe it is, and I hope that you will
listen carefully this morning to what we have to say here in
this meeting. I believe that this is a true
statement that the Christian religion is a religion of love. I believe it is. I believe that
can truthfully be said. I want to speak this morning
on the subject of love's logic. Love's logic. I believe there
is a predictable sequence to the love of God. And I want this
morning, if I can, to help you and to bring these things that
the Lord has impressed upon my heart to you. I believe that
we can readily, after examining this chapter along with other
portions of the Word of God, we can readily acknowledge that
God's love for us precedes our love for Him. I think we can
believe that because I think the text teaches that we love
Him because He first loved us. And I guess what I'm saying is
that His love is the cause of our love. We believe that God
is love. As it says here in verse 7, it
says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Verse 8, for God is love. And so we believe that God is
love, and that all love begins with God. And as I said, we readily
acknowledge that God's love precedes our love for Him. Now it is true
that we do love Him, but beloved, all love begins with God. Now
in Jeremiah 31, verse 3, it says this. The Lord hath appeared
bold unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Now after
reading and meditating upon that verse of scripture, we gather
that the reason, and my friend was telling me he had reason,
God had reason for loving his people. Now that reason, as we
often have said, is known only to God. Reason is known only
to him. But he had reason. It certainly
was not because of foreseen love in us. that because He willed
to love us. God just simply willed to love
us. We were chosen simply because
He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Now that's just
simply the way it is. Now He loved us because He would
love us. because He would love us. Now
the gift of God's dear Son was too great a sacrifice on God's
part to have been drawn from Him by any goodness in the creature. I wish we could ever get that
straight in our hearts. The gift of God's dear Son to
us was so great a sacrifice That it could never have been drawn
from us because of any goodness in us. It could have never been
drawn from God because of any goodness in us. It was not possible
for the highest piety to have deserved so great a gift as the
gift of the only begotten Son of the Father's love. It was
not possible. It was not possible for anything
in man to have merited the incarnation and the passion of the Redeemer. It was not possible. And what
I'm saying is that it was not the cause of anything that God
saw in us. that He loves us. It was not
possible for us to be so good that God would have, for that
reason, given us the gift of His Son, the Son of His love.
Now, our redemption, like our election, springs from the spontaneous,
self-originating love of God. And our regeneration in which
we are made actual partakers of the divine blessings in Jesus
Christ was not of us, nor Thy us. We were not converted because
we were already inclined in that way. Some people feel, you know,
that they were bent that way from birth, but you're not bent
that way from birth. My friend, if anything, we're
bent away from conversion. We're bent away from the love
of God. We're bent away from the truth of God and from that
which is holy. We have a sinful nature when
we're born, and we're inclined and biased toward evil. But we
believe that we were converted not because we were inclined
that way, either were we regenerated because some good thing was in
us by nature, but we owe our new birth entirely to His hopeless
love. We owe the new birth entirely
to the love of God. We love Him because He first
loved us. Now, this love of God dealt with
us affectionately. It turned us from death to life. It turned us from darkness to
light and from the alienation of our mind and the enmity of
our spirit into the path of love. I say into the path of love in
which we are now traveling to glory as the people of God. We
are in the path of love. And it was the love of God that
turned us, the potent love of God that brought us out of death's
darkness into life and into and set us in this path of love. Now this path of love I want
to talk to you about this morning because I believe that there
is a predictable sequence to this love of God. God loved us
first and then the text says we love him. We love him because
he first loved us. Now if God loves you then I think
there are three things that must follow. There are three things
that must follow, and it's on these three things that I want
to speak to you this morning. These three things. Well now,
first of all, let's talk just a little bit more about this
love which God has for us, because I just simply am overcome, I'm
overwhelmed by the love which God has for His people. God loves
us. We have so many reasons for loving
Him. But the fact that God loved us,
my friend, is what really gets to our hearts. His love is without
beginning. His love is without cause. His
love is without change, and it's without end. Thank God His love
will never end. toward his people. Isn't that
a marvelous thought? That throughout eternity, God
will continue to love his people. Having loved his own, when he
was in the world, the Bible says he loved them unto the very end. And I don't think that that only
means that God will just love his people to the end of their
life, but that God will love them eternally. Because God's
love for his own elect is certainly an eternal love. He said, I love
you with an everlasting love. And we gladly, as we said earlier,
confess that God's love for us is the cause of any love that
we have for Him. For if He had not loved us first,
we would have never loved Him at all. Never would we have loved
him at all and we had no love for God shame on us But here
is love not that we love God. It's said over here in the 8th
verse or not the 8th verse but back here in there our text this
morning it said that Here is love not that we love God that's
in verse 10 but that he loved us and sent his son to be the
satisfaction for our sins and In everlasting covenant love,
He chose us and determined to save us, and in time He created
love in our own hearts for Him by His almighty grace. Now this,
my friend, I rejoice in. Well, the truth then, the first
thing that I want to say, the three things, is that We do love
Him. The child of God does love the
Lord. This is the testimony of all
true, blood-bought believers in Jesus Christ. They love the
Lord. They cannot help it. They must
love the Lord because God has implanted in their hearts His
love and they must love Him in return. We love our God and our
Savior. Now, we do not love as we should. And as we would or as we shall,
but we do love Him, we do love the Lord. We love Him as He is
revealed in the Scriptures. We love Him as He's revealed
in His Holy Word. We love everything about Him
because everything about Him is perfect. Do you agree with
that? Everything about Him is perfect.
Show me a man who has any quarrel with anything that God is, or
anything He says, or anything He does, and I'll show you a
man whose heart is iniquity against God, a man who is lost altogether,
lost without faith and love toward the Lord Jesus Christ. A man
who quarrels with God about what he is and about what he said
and about what he does is a man who is lost. Now notice, we who
are born of God love God the Father, our covenant keeping
God. We love God the Father. We love
his will. We love his word. We love his
works. And we love his ways. As children
of God. I'm talking about God the Father.
We love all that He does, and we love all that He is. We love
God. His attributes are not distasteful
to us. Now why are they not? Because
they're His beauty. His very attributes are His beauty,
they're His character, and they're His glory. Now this is the reason
that we do not find His attributes distasteful. His holiness, His
sovereignty, His love, His mercy, and His truth are the very things
that causes us to love Him, to have love in our hearts for Him.
We love God the Son. Also, not only do we love God
the Father, we love God the Son. He's our surety, our substitute. Our mediator, our redeemer, he's
our advocate and he's our friend. And there's nothing about Christ
that is the least disturbing or distressing to us as the children
of God. We love him entirely because
he is entirely perfect and lovely. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one
who is altogether lovely. We will love Christ in all his
offices. and all of his works. We love
him as our prophet who teaches us, as our priest who redeems
us and intercedes for us, and our king who rules over us. And we love also God the Holy
Spirit. And we know that he's the comforter,
and he's the teacher, and he's the preserver, and he's the guide
of the Lord's children. We love the Holy Spirit. We love
His irresistible grace. His irresistible grace charms
us. The grace of the Spirit. We love
His witness because His witness assures our hearts before God. He assures us. We know that we're
God because of the Spirit which He has given us. And His Spirit
There's a witness with our spirit and also we love his power because
it's the power of the Holy Spirit that preserves us in this world. And because we love our God,
we rejoice in anything. by which He is exalted, by which
He is magnified, by which He is honored and glorified. And we're distressed as the people
of God and angered by anything that would rob Him of His glory
in this world. Now that brings me to the second
thing. The first thing was we do love Him. We do love it not
as we should and not as we shall but we do love the Lord at this
time Now the second thing is this we especially love his truth
I want you to turn to the book of 2nd Thessalonians chapter
2 and look at verse 10 2nd Thessalonians 2 and verse 10 and it says and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they
received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now, when one is born again by
the Spirit of God, the love of the truth is planted in the soul. when one is born of God. Now,
Paul here says that they received not the love of the truth that
they might be saved. Now, my friend, you cannot be
saved without receiving the love of the truth. When you're saved,
you do receive the love of the truth. And those who are born
of God love the truth of God. I want you to look here in the
book of Psalms. Turn back to the book of Psalms,
chapter 19. And I want you to look at verses
7 through 11. Psalm 19, verse 7 through 11. Listen to these words. I'm telling
you that we have received the love of the truth. especially
God's people love the truth. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. That's verse 7, Psalm 19. The
testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes
of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is
clean, Enjoying forever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
all together More we desire are they than gold even much fine
gold sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb Moreover by
them is thy servant worn and in keeping with them There is
great reward now turn back if you will to the book of third
John The book of third John and look at verse 3 and verse 4 For
I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified the truth
that is in thee, even as thou wokest in the truth. I have no
greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Now, God's elect not only to
believe and obey the words of God, they love the word of God. They love the truth of God. In particular, I believe they
love the doctrine of God our Savior. What I mean is, they
love the gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The question comes to my own
heart, do I love the truth? Do I love the truth? Do I embrace
the truth with all of my heart? Am I connected to the truth?
Am I serving the truth? Am I walking in the truth as
a child of God? If I am a child of God, I believe
that all of these are true. I believe we can answer yes to
all of these questions. Now, Paul tells us that those
who receive not the love of the truth are not saved. They're not saved. Look at 1
John 4 here, our chapter this morning, and look at verse 6,
where it says, We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Hereby we know whether or not
a man has received the love of the truth into his soul or not,
whether or not he will hear us. And then also back in the Gospel
of John chapter 8, if you would turn there, if you don't want
to turn back, just listen as I read verse 46 and verse 47. Jesus says, which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's
words. Ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God. And so what Paul is saying here
when he said they received not the love of the truth that they
might be saved is that they did not receive the gift in their
hearts of love for truth which comes only from God and which
does come to all of those who are saved, all of those who are
regenerated by the Spirit of God. So it's uniquely true, beloved,
that those that are saved love the truth of God. Now let me
be specific here. This is a rebellious generation,
never learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth, as Paul said in 2 Timothy in chapter 3 and verse 7. And
also in 2 Timothy 4, verses 3 and 4, Paul said, for the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their
own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching
ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth. and
shall be turned unto fables." Now, this is the generation that
Paul was speaking of, which is true even of our generation in
this day and time. Now, what I mean, I want to be
specific, because we're living in a time where people thumb
their nose at the Word of God and claim to believe the Bible,
and they claim to believe the truth of the Scriptures, but
they will not bow their knee to what the Bible teaches. And
these people, I believe, are rebels and they've never received
the love of the truth. If you receive the love of the
truth, then you will certainly love the truth of God. Now listen
to me. Those who hate the truth of God,
hate the dog of truth. And we must understand that.
I need for you to understand. me this morning that God's people
love the gospel doctrines of God's free and sovereign grace
in Jesus Christ. Divine sovereignty exalts and
magnifies God in all things, giving him the preeminence in
and the glory of all things. Now I'm not even reading all
of the scriptures that would back that up, but you can mark
it down if you've got a pencil, Romans 9 and read verses 11 through
24. It teaches that. Now because
we love God, we love that which magnifies and glorifies Him. We love His word. Now notice,
even the doctrine of total depravity. Now, some people say, well, now,
preacher, how could anybody love the doctrine of total depravity? How could he love that doctrine?
Well, my friend, the true child of God loves that doctrine because
it places in our hearts, it holds a place in our heart's affection
because it reveals our need of the Lord Jesus Christ. My friend,
how could you not love that which would show you your desperate
need of the Lord Jesus Christ? The Bible says that the heart
is deceitful above all things. It's desperately or incurably
wicked. And how is it that we can love
a doctrine that shows us our desperate case, our incurable
case? Well, my friend, because it drives
us to Christ. in whom there is hope, in whom
there is cure for the fallen and for the lost soul. And so
not only does it reveal our need of the Lord Jesus, but it displays
the infinite measure of His love and His grace toward us. It shows us that the Lord loved
us beyond measure. It shows us that any God who
could love us in that desperate state that we're in, in a state
of nature, that this God is truly the God of the everlasting God,
the eternal God, and that this God is a God who can love with
an immeasurable love. Now, if you want a proof text
for that, I don't have time to read it, but it's in Ezekiel
16, and verses 6 through 14. And you ought to mark these texts
down if you can, and read them later. The book of Ezekiel chapter
16, verses 6 through 14. Now the second thing I'd like
to say is this, that in regards to receiving the love of the
truth, my friend, if you've received the love of the truth in your
soul, you will have an affection for the doctrine of total depravity.
Yes, you will. You will have an affection toward
that doctrine. And I just believe this morning
that whenever the sinner is preached down and Christ is preached up,
you will rejoice in it if you receive the love of the truth.
Now, and it's predictable, my friend, that if God has loved
you, you're going to love him and you're going to love his
truth. You're going to love him. Now, the second thing that I
want to say is that we love the brand old doctrine of unconditional
election and because, because. Now this is important and you
listen to this. The becauses this morning are
very important. I said we love the doctrine of
total depravity because it shows us our need of Christ and shows
us his infinite love for us. Now the doctrine of election,
we love it because it displays the freeness and the certainty
and the eternality of God's love for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 15 and verse 16, he said,
You've not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And Ephesians 1,
verses 3 through 6 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in Christ Jesus. I love it, and I love to hear
it preached. I love to hear people discuss
it. I love to hear men and women
who love this grand old doctrine, sing about it, and rejoice in
this doctrine. And I believe that whenever you
find an individual, when after God has been pleased to bring
it across their path, and God has been pleased to allow them
to have time to meditate and to study and to think out this
doctrine, and they still turn their thumbs down on it, I think
that's the ultimate cost of our redemption. It sets forth the
depth of our Savior's love for a particular people. It sets
forth the efficacy of His blood and His particular distinguishing
affection for us as the Lord's people. The doctrine of particular
redemption, of limited atonement. And somebody said, well, I could
never love that doctrine. You could love that doctrine
if you ever received the love of the truth into your soul.
If you ever receive it from God, know you can't love it in a state
of nature. And if you're lost, and if God
has not been pleased to give you, if all you've done is made
a profession, If all you've done is go through the motions, if
all you've done is take your mother's Jesus or join the church,
then you cannot love this doctrine. You'll never be able to love
it and rejoice in it. But if you have received the
love of the truth into your heart, into your soul, then you can
love the doctrine of limited atonement. A doctrine that, an
atonement that's not limited in power, but it's limited in
purpose. limited in purpose. And the Arminian
says that the atonement's limited in power. That God tried to save
everybody when Christ died, but he just don't have the power
to do it. He can't save everybody. Not everybody. Let the Lord save
them. And therefore they cannot be
saved. My friend, I believe that the atonement is not limited
in power. I believe that God can save anybody
he purposes to save. It's limited in purpose. God
has a purpose, and he saves everybody that he intended to save, and
the blood atonement of Jesus Christ will be effectual to that
end. Now, Galatians 3 and 13 says
Christ has redeemed us. from the person of the Lord being
made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. And his love for us caused him
to submit himself to the cruel, agonizing death of Calvary, to
the death of the tree. And he was hung on a tree for
me, because he loved it. And because he loved his people
in particular, he was willing to be made a curse for them.
In 1 John 4 here in our text this morning, verse 9 and 10,
in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that
God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might
live through Him, that spiritual life. Here is love, not that
we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
satisfaction for our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ died in
order that the offenses of the law would be removed and taken
out of the way, and that God's justice would be completely and
entirely satisfied on the behalf of his people, and now the law
has no further claim on me. Praise God. And this is because
of this grand doctrine of the limited and particular redemption. Now the fourth thing, the precious,
irresistible grace of God is also a delightful theme for the
hearts of God's children. And it's a delightful theme for
your meditation. The doctrine of irresistible
grace. The cause. The cause. It makes known the
persistence. of His love, the persistence
of His love. That God, listen to me now, the
unfailing power of His love and the success of His love. It makes
this known, the doctrine of irresistible grace. Psalm 65 and verse 4 says,
blessed is the man whom thou choosest and callsest to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy house. Blessed is that
man. Now then, God's love could not
find rest or satisfaction. That's what this doctrine teaches,
the doctrine of God's irresistible grace. It teaches us that God
could not find rest. His love could find no rest or
satisfaction until his loved ones are saved. Until God saves
His people, His love will never be satisfied. And so the doctrine
of irresistible grace teaches us the persistence of God's love
and the succession power of God's love. And you have anything against
that? You have anything against that? My friend, listen, anybody
that's in their right mind spiritually would have nothing at all against
that. I praise God for the fact that God's love is persistent,
don't you? That He just wouldn't give up
on us. That He just ain't after us. My soul and God had many
reasons. He just turned away from us to
just leave us flat on the roadside. But God's love is persistent.
and the irresistible grace of God. I love that doctrine. I
love it. I cannot help it. I love that doctrine. And it
rejoices my heart to meditate on that. And God's love is a
love that will not be turned away until it saves his home,
until it saves his people. Now then, the fifth thing here
is, and our hearts rejoice under the second heading, of course.
Our hearts rejoice in the blessed doctrine of the perseverance
of the saints. The doctrines of the perseverance of the saints.
Now, have you received the love of the truth? I'm talking about
a predictable sequence. If God has loved you, then you'll
love him in time, sometime before you go to the grave, and you're
going to have the love of the truth in your heart. It'll be
in there. It'll be in your heart for these
truths that I'm talking about. These doctrines. The cause. Why do we love the
doctrine of the perseverance of the saints? The cause. It
shows us the security and the immutability of God's love for
us and our security in His love. Listen to Malachi 3 and verse
6, for I am the Lord. He says, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Isn't that
a marvelous verse? How many times since you've made
a profession of faith, If God was a changeable God, and he
said, I liked that guy once. That guy one time, he just, he
just, that fight, he just used all kinds of problems. And he
just acted like he was just going to be just such a faithful follower
of mine, but then he just turned aside. He just not majored up,
and I'm disappointed in that fellow, and I'm going to take
my love away from him. No, he said, I'm the Lord. I'm immutable. I don't change. I am God. If I ever loved you, if I ever
had reason to love you, I loved you. From old time, I loved you
before you were ever born. Before you ever come into this
world, Paul said of Jacob and Esau, that God had loved Jacob
before he had ever done any good or evil. That the doctrine of
election might stand. God loved him before he ever
was born. Before he had done any good or
evil. And so God said, I don't change. I'm not like you folks. I don't change. Therefore, the
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Therefore, you, Chris Garamond,
are still preserved in the way. The same is true about the rest
of us here. We're preserved in the way God
had reason to shut us off. But he wouldn't do it because
he's God and he don't change. He remains the same. Now that's
the reason is because it shows us the security in you building
God's love for us and our security in his love. That we love this
God. And we just can't get away from
it. We just love it. And how anybody can ever believe that
you can be saved once, lost again. My friend, I don't see how they
can possibly be worshipping the same God that the Bible sets
forth as being the God of this book. They cannot be worshipping
that God. Any arm in him is worshipping
a false God. He's not worshipping the God
of the Bible. So child of God, ever hold fast. The good old
gospel of God's free grace and pray for an every increasing
love of the truth. Pray that God will give you more
love for his truth. Look in 2 Timothy, and I'll have
to hurry here, time's getting away, but I have to show you
this verse. 2 Timothy, chapter 1, and verses
8 through 13, and I thought these were very precious. Just listen
to these verses. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but be
thou a protector of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the
power of God who saved us, and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death
and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel, whereunto
I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and teacher to Gentiles,
for the rich cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I
am not ashamed, for I know whom I believe, and am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day." In verse 13, whole facts. the form of sound words
which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. Hold fast and seek the old paths
of truth and the good way of free grace and walk therein and
then you shall find rest for your souls. Now the third thing
and last thing that I want to talk about I want you to turn
back to Psalm 84 and 1 in this predictable sequence that we're
talking about this morning. Psalm 84 and 1, listen to these
words, verse 1 and 2, or in 3, I think I should read these,
well, I'm sorry, I have to include verse 4 too. But listen to this,
how amiable, and that word amiable there is beloved. How beloved
are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul loveth, yea, even
fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry
out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a
house in the swallowing-nest for herself. Worship me, Larry,
on even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in
thy house. They will be still praising thee." Pause and think
of that. When David was banished from
Jerusalem, that place of public worship,
he even emptied the spares, as he said here. that made their
nest in the house of God. He longed not for the throne
again necessarily, nor for riches or power that had been taken
from him, but for the assembly of God's saints in public worship. He longed for that. Now in this
predictable sequence, God loving us, us loving him in return,
us receiving the love of the truth into our souls, there also
is love in our hearts. for the worship of the Lord. How beloved are thy tabernacles,
O Lord. Now, my point is this, and I
tell you it is predictable, and you listen, you hear me out.
All who are born of God love the house of God. They love the
church of God. They love the assembly of God's
saints in public worship, and they love the ministry of the
gospel. They must do so, and they will
not willingly absent themselves from that which they love. Now,
without question, there's much that could be said about private
worship. Notice, I'm sure this morning,
that there are many who very strictly attend and even love
the outward service of public worship. who despise private
worship. But I'm equally certain that
anyone who willfully neglects and despises public worship also
neglects and despises private worship. And those who despise
the worship of God, whether it be private or public, do not
know God. They do not know the Lord. Now
most people, present company excepted, are very busy with
many other things in this life. And when it is convenient, they
go to church, give God a tip, and say, oh, how I love Jesus.
But when something more important comes up, a good ball game, or
the dog gets sick, or something happens, something more important
than worshiping God, than they'd sent themselves to the house
of God and say, I can always go to church. I can go to church
next week. I can always go to church. Now,
the Lord knows my heart. They say, the Lord knows my heart. I mean, the Lord, well, this
much you can be sure, the Lord does know your heart. And he
will judge you accordingly. Now with the people of God, things
are far different than this. I believe that the lives of the
Lord's people are arranged to revolve around the worship of
God. They love the house of God. Now, I'm not talking about a
building. I'm talking about they love the people of God. They
love the saints of God, and they love to come together for worship
of the Lord. And this is God's house. This
is God's building. This is God's living building. It's His church, His body. Now,
nothing ever comes up over which they have control, and that's
the key word, over which they have control. Many, many times
there's things that comes up. There's a lot of things that
comes up. Afflictions, illness of the body, and there's all
kinds of things popping into it, work schedules, and all kinds
of things that come up that we don't have any control over whatsoever.
And they just come up, and we cannot make it to church because
of this, that, and other things. And I'm not being critical, I'm
just simply telling you what is the predictable sequence of
the love of God in the souls of these people. They love God,
they love the Lord, and they love His truth, and they love
worship, and they love the church, they love the fellowship of God's
saints. Now, public worship does not
tell all. It does not tell, but it does
tell much. It really does. Notice, if you
will, the first step toward apostasy is the neglect of public worship. The first step, man turning his
back on the things of God and going back, is the neglect of
public worship. Paul said in Hebrews 10, verse
25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. as the
matter of some years, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the day approaching." The next verse, the 26th verse
there says, "...for if we sin with one another after receiving
the knowledge of truth, there is no more sacrifice for sin."
And those who are born of God say what they would In Psalm
122 in verse 1, I was glad. When they said to me, let me
go into the house of the Lord. And I believe that every child
of God desires to be in the fellowship of the saints of God. When their
hearts are right, they want to be in the house of God. They
said I was glad when they said to me, let's go into the house
of the Lord. Now why is this? Why do they want to go? Well,
this is the place where Christ is pleased to reveal Himself
unto men. This is the place where God is
pleased to show Himself, where God is pleased to open up His
Word to the hearts of His people, to manifest Himself, to show
His attributes. This is the place where God reveals
Himself. So why wouldn't we want to be
there? And I want to tell you something. There are times when
things happen in church service There's times when there's something
that happens in the preaching of the word. There's times when
there's certain things said and people hear those things that
if they hadn't have been there, wouldn't make it, they'd never
hear them again, never be the same. And when they heard them,
there's something that happens in them that they're awful glad
that they were there. They're just glad they were there.
Pardon me, excuse me. And then also I'd like to say,
not only is this the place where God reveals Himself to me, but
this is the place where God just plainly, where He saves sinners.
If in the meetings where the gospel is preached, God's been
pleased to save many when they were sitting under the sound
of the gospel. I'm not saying that He cannot
save anybody any other way. I'm just simply saying that God
is pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save them of
the belief. And I believe that that preaching
not only has an effect upon people who are in the building, but
when they get outside the building. And it definitely is used of
God to save sinners. And so I believe that the church
is an instrument in the hands of God to that end. Paul said
that I might save some. He said I'll suffer all things
and endure all things for the elect's sake that I might be
an instrument in God's hands. And I think that we are instruments
in the Lord's hands, and I do believe that God uses His people
and their witness and testimony and their proclamation of truth
to reveal Himself to sinners and to save sinners. And then
also why? Well, this is the place where
God, according to Psalm 133 and verses 1 through 3, where God
commands all His blessings. Now I'm not saying that God won't
bless people at home, and that God won't bless people on the
highway and their automobiles, and that God won't bless people
out in the field. I'm not saying that, but I believe that God
commands His blessing. And when brethren are met together
in unity, and when brethren fellowship, And when brethren are gathered
together and sisters in the Lord to worship God, I believe that
God is pleased to command His blessing there. And I think that
we ought to be there to worship Him in the fellowship. The same
way I believe, and this is my closing comment, that it would
be wiser to neglect daily bread than it would be for us to willfully
neglect the house of God, the place of worship. I believe that
the predictable sequence is that God loves us, and because He
loves us, we love Him, and we have the love of the truth implanted
in our souls, and that love of the truth planted in our hearts
makes us desire to be with those who love the truth, and those
who have been born of God, and those who are worshiping God.
We want to be right there in the middle of it. And I hope
this morning that these things have been a blessing to you,
and a help to you, and encouragement to you. I hope the Lord will
give you remembrance of them, and when you worship the Lord,
that you'll have remembrance of these things. May God add
His blessings.

Loves Logic

What does the Bible say about God's love for us?

Why is unconditional election important for Christians?

What does it mean to receive the love of the truth?

How does God's love influence the Christian's love for worship?

Sermon Transcript

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Loves Logic

What does the Bible say about God's love for us?

Why is unconditional election important for Christians?

What does it mean to receive the love of the truth?

How does God's love influence the Christian's love for worship?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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