Lord willing, tonight I'm going
to be preaching from 1 Corinthians chapter 9 on run that you may
obtain, looking at verses 24 through 27 of 1 Corinthians chapter
9. I've entitled this message, He
Whom Thou Lovest is Sick. Now the person who wrote this
count was the disciple who identified himself as that disciple that
Jesus loved. Not the disciple that loved Jesus,
but the disciple that Jesus loved. And he knew exactly what these
two sisters meant when they said, he whom thou lovest is sick. If they would have said, he who
loves you is sick, they would have entered the realm of entitlement.
You need to do something about this. The one that loves you,
he's sick. You need to do something about
it. But they had more wisdom than this. And their only appeal,
not telling them what to do, is this. He whom thou lovest
is sick. Verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. The tense in the original speaks
of a continuous action. Now, Jesus continued to and kept
on loving Martha. and her sister and Lazarus. I've got a question. I want you to
think how you would answer this. If God loves all men like he
did Martha and Mary, and Lazarus. If God loves all men the same,
just like He did Martha and Mary and Lazarus, and if some of these
men that He loves go to heaven, and some of these men and women
He loves go to hell, what does the love of God have to do with
salvation? The fact of the matter is, if
he loves equally those in hell and those in heaven, God's love
has nothing to do with salvation. It's what you do. The ball's
in your court. It's up to you to do something
in order to save yourself. Do you know the Bible, and I
want to say this the right way, the Bible does not teach that
God loves all men the same. It just doesn't teach that. Turn to Psalm 5 for a moment. Somebody says, why make a point
out of this? Because the Bible does. Do I need another reason
than that? Psalm 5, verse 5. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou, what's the next word? Hatest. Workers of iniquity. Now that's a large demographic
isn't it? Thou, the living God, hatest, not loves, hatest all
workers of iniquity. What about that scripture in
Romans nine? Verse 13 quoted from Malachi
chapter 1, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God said,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's what God says. Jacob have I loved, Esau, have
I hated? What is your visceral reaction
to that? How does that make you feel when
you hear those words from God? Jacob, have I loved? Esau, have I hated? Do you think how can he hate
Esau? He's picking on Esau. How can he hate Esau? He's God. Seems like he'd love him. Isn't
that what God does? How could he hate Esau? I think
it's interesting if you read the history of Esau, here's what
Esau thought about God. Esau didn't think God was worth
a bowl of soup. And he would sell his relationship
with God for a bowl of soup. He could care less about the
living God. He had no love for God. He had
no esteem for God. He wasn't worth a bowl of soup.
He sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. How could God hate him? God's
righteous. God's holy. I know this, and I believe this
with all my heart. If God hated me, just and holy is his name. You believe that? Here's the way my response and
your response ought to be, how could he love Jacob? Jacob was
a deceitful man. He was a manipulative man. He
was a sinful man. How could he love Jacob? Let me translate that. How could
he love me? How could the living God, the
holy God, actually love me? I love the song we sing. I stand
amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he
could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. I wonder if there's
anybody asking themselves that question. How could God love
me? The scripture declares that God
is true. Let God be true and every man
a liar. The scripture tells us that God
is spirit. He's not bound by space or time
the way you and I are. God is spirit. God is light. These are scriptural
quotes. God is light, in him is no darkness
at all. Our God is a consuming fire. That's what the scripture says. And the scripture says, I love
this, God is love. Not here's love and God fits
that definition. No, God is love. He whom thou lovest is sick. Now, if you are someone he loves
and you're not sick right now, you will be. You can just write
this down. Unless you drive out of here
and a car hits you and kills you, and you don't have a chance
to get sick, you will be sick. Sickness. How difficult it is. Sickness. I know a little something
about sickness. I've spent seven months of my
life in the hospital. Sickness. He whom thou lovest
is sick. Sickness. Charles Spurgeon made
this statement. I've always liked it. The greatest
physical blessing in life is health. Better than having money, better
than having all the stuff men are after, the greatest Physical
blessing in life is health. The only greater blessing is
sickness. I believe that. I know that. He's in control of sickness. And if I'm sick, he made me sick. And he's got wise and glorious
purposes for it. And I know this in my experience,
in my experience, the greatest times I've ever had is when I
was the sickest. He whom thou lovest is sick. Now, sometimes he heals sickness.
If you're healed, he healed you. He used means, there's no doubt
about that. Somebody says, well, if I won't take any medicine
and I'll be healed anyway, then I'll prove God is the one who
healed me. He healed you however you're
healed. He healed you and he uses means. Take the medicine.
Whatever it is, the means that God uses. He heals though. And it could be he doesn't heal
you. And if he doesn't heal you and
you're somebody he loves, you'll be plum healed. you'll be in
his presence. That's when healing truly comes. He whom thou lovest is sick. Now I know this. I want to be
one of those people that Jesus loves. I want that more than anything
else. I want to be one of those people
whom Jesus loves. Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. And I know this, if the Son of
God loves a man, so does God the Father. And so does God the
Spirit. You see, these three are one. I want to be someone that Jesus
loves. Now, I want to make some statements
from the scripture and see what the scripture teaches with regard
to the love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. What does the scripture teach?
I realize men have their preconceived notions of God's love and feel
like it's a given. Of course, God loves me. That's
his job. You're not going to get that from scriptures though.
What sayeth the scripture? What does the scripture teach
with regard to God's love? And I want to say this, I'm not
trying to get anybody to believe the way I am or the way I do. That's not what this is about.
I don't want to just get you to believe the way I do. I don't
care whether you do or not in the sense that if I just get
you to believe what I believe, what good's it going to do you?
Nothing. but I want you to believe the gospel. I want you to know
the Lord, and I want to know the Lord, don't you? I want to
know the Lord. I want to know him, and I want
you to know him. This isn't trying to change your
thinking. I want you to know the Lord. I want you to know his love. Now, what does the scripture
teach with regard to the love of God? Well, turn with me to
Romans chapter eight. Romans the 8th chapter. Verse 38. For I am persuaded that neither
death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And know this first, God's love
is in Jesus Christ. That is why we can't be separated
from it. God's love, His saving love is
in Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Do you believe that? It's in
Jesus Christ and nowhere else. Now, what does that mean? That
means it's not outside of Christ. It's only in the Lord Jesus Christ. And to me, the scriptural illustration,
you say, what does it mean to be in Christ? Well, I love the
illustration the writer to the Hebrew gives of Abraham and Levi
and Melchizedek. When Abraham paid those tithes
to Melchizedek, in Genesis chapter 14, Levi was not yet born. You see, Abraham was his great-grandfather. He wasn't even born. He didn't
have any existence. He hadn't conceived. He was just,
nobody had any idea who he was. But the scripture says, when
Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, Levi did. You know why? Because he was in the loins of
his father, Abraham. To be in Christ means that what
he did, I did. Now that's why God's love cannot
be lost, because his love is in Christ. And if you are in
Christ, nothing can separate you from the love of God. The love of God is in Christ. Here's what this looks like in
John chapter 17, verse 23. We read, thou hast loved them. These are the words of the Lord.
Thou hast loved them, every one of God's elect, everybody in
Christ. Thou hast loved them as thou
hast loved me. John said, the father loveth
the son. and hath given all things into
his hands. He that hath the Son hath every
lasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him." That person who stays unbelieving. It might be somebody in here
right now. You'll never believe the gospel. Let me say this.
The scripture says the wrath of God is abiding on you. It's there for good. You may
not know it. You may not recognize it. It
may not even be important to you right now. But the scripture
says if you do not believe the gospel, if you die in unbelief,
the wrath of God is abiding on you right now. You don't feel it, but it's there. He that hath the Son hath life. The love that Jesus had toward
Martha and her sister and Lazarus and the whole company of God's
elect is eternal love. It's a love that never had a
beginning. And because it never had a beginning, it'll never
have an ending. Now, if it could begin in time,
it could end in time. Listen to this scripture from
Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 3. God says, Jesus Christ says,
God the Holy Spirit says, behold I have loved you with an everlasting
Love, a love that never began. Before there was a creation,
before there were stars or moon or sun, God loved you. Every one of his people, everyone
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a woman who once said
to Charles Spurgeon with regard to the love of God, she goes,
I know God must have loved me before the foundation of the
world, because if he would have waited to when I was around,
he couldn't have done it. We believe that, don't we? God's
love is eternal. It never had a beginning. It'll
never have an end. Isn't that amazing? Are you awed by that? That God
has loved you eternally. Now the love of God, thirdly,
not only is it in Christ, not only is it eternal, God's love
is saving love. You see, there won't be anybody
in hell that God loved. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. His love is always a saving love. And the love of God in Christ
is a sovereign love. I've already quoted this scripture.
Romans 9 verse 13, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Those are God's words. It's a
sovereign love and any objection to that comes from a sense of
entitlement. God hates that. Any objection to that is an objection to God himself. God's love is a sovereign love. Jacob, God says, have I loved? Esau, have I hated? That is God's word. The cause of God's love is in himself. It's not in you. I said this
last Wednesday night, I want you to think about this. How
many times have you sinned and believed somehow God loved you
a little less? You're not measuring up. You're
letting him down. You're not doing enough. Surely God must love me less. Let me remind you of something.
cause of God's love to you is not found in you at all. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy, the fifth book in
the Bible. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6.
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God." Child of God,
believe this. You are holy unto the Lord your
God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people, but because
the Lord loved you. You know why the Lord loved you? Because the Lord loved you. The
reason is found in himself. It's found nowhere else but in
Himself. The Lord loved you because He
loved you. He didn't love you because He
saw you would be enriching to Him and help Him in His kingdom
and do great things for Him. I love to think of Mephibosheth. Is there any of the house of
Saul that I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? Is there
any of the house of Adam that I can show kindness to for Christ's
sake? Well, Ziba said, yeah, there's
one, but he's worthless. He's lame in both of his feet.
He can't do anything for you. He can't go out in your army.
He can't work for you. All he can do is be carried. That's it. Go fetch him. God's reason for love is found
in Himself. He is the cause of His own love. And God's love in Christ, which
is eternal, sovereign, saving, and the cause found only in His
own great heart, God's love in Christ is a sacrificial love. Turn to John 3. I looked at this
in Sunday school this morning. Verse 16. For God so loved the world. Somebody says if he love Jacob
and hated Esau, what's this mean he loves the world? God so loved
the world. That doesn't sound like him loving
Jacob and hating Esau. Is that contrary? God so loved
the world. Let's go on reading. God so loved
the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Now,
since God so loved the world, that means everybody. That means
everybody without exception. That means all men. You can't
take it any other way. Okay, let's say it does mean
that. Look in verse 17. For God sent not His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved. Now, if you believe world means everybody without exception,
you also have to believe that everybody without exception will
be saved, and there's no such thing as hell, and there's no
such thing as judgment. If you remain consistent, thinking,
well, the world means everybody, all men without exception, it
must mean also, if you believe that, you also have to believe
from verse 17 that Everybody will be saved. But look what verse 18 says,
he that believeth on him is not condemned. There is condemnation.
The only people who are not condemned are the people who believe on
him. So understand the world, what's
it mean? Well, it's the world that God
so loved. What that means is you can't,
don't think you're too bad or too evil to be saved. God loves
sinners. God loves to save sinners. If you're one of them, He came
to save you and He loves you. God loves to save sinners so
much that He gave. He gave His only begotten Son
The only begotten Son, the sole representative of the being and
the character of Him who sent Him, the Son of God. He gave
His Son to die. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He gave His Son to die. Now that's everything. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? You see, because of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's nothing that can prevent anyone
that he died for from being saved. There's nothing you can do to
mess it up. Nothing. It's a sacrificial love. And that makes every believer
greatly beloved like Daniel was. You know, when the angel said
to Daniel, you're greatly beloved of God. That's true of every
believer. Greatly beloved of God so much
so that he gave his son. You see, God did not give his
son to make a way for him to love. God gave his son because
he did love. And you know, this love that
we're talking about never goes unreciprocated. We love him. Every believer, we Him, we love who He is. We love His glorious attributes.
We love everything about Him. We wouldn't change anything about
Him if it were in our power. He's perfect. He's glorious.
He's altogether lovely. We love Him because He first
loved us. There isn't anybody that He loves
that does not love Him in return. We love Him because He first
loved us. And where there is love to Him,
there is always love to His people. By this we know we pass from
death to life because we love the brethren. Listen to this
scripture, 1 John 5, verse 1. Who so believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth Him
that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him." Anybody
he begat, we love. That's true of all God's people.
They love the brethren. And then Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5, verse 14, the love of Christ constraineth us. Now what does that mean? The
love of Christ, Paul says, constraineth us. And the us is the elect. If God be for us, who can be
against us? That us is every believer. The
love of Christ constraineth us. Let me give you the meaning of this word constrain. It holds us together. It arrests us. I love that scripture, but thus
the eternal counsel, this is not scripture, it's a song, excuse
me, but it's a good one. Thus the eternal counsel ran,
almighty love arrest that man. The love of Christ arrests us. It compresses us. It compels us. It preoccupies
us. I'm giving the definitions given
right in the Greek dictionary. It perplexes us. It constrains us. It holds us. It keeps us. It presses us. It takes us. It throngs us on every side. It makes us sick. It's called
lovesick. Lovesick. I'm lovesick. Peter,
do you love me? Not, Peter, are you sorry? Not,
Peter, have you repented sufficiently? Not, Peter, have you proved that
you're never going to do this again? Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. You know all things. You know that I love you. Now, we've seen from the Bible
that Jesus Christ does not love everybody. So, how can I know if he loves
me? I want to know, don't you? I want to be that disciple that
Jesus loved. I want that more than anything
else. How can I know if he loves Now, this answer may shake you
up, but here's how you can know. Are you a sinner? I'm not talking about an ex-sinner. Are you, right now, a sinner? Now let me give you some help. I
hate it when preachers say that. Just give me what the Word of God
says. Let me give you what the Word of God says sin is. Sin
is the transgression of the law. God's holy law. Sin is the transgression of the
law. That's scripture, 1 John 3, 4.
That's how the Bible describes sin. There are other descriptions,
but I love this one. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Now listen to me. Every time
I sin, I put something before God, don't I? Every time. I've never kept that one. The second commandment is forbidding
idolatry. How often have I tried to form
some kind of view of God that would make me feel better about
myself? It's called idolatry, making an image that you feel
comfortable with. And you've never kept that commandment.
The third commandment, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain. He's so glorious. He's so holy. He's so altogether other that
even to use his name in an irreverent fashion is a sin worthy of damnation. If you say, oh Lord, or oh God,
stop saying it. His name is holy. And not one
time have I ever used his name with proper reverence. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Have I ever completely rested? Honor your father and mother.
Be subordinate to all authority. Oh, I've always had an authority
problem. You tell me what to do. You need
to do this. I don't like that. I don't like people telling me
what to do. I can't stand it, as a matter of fact. Thou shalt not kill. To be angry
with your brother without a cause, to be jealous, to wish ill on
him and wish you had what he had. The Lord said, that's murder
in your heart. Yeah, you're a murderer. I'm
not talking about an ex-murderer. I'm talking about right now murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. You'll be totally pure without
even a thought of sinful lust. Anybody work out there? No, you're an adulterer. I'm an adulterer.
It's called being a sinner. Remember, I'm asking, are you
a sinner? Thou shalt not steal. Have you ever taken credit for
something that wouldn't really do you? Sure you have. Steal, that's going on. Thou
shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not lie. I've never one time in my life
have I ever Even if I've told the truth, told it the right
way, I'm a liar. You are too. I shall not covet. How have you done there? See, the
fact of the matter is we have not kept one commandment one
time. And if you say you have, you're
deceived. You don't even know what the law means. That is a
sinner. Are you a sinner? No? I've got no gospel for you
then, but if you are, turn with me to Romans chapter five. Verse six, verse six. For when we were yet without
strength, No spiritual strength. In due
time, Christ died for the ungodly. Who did he die for? Those who
are without strength and those who are ungodly. Would that be you? Verse seven, for scarcely for
a righteous man will one die. Now what that's talking about
is a self-righteous jerk. You're not going to die for that
guy. I mean, he's a jerk. Very few people would die for
this person. You know what it's like to be
around somebody you feel so judged by? I mean, you're around them
and you can see yourself under their magnifying glass, magnifying
everything about you. You're probably not going to
die for that person. Yet per venture for a good man, a merciful
man, a gracious man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Are you a sinner? Yes, Jesus Christ died for you. He put away your sin. You stand before God without
guilt right now. If you're a sinner, Jesus Christ
died for you. Somebody says, well, I'm not
a sinner. Not like you described. Well,
he didn't die for you then. But if you're a sinner, He died
for you. He whom thou lovest is sick. Listen to this scripture, 1 Timothy
1 15. This is a faithful saying and
it's worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. Of whom Paul said, I am, not
I was, I am the chief. He whom thou lovest is sick,
and that's the person he died for to make well. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask that you would take
your word and break the stony heart Lord, we ask that you would create
in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. Lord, enable us to see your love
as you present it in your word. And Lord, give us the grace to
take our place. and agree with what you say with
regard to us as sinners and enable us to trust who your son is as
our salvation and what he did as our salvation. Lord, I ask
in Christ's name that every one of us, according to your will,
would be described as the one who you love. Bless Your Word, in Christ's
name we pray, amen.