The Common Bond

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

The Bible affirms that God loves us with an everlasting and unchanging love, demonstrated through Jesus Christ. The Scriptures reveal that God loves His people profoundly and eternally. As noted in the sermon, Jesus stated that He has drawn His people with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). This love is not contingent upon our actions or worthiness; instead, it is rooted in His sovereign grace and is foundational to our relationship with Him. Romans 5:8 emphasizes that God demonstrated His love while we were still sinners, showcasing the unconditional nature of His love. Furthermore, having loved His own, He loves them to the end (John 13:1), which signifies an enduring commitment to those He has chosen.

Q: Why is love important for Christians?

Love is essential for Christians as it embodies the greatest commandment and demonstrates our relationship with God. Love serves as the hallmark of the Christian life. As stated in 1 John 4:19, we love because He first loved us. This reciprocal love is not only a commandment but a natural outflow of our understanding of God’s love for us. Jesus indicated that the distinguishing mark of His disciples would be their love for one another (John 13:35). Therefore, love is not just an emotion; it is a defining characteristic that reflects our faith and understanding of God’s nature. The absence of love indicates a lack of genuine relationship with Christ, as posited in 1 Corinthians 16:22, which warns that anyone who does not love the Lord is accursed.

Q: How do we know we love Christ?

We know we love Christ when our thoughts, actions, and desires reflect a genuine affection for Him. The evidence of our love for Christ manifests in various ways. As discussed in the sermon, if we truly love Him, we will enjoy thinking about Him, talking to Him, and serving Him. Love for Christ compels us to desire His presence and to be obedient to His commandments (John 14:15). We also have a burden to please Him, which can involve personal sacrifices and moral choices aligned with His will. Furthermore, our love for Christ will naturally extend to our love for His people, reflecting the interconnectedness of our relationship with Christ and others. If we lack love for fellow believers, it raises questions about the authenticity of our love for Him (1 John 4:20-21).

But there are three things that
they all have in common. It doesn't matter who they are,
young or old, male or female, rich or poor, educated or uneducated,
from different backgrounds with different personalities and different
gifts, talents and abilities, places of service. There are
three things in common. all of God's sons. Number one,
they're all loved by our Lord. The Lord Jesus loves them, all
of them. He loves them the same. He said,
I've drawn them with an everlasting love, an infinite love, an unchanging
love. They're all loved by Christ.
He loves them. Having loved His own, He loved
them to the end. Secondly, they love Him. Not a doubt about it. They love
Him. Scripture's too clear on that.
The Scripture says, herein is love. Not that we love God, but
He loved us. His love was first. And our love
is in response. We love Him because He first
loved us. God's people love the Lord. Now, they do. They love him.
They love him. And thirdly, they love each other.
They love each other. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples, if you love one another. That's the mark,
characteristic, of God's people. They love. God's people love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. But God is love. And they love each other. They do love each other. Those
three things are so. God loves them, and they love
Him, and they love one another. It says here in 1 Corinthians,
now Paul, back here in chapter 12, verse 28, he said, God had
set some in the church, first apostles, there were apostles
and prophets and teachers and miracles and gifts of healing
and helps and governments, diversities of tongues, Verse 29, are all
apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are
all workers of miracles? No. Have all the gifts of healing? No. Do all speak in other languages? No. Do all interpret? No. But
covet earnestly the best gifts, covet to serve God in whatever
capacity. He's pleased to use us. Covet
the best gift. Nothing wrong with wanting to
teach and wanting to preach and wanting to do something for the
glory of God. And yet, and yet, show I you
a better way, a more excellent way. I'm going to show you something
better than gifts, better than healing, better than miracles,
better than being a preacher, better than being a prophet,
better than being an apostle. I'm going to show you something
better, a more excellent way. And then he says in chapter 13,
though I speak with the tongues and languages of men and angels
and have not love, love, to have the love of God in your heart,
God loves you and you love God, is better than being able to
speak with the tongue of angels. Think about that, because if
I don't have love, I am become as a sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. Might as well stand back and
beat an old Chinese gong for all the good it'll do, if I don't
have love. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and though I understand mysteries, I'm a theologian,
I'm knowledgeable, I have all knowledge, I have the understanding
of the old writers, And though I have all faith so that I could
remove mountains and have not love, it'll do me no good. I'm nothing. That's the reason
this is a more excellent way. Because with all these things,
without love, I'm nothing. Read on. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned as a martyr for my religious beliefs and have not
love, property love separate law love it love india not jealous
vault is not it is not proud and eric love that not behave
itself unseen love is not room in other words love seek it not
her own thing love is not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not
in iniquity, in the fall of others, but rejoiceth in the truth. Love
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things, and never fails. Whether they be prophecies,
they'll fail. All these fellows that have got
all the answers, you know, someday they'll find out that most of
them didn't know the question. Whether it be tongues, they'll
cease. We'll all speak the same language
in glory. Whether it be knowledge, it'll
vanish away, for we know in part. We don't know anything. If a
fellow thinks he knows anything, he doesn't know anything, as
he ought to know it. We prophesy in part. But when
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall
be done away. Well, when I was a child, I speak
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when
I became a man, I put away these childish things. And now we see
through a glass darkly, dimly. But then, face to face. Face
to face. Now, I know in part, my knowledge
is so limited. If I had ten thousand lives to
live, I'd never master the study of God. the mysteries of the
gospel, by the glory of Jesus Christ, ten thousand lives, I
know in part. But then I know, even as also
I am known, so now abideth faith, hope, and love. But I'll tell
you the greatest of these, love. You see, a Christian, I don't want to be offensive,
But I know these things that I'm about to say to be true.
A Christian is not merely a theologian. A Christian is not merely a person
who professes religion. A Christian is not a person who
goes to church on Sunday and fulfills his duties, pays his
tithes, and talks religion. A Christian is not one who just
believes certain Bible truths. I hear people say, I've come
to the knowledge of the doctrines of grace. You can come to any
position you want to, still not be a child of God. You can go
from Catholicism to Fundamentalism, from Fundamentalism to Calvinism,
from Calvinism to Reformedism, and still just be an ism. Because
this business of believing, this business of knowing God, is a
heart matter. It's not only a head matter,
though God works through the head and the intelligence, a
man cannot call on Him in whom he's not believed, and he can't
believe in Him of whom he's not heard, and he can't hear without
a preacher. Men hear, and they think But this thing of a relationship
with the living God is a heart matter. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord and believe in thine heart, God
raised him from the dead. My son, give me your heart. Keep
thy heart out of it of the issues of life. He said, I'll take out
of them the stony heart and give them a heart of flesh. Salvation is believed in the
heart. felt in the heart, it's experienced in the heart, it's
known in the heart, and it's lived in the heart. And until
it touches the heart, it is not salvation. That's just so. Oh, I know, and we talk about
these things and we love these things. We have experienced an
awareness of God's holiness. But the devils know something
about the holiness of God. Don't you remember when Christ
came up on that man possessed of demons and they said, we know
who you are, you're the Holy One of God, have you come to
torment us before our time? We know something of the holiness
of God, you can teach that to your children, the holiness of
God. Holy and reverent is His name.
We know something of our own sinfulness, but that's not too
hard to learn if you tell the truth. If you know yourself,
you know you're a sinner. I don't have to tell you that.
You know that if you'll admit the truth. That's not too hard
to learn. We're aware of our sinfulness.
We've experienced a conviction of sin. But Judas came back and
threw the money on the floor and said, I've sinned. I've betrayed
innocent blood. Esau, after he sold his birthright,
came back in salt repentance with tears, never found it. We
have believed that Jesus Christ came into the world and died
on the cross, and he died effectually for a people. He died with an
effectual redemption. He died for his elect. I know
that. And the Holy Spirit invincibly,
irresistibly called God's people, and they will persevere. But
besides all this, there's something which God Almighty
creates. within that person who truly
believes in Him. And that is a new heart, and
a new nature, and new principles. And that's what Paul is talking
about here. Though I know the doctrine, though I'm able to
prophesy, though I have all knowledge, though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, though I'm an orator that can speak
like an angel, if I have not love, I'm nothing. I'm a sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal, and it profits me nothing." Love
for Christ and love for His people. And throughout this message,
I'll be speaking mainly of love to Christ. But I'm telling you
this, if there's love to Christ, there's love for His people.
And where there's no love for His people, there's no love for
Christ. Now let's look at some Scripture. 1 Corinthians 16.
1 Corinthians chapter 16. Everywhere you look in the Word
of God, this just stands out to you. Love for Christ. Sincere heart devotion and heart
love and commitment. Christ my Lord. That's what the
book of Solomon is all about. My Beloved. My Beloved is mine
and I am His. John, isn't that what it's all
about? It's the love. You see, here's a man and a woman.
You read the book, the Song of Solomon. Here's the bride and
the bridegroom, and how he loves her, and how she loves him. And this is Christ in the church.
Is that not right? And they love one another. And
if that's absent, there's no union, there's no marriage, there's
no joy. But where that is present, there's
a real union. And here in 1 Corinthians 16,
22, listen, if any man, First Corinthians 16, 22, if
any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema,
maranatha. What does that say? Let him be
accursed, the Lord coming. Now, brethren, Paul allows no
way of escape, no way of escape to the person who loves not the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as I said, these two go together,
love for him and love for each other. There's no way of escape
for the person who does not love Christ. There's no loophole.
There's no excuse. A man may lack much head knowledge. Well, who was the couple that
got the preacher, took him into their homes, and taught him more
perfectly the gospel? You remember in the book of Acts,
Apollos was either fellow, and they took him. He wasn't too
sharp up there. And you may not have a great
deal of head knowledge, but, oh, I wouldn't swap it for this.
love Christ. A man may lack courage. The Apostle
Peter didn't demonstrate a whole lot of courage, you know, when
those fellas said, you're one of his disciples. He said, no,
I'm not. But he loved Christ. You may not have a lot of head
knowledge or a lot of courage. You may fall like David. I guarantee
you one thing. David loved Christ. You see what
I'm saying? There are a lot of folks who
have a lot of knowledge. and a lot of principle, and a
lot of so-called courage. They'll fight you for their doctrine.
Saul of Tarsus would before God saved him. But the thing to covet more than
anything else is to love Christ. Because if any man loved not
our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, accursed when Christ
comes. Look at another, Ephesians 6.
Listen to this. Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6, verse 24. Listen to this verse. Now Paul
is sending his good wishes and good will to all the Christians
down at Ephesus, to all believers. Many of these people he'd never
seen. Many of these people he did not know. Nor did he know
about their knowledge, or patience, or faith, or accomplishments,
or gifts, or whatever. How shall he address them? How
shall he send his greetings? How shall he pray for them? Well,
this is what he said, verse 24. Grace be with all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. That's what he says. I send my
love and my blessings and my good wishes and my goodwill to
everybody who loves Christ. Now, the rest of them, anathema. But to those who love Christ,
wow, in sincerity. Amen. So be it. Love Christ. Let's try another one, over in
John 8, verse 42. I'm showing you the importance
of this matter of loving Christ. John chapter 8, verse 42. Listen
to this scripture. Now here, our Lord was surrounded
by some strict religionists. They're tough. They're tough
on everybody but themselves. They're tough. They claim to
be children of Abraham. They claim to be a theologian.
They got mad at that blind man and said, do you teach us? They
even said that to Christ. You're not 50 years old, you
know. How'd you come to know so much?
Ah, these were learned fellas. They claimed God was their Father.
And that's, they said as much. John chapter 8, verse 42. And Jesus said to them, You know, we have a lot of this
fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man circulating everywhere. And they said, God's our father.
God's our father. And our Lord Jesus said, if God
were your father, what would be the distinguishing mark? You'd
love me. You'd love me. If God were your
father. I say that to everybody here.
I say that to myself. To everybody here. If God were
your father, You'd love Christ. How can you love the Father and
not love the Beloved Son? How could a man even suggest
such a thing? How could you love the Father
and not love the Son? They're one. They're one. Here's the broad principle. No
man is a child of God who does not love with his heart Jesus
Christ the Lord. If God were your Father, you'd
love me, he said, for I proceeded forth and I came from God, neither
came I of myself, he sent me. And no man has seen the Father
but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. No man knoweth
the Father but the Son. How can you love God and not
love the Son when you never even seen God except in the Son? Let's read what he said to Peter
over in John 21. This is so interesting. You know,
Peter had denied the Lord. He was ashamed. He was embarrassed.
But he'd been embarrassed before, like some of us. That's our story
of our lives, isn't it? Failure and embarrassment and
disappointment and shame. He'd stumble so often. And here
he'd led the other disciples to go fishing, back fishing again.
I don't mean as a hobby. I mean, he quit the ministry,
what he did. He said, I'm going fishing. This
is after Christ arose from the grave. And they were out there
fishing, and the Lord appeared on the shore. And he said, children,
have you any meat? And one of them said, it's the
Lord. It's the Lord. And they were about to 300 yards
offshore. I believe that's correct. The
good ways and Peter Didn't wait till they got the nets pulled
in. See, they had the nets all out. They were fishing. They
had all the nets out. It took a long time to get the nets all
rolled in, the fish brought in, all this sort of thing. He just
jumped in the water and swam to shore. Swam to his... Oh, he loved him. He loved him. He just swam to shore. And after
they'd dined, verse 15, the Lord sat Peter down. Took him, I think,
aside from the others. And he said to him in verse 15,
John 21, So when they're dying, our Lord Jesus said to Simon
Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Now,
our Lord wasn't talking about the other disciples. He wouldn't
do that. Richard, he wouldn't do that.
He wouldn't ask you if you loved him more than I did. You know
what he's talking about? I believe he's pointing to those
boats. in those nets. That was Peter's life before
he met the Lord. Wasn't it, John, fishing? That was his life. He'd
given his whole life to fishing. I know somehow you fell in love
with fishing almost that much, don't you? You love me more than
Duke? More than Duke? And he said unto
him, Yea, Lord, I knowest that I love thee. Well, he said, Feed
my lambs. And he wouldn't let him alone.
He said to him the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me?" There are a lot of questions our Lord
could have asked Peter, questions that we usually ask each other.
Are you converted? Are you saved? A fellow came
to Dr. Magruder one time in my presence
and said, are you born again? Dr. Magruder said, what's your
definition? I don't know. What is born again? Boy, I tell
you, I want to know what it is. He could have asked Peter, are
you converted? Are you born again? Do you believe
the gospel? Do you believe the doctrines
of grace? Will you confess me? Will you serve me? Will you obey
me? He didn't ask him any of those things. He asked him the
one important question, in which all the others are included.
Do you love me? Do you love me? That's all I
need to know, Clarence Wiseman. Do you love Christ? If you love
Christ, you're converted. You're born again. We're not born again because
we love Him. We love Him because we're born again. And Peter replied, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He said, Feed my sheep. He saith
unto him the third time, Simon, how many times did Peter deny
the Lord? I think this had something to do with it. And that was by
fire, too. That's where this was. He said to him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter was grieved because
he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said to
him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. I tell
you, he does know all things, too. That's the reason I say
it's so foolish for us to play the hypocrite. That's the dumbest
thing a man ever has tried to do, play the hypocrite. Because God knows all things.
We may justify ourselves before men, but Scripture says God looks
on our hearts. And that which is highly esteemed
among men and upon the nation to God, God sees that. There's
no need for me walking down an aisle and shedding crocodile
tears and carrying on religious jargon and hallelujah, praise
the Lord, and all these different things to impress the people
around me. Who cares? My friends don't need impressing.
It won't do my enemies any good. They're going to hate me anyway. He knows that. That's what Peter
said, you know. You know. You know everything. You know I love you. You know,
I love you. He said, well, feed my sheep.
You see, this is the point. This is simple as it may sound. Do you love me? Very simple,
plain and easy as it is. Do you love me? Easy to be understood. Point blank question. Do you
love me? A man's state, a man's relationship
with God rests on the answer to that question and no other.
Do you love me? Is that right, Tom? Do you love
me? That's what it says in the picture. If a man loves Christ, all is
well. If a man doesn't love Christ,
all is wrong. That's what it is. You love the
Christ of God. You love the Christ as He's revealed
in the Scripture. You love the Christ of glory.
You love the Christ of sovereignty, because that's who He is. And in this text right here,
The Lord bases all that Peter will ever do, ever do, upon this
relationship. Do you love me? Feed my lamb.
Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Do you love me?
Feed my sheep. You see, one may do many things
out of a sense of duty, but that's not the service that
our God honors. When I'm motivated by fear, or
motivated by duty, or motivated by reward, God won't accept it. God won't honor it. He just will
not honor it. I don't care what it is, He will
not honor it. I've got to be motivated by one
thing, He loves me. People ask me, what's the secret
of preaching the Word of God faithfully, Going where you have
to go, doing what you have to do, studying what you have to
study. I tell you, love Christ. That's the secret. Just love
Christ. I have people say, well, how
much should I give? How shall I give? When shall
I give? What's my fair share? What's
my responsibility? You're coming at it the wrong
way. You give because you love. That's it. You give because you
love. We don't ask those things about
our wives and our husbands and our children. My child can have
everything I got. But how much do we owe the kid?
You don't talk that way, do you? You write the check, honey, and
I'll sign it if you need it. If I got it. If I ain't got it,
I'll borrow it. That's right in the front. You're
a daddy now. You know, don't you? If you love Christ, that's
the answer. Somebody says, well, how much
should I forgive? Just how far should I go with
this fella? Depends on how much you love him. That's all. How much you love him. If you
love him, you love him. Prodigal son, he broke that old
man's heart, didn't he? Some of you had some broken hearts
over children, too, hadn't you? Some of you gonna have some.
But I tell you, that old door stands open all the time. Come
on home, son. Come on home. And I'll guarantee
if you never bring it up, I'll never bring it up. No matter
what it is. That particle son that daddy
ran after to meet that ragged barman, put a robe on him and
a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet, killed a calf he'd
been saving all that time because he loved him. Kissed him! He
kissed him. He didn't put his finger in his
face and say, you've got a lot of making up to do. No, he kissed
him because he loved him. Somebody said, well, how shall
I witness? It's not too hard to talk about somebody you love. It's not too hard to defend them
when somebody attacks them either. You're talking about my friend.
That's witnessing. That's what he said to Peter,
do you love me? Yes, Lord, and feed my sheep. Well, preacher, how do I know
if I love Christ, if I really love Christ? I think I love Christ,
I believe I love Christ. How do I know if I really love
Christ? I don't think that's too hard to answer. How do you
know you love somebody on this earth? How do you know that? How do
you know that you love somebody? You and Esther have been married,
what, 60 years? 56, 57? Long time, hasn't it? How do you know you love her? You know, don't you? Sure you
know. Well, in whatever way or manner
love is shown between husband and wife, parent and children,
friend and friend, that's the way you answer this question
here. It's answered by common sense. I can give you seven things.
If you really love a person, you like to think about him.
Yeah. You don't need to be reminded
of that person if you love him. We don't forget their names.
When your wife went away recently, did you forget her name? No.
We don't forget their names. We don't forget their place.
That person dwells in our hearts, whether they're present or absent.
Absent. Even so, Christ dwells in our
hearts, and we love to think on Him. That's right. We don't
forget Him. If you love a person, you like
to think about them. Secondly, if you love a person,
you like to hear about them. We find pleasure in listening
to those who speak of the object of our love. Any report of that
person's life or activity will be of interest to us. You ever
gone to somebody's home and they've taken home movies and want you
to look at them? Ain't too much fun, is it? But they look at
them over and over and over again. Because that's the object of
their love. That's right. They keep playing them over and
over and over and over. Look at that. Look at that. You
see what he did? I've seen it a hundred times. But it's still
him. And I still love him. And it's
always him. Isn't that right? If you love
a person, you like to read about him. You sat there in the study
a while ago, I could listen to you read the rest of the evening.
Just not even come out here to sit back there and listen to
a speaker read about his Lord. Love to, don't you? Been reading
about him 40 years. Like to read about him. Because
you love him. How welcome is a letter from
someone who's away? Husband, wife, child, friend,
far away. Go to the mailbox and get a letter.
Read it. Every time I go to Houston and preach, which I did last
week, the missionary children, Walter Gruber's family, he has
ten grandchildren. Ten. They were ever one in the
service by tonight. He has five children. They were
ever one in the service by tonight. He has four, one of his children,
I met four in-laws, and all of them but one was in the service.
Eighteen Grubers in the service. It's that way every time I go
out there. They love the gospel. You know what I do? I sit down
and write Betty a long letter and tell her about all the children,
what they said to me, what I said to them, about Eric playing the
saxophone, her grandson, and Lisa, her daughter, playing the
organ, and her son Kevin playing the guitar and singing, her daughter
Esther playing the marimba and singing, and I go through all
this, two or three pages, and she tells me when she gets that
letter, she reads it a dozen times. She said, I just sit out
there on the porch with my coffee and read that letter over and
over and over again. I mailed her one last week, told
her about the whole crap. She's waiting on it. You never
get tired if you love a person. Isn't that right? If you love
a person, you like to please them. You're blue when you displease
them. I know that so. Even when you
have to deny yourself, you love to please that person that you
love. Even if it's some of you dear ladies getting up 5.30,
6 o'clock in the morning fixing your husband a breakfast. Even
preparing a meal for all your children. Even sitting there
sewing and making garments for your little ones. You men going
out there to work and working so hard five and six days a week. Sometimes eight or ten hours
a day. What are you doing all that for? You want to please
the object of your affection. You want to bestow the best that
you can on the object of your affection, and you're willing
to deny yourself to do so. That's what it is to love Christ. If you love a person, you love
those he loves. Isn't that right, Jim? If you love a person, you love
those he loves. I didn't know there was such
a person on earth as Bob Coffey. And I certainly didn't love him.
And Becky brought him home one day. But you know, I loved Him from
the start. You know why? My baby loved Him. Isn't that
right? My little girl loved Him. And
she loved Him, I loved Him. I've grown to love Him for His
own now. But if we love somebody, we love
those whom they love. That's just so. And if Christ
is in you, and I love Christ, I love you. And nothing's going
to happen to that love. It never faded. It endured and
endured and endured and endured. Here's a couple down here on
the front row I've known. I've known her since she was
a little toe-headed girl. Now she's a gray-headed grandma
from Alabama. But that love never ceased for
Lester and Bobby all these thirty-some odd years. And I don't foresee
anything happening to it, do you? Not if we love Christ. Not
if we love Christ. That's right. We might get upset
with one another every once in a while, but we still love each
other. You see, it's not being upset.
That's not the issue. The Lord gets upset with me,
too. I know that. He got upset with his disciples.
He said, oh, you have little faith, but he loved them. And
it never stopped. If you love a person, you love
those whom he loved. And in a sixth place, if you
love a person, you love to talk to him. I hear people talk about
prayer being such a burden. I don't understand that. Maybe
we got the wrong concept of prayer. Maybe we're trying to make it
a form. That would be a drudgery. Maybe we're trying to make it
an organized ritual. That would be a drudgery. But
when we're communing, you have a friend whom you love. You have
no difficulty talking to him. You have no difficulty choosing
subjects. You love to talk to, you love
to share your innermost secret with a friend. Isn't that delightful
to talk to a friend and just share your whole life with that
friend, with your wife? Darsh and I ride down the highway
sometimes, just talk and talk and talk about things, enjoy
it so much. We don't have to, we don't, and
when we're quiet, we don't feel uncomfortable. When we talk,
we just love each other, we like to talk. That's prayer. I wish
we could get prayer out of We're not heard for our much speaking,
the length of our speaking, or the eloquence of our speaking. We're heard for the love and
sincerity of our hearts. Just talk to them. And I'll tell
you this, if we love a person, we like to be with them. That's
right, we enjoy being with them. Turn to 1 John, chapter 3. Listen
to what this says, 1 John, chapter 3. You know, Paul said that quite
often. He said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ.
I'm in a straight betwixt the two, having a desire to depart
and be with Christ. In 1 John 3, it says, Behold,
verse 1, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we of all people should be called sons of God. Therefore
the world knows us not, it knew him not. But beloved, now are
we sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that when he shall appear, we're going to be like
him, and we're going to see him as he is. And every man that
hath this hope in him, what hope? He's going to see Christ. He's
going to be like Christ. He purifies himself. he's longing
for that day looking forward to that day even so john said
come lord jesus peter do you love me? do you
love me? do you love me? or thou knowest
all things thou knowest i love thee i want to love him more
don't you? all right mike come lead us in
a closing hymn if you will Turning our hymnal to page 452.
452.

The Common Bond

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

Why is love important for Christians?

How do we know we love Christ?

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The Common Bond

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

Why is love important for Christians?

How do we know we love Christ?

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About Henry Mahan

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