Sweetheart Love

Q: What does the Bible say about love for Christ?

The Bible emphasizes that love for Christ is a fundamental mark of true Christian faith. The Bible, particularly in John 21 and 1 Corinthians 13, underscores that love for Christ is the primary characteristic of a genuine believer. True Christians are not defined by outward actions or formalities; instead, their faith is demonstrated through their love and devotion to Christ. In 1 Corinthians 16:22, Paul states that anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is under God's judgment, highlighting the severity of this love's importance. Thus, love for the Savior is seen as foundational to a believer's identity.

Q: How do we know that true Christians have a relationship with Christ?

True Christians are marked by an abiding love for Christ, which is deeply felt in their hearts. A genuine relationship with Christ is characterized by an inward faith that manifests as love towards Him. According to the sermon, true Christians are distinguished not by mere church attendance or understanding of doctrine but by their heartfelt affection for Christ. They feel their sinfulness and constantly repent before God, finding their only hope in Christ's righteousness. This love compels them to live for and serve Christ, demonstrating a strong bond that defines their Christian life. The warmth and sincerity of their love for Christ is reflected in their actions and desires, indicating a true transformation.

Q: Why is love for Christ important for Christians?

Love for Christ is essential as it determines the authenticity of faith and the believer's motivation for service. Love for Christ is fundamental to the Christian experience as it serves as the foundation for genuine faith and motivates all service to Him. According to the sermon, true love for Christ is inseparably linked to true faith; without love, faith is hollow and potentially non-existent. Moreover, love propels believers to engage in acts of service and obedience, as their affection for Christ drives their actions. Without this love, their actions could become mere formality lacking spiritual significance. The essence of a Christian's life and their relationship with God boils down to this profound love for the Savior.

Q: How does a Christian's love for Christ manifest in daily life?

A Christian’s love for Christ is evident in their thoughts, actions, and desire to please Him. The love of a Christian for Christ manifests in various tangible ways throughout their daily life. Firstly, they are preoccupied with thoughts of Christ, finding themselves reflecting on Him frequently. Secondly, they delight in hearing about Him and engaging with His word, actively seeking to learn more about Him. This love also expresses itself through a desire to please Christ, where the wellbeing of their relationship acts as a priority. When they grieve Him through sin, they experience distress until reconciliation occurs. Ultimately, their greatest joy is found in being near to Christ, demonstrating that their hearts and lives are genuinely oriented toward Him.

That ought to get everybody's
attention. Sweetheart love. Now tonight, the Lord willing,
I'm going to preach from Philippians 3. I'm going to speak from Philippians
3 tonight on the confessions of St. Paul. You've heard of
the confessions of St. Augustine. I've read that book.
Some of you have. But I'm going to preach this
evening on the confessions of Saint Paul. In John 21, let's
read the scripture beginning with verse 14. John 21, 14. This
is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples
after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined,
Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these, more than these nets, these boats, your occupation,
your friends? Do you love me more than you
love these? And he saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. But he saith unto Peter, Feed
my lambs. And the Lord said to him again
the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith
unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. But he saith
unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto 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 unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
And Jesus said unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, surely,
surely, truly, truly, I say unto thee, when you were young, Thou
girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest, but when
thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and
another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest
not." This spake he signifying by what death Peter would glorify
God, crucifixion. Peter was crucified. They say
upside down. I don't know about that, but
he said he would not be crucified like his Lord, so they crucified
him and set him upside down. But nevertheless, the Lord said,
you will stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird thee and
carry you where you wouldst not. And when he had spoken this,
he said to him, follow me, follow me. Then Peter turning about,
and here he is, the same Simon Peter. like us, impulsive, turning
about seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, the author
of this epistle, John, who never referred to himself by name, which also leaned on his breast
at the supper, and he said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him, seeing John, said to Jesus, Lord, what shall
this man do? And Jesus said unto him, If I
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? You follow
me, follow thou me. All right. Now here's the message. Sweetheart love. Most everyone
here in this congregation professes to be a Christian. I do, most
of you do. And most of us here, having been
here for a long time and reading this word and listening to the
gospel, are fairly well taught in the scriptures. We feel that
we don't, we know in part, we prophesy in part, we see through
a glass dimly, but we're fairly well taught, knowledgeable in
the scriptures. We know enough to know this.
We know enough to know that a true Christian, a true Christian,
one who has eternal life, is not a Christian, is not a child
of God because he's baptized. We know that, don't we? because
he's a member of the church. We know that. We know that a
person is not a child of God because, as a matter of form,
he attends church regularly or dresses the part or plays the
part or professes the part. We know that, don't we? We know
that. We know that formality is not
godliness. Ceremonialism is not godliness.
The Jews had that. In fact, their ceremonies and
ordinances became a stumbling block. Instead of bringing them
to Christ, it kept them from Christ. We know that. We know
that our gathering here this morning and going through the
formality of worship or whatever does not make us Christian. We know that morality is not
godliness. We know that. The Pharisees had
that. The Pharisees said, I'm not like other men. I tithe,
I fast, I pray, I give gifts to people. We know that theology
is not godliness. We know that doesn't make a man
a Christian because he knows some doctrine. Nicodemus, Saul
of Tarsus, you could just name a lot of men back in these days
that had theology, but they didn't have God. We know that, don't
we? Bishop, one of the most respected writers and preachers of past
years said this, listen, The true Christian is one whose
faith is in his heart, not just on his tongue. The true Christian
is a man whose faith is in his life, and that faith is felt
by himself in his heart. Yes, it is seen by others in
his conduct and attitude, for that conduct and attitude justifies
his faith. But that faith is felt in his
heart. And then he said, secondly, a
true Christian is one who feels his own sinfulness and his guilt. And he repents. He constantly
repents before God. He's humbled by his shortcomings. He yearns for perfection. He
says with David, I'll be satisfied when I wake with his likeness.
He says with the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He feels his
sinfulness and guilt and repents before God continually. But thirdly,
a true Christian sees Jesus Christ to be his only righteousness
before God, his sanctification and his holiness. He sees Jesus
Christ to be his atonement. his mercy seat, his sin offering,
his divine Savior, his Advocate, and his only Mediator, and by
faith he looks to Christ alone, finding in him all he needs.
All he needs. Is that right? And then he says,
fourthly, this man who is a Christian lives on Christ, leans on Christ
And he loves Christ's precious promises and words. He loves
the Word of God. He feeds on the Word of God.
The Word of God is his bread, the children's bread. And you
can ask him. You can ask him at any time,
what is your hope for acceptance with God? And he will reply,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You can ask him at any time.
What is your hope of acceptance with God? And he will reply,
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can ask him,
what do you trust for the forgiveness of your sins? And he will reply,
only the blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
washes white as snow, no other fount I know, nothing but the
blood of Jesus. I know I'm not redeemed with
corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without spot or blemish. Ask
him, he'll tell you. The blood maketh atonement for
the soul. And you can ask him this. In
what merit do you hope to stand innocent and justified at the
great judgment? When God puts an end to this
old world, and the heaven and earth melt with a fervent heat,
and all men stand before our holy God at the judgment, in
what merit do you hope to stand innocent, justified in that great
day? He'll quickly say, through the
intercession and wounds. of my Redeemer. I live because
he lives. It's God that justifies. You can ask him, what is the
foundation of your faith and your confidence? Where did you
get all this information? How did you arrive at this hope?
And he'll reply, through the infallible, inerrant Word of
the living God. Upon thy word, O Lord, do I hope. Well, that's good. That's Bishop
Rowe. My, my, I love that. I read that
and it just rang the bell. O, how it rang the bell. How
it encouraged me and thrilled my heart. And I could say with
him, yes, that's my hope for acceptance, the righteousness
of Christ. The blood of Christ, I trust
for the forgiveness of my sins, wholeheartedly and completely.
When I stand before God at the judgment, I stand in Him. But my friends, besides all this,
besides all this, there is a mark. There is a dominating characteristic. There is a mark. There's a peculiar
and particular mark of every believer. There's a characteristic
that includes all of this knowledge, that includes all of this reverence,
that includes all of this obedience, that includes this faith. There's
one word that sums up the union of Christ and the believer. What is it? It's just like the relationship
of people on this earth. You go into a home here and there's
the husband, there's the wife. There's a good relationship.
They get along, they work, they help one another, they share,
they walk together. There's children in the home,
they fulfill their duties and responsibilities, and you say,
that's a good home. That's a fine home. That's a
home that's a good example. And you begin to find reasons
for the happiness. Well, he has a good job. That
helps out a whole lot. Makes a good living. That helps
out. She's an attractive lady. That helps out. The children
are intelligent. That helps out. They put forth
an effort to get along. That helps out. They try not
to argue or to find fault with one another. That helps out.
All of these things contribute to a good hope. But what's the
one thing? If you were looking for one reason
for all of this, what would you come up with? They love each
other. And if that's missing, the other
is gone. See what I mean? They love each
other. I say this, that one dominating
characteristic that describes my relationship with Jesus Christ,
that contains, that includes all of this knowledge. I know
He's the Son of God. I know He's my only Savior. I
know my hope's in Him. I know I'm no good. I know He's
everything. I know all these things. And
I hold him in reverence, but because I love him. That's what
it comes down to. Let me show you three things
in connection with this. First of all, the scripture has
a lot to say about this. Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. The
scripture has a whole lot to say about this. 1 Corinthians
13, listen. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1. And Paul has just got through
talking about gifts such as tongues and healing and interpretations
and miracles and all of these various things, preachers and
teachers. He says in verse 1 of chapter
13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have
not love, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And
though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could
remove mountains and have not love, I'm nothing. And though
I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned and have not love, it profits me nothing.
All the gifts are useless without that one great gift, and that
is the love of God shed in our hearts for the Holy Ghost. Turn
to 1 Corinthians 16. Let's just go over another page
or two. 1 Corinthians 16.22. Listen to this. And Paul leaves
no loophole here now. A man may have many things, but
if he doesn't have love for Christ, he's under the judgment of God.
1 Corinthians 16.22. Listen. If any man love not the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, that is, accursed. Maranatha, the Lord coming. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. The Lord comes. Turn to Ephesians
6. Look here at what Paul says in
Ephesians 6, verse 23. Ephesians 6, 23. Now, Paul sends his good wishes
and grace and peace to all the brethren, and he identifies them
with one statement. Listen to it. Ephesians 6, 23. Peace be to the brethren, and
love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. That's where the peace is, and
the grace, and the mercy. All right, another one. Turn
to John 8. Listen to this. John chapter
8. Now, I don't know of any scripture
in the Bible that's more plain or clear or positive on this
matter of love for Christ than this one right here, John 8,
42. Listen. Oh, listen to this. John 8, 42. And Jesus saith unto them, John
8, 42, If God were your Father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me." If God were
your Father, you'd love me. And then the scripture I read
from John 21. Here's the Lord after he'd risen from the tomb
in John 21, and here's his oh-so-human disciple, the Apostle Peter. And the Lord, they sit before
the fire one-on-one, just the Apostle Peter and the Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And our Master would call forth
from Peter a new confession. Now, Peter had said several things. You know, one time the Lord asked
the disciples, said, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man,
am? And they said, well, some say you're John the Baptist,
some say you're Elijah, some say you're one of the prophets,
but he said, whom do you say that I am? And Peter spoke up.
He said, you're the Christ. You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. He said, blessed are you, Simon.
Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my Father in
heaven. And then on another occasion, our Lord had preached to a great
multitude of people, and they became offended. They left, they walked off and
he turned to the disciples and he said, will you also go away?
And again, Peter spoke. He raised up and he said, well,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We believe and assure that you're the Christ, the son of
the living God. You remember what he said? And he made several
statements like that. But now our Lord didn't say,
now I'm going to remind you what you said. You said I was the
Christ, you said I was the Son of God, you said you wouldn't
go anywhere, but you did. You said you wouldn't deny me,
you said that though these others denied me, you wouldn't, you
said that. You said you'd die for me. No sir, here they are,
all that's in the past. And our Lord is also human disciple. And the Lord is going to draw
from him a positive declaration of allegiance, of devotion, of
commitment, before he sends him out to preach to others, to feed
his sheep. And the question is not, he didn't
remind him of what he said in the past, he didn't say, well,
are you born again or not? He didn't say, will you promise
now to obey me? No, the question is this, do
you love me? Do you love me? And then he looked,
somebody said he looked at the other disciples and said more
than these, I can't believe that, I can't believe, I don't even
believe one of your parents would look at one of your children
and say you love me more than John. I don't believe that. I'll tell you what our Lord looked
at. He looked out there at those boats. That man had been a fisherman
all his life. In fact, he'd just quit the ministry
by going fishing. He looked at those nets and those
boats and probably at his friends. And he said, do you love me?
Do you love me? More than anything else or anyone
else. More than these things. See,
the question is simple. The question is searching, the
question is revealing, and the question can be understood by
everybody here. It can be understood by our children,
by our elders, by anybody who understands, do you love me? Do you love me? We're not going
to have any problems if you love me. We're not going to have a
division if you love me. You're not going to leave me
if you love me. If you love me, all is well. If you don't love
me, all's wrong. That's the basis of it. That's the whole, that's the
basis of the whole thing. That's the reason I say from
this scripture and from others, the dominating characteristic,
the dominating mark of those who know God, and you can, you
can talk about all these other things that Rowley's mentioned,
but the dominating mark is they love the Savior. They love him. They love him on the mountain.
They love him in the valley. They love him in the darkness.
They love him in the light. They love him today. They'll
love him tomorrow. They love him. Well, here's the second
question now, quickly. What's the secret of this love? What's the secret? I thought
a lot about this. What's the secret of this affectionate
love? Brother Gerald Kuhn said to me
last Sunday, I appreciated this. this comment, I appreciated this
compliment more than he'll ever know. He said, the older you get, the
more simple your message has become. That's a compliment. The older
you get, the more simple your message has become. Or he said, maybe I'm learning
something and I'm coming to understand. No, no, the older you get in
Christ, the more simple your message has become because the
clearer something is to you, the clearer you can make it to
somebody else. Isn't that right? The clearer an issue is to you,
the clearer you can make it to somebody else. That's so. And I'm going to give you, I'll
give you the secret of this love for Christ. I'll give it to you,
just two or three scriptures. Here's the first one, 1 John
4, 19. 1 John 4, 19. When you look at this, when you
get to it, you're going to say, well, why didn't I think of that?
Because that's what I thought when I looked at it. Why do we
love him? 1 John 4, 19. Let's read it together. Ready?
All together. We love him because he first
loved us. There it is. There it is, isn't
it, Tom? That's the secret. He loved me. I had a friend tell
me years ago that this man's dead and so is his wife. But
he said this back in 1920s, I guess. He met her. And he saw her, and he just fell
in love with her. When he first saw her, he just thought that
was the prettiest, sweetest, most wonderful girl he'd ever
seen in his life. She was about 15 or 16. And he said in his mind, I'm
going to marry her. I'm going to marry that girl.
What if he'd have walked up to her and said that thing? She'd
have run like a scared rabbit. Here's a total stranger. Total
stranger. But you know, she finally did
marry him. She finally fell in love with
him and married him and they lived together 50 some odd years.
She loved him because he first loved her. That's right. He first loved her. And I'll
tell you this, he made himself attractive. He made himself to
her someone lovable. and loving and gracious. And
she fell for him. And I tell you, this human affection
is nothing compared to his perfection. His glory. Christ loved me before
the foundation of the world, he loved me. Paul said before
my mother's womb, he loved me. He loved me, you know, eternally,
infinitely, unchangeably, with an everlasting love, he loved
me. And I'll tell you, the more I
learn about his love, the more I love him. The more he reveals
himself to me, the more I love him. But now let's go across
to the column there, to 1 John 4, stating 1 John 4. Here's another
reason why we love him, another secret. Verse 9, 1 John 4. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us. Here's the way he showed it.
Because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might
live through him. Here in his love, not that we
loved him, he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for my sins. You remember when you discovered
that, that Sunday, he died for my sins. Doctor broke your heart. I remember. And the tears flowed. It suddenly dawned on you, yes,
God loved me. Me, of all people, unworthy,
undeserving, He loved me. But He loved me enough to die
for me. All that anguish and agony and
heartache He bore for me. Oh, I tell you, how can I help
but love Him who first loved me? Love sent my Savior to die
in my stead. Why should He love me so? Meekly
to Calvary's cross he was laid. Why should he love me so? Why? All right, we love him because
he first loved us. That's the secret. Secondly,
we love him because he died for me. He gave his life for me. They tell me that in a Confederate
cemetery I can't vouch for this. Ronnie may know something about
it. But back in those days, if a man was called into the army,
another man could take his place. He could pay him to take his
place. Is that correct? And in a Confederate
cemetery, a man who did just that, he paid a young man by
the name of Willie Lear to take his place in the army, and he
stayed home. And Willie was killed. And this
man, in loving memory, erected a monument in a Confederate cemetery
that says, in loving memory of Willie Lear, he took my place. I'll make you love somebody,
Walter. He took my place. But here's the third one. Luke
7. Turn to Luke chapter 7. Luke
chapter 7. And you remember the story in
Luke 7, the street woman who came into the Pharisee's house and bathed our Lord's feet with
tears and kissed them and he forgave her and so forth. And
you remember the Pharisee, verse 39 of John 7, look at it, Luke,
Luke, Luke, I'm Luke chapter 7, that's what I
said, Luke 7, verse 39. And when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw what took place, he spake within himself,
saying, This man, if he were a prophet, he would have known
who and what kind of woman this woman is that toucheth him. She's
a sinner. And Jesus answering, said unto
him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Well,
Master, say on. And that Pharisee said, Master,
say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. One owed 500 pence, the other
50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
both. Tell me, which of them will love
him the most? And Simon answered and said,
I suppose that he to whom he forgave the most will love him
the most. And he said, that's pretty good.
You've rightly judged. Who in here loves Christ the
most? Find me the greatest sinner who knows the grace of God in
Christ, and I'll show you the man that loves Christ the most.
That's right. Go through this congregation.
Find one that is nothing, has nothing, can do nothing, knows
he deserves hell, unworthy, guilty, a rotten past. weak, unworthy, find him who
really knows Christ Jesus the Lord loved him and died for him,
that's who loves him the most. And I'll tell you, the more he
sees of his greatness, the Lord's greatness and his unworthiness,
the more he's going to love him. The more he's going to love him. That's the key. And you can be
sure of these two things. You can write this down. These
two things. True love for Christ is the inseparable
companion of true faith in Christ. You get that? Did I say that
so you could get it? True love for Christ is the inseparable
companion of true faith in Christ. The man who has no love for Christ
has no faith in Christ. And secondly, true love for Christ
is the supreme motive for any service done in the name of Christ. If the heart's interested, the
hands will be busy. That's just so. If the heart
is interested, the hands will be busy. I don't care whether
you work for someone, or whether it's a wife in a home, or whether
it's a husband on a farm, or whether... The more the heart
is active, the more the hands are active. And when that interest
is gone, and that love's gone, interest is gone. That's right. The interest is gone. And that's
the reason I say, people who lose interest in the things of
Christ and the things of God, the problem is not time. Some of us say, I just don't
have time for that. That's not the problem. It's hard. Is that not true? Well, that's
true. You can watch a man when there's
a man who loves a woman and he can't do enough for her. But
as that love diminishes, the activity diminishes. You see
this in a home. Here's a wife who cleans the
house and cooks and washes and works and sings while she works
and takes care of her babies and all that, and a conflict.
She begins to lose her husband. They lose interest. They lose
that love. The activity diminishes. No interest. Got no interest
in this place. Got no interest in anything about
it. Why aren't you interested? I'm telling the truth. See, love
for Christ and faith in Christ are inseparable, and as the heart
is interested, the hands move. That's the reason people who
love, you don't have to make them give, you don't have to
pass around cards, that's dumb. You don't have to preach on tithing,
you don't have to twist their arms. If you don't give, we're
going out there, that kind of dumb stuff, you know? If they
love, they labor. If they love, they give. It's
inseparable. All right. Somebody said, well, you might
as well go on tonight, you know. You pick up tonight. But here's
the last thing. How does this love for Christ
make itself known? How does it make itself known,
this love for Christ? That's not hard to handle. I
don't think that's hard to handle at all. There's certain people
we love very much. We're just human. There's some
people we love more than others. You know that. That's just so.
There's certain people that you love very much. You're sitting
there thinking about it. Now I want you to think about
these people whom you love very much. That's just the... How
is this love? How do you know love? Well, a
person whom you love very much Very much, maybe your wife, maybe
your daughter, maybe your grandchildren, maybe your child, maybe your
brother or sister, your mother, your father, but someone whom
you love very much, who's very special to you, whom you love
very much. Here are the marks, here's how it's known. Number
one, you like to think about them. You love to think about
them. You don't need to be reminded
of them. If you're 400 miles away, you're thinking about them.
If you're in Timbuktu, you're thinking about them. You don't
have to carry a prayer list. You don't want somebody to say,
you married? You ought to check her name here. Isn't that right? She's written on your heart. You think about her. You love
to think about her. You don't need to be reminded.
You're not going to forget them. Forget me? Why, they come to
your mind frequently, regularly. You know, when I'm away from
you in a meeting or something, I love this cognition. I don't
care where I am, and those that travel with me can tell you this.
I'll say to somebody, they're going in Sunday school class
now. The men are meeting in the study. Bob's standing up to preach,
or Tom. They're dismissing now. Do you
do that? You think about those whom you
love. You don't have to be reminded. I hear preachers say, well, I
like to get away from it all. You don't want to get away from
people you love. Oh, or secondly, you like this
person or people, you like to think about them. Secondly, you
like to hear about them. You find pleasure in hearing
their name. Someone speaks their name, what do you say? He said,
do you hear what he does? Your grandchildren, what was
that he said? Isn't he smart? You're interested in any report,
doesn't matter what it is, call me and tell me, keep me informed. The guy across the room may be
indifferent, but you're not. When their name is mentioned,
oh, I'll tell you, when their name's a mention, other people
may not be interested, but I'm interested in anything that person
says or does. Just give me, don't leave me
in the dark. That's the reason I call home all the time. What's
going on up there? Tell me about it. And when you
love the Lord Jesus Christ, we think about Him and we love to
hear about Him. Jesus, oh, how sweet the name.
Jesus, every day the same. Jesus, let all saints proclaim
His wonderful name forever. Thirdly, we not only like to
hear about Him, we like to hear from Him. Did you ever carry a letter in
your pocket for two or three weeks? Come on now. Darcy's got some letters written
forty years ago. I'm a throw-away-er, she's a
keeper. Any word of communication, be
it old or new, we love to hear from our beloved. Don't we? And I love to hear from him.
Love to hear from him. Fourthly, we enjoy pleasing them. If you love somebody, you enjoy
pleasing them. You love to please them, make
them happy. And the one thing that you fear
most is their disapproval. Becky always loved her daddy.
We've been always close. And I never did have to punish
her much, all I had to do was look at her and pray on her.
And you just break out in tears, you know. She couldn't stand
disapproval. She wanted to please. Isn't that
right? Wanted to please. And that's the way we are with
our Redeemer. If you love somebody, you'll
deny yourself to please them. If you love someone, you'll abstain
from that which they dislike to please them. If you love someone,
you want to make them happy. And if they disapprove of you,
you're unhappy until you get that smile back. Isn't that right? And when I grieve him, I'm unhappy
until that relationship is straightened out. Now that's just love. That's what I'm saying. And then
fifthly, and I'll wind it up. If you love somebody, you love
to be with them. Or when you're thinking about
them. We think about them even when we're away from them. We
enjoy hearing about them. We enjoy hearing from them. We enjoy
pleasing them. But our greatest delight and
pleasure is to be with them. Isn't that right? That's the
reason we pray, Lord, neither leave me nor forsake me. And
that's the reason the Apostle Paul said this. I'm just in a
straight betwixt the two. He said, I love you folks, and
it's expedient for you that I remain, but I'd sure like to be with
Christ, which is far better. I have a desire to depart and
be with him. I want to be with the Lord. That's the reason David
said, I'll be satisfied when I wake with his likeness. There was a missionary who was asked by a native one
day. Why do you preach Christ all the time and talk about Christ
all the time and emphasize Christ all the time?" And the missionary
never answered. He just stooped down on the ground.
He began to gather up leaves and grass, dry leaves and dry
grass, and he made a circle. He took those dry leaves and
grass and made a circle all the way around. And then he got out
his knife and dug around in the ground. He found a worm, and
he picked the worm up. and held it in this hand and
then he struck a match and he lit all that grass and leaves
and put that worm right in the middle and that little worm started
over here trying to get out of that fiery circle and he turned
and came back and he started over here and he turned and came
back and he started over here and everywhere he tried to go
he met the flame he met the fire and finally the little worm just
curled up right there in the middle of the circle on the ground
and the fire all around him and waited to die. And the missionary
reached down and picked him up and put him back in the ground.
He wiggled down in the ground. And the missionary said, that's
why I loved him. He lifted me out of the deep miry clay. He settled my feet in the straight,
narrow way. He lifted me up to a heavenly
place. And he flooded this heart every
day with his grace. That's why I love him.

Sweetheart Love

What does the Bible say about love for Christ?

How do we know that true Christians have a relationship with Christ?

Why is love for Christ important for Christians?

How does a Christian's love for Christ manifest in daily life?

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Sweetheart Love

What does the Bible say about love for Christ?

How do we know that true Christians have a relationship with Christ?

Why is love for Christ important for Christians?

How does a Christian's love for Christ manifest in daily life?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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