by John MacArthur (Sermon Transcript)
Matthew 26-27
But as we come to the twenty-sixth chapter of the book of Matthew, I want to introduce to you two familiar men and maybe introduce them to you in a way that you haven’t seen them in the past. It’s a tale of two men in this chapter. While when you read Matthew 26 and on in to chapter 27, you are focused on the Lord Jesus Christ who dominates these chapters as He goes to the cross. These are the accounts of His arrest and mock trial, and scourging, and execution on the cross. Because the light is so bright on Christ, because He’s such a dominating figure, you can lose sight of a tale of two men that is going on at the very same time, and it’s a very remarkable, remarkable tale. It fascinates me that these two men are the secondary characters in this chapter, and there really are no others. It’s Jesus and these two men. You know them very well. They both had the most unique privilege and opportunity ever given to a human being ever, never to be given to anyone before or since. Both were personally called by Jesus to follow Him. Both answered the call and followed Him 24/7 for three years, every day all day and every night all night, virtually. Both declared repeatedly to Him and to those around them their personal devotion to the Lord Jesus. Both were personally trained by Jesus for ministry. Both were students of Jesus; they were in that all-day-long classroom called discipleship. Both of them were being trained for ministry. Both of them were taught by Jesus. The unparalleled teacher, the most profound teacher that ever walked on earth. They were taught by Him by ways that they could understand that which was profound and unknown to the world. They were taught by precept, proposition, and they were taught by example to know the Word of God and to know the will of God and to know the truth concerning all things. They were given a divine worldview.
They were taught how to respond to the truth of God and live it out obediently. Both men saw the miracles of Jesus every day throughout the duration of His ministry. They saw His power over demons. They saw His power over disease. They saw His power over death. They saw His power over nature. They saw His intellectual power to deflect every assault on Him from His enemies that came verbally as they tried to catch Him in His words. They saw the mastery that He had of the language and of truth and thought.
Both men heard the Lord answer every important, penetrating, profound, theological question ever asked of Him. And they, no doubt, heard Him answer questions that no one asked, and the answers were always true and profound and clear. Both of them were daily confronted with their sinfulness. Both of them were daily reminded that they had fallen as the whole human race had and desperately needed forgiveness and salvation. They were very aware of that. Both of them understood that Jesus had come to proclaim good news to sinners.
Both of them received and used divine power, power from Jesus, and authority from Jesus was delegated to them so that both of them were enabled to do miracles and to exercise power and authority over demons. Eventually both of them were sent out to preach. Both of them became preachers, and they preached that the Messiah Jesus was the Savior and the Son of God and the King. And they shared all the experiences together for those amazing three years. They were exposed to the Lord Jesus Christ in exactly the same way, the same experiences, the same period of time.
There’s more. They both were sinners and they knew it. They knew it well. They both felt profound guilt about their sin, overwhelming guilt about their sin. There’s more. They both were taken over by Satan, both of them, to take up Satan’s cause against the Lord Jesus. And in the end, they both betrayed Him, publicly, violently, strongly–openly they betrayed Him. And they did that at the end of that three years, just before He was crucified.
As a result of what they did, both were sad, sorry, in fact they agonized over their betrayals, both of them did. One was so agonized that he killed himself. The other was so agonized that he repented. Two men whose lives were side by side in the presence of the Son of God. One of them, in spite of his wicked betrayal of the Savior, is considered so honorable and so exalted a person that some of you are named after him. In fact, people have been named after him since the first century. And people will continue to be named after this betrayer. He is loved, his name is honored, and his name is Peter.
The word doesn’t mean anything particularly important; it’s the word for “stone.” The other man is considered so dishonorable, the other betrayer is so despicable that no one has his name. You don’t know anyone who has his name. You don’t know anyone’s dog who has his name. He is hated. He is reviled. He is rejected. He is Judas and his name means “praised.” Such an elevated name for such a dishonorable man.
One of these men we who belong to Christ will meet because that betrayer is in heaven. The other, you who reject Christ may meet because he’s in hell. One of these preachers ended a suicide, hanging himself and not even doing that successfully–book of Acts tells us that his end came when he fell and was disemboweled on the rocks below. Whether the branch broke, the rope broke, or the knot was inadequate, he was a tragic suicide, eternally banished. The other ended his life a saint, crucified upside down and eternally blessed. Two men side by side for three years, experiencing exactly the same thing in the presence of the glorious Son of God, together ended up as separated as two human beings can be, one in heaven and one in hell.
That separation may be portrayed a little bit in the listing of the apostles in the four places the apostles are listed in the New Testament. Peter is the first name and Judas is the last. Even there, they are separated as far as they can be. One highly honored in heaven, the other highly dishonored in hell–what an amazing contrast. And they both had the same experience with Jesus Christ. Their lives, in that sense, couldn’t have been more similar, and their ends couldn’t have been more dissimilar.
What made the difference? Why does Peter end up in heaven and Judas in hell? Well the answer is very simple–they had different attitudes toward Jesus Christ, that’s what it comes down to. Salvation isn’t by works; they did the same works. It isn’t by knowledge; they had the same knowledge. They were given the same information.
Salvation can be basically boiled down to a person’s attitude toward Jesus Christ. To put it simply, Peter loved Him and Judas hated Him, and they came out of the same context. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. Just to contemporize that a little bit, churches are full of the same kinds of people today. Churches are full of Peters and Judases, all hearing the same messages, hearing the same truth, same doctrine, same explanation of Scripture, having the same spiritual experience in the fellowship, seeing the same divine grace and power in the same people’s lives, serving together, worshiping together, evangelizing together, and they end up in two extremely different places. Jesus pointed this out when He talked about the wheat and the tares, didn’t He? And also in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Many will say unto Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and I’ll say, ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you.’”
The story of these two men, two kinds of sorrow really, is found in the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew. Let me take you to that chapter and we’re going to cover the whole chapter by moving rapidly. Jesus has just finished His great Second Coming sermon given on the Mount of Olives, the last sermon He gave to His disciples. He has reminded them that He is going to be returning to establish His kingdom; He’ll come back in glory. Finishes that up, chapter 26, verse 1, and then says to His disciples, verse 2: “You know that after two days the Passover is coming and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.” He was the final and only satisfying Passover lamb. He would offer His life at the Passover as the true Passover Lamb, the true sacrifice for sin that God would accept. He is telling them about His coming death. It is very soon.
Passover is coming; in fact, it’s coming the next day. The Son of Man is going to be handed over for crucifixion. This isn’t the first time He had told them that. He has been talking about that for a long time. If you go all the way back to chapter 16, verse 21, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” And that’s when, of course, Peter said, “God, forbid it, Lord, this shall never happen to You.” And Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan.”
But Jesus had been saying all along, “I’m headed for death, I’m headed for crucifixion.” He was even specific about the way He would die. So Jesus is saying the time has come and in the meantime, verses 3 to 5 tell us, the rulers of Israel were planning it. They were gathered together in the court of the high priest named Caiaphas, and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. So they’re working on hatching the plot while Jesus is telling them that it is coming.
At this time, they find themselves in Bethany, according to verse 6, two miles from Jerusalem, east over the Mount of Olives, a little village of Bethany. There were a couple of Christian families there, Simon the leper was one, and no doubt a man who had been healed from leprosy, and Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in that little village. So Jesus was there in Bethany, and He was at the home of Simon the leper. And a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial, very expensive vial of very costly perfume. This would have been a small fortune in this bottle, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. This was an act of lavish affection and love for the Lord. Verse 8 says, “The disciples were indignant when they saw this, and they said, ‘Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor?’”
It sounds noble, doesn’t it? It sounds really noble. Who would have said that? John 12:4 says it was Judas. It was Judas. He was the protester. And by the way, this is the first revelation of this man’s heart. Oh, earlier in John 6, verse 70, Jesus said, “One of you is a devil,” but that must have flown by ’cause He didn’t say who, and I’m sure because there was zero suspicion among them of each other, they didn’t even process it. Here is the first revelation of his character, and there is no suspicion of him whatsoever. He brings it up, “Why are you wasting this? We could have sold it and given the money to the poor.” He didn’t care about the poor, not at all. Another gospel writer tells us, “He said this because he had the bag”–he had the money. This thing was going downhill fast. Judas had gotten in as a greedy, self-loving, ambitious man who saw Jesus as the means to his own satisfaction. He wanted money; he was driven by greed and avarice and worldliness. He wanted prominence, power. He wanted to gain everything he could gain for himself, and he saw Jesus as the way to do that.
And now Jesus is not talking about a kingdom, not talking about power, not talking about being exalted. He’s talking about death. And in verse 12 He takes it a step further and says that what this woman did, in a sense, is symbolic as a preparation for My burial. Jews would anoint bodies. They didn’t embalm them, but they would anoint them in burial. Here was like a preliminary symbol of the fact that He was going to be dead and buried. Judas is in a panic. He’s got whatever he’s got in the bag, and they made him the treasurer. That’s how much they trusted him and how little suspicion–virtually none–there was of him as a hypocrite. And now because he knows he’s going to get out, he wants to get out with whatever he can. He wishes that this had been sold so the money could go in the bag, because he held the bag and it would just give him back some compensation for having his ladder leaning against the wrong building for three years.
He is crushed. His ambitions are smashed. He is terribly disappointed, and he is angry at Jesus. Verse 14 says, “One of the twelve,” and that’s how he’s always introduced in the four gospels because it’s so incredulous that he’s in that group and acting this way. “One of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?’ And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.” According to Exodus 21:32 that’s the price of a slave, that’s the price of a slave.
Please notice the word “betray” in verse 15. “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” They were afraid to go arrest Jesus in the middle of the day because He was mobbed by the people and He was popular with the people. They needed to get Him at night, but how could they find Him in the dark of night where there were no lights in the ancient world? Somebody had to reveal where He was. Judas said, “I’ll do that for the price of a slave.”
Verse 16, “from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.” Verse 17 introduces us to the Passover on that Thursday night where Jesus gathers to celebrate what had been inaugurated in the twelfth chapter of Exodus–the celebration of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. They were going to hold the Passover, celebrate the Passover; they get together for that very event. It’s indicated there in verses 17 and following. Verse 20 says, “Jesus was reclining at a table with the twelve disciples.” Now out of nowhere, as they were eating, He says, “Truly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” One of you will betray Me.
Shocked beyond imagination. Shock. I could say the same thing today. Some of you will betray Jesus Christ. You will defect. You will deny Him finally and terminally in a group this size. But among the Twelve? One of you will betray Me? There is no suspicion about Judas, they’re all deeply grieved. They each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord.” They were more suspicious of themselves then they were of Him. There was no suspicion directed at Judas. And the Lord answered, “He who dipped his bread with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.” One right here at this table. The Old Testament says, “My own familiar friend, he will betray Me.”
The Son of Man is to go, verse 24, as it is written of Him, but woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if He had not been born. Never having been born–far better fate than eternity in hell. And Judas, keeping up the hypocrisy who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi.” Jesus said to him, “You’ve said it yourself.” And he is only at the last hour finally exposed as the betrayer.
At this point, John’s gospel tells us Judas was dismissed. John said Satan entered him, John 13:2 and 27, Satan entered him and Jesus said, “Go do what you do quickly, get out.” And Judas leaves and they have the Passover with Judas gone.
After the Passover, go down to verse 30, “They sang a hymn and they went out to the Mount of Olives.” They went out to the Mount of Olives. Passover was done, they went there to pray. And if you go down to verse 36, that’s exactly what happened. They came to Gethsemane which means “olive press.” He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with Him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be grieved and distressed. And you know He went there to pray.
So the disciples are now in Gethsemane. Peter and John a little further in into the Garden. Jesus a little further in, praying alone. And here we pick up the story of Judas after he left.
He goes out and negotiates his deal with the leaders of Israel for 30 pieces of silver. He knows where they are in the familiar place in the Garden on the Mount of Olives and so we pick up the story in verse 45. “And He came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting?’” Remember, they kept sleeping instead of praying. “Behold the hour is at hand, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let’s be going; behold the one who betrays me as at hand.” Judas has arrived. And now we look at the man Judas.
Verse 47, “While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people.” He’s got a massive group of hundreds of people, including the temple police, the Roman soldiers, the leaders of Israel, all the elite religiosity purveyors of that apostate form of Judaism. They’re all there to arrest Him in the night, away from the crowds. And Judas has given them a sign. Verse 48, “He who was betraying Him gave them a sign saying, ‘Whomever I kiss, He’s the one, seize Him.’” There’s some profound anger in that. There’s some profound bitterness in that. There’s hatred in that.
Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi,” and kept on kissing Him–kissed Him repeatedly. And Jesus said to him, “Friend,” and it’s not the word for friend that is most used to refer to that; it’s not the kind of friend that you think of as an intimate friend. It’s a word for associate or comrade; it’s a more indifferent word; it’s a more distant word–comrade or associate. “Do what you have come for.” And they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.
It’s really unbelievable what Judas has done. Verse 57 says, “When they had seized Him, they led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest.” They were gathered together in this phony trial with false accusations. They tried to bribe witnesses to lie about Him, verse 59, trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus so they could have a reason to put Him to death. They couldn’t get people who could get their story together, though many people tried because they would be paid if they could. Finally some people came along and said He was going to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days, which He said at the beginning of His ministry. And this mock trial went from the high pPriest to Herod, to Pilate, and you know all the phases of that trial.
The final adjudication, the high priest, verse 65, tears his robes. He’s blasphemed; what further need do we have of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy. What do you think? And here’s the final verdict on Jesus: He deserves to die. They sentence Him to death; it’s the death penalty. “Then they spat in His face, beat Him with their fists, and others slapped Him and said”…mockingly, of course…“Prophesy to us, You Christ, who is the one who hit You?” That’s the outcome of what Judas did. That’s the outcome for Jesus of His betrayal.
But what about Judas? Go down to chapter 27. When morning came and the phony trial went through the night, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death. Bound Him, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate who was the governor, head of the Roman force who would be the executioners.
And then we read, concerning Judas, in verse 3, “Then when Judas who had betrayed Him saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty-pieces of silver to the Chief Priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to that yourself.’ And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed and he went away and hanged himself. And then the chief priest took the pieces of silver and said, ‘It’s not lawful to put them into the temple treasury since it’s the price of blood.’ So they bought a burial place for strangers.”
The horrible tragedy of Judas–hell forever, damned. Jesus said he went to his own place. Judas is the greatest tragedy in human history because of the opportunity that he squandered. Because of unparalleled privilege, he is the ultimate in wasted opportunity. Greedy, a materialist, a money-lover, earthy, full of avarice, greed, motivated by a desire for riches, and self-promotion. These things in him were so strong and so powerful and so overwhelming that they smothered the reality of who he was with for three years. So strong was his sinful heart in its self-love that he ignored the truth, the unmistakable glory of Christ, and went to hell on purpose, he went to hell on purpose. You might say he loved himself too much, he rejected salvation too often, and he resented Christ too strongly.
He had seen the most powerful demonstration of deity ever unleashed in this world–the glory of God displayed in Jesus. And this is where he ended up. What a waste. What an end.
Now I want to go back and I want to look at Peter, the second person, second preacher, second disciple. So let’s go back to chapter 26 and pick up the story. In verse 30 they sang a hymn and they went out to the Mount of Olives. And in verse 31, Jesus makes an amazing statement, “You will all stumble, you will all trip up, you will all fall away because of Me this night. For it is written”…and He quotes Zechariah 13:7…“I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.” You’re all going to defect. You’re all going to fall. You will all be literally offended. You’ll all have a kind of tacit denial, tacit betrayal.
Now we don’t have the record that the ten in between Peter and Judas actually denied Jesus verbally, publicly, openly; they just ran and hid. But then He says in verse 32, “After I’ve been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee,” which means that their defection was temporary and they would all be brought back together again. Theirs would be a temporary stumbling, a temporary falling, temporary defection. Not like Judas–his was forever.
Well, this gives Peter the opportunity to boast. Verse 33, “Peter said to Him, ‘Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away’”…never. He’s adamant, confident. “Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, that this very night before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’” A rooster crows around three A.M. in the morning. You’re going to deny Me three times before a rooster crows. “Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.’” All the disciples said the same thing, too. What a profession.
As it turned out, Peter was over-confident. Jesus had warned him, “You’re going to deny Me, you who said on another occasion, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” You’re the same one who also said, “No, no, no, Lord, You’re not going to die,” and at that moment Jesus said, ‘Get behind Me, Satan.” You with all the best theology, you with all the best of intentions, you’re going to fail and you’re going to fail dramatically. You’re going to be ashamed of Me. You’re going to deny Me. You’re going to betray Me.
And sure enough it happened. Go to verse 69. Jesus is taken to the high priest; trial is going on. Peter’s sitting outside in the courtyard. “A servant girl came to him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus the Galilean.’ But he denied it before them all saying, ‘I do not know what you’re talking about.’” When he had gone out to the gateway, he heads for the door to get away from the fire because it lightens his face, and hides into the darkness a little bit. But another servant girl saw him and said to those who were there, “‘This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ And again he denied it,” this time “with an oath, ‘I don’t know the man.’” He’s lying, and he’s taking an oath that he’s telling the truth when he knows he’s lying. “A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.’” You have a Galilean accent; we hear it.
This is amazing. “Then he began to curse and swear, ‘I do not know the man!’” And immediately a rooster crowed. The trial went through the night at the time when the rooster would crow, early before dawn. The signal was given on schedule, right after Peter on three occasions, in three locations, to different people had betrayed Jesus.
Judas couldn’t deal with the guilt of his betrayal. He felt remorse. He felt guilt. He felt sadness–sorrow that was so overwhelming that he killed himself. That’s serious. When you commit suicide under the weight of guilt, you feel the guilt profoundly.
What about Peter, did he kill himself? Done the same thing; hadn’t done it for money, but he had done it. In a sense, he was saying, “This isn’t the Christ, this….” He was giving them the same attitude that Judas gave them when he was willing to sell Jesus. But verse 75 says, “Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said, ‘Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.” He didn’t kill himself. He just went out and wept.
Something happened in that moment you need to know about. In the middle of Peter’s denial, as his denial was coming to its end, Luke 22:61 says this–now they’re in the courtyard of the high priest; Peter is milling around there in the shadows; Jesus is there being tried. Peter’s kept his distance. But it says in Luke 22:61, “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter”–eyeball to eyeball. When Judas’ and Jesus’ eyes met in the darkness of Gethsemane, Judas kissed Him with a kiss of hate, the kiss of a hypocrite. When the eyes of Peter met the eyes of Jesus, he was crushed, he was shattered, he was devastated and broke down in genuine tears of true repentance. Crushing sadness led Judas to suicide without repentance. Crushing sadness led Peter to restoration with repentance. And the difference was the way they looked at Christ, the way they responded to Christ. For Peter, the vision of Christ drew him to repentance. For Judas, the vision of Christ drew him to suicide. You might say, “For Peter the vision of Christ drew him to heaven; for Judas, the vision of Christ drew him to hell.” What was the difference? Peter loved Jesus Christ. He loved Him.
After the resurrection in Galilee, according to John 21, Jesus found Peter, found him fishing, which he shouldn’t have been doing, but he was. And he had breakfast with him by the shore of the lake. And He said this to Peter: “Peter, do you”…What?…“do you love Me?” That’s always the question, folks. That’s the question. Don’t get too complicated about what it means to be a Christian. It means you love Christ, that’s what it means.
“Peter, do you love Me?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Feed My sheep.”
“Oh, Peter, do you love Me?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Feed My lambs.”
A few moments later: “Peter, do you really love Me?”
And “Peter was grieved because He said the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’” And what was Peter’s response? “Lord, You know my heart, you know I love You.” There is so much simplicity in that.
What does it mean to be a Christian? What is the difference between Judas and Peter? Love for Christ, love for Christ–that’s the difference; that’s the message of Christianity. Feed My sheep; feed My lambs; feed My sheep. You’re Mine; do My work based on the fact that you love Me.
How you feel about Christ, how you view Him will determine your heaven or your hell. Peter was a betrayer. And we could see how it happened. He boasted too much. He prayed too little. He acted too fast–drew out a sword and wanted to make a war. He followed too far; he stayed off in the shadows. So you can say, “Yeah, there were some factors in overconfidence and lack of prayer and impulsiveness and cowardice. But Peter was no final disaster.” He was no final disaster. Grace was operating in Peter’s life. Grace was not operating in Judas’ life. Grace was operating in Peter’s life because Peter loved Jesus Christ. And John tells us in 1 John 4, “We love Him because He first loved us.” Jesus had set His love on Peter and Peter loved Him in return. They had a relationship of love. That is the deep and compelling attitude of the true believer. It comes down to this: the true believer’s love for Christ is the evidence of salvation. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 16:22 Paul says, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned.” It comes to that.
You look at Christianity, you look at the church, and you can get very complicated about what it means to be a Christian. It’s this simple. Look at your heart. Do you love Christ? Do you seek His honor? Seek His glory? Does your heart go out in affection toward Him? Do you desire to please Him, exalt Him, love Him, worship Him, commune with Him, hear Him? I’ll sum it up: “If you love Me,” John 14, “you keep My”…What?… “commandments”–you love His Word. You love Him. That’s how love acts.
That was Peter. Back in John 6, many of the disciples who didn’t love Jesus, but hung around left. John 6 says, “Many of His disciples walked no more with Him.” And then Jesus said, “Do you also want to go away?”–Do you also want to leave? And Peter says, “To whom will we go? You [and You alone] have the words of life.” We don’t want to go. We want to stay because You give us the words of life. He loved His Lord and He loved the truth that His Lord conveyed. Love desires to know the truth and obey the truth.
Peter was secure because he had a love relationship with Christ. You remember back in Luke 22, verse 31, Jesus said to Peter, “Peter, Satan desires to have you that he might sift you like wheat. Satan desires to have you.” He’s come and asked permission to go after you. He’s going to sift you like wheat. “But when you are converted, strengthen the brethren.”
What was the guarantee that he would be converted, that he would survive that? Jesus said this one line, “I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.” He secures His own by His own intercessory prayer. The Lord loved Peter; Peter loved the Lord. The Lord kept Peter even in the midst of a terrible betrayal. Peter was restored, recommissioned and became the great gospel preacher in the first era of the church. From the beginning of Acts, Acts chapter 2, where he preaches on Pentecost, he’s the dominating preacher for the first twelve chapters of Acts, the history of the church.
Now let me say something that is very important at this point. Sin and guilt do not produce true repentance. Sin and guilt do not produce true repentance. They may produce remorse; they may produce regret. They may produce sorrow and sadness, and it can even be so severe that it’s deadly–people kill themselves ’cause they can’t bear the consequences of their evil. But sin and guilt do not produce true repentance. The horror of Judas’ sin didn’t make him repent. Listen! And the horror of Peter’s sin didn’t make him repent. And the ugliness of your sin and the weight of your guilt will not make you repent–it is not enough to make a sinner repent. It is enough to make you sad and full of remorse and make you try to undo it and even make you kill yourself. But it’s not enough to bring you to true repentance. What makes the sinning, guilt-ridden soul repent is seeing and loving Christ, seeing and loving Christ. Christ becomes all in all, a source of grace and salvation.
Peter loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed in Him with all his heart. He believed that He was the Son of God. Yes, he went through a terrible trial, horrible failure, epic disaster, but when his eyes met the eyes of Jesus in the deep night of that trial, he was crushed–not into suicide, but he was crushed into repentance because he loved Christ.
This is the mind of the saved soul. It’s about loving Christ. Do you love Christ? Peter gives a personal testimony when he writes his epistle. He says this in chapter 1, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” Peter had lived that. He had lived through an unbelievable trial, a disastrous failure, and in the midst of that he had seen Christ. And Christ had given him a look of love, restored him, recommissioned him, used him mightily. Peter says, “You who haven’t seen Him, you also love Him. And because of that, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, knowing you’re going to receive the outcome of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
So two men, two students, two preachers indistinguishable to their close friends–one is a suicide, one is a saint; one is in hell, one is in heaven. Both betrayed Jesus in very, very adamant, public ways–both at the same time, in the same kinds of circumstances. Similarities are many but no two men could be further apart, further separated than these two–Judas for whom Jesus was a disappointment, whom He resented, if not hated; Peter for whom Jesus was a Savior, whom he loved. Judas was a devil who went to his own place, the place he deserved. Peter was a saint who went to the place prepared for him, the place he did not deserve. Because in the end, Judas belonged to Satan and Peter belonged to Jesus.
It’s all about loving Christ. And that’s how you know your spiritual condition. A benediction, Ephesians 6:24, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.” Let me read that again, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.”
Do you love Him? Do you love Him so that you long to honor Him, to please Him, to exalt Him, to lift up His name, to obey His Word, to proclaim Him? That’s the mark of a true believer.
Father, we ask that You would be merciful and gracious to us as You always are to sinners who repent. Who would ask if there are any here who are in the category of Judas who have been experiencing maybe for a long time, maybe for years, the same experiences with all the rest. But they’re going to end up separated from You and from all who belong to You forever in eternal punishment because there’s no love for Christ. Give them a vision of Christ. Why do we preach Christ constantly, relentlessly, year after year after year? Why? Because it’s the vision of Christ that saves; it’s the lifting up of Christ that draws men. May Christ become all glorious, all wondrous, desirable, beautiful, magnificent, the desire of every heart. And for those of us who do love Him, and who stumble and fail, thank You for the grace that is continually extended to us. We confess that we don’t love Him as we should, but we long to love Him more. We would desire to love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Falling short of that, we ask for grace and forgiveness for our failures, failure to love. If we could love perfectly in that, there would be the keeping of the whole law. Would You by Your power, by the working of the Holy Spirit in us, and by exposure to the truth in Holy Scripture, increase our love for Christ. May He be all and all to us.
Father, we ask that You would work your work in our hearts to proclaim the truth as only the beginning. You have to do the work of making the truth bear fruit in hearts and we pray, Lord, that You would do that this day. We thank You for the blessed time of praise and exaltation and worship which lifted our souls, and we also thank You for the time of self-examination because we’ve been instructed to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. And may that honest examination go on and for those who know You, for the Peters in this congregation, may there be joy unspeakable, inexpressible and full of glory as we celebrate your grace toward us in Christ. Increase our love for Him, we pray in His wonderful name. Amen.
Available online at: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-446 COPYRIGHT ©2013 Grace to You
Loving God
Key Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40
I. Introduction: If you ask the average person if he loves God, his answer will probably be “yes.” However, many people who sincerely believe they love the Lord are mistaken. Sadly, they may not even know Him. Words alone are no proof of love. In fact, we use the word love rather loosely, ascribing it to the most treasured people in our lives as well as our trivial preferences.
Love is a major issue with God. When the Pharisees challenged Jesus to name the greatest commandment, He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). That’s why the Lord should have such a prominent place in our hearts that our love for Him permeates every area of our lives.
II. Misconceptions about Loving God. Tragically, many people don’t understand how to truly love God. Even sincere believers can miss out on this awesome experience because of the following misconceptions:
A. Mistaking the fear of the Lord for love of Him. We can revere God by recognizing He is holy and just, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have fully given our hearts, souls, and minds to Him.
B. Confusing our need with love. Most of us are quick to bring our cares and concerns to the Lord in prayer because we need His help, but that may merely be evidence of our need for Him, not love of Him.
C. Equating serving God with loving Him. Instead of being motivated by devotion to Christ, some people simply enjoy the satisfaction that comes with serving.
D. Assuming giving is always a sign of love. If we simply put money into the offering plate because we’ve been taught to give or because we know we should, love for God plays no part in our generosity.
E. Thinking that religious acts equal love for God. Singing, teaching, preaching, and sharing the gospel may not be expressions of love if they are done only out of obligation.
III. Why don’t people love the Lord? Some people say they love God but want nothing to do with Jesus. However, since the Father and Son are one, no one who rejects Christ can love God (John 14:1). Although the Lord’s love extends to all people, many reject Him because:
A. They don’t know Him.
B. They’re afraid of the Lord’s judgment.
C. They’re uncomfortable because their sin doesn’t mix with His holiness.
D. They don’t want to alter their lifestyles.
E. They think loving the Lord would inhibit their conduct.
F. They feel uncertain about God and the future because they have no assurance concerning what awaits them at death.
G. They can’t understand why the Lord allows tragedies, natural disasters, wars, and accidents to happen. What they don’t realize is that ultimately God has a purpose in whatever He permits.
IV. Why should we love God? The Lord is an awesome heavenly Father, and if we don’t love Him, we lose out on the greatest relationship we can experience. Furthermore, we can’t truly love other people until we first love the Lord because He enables us to love the unlovely. And the more we learn about Him, the more reasons we’ll discover to love Him. Consider that:
A. The Lord created us. The sovereign Ruler of the universe wanted each one of us, and He is the only reason we exist.
B. He’s given us His Son. Jesus came into the world for two primary reasons—to show us the Father in a deeper, more personal way and to give His life as a ransom so we could be forgiven and have an intimate relationship with the Lord.
C. God has made commitments to us. This alone should provide the motivation we need to love Him with all our hearts. For example, we know:
1. The Lord will never leave nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).
2. He’ll supply all our needs (Phil. 4:19).
3. God will answer our prayers (Matt. 7:7; John 14:14).
4. He has forgiven us all our sins (1 John 1:9).
5. The Lord has given each of us at least one spiritual gift that enables us to live productive, fruitful lives and accomplish whatever He calls us to do.
6. He fills us with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live in a way that pleases and honors Him.
7. Christ has prepared a place for us in Heaven and will someday come back to take us there (John 14:2-3).
8. The Lord will give us beautiful and perfect resurrected bodies.
9. Through Jesus, we can have personal relationships with God that transcend any other human relationship.
V. Evidence of Our Love. When we genuinely love the Lord, our lives and lifestyles will be transformed. We will:
A. Desire to obey Him.
B. Want to serve Him.
C. Delight in sharing Him with others.
D. Trust Him.
E. Crave fellowship with Him.
F. Desire to worship Him.
G. Seek to give to Him.
H. Want to defend Him and the gospel.
I. Meditate on His Word.
J. Be willing to suffer for Him.
IV. Conclusion: If we genuinely love the Lord, our lives will show it, and others will notice something different about us. We’ll have inner satisfaction and contentment that no amount of success, prosperity, or popularity can provide. That’s because we were created to love God, and no other pursuit will satisfy us.
Copyright 2013 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.
http://www.intouch.org/you/sermon-outlines/content?topic=loving_god_sermon_outline
Chapter
11
Loving God With All That You Are
In these final pages I am going to explain how we can overcome our past and apply the truth of the Scriptures in a way that brings about change which is lasting and change which makes us more like Christ. But why? Why go to all the trouble of changing habits and thought patterns? Can’t we just believe in Jesus and muddle through life as we always have? No. Not if we want to find God’s best. Not if we want to fulfil our calling. You see, there really is a better way to live. It is to discover a purpose for our lives that transcends everything else; a purpose that makes all the struggle worth it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live for something worth dying for?
What is your reason for living? Do you have an organizing principle in your life that governs your thoughts, feelings and decisions? A friend once told me her life just wasn’t working out as she had planned. She explained that after she became a Christian she felt much excitement and renewal in her life, but now a year later it didn’t seem real any more. I knew about her past and the guilt she had struggled with. I knew how coming to Christ had made her feel forgiven and renewed. Now, however, the smile was hard to find and she was about to give up. I asked, ‘Did you become a Christian because of how it made you feel or did you become a Christian because Christianity is true?’ She looked at me like she thought I had asked her a trick question. When she saw I was serious she hesitatingly said, ‘I guess it was because of how it made me feel.’ I quickly explained that feelings were never designed to carry us through the Christian life. We need something larger and stronger than our feelings to carry us through the struggles that inevitably come. We need what some refer to as an organizing principle, a goal or purpose for life that is more important than our feelings, indeed one which is more important than we are.
People today have become so self-involved that they have bought in to the notion that personal happiness and fulfilment are the most important qualities of life. Even Christians have accepted these ideals. But that is not the way it was supposed to be. ‘In the beginning God created…’ (Gen. 1:1). God was in the beginning as Creator. As Creator He designed the purpose for His creation. If we are going to be the people we were created to be, we must live according to the Creator’s design. Our purpose in life must be whatever He says it should be.
What is that goal we are always to keep in clear focus? The Bible says it in several different ways. The way I find the most encompassing and easiest to understand was spoken of by the Lord Himself.
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’
‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these’ (Mark 12:28–31).
A man illustrated this as he explained his desperate situation to me. ‘I know God hates divorce, but doesn’t He also want me to be happy?’ I didn’t respond, so he went on, ‘I just don’t love her anymore, maybe I never did. We were so young. So I just don’t see how staying married could be what God wants since I’m so unhappy.’
I finally responded, ‘You seem to place the emphasis on being happy. Is that what you see as the goal of your life?’
‘Well, I don’t know if it’s the goal,’ he said hesitatingly, ‘but doesn’t God want me to be happy?’
Our initial reaction may be ‘Yes’. Closer scrutiny, however, reveals that the question itself is self-oriented. Its concern is for the person asking it. What if we change the question to read, ‘How can I make God happy?’ Now the question is God-oriented and places self in the position of servant. To put it simply, if you want to have the break with your past that really means something for all eternity, a break with the tragedy and struggle you have known, you must stop asking, ‘How can I be happy?’ and begin asking, ‘How can I make God happy?’ It is not that our enjoyment of life is unimportant, it is just that it is a by-product of serving God, not the goal of life.
It all begins with love
Making God happy may seem like a wonderful idea but it can also seem very difficult. Part of the reason may be that we think of love as something we feel. But is it? I remember being a bit perplexed the first time someone told me that love was more of a decision than a warm feeling. After I thought about it, however, it made sense. Jesus had said we should love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). I can’t think of any enemies for whom I have warm, positive feelings and yet I am supposed to love them. This has implications for our love for God. There are times when we are torn in our loyalties to Him and are tempted to give in to the love of self over and above our love of God. If, however, we make the decision to love God regardless of how we feel, we begin to have victory over temptation. It begins with a decision and comes to fruition as we act in accordance with that decision and do the thing that pleases Him. Love of God involves obedience to Him. As Jesus said: ‘If you love me, you will obey what I command’ (John 14:15).
Loving God His way
The love of God involves nothing less than the whole person. We love Him by first making the decision to do so and then by devoting all that we are to the task of loving Him. Dying to self and loving God do not mean that we avoid pleasant experiences, nor do they mean doing only those things that we want to do. They do mean that we must not participate in sin and that what we do we do with the express purpose of bringing honor to the Lord. At times we will suffer, at times we will experience pleasure, but neither suffering nor pleasure is the goal. The goal is to love God across the whole spectrum of our lives.
Putting it into practice
Jesus not only told us that we are to love God, He also told us how we are to love God. He broke it down for us to emphasize that the totality of our being is involved in loving Him. Let’s examine the different aspects of who we are as Jesus presented them – heart, soul, strength and mind.
Loving God with your heart
Loving God with all your heart may not sound strange at all. We often speak of loving someone with all our heart. Biblically, however, the heart is not simply the seat of the affections. Dick Keyes defines the heart as, ‘The inmost core of the self, your psychological and spiritual center of gravity.’ In responding to the words of Jesus, ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’ (Matt. 6:21), Keyes points out that the heart resides where the treasure is. How wonderful it is to place our treasure in doing the will of God. As the prophet said, ‘The one who trusts [in Messiah] will never be dismayed’ (Isa. 28:16). Loving God with our hearts is something lasting. We can never get enough nor will we ever be disappointed by Him. In the deepest recesses of who I am I am safe and secure because my treasure is found not in the fleeting treasure of this world but in the love of God.
Loving God with your soul
Most often we think of the soul as the immaterial part of man in its broadest application. In the present context the soul is the seat of man’s emotional activity. This means that when we love God with our souls we are loving Him emotionally. In our day of seeking to do what feels right this is an especially important concept to understand. In our relationship with God, as in any relationship, we must train our emotions to be loyal. A husband or a wife must not allow romantic emotions for another to develop. Emotions don’t ‘just happen’, they are allowed to grow. In relation to God we must train our emotions to love only Him, allowing no other gods a place in our souls.
As we spend time in worship, prayer, the study of His Word, and in ministry to others out of love for Him, we will see our emotional lives conform more and more to the image of Christ and we will spend less time absorbed with self.
Loving God with your mind
In our culture the intellectual has been played down in favor of ‘just believing’, or it has been replaced with snappy slogans and superficial approaches to theology and worship. If we are to love God with our minds we must affirm the import-ance of thinking as a Christian and the hard work it takes to develop our minds. That is why the apostle Paul puts such stress on mind renewal in Romans 12:2:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
According to the apostle, if we are going to avoid conformity to the world and if we are going to know the will of God, it will be through the renewal of the mind. The mind is the place where ideas start. If we think biblically our ideas will be God-honoring. But the mind also is the place of basic attitudes and dispositions. If the mind is renewed according to Scripture, our attitudes will be pleasing to God and not so susceptible to self-centred reactions. Our relationships will improve as we are not so caught up in self and are able to discern situations maturely, accurately, and with compassion.
How is the mind renewed? Let me give you four princ-iples to get you started.
1. Get to know God in a richer, deeper way. Begin spending much more time in Bible study and reading Christian literature which takes you deeper in your understanding of God and the Christian life.
2. Pray. We must converse with God about the things we are experiencing and the things we are studying. We must ask God to help us think as a Christian and change the old patterns in favor of the truth. We must not underestimate the importance of this great privilege of prayer.
3. You must begin speaking the truth to yourself. When thoughts come to mind telling you how inadequate you are, you must begin telling yourself the truth concerning your true identity in Christ. It is more important to know what God says about the situation than to believe some warmed-over lie from the past. But you must also begin to behave in accordance with the truth. Right thinking must be accompanied by right behavior to please God.
4. Get a friend or a fellowship group together of mature, growing Christians who will be accountable to you and you to them. Learn to speak the truth in love to one another when you talk about your problems or joys in unbiblical ways. If you are prone to self-pity you need someone to point out to you the times you slip into the ‘Why me?’ syndrome.
Loving God with your strength
Strength, in Mark 12:30, refers to power or might. By including it here the Lord brings into focus the fact that all of our energy is to be put into loving Him. If we are inclined to think we are doing pretty well in our devotion to God, this passage reminds us that our love for Him must be full devotion. But there is a danger here. The danger is what J.I. Packer refers to as ‘the religion of busyness’. We must not mistake being busy with being spiritual. We must pick our priorities before the Lord. Doing more is not necessarily more pleasing to God. We must fulfil our calling as it is spelled out in Scripture. When it is time to work, we work with all our strength. When it is time to rest, we rest with all our strength. There is a time to work and a time to rest and we should do both for the love of God.
Tying them all together
When Jesus said we are to love God with all these aspects of our being, it was another way of saying that every part of man is involved in loving God. If one part is not pursuing the love of God, the whole is affected as well.
Think of the ingredients of a cake. I am not a chef but I know that there are many ingredients that go into baking a cake. I also know that you get all these ingredients together and mix them up before you begin baking. If you tried to cook the parts separately I don’t know what you would get, but it would not be a cake. Yet when it is properly prepared, with all of the ingredients mixed together, it’s quite good. Like-wise, we must not attempt to live ‘part’ of our lives before God and the other ‘parts’ in some other way. That sort of life is not a life of love for Him and it is extremely distasteful to our Creator.
Loving your neighbor
God does not tell us to love Him only. He also tells us to love others. Love of our neighbor flows from a heart that loves God. If we were left with only the first great commandment, loving God, perhaps someone could make a case for retreating to a place of serenity and communing with God. That, however, is not what God has in mind. By Jesus including the second command with the first, He is assuring that our love of God is not self-centred. He makes certain that we do not retreat but that we become involved in expressing the love of God to those around us. His command forces us to be involved in human relationships.
This is extremely important in an age that is so self-oriented. Jesus went to the cross because of His love for God the Father and His love for human beings in need of salvation. We too are to love God and love others, with our lives if necessary.
… as yourself
When Jesus says to love others as we love ourselves He is not commanding us to love self. The command is to love others. Love of self in recent years has been treated as a goal, when actually it has been part of the human makeup all along. God instilled in man at his creation a healthy love for self. If it were not so, the command would not make sense.
If I am hungry I find food, or try to. If I am sick I try to get well or at least to lessen the pain. Jesus tells us that just as we love ourselves and would do whatever we could to care for our needs, so should we be committed to the needs of others.
Love of God was never meant to stand alone. We are to love others every bit as much as we love ourselves. Just imagine what the world would be like if Christians really did this.
Why is love the greatest?
At the end of the great chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13 the apostle says this:
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13).
Why is it that love is the greatest of these three virtues? William Hendriksen offers three reasons:
1. Faith and hope take, love gives. Faith appropriates the salvation that is in Christ. Hope accepts the promise of the future inheritance. Love, however, means self-giving, self-impartation.
2. All other virtues are included in love. According to 1 Corinthians 13 active, intelligent, voluntary love implies patience, kindness and humility (verse 4), unselfishness (verse 5), faith and hope (verse 7).
3. Human love, in its noblest expression, is patterned after God, for ‘God is love’. Love gives, but the reason we are able to give it is because God loved us first (1 John 4:19). Only as we love God and love others in increasing measure will we be able to engage successfully in the process of growth in the Christian life. Then we can leave the past behind and experience the life He desires for us.
It is my prayer that as you seek to apply the things written in these pages you would do so for the love of God and for the furtherance of His kingdom. In so doing you will experience what it is to live as a child of the King. You will discover the abundant life Jesus spoke of:
I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (John 10:10b).
Study Guide
Loving God With All You Are
Consider
1. What does it mean to love God with the heart (the spiritual core)?
See Matthew 6:21; Isaiah 28:16; Proverbs 4:23; 1 Samuel 16:7.
2. What does it mean to love God with the soul (the seat of the emotions)? See: Psalm 37:7; Matthew 6:25, 33–34; Philippians 4:6–7; 1 Peter 5:6–7.
3. What does it mean to love God with the mind (the place of the intellect, basic attitudes and dispositions)? Isaiah 26:3; Romans 12:2; 1 Peter 1:13.
Analyze
1. Christians are told to love God with their strength (power or might). In what ways can a person love God with physical strength? See Colossians 3:17; Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:7–10.
2. Why does the author argue that the command to love your neighbor as yourself is not primarily a command to love self? Why is loving self to be avoided as a goal?
3. God loved us first (1 John 4:19). Why is that important?
Digging Deeper
The Great Commandment in Mark 12:28–30 shows us that in order to love God we must love Him with all that we are. As you examine yourself, heart, soul, mind and strength, do you find yourself loving God in every aspect of your being? Where are you lacking?
Making it Real
God is pleased when we love, especially when we love those who are, “…the least of these” (Matthew 25:40). There are those whom you find hard to love. Find a way to express the love of God to one whom you find hard to love.[1]
[1] Hines, W. (1996). Christianity and change: Steps to growth and healing in Christian counseling (143–153). Ross-shire, GB: Christian Focus Publications.
Loving God
A. The Duty of Loving God
1. Love of God Is Commanded
Deut. 10:12–13; Deut. 11:13; Deut. 30:19–20; Ps. 31:23; Matt. 22:36–38; 1 Thess. 5:8; 1 Tim. 6:11; 1 John 5:2–3; Jude 21
2. Love of God Is Prayed For
Eph. 3:14–19; Eph. 6:23–24; Phil. 1:9; 2 Thess. 3:5
3. Failure to Love God Is Warned Against
Josh. 23:10–13; Matt. 10:37; 1 Cor. 16:22; Rev. 2:4
B. The Nature of Loving God
1. Love of God Becomes the Means through Which Faith Is Expressed
John 16:27; Gal. 5:6; Eph. 4:15–16; 1 Thess. 1:3; Heb. 6:10; 1 John3:17, 23; 1 John 4:20
2. Love of God Casts Out Fear
1 John 4:17–18
3. Love of God Involves the Whole Person
Deut. 6:5; Luke 10:25–28
4. Love of God Is an Eternal Relationship
Rom. 8:38–39
5. Love of God Is Given through the Holy Spirit
Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22; Col. 1:8
6. Love of God Joins the Believer in Intimate Union with God
Prov. 8:17; John 14:21, 23; 1 Cor. 8:3; 2 Cor. 13:14
7. Love of God Reflects His Inmost Being
Deut. 30:2–3, 6; 1 John 4:8, 16, 19
8. Love of God Requires the Love of Other People
1 John 4:20–21; 1 John 5:1–2
9. Love of God Requires Obedience
Deut. 11:1; Deut. 30:15–16; Josh. 22:5; Mark 12:33; John 14:15, 21, 23; John 15:10; John 21:15–17; 2 Cor. 5:14–15; 1 John 2:4–5; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 6
C. Promises to Those Loving God
1. God Faithfully Cares for Those Who Love Him
Deut. 7:9; Neh. 1:5
2. God Forgives the Sins of Those Who Love Him
Luke 7:47
3. God Gives Assurance to Those Who Love Him
Rom. 8:28
4. God Gives an Inheritance to Those Who Love Him
1 Cor. 2:9; James 1:12; James 2:5
5. God Protects Those Who Love Him
Ps. 5:11; Ps. 91:14–15; Ps. 145:20
6. God Saves Those Who Love Him
Ps. 91:14–16; 1 Pet. 1:8–9
7. God Shows Mercy to Those Who Love Him
Exod. 20:5–6; Ps. 119:132
D. Illustrations of Love
1. Love within the Godhead
a) The Father’s Love for the Son
Matt. 3:17; Matt. 12:17–18; Matt. 17:5 John 3:35; John 8:29, 42 ; John 17:24, 26; 1 Pet. 1:17
b) The Son’s Love for the Father
John 14:31
c) Christ’s Love for the Church
John 15:9–13; Eph. 5:25
2. Love for God
a) David Loved God
Ps. 18:1
b) Solomon Loved God
1 Kings 3:3
c) Peter Loved God
John 21:15–17
d) Paul Loved God
2 Cor. 6:3–6
e) The Church at Colosse Loved God
Col. 1:7–8[1]
[1] Elwell, W. A., & Buckwalter, D. (1996). Vol. 5: Topical analysis of the Bible: With the New International Version. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
See Also – Christian Biblical Counsel: LOVE; LOVING GOD and OTHERS
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