Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1522
“Show you the proof of your love.” 2 Corinthians 8:24.
IN every Believer’s heart there is love to God, otherwise he cannot be a child of God! In every Christian’s soul there is love to Jesus Christ. How could he be a Christian otherwise? As a consequence of this, in every Christian’s bosom there is a love to the brotherhood—“We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” In every Christian’s breast there is also a love to all mankind. He practices that second great Commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The spirit of God has cast out the demon of selfishness and, in proportion as that is the case, the man possesses the mind of Christ which is love. As all the Law is fulfilled in one word which is, “love,” so the outcome of our holy faith is also contained in that one word, “love.”
Oh that we were saturated with it! Where there is true love in the heart, it becomes a working principle. It does not lie dormant, but it works—works abundantly! It is a vital principle that where there is life there is movement and a measure of activity. It is a principle that grows and out of its growth there comes fruit. For these reasons and in these ways, true Believers give sure proofs of the love that is in their hearts. I wish to speak to you, at this time, by answering four questions.
I. First, WHAT IS THE EXCELLENCE OF THIS LOVE that we should be so anxious to prove it? This Christian love must have some great worth about it, or else we should not be exhorted by the Apostle once and again to prove that we have it. Remember, first, that true love to God and the saints in the Christian heart is Divine in its origin. We would never have loved God if He had not first loved us! And, unless His Holy Spirit had turned the stream of our affections in that direction, we would have run away from God and have hated God and we would neither have loved Him nor His people. It is the nature of the seed of the serpent to hate the Seed of the woman and as long as we are under condemnation and wrath and in our natural state, we are on the serpent’s side and we war against that which is good.
“The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither, indeed, can be.” If, therefore, we have even a spark of love to God, God must have given it to us! It is, therefore, a precious thing because it is of God and we ought to take heed that we assuredly possess it. And we also should endeavor to live so that others may be convinced that this Divine principle rules our spirits. As it is Divine in its origin, so it is surpassing in its energy, for true love to God exceeds all other love. Does not Christ tell us that a man must love Him better than father or mother, or the dearest relative he has, or else he does not love Him at all?
Christ will not be put off with the leftovers of our heart. He must have our whole heart. All human affections which are natural and proper are to be held in subservience to this grand and master passion which is to set our soul on a blaze—love to God in Christ Jesus. He loves not Christ at all who does not love Him first and last. This affection, like Aaron’s rod, must swallow up all others and our whole heart must belong to the Lord our God! We must take care that we give proof of an affection which is so surpassing in its energy, for surely, if it has such force, it must produce its own proof!
If it were some minor passion—some little narrow jet of flame that might light up a corner of our being—we might not be so particular about it. But if it is to fire our entire manhood, it must produce some effect or else we may well question whether we possess it. This love is absolutely vital in its necessity. If it can be proven that a man does not love God, love Christ and love His people, then the life of God does not dwell in him. Life and love are two words singularly alike and, when we get to the bottom and radical principle of the spiritual nature, we perceive that they are singularly bound up together insomuch that, “He that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him.”
These are some of the Apostle John’s great little words, which, in their miniature form, contain whole worlds of meaning. Beloved, we must love God, or else we are not in Christ! Hence the importance that the proofs of our love
should be very distinct and unmistakable. We should make our calling and election sure—and those things can never be sure unless we have abundant proofs of our love. It is vital in its necessity. However great that love becomes and I have spoken of it as rising to a superlative degree, it is warranted by the facts of the case. Love to God—I will not spend a word in justifying it. Love to Christ—how can it be necessary to commend it to you?—
“Love so amazing, so Divine,
Demands our soul, our life, our all.”