06. An Exhortation to Love God
An Exhortation to Love God
Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all you his saints" (Psalms 31:23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses—but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural—but the grace of love is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Romans 1:30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach! They fear God—but do not love Him. All the strength in men or angels cannot make the heart love God. Ordinances will not do it of themselves, nor will judgments. Only the almighty and invincible power of the Spirit of God can infuse love into the soul. This being so hard a work, it calls upon us for the more earnest prayer and endeavor after this angelic grace of love to god. To excite and inflame our desires after it, I shall prescribe twenty motives for loving God.
(1). Without love to God, all our religion is vain. It is not duty—but love to duty, which God looks at. It is not how much we do—but how much we love. If a servant does not do his work willingly, and out of love, it is not acceptable. Duties not mingled with love, are as burdensome to God as they are to us. David therefore counsels his son Solomon to serve God with a willing mind (1 Chronicles 28:9). To do duty without love, is not sacrifice—but penance.
(2). Love to God is the most noble and excellent grace. It is a pure flame kindled from heaven; by it we resemble God, who is love. Believing and obeying do not make us like God—but by love we grow like Him (1 John 4:16). Love is a grace which most delights in God, and is most delightful to Him. That disciple who was most full of love, lay in Christ’s bosom. Love puts a verdure and luster upon all the graces: the graces seem to be eclipsed, unless love shines and sparkles in them. Faith is not true, unless it works by love. The waters of repentance are not pure, unless they flow from the spring of love. Love is the incense which makes all our services fragrant and acceptable to God.
(3). Is that unreasonable, which God requires? It is but our love. If He should ask our estate, or the fruit of our bodies, could we deny Him? But He asks only our love! He would only pick this flower! Is this a hard request? Was there ever any debt so easily paid as this? We do not at all impoverish ourselves by paying it. Love is no burden. Is it any labor for the bride to love her husband? Love is delightful.
(4). God is the most adequate and complete object of our love. All the excellencies which lie scattered in the creatures, are united in Him! He is wisdom, beauty, love, yes, the very essence of goodness. There is nothing in God which can cause a loathing. The creature sooner surfeits than satisfies—but there are fresh beauties continually sparkling forth in God. The more we love Him—the more we enjoy Him and are ravished with delight!
There is nothing in God to deaden our affections or quench our love. There is neither infirmity nor deformity—such as usually weaken and cool love. There is that excellence in God, which may not only invite—but command our love. If there were more angels in heaven than there are, and all those glorious seraphim had an immense flame of love burning in their breasts to eternity—yet could they not love God equivalently to that infinite perfection and transcendence of goodness which is in Him. Surely then here is enough to induce us to love God—we cannot spend our love upon a better object!
(5). Love to God facilitates religion. It oils the wheels of the affections, and makes them more lively and cheerful in God’s service. Love takes off the tediousness of duty. Jacob thought seven years but little, for the love he bore to Rachel. Love makes duty a pleasure. Why are the angels so swift and winged in God’s service? It is because they love Him. Love is never weary. He who loves God, is never weary of telling it. He who loves God, is never weary of serving Him.
(6). God desires our love. We have lost our beauty, and stained our blood—yet the King of heaven is a suitor to us! What is there in our love, that God should seek it? What is God the better for our love? He does not need it, He is infinitely blessed in Himself. If we deny Him our love, He has more sublime creatures who pay the cheerful tribute of love to Him. God does not need our love—yet He seeks it.
(7). God has deserved our love; how has He loved us! Our affections should be kindled at the fire of God’s love. What a miracle of love is it, that God should love us, when there was nothing lovely in us. "When you were in your blood, I said unto you, Live" (Ezekiel 16:6). The time of our loathing, was the time of God’s loving. We had something in us to provoke God’s fury—but nothing to excite His love. What love, passing understanding, was it, to give Christ to us! That Christ should die for sinners! God has set all the angels in heaven wondering at this love. Augustine says, "The cross is a pulpit, and the lesson Christ preached on it is love." Oh the living love of a dying Savior! I think I see Christ upon the cross bleeding all over! I think I hear Him say to us, "Put your hand into the wound in My side. Feel My bleeding heart. See if I do not love you! And will you not bestow your love upon Me? Will you love the world more than me? Did the world appease the wrath of God for you? Have I not done all this? And will you not love Me?" It is natural to love where we are loved. Christ having set us a copy of love, and written it with His blood, let us labor to write after so fair a copy, and to imitate Him in love. "We love Him because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
(8). Love to God is the best self-love. It is self-love to get the soul saved; by loving God, we forward our own salvation. "He who dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). And he is sure to dwell with God in heaven—who has God dwelling in his heart. So that to love God is the truest self-love; he who does not love God, does not love himself.
(9). Love to God evidences sincerity. "The upright love you" (Song of Solomon 1:4). Many a child of God fears he is a hypocrite. Do you love God? When Peter was dejected with the sense of his sin, he thought himself unworthy that ever Christ should take notice of him, or employ him more in the work of his apostleship; see how Christ goes about to comfort him. "Peter, do you love me?" (John 21:15). As if Christ had said, "Though you have denied me through fear—yet if you can say from your heart you love me, you are sincere and upright." To love God is a better sign of sincerity, than to fear Him. The Israelites feared God’s justice. "When he slew them, they sought him, and inquired early after God" (Psalms 78:34). But what did all this come to? "Nevertheless, they did but flatter him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue; for their heart was not right with him" (verses 36, 37). That repentance is no better than flattery, which arises only from fear of God’s judgments, and has no love mixed with it. Loving God evidences that God has the heart; and if the heart is His, that will command all the rest!
(10). By our love to God, we may conclude God’s love to us. "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Oh, says the soul, if I knew God loved me, I could rejoice! Do you love God? Then you may be sure of God’s love to you. If our hearts burn in love to God, it is because God’s love has first shined upon us, else we could not burn in love. Our love is nothing but the reflection of God’s love.
(11). If you do not love God, you will love something else, either the world or sin; and are those worthy of your love? Is it not better to love God than these? It is better to love God than the WORLD, as appears in the following particulars.
If you set your love on worldly things, they will not satisfy. You may as well satisfy your body with air, as your soul with earth! "In the fullness of his sufficiency, he shall be in straits" (Job 22:22). Plenty has its poverty. If the globe of the world were yours, it would not fill your soul. Will you set your love on that which will never give you contentment? Is it not better to love God? He will give you that which shall satisfy your soul to all eternity! "When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness" (Psalms 17:15). When I awake out of the sleep of death, and shall have some of the rays and beams of God’s glory put upon me, I shall then be satisfied with His likeness.
If you love worldly things, they cannot remove trouble of mind. If there is a thorn in the conscience, all the world cannot pluck it out. King Saul, being perplexed in mind, all his crown jewels could not comfort him (1 Samuel 28:15). But if you love God, He can give you peace when nothing else can; He can turn the "shadow of death into the morning" (Amos 5:8). He can apply Christ’s blood to refresh your soul; He can whisper His love by the Spirit, and with one smile scatter all your fears and disquiets.
If you love the world, you love that which may keep you out of heaven. Worldly contentments may be compared to the wagons in an army; while the soldiers have been entertaining themselves at the wagons, they have lost the battle. "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:23). Prosperity, to many, is like a large sail to a small boat, which quickly overturns it; so that by loving the world, you love that which will endanger you. But if you love God, there is no fear of losing heaven. He will be a Rock to hide you—but not to hurt you. By loving Him, we come to enjoy Him forever.
You may love worldly things—but they cannot love you in return. You love gold and silver—but your gold cannot love you in return. You love a picture—but the picture cannot love you in return. You give away your love to the creature—and receive no love back. But if you love God, He will love you in return. "If any man loves me, my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). God will not be behindhand in love to us. For our drop of love to Him, we shall receive an ocean of His love! When you love the world, you love that which is worse than yourselves. The soul, as Damascen says, is a sparkle of celestial brightness; it carries in it an idea and resemblance of God. While you love the world, you love that which is infinitely below the worth of your souls. Will any one lay out cost upon sackcloth? When you lay out your love upon the world, you hang a pearl upon a swine—you love that which is inferior to yourself. As Christ speaks in another sense of the fowls of the air, "Are you nor much better than they?" (Matthew 6:26), so I say of worldly things, Are you not much better than they? You love a fair house, or a beautiful garment—are you not much better than they? But if you love God, you place your love on the most noble and sublime object—you love that which is better than yourselves. God is better than the soul, better than angels, better than heaven!
You may love the world, and receive hatred for your love. "Because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19). Would it not vex one to lay out money upon a piece of ground which, instead of bringing forth grain or fruit, should yield nothing but nettles? Thus it is with all earthly things—we love them, and they prove nettles to sting us! We meet with nothing but disappointment. "Let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon" (Judges 9:15). While we love the creature, fire comes out of this bramble to devour us; but if we love God, He will not return hatred for love. "I love those who love me" (Proverbs 7:17). God may chastise His children—but He cannot hate them. Every believer is part of Christ, and God can as well hate Christ as hate a believer.
You may over-love the creature. You may love wine too much, and silver too much; but you cannot love God too much. If it were possible to exceed, excess here were a virtue; but it is our sin that we cannot love God enough. "How weak is your heart!" (Ezekiel 16:30). So it may be said, How weak is our love to God! It is like water of the last drawing from the still—which has less spirit in it. If we could love God far more than we do--yet it can never be proportionate to His worth; so that there is no danger of excess in our love to God.
You may love worldly things, and they die and leave you. Riches take wings! Relations drop away! There is nothing here abiding. The creature has a little honey in its mouth--but it has wings! It will soon fly away. But if you love God, He is "a portion forever" (Psalms 73:26). As He is called a Sun for comfort, so a Rock for eternity; He abides forever. Thus we see it is better to love God than the world.
If it is better to love God than the world—surely also it is better to love God than SIN. "They are haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning." (Romans 1:30). What is there in sin, that any should love it? Sin is a debt. "Forgive us our debts" (Matthew 6:12). It is a debt which binds over to the wrath of God; why should we love sin? Does any man love to be in debt? Sin is a disease. "The whole head is sick" (Isaiah 1:5). And will you love sin? Will any man hug a disease? Will he love his plague sores? Sin is a pollution. The apostle calls it "filthiness" (James 1:21). It is compared to leprosy and to poison of asps. God’s heart rises against sinners. "My soul loathed them" (Zechariah 11:8). Sin is a hideous monster. Lust makes a man brutish; malice makes him devilish. What is in sin to be loved? Shall we love deformity? Sin is an enemy. It is compared to a "serpent" (Proverbs 23:32). Sin has five sharp stings—shame, guilt, horror, death, damnation. Will a man love that which seeks his death? Surely then it is better to love God than sin. God will save you, sin will damn you! Is he not a fool—who loves damnation? Many love sin, more than God.
(12). The relation we stand in to God calls for love. There is near affinity. "Your Maker is your husband" (Isaiah liv. 5). And shall a wife not love her husband? He is full of tenderness. His spouse is to him as the apple of his eye. He rejoices over her, as the bridegroom over his bride (Isaiah 62:5). He loves the believer—as He loves Christ (John 17:26). The same love for quality, though not equally. Either we must love God, or we give ground of suspicion that we are not yet united to Him.
(13). Love to God is the most abiding grace. This will stay with us when other graces take their farewell. In heaven we shall need no repentance—because we shall have no sin. In heaven we shall not need patience—because there will be no affliction. In heaven we shall need no faith—because faith looks at unseen things (Hebrews 11:1). Then we shall see God face to face; and where there is vision, there is no need of faith. But when the other graces are out of date, love continues; and in this sense the apostle says that love is greater than faith or hope—because it abides the longest. "Love will last forever" (1 Corinthians 13:8). Faith is the staff which we walk with in this life. "We walk by faith" (2 Corinthians 5:7). But we shall leave this staff at heaven’s door—and only love shall enter. Thus love carries away the crown from all the other graces. Love is the most long-lived grace—it is a blossom of eternity. How should we strive to excel in this grace, which alone shall live with us in heaven, and shall accompany us to the marriage supper of the Lamb!
(14). Love to God will never let sin thrive in the heart. Some plants will not thrive when they are near together: the love of God withers sin. Though the old man lives—yet as a sick man, it is weak. The flower of love kills the weed of sin. Though sin does not die totally—yet it dies daily. How should we labor for that grace, which is the only corrosive to destroy sin!
(15). Love to God is an excellent means for growth of grace. "But grow in grace" (2 Peter 3:18). Growth in grace is very pleasing to God. Christ accepts the reality of grace—but commends the maturity of grace; and what can more promote and augment grace than love to God? Love is like watering of the root, which makes the tree grow. Therefore the apostle uses this expression in his prayer, "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God" (2 Thessalonians 3:5). He knew this grace of love would nourish all the graces.
(16). The great benefit which will accrue to us, if we love God. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him!" (1 Corinthians 2:9). The eye has seen rare sights, the ear has heard sweet music; but eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor can the heart of man imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him! Such glorious rewards are laid up that, as Augustine says, "faith itself is not able to comprehend them!" God has promised a crown of life to those who love Him (James 1:12). This crown encircles within it, all blessedness—riches, and glory, and delight: and it is a crown which is unfading! (1 Peter 5:4). Thus God would draw us to Him by rewards.
(17). Love to God is armor against error. For lack of hearts full of love—men have heads full of error; unholy opinions are for lack of holy affections. Why are men given up to strong delusions? Because "they receive not the love of truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11). The more we love God, the more we hate those heterodox opinions that would draw us off from God into libertinism.
(18). If we love God, we have all winds blowing for us, everything in the world shall conspire for our good. We know not what fiery trials we may meet with—but to those who love God all things shall work for good. Those things which work against them, shall work for them; their cross shall make way for a crown; every crosswind shall blow them to the heavenly port!
(19). Lack of love to God is the ground of apostasy. The seed in the parable, which had no root, fell away. He who has not the love of God rooted in his heart, will fall away in time of temptation. He who loves God will cleave to Him, as Ruth to Naomi. "Where you go I will go, and where you die I will die" (Ruth 1:16-17). But he who lacks love to God will do as Orpah to her mother in law; she kissed her, and took her farewell of her. That soldier who has no love to his commander, when he sees an opportunity, will leave him, and run over to the enemy’s side. He who has no love in his heart to God, you may set him down for an apostate.
(20). Love is the only thing which we can give back to God. If God is angry with us, we must not be angry back. If He chides us, we must not chide Him back. But if God loves us, we must love Him back. There is nothing in which we give back to God—but love. We must give Him our love for His love.
Thus we have seen twenty motives to excite and inflame our love to God.
Question. What shall we do to love God?
Answer. Study God. Did we study Him more, we would love Him more. Take a view of His superlative excellencies, His holiness, His incomprehensible goodness. The angels know God better than we, and clearly behold the splendor of His majesty; therefore they are so deeply enamored with Him.
Labor for an interest in God. "O God, you are my God" (Psalm lx3:1). That pronoun ’my’, is a sweet loadstone to love; a man loves that which is his own. The more we believe, the more we love. Faith is the root, and love is the flower which grows upon it. "Faith which works by love" (Galatians 5:6).
Make it your earnest request to God, that He will give you a heart to love Him. This is an acceptable request, surely God will not deny it. When king Solomon asked for wisdom from God, (1 Kings 3:9), "the request pleased the Lord" (verse 10). So when you cry to God, "Lord, give me a heart to love You. It is my grief, I can love You no more. Oh, kindle this fire from heaven upon the altar of my heart!" Surely this prayer pleases the Lord, and He will pour of His Spirit upon you—whose golden oil shall make the lamp of your love burn bright!
2. An exhortation to preserve your love to God.
You who have love to God, labor to preserve it; let not this love die, or be quenched. As you would have God’s love to be continued to you, let your love be continued to Him. Love, as fire, will tend to die out. "You have left your first love" (Revelation 2:4). Satan labors to blow out this flame, and through neglect of duty we lose it. When a frail body leaves off clothes, it is apt to get cold: so when we leave off duty, by degrees we cool in our love to God. Of all graces, love is most apt to decay; therefore we had need to be the more careful to preserve it. If a man has a precious jewel, he will keep it safe. What care then should we have to keep this precious jewel of love to God! It is sad to see professors declining in their love to God; many are in a spiritual declension, their love is decaying.
There are four signs by which Christians may know that their love is decaying.
(1). When they have lost their taste. He who is in a severe illness, has no taste; he does not find that savory relish in his food as formerly. So when Christians have lost their taste, and they find no sweetness in a promise, it is a sign of a spiritual decay. "If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:3). Time was, when they found comfort in drawing near to God. His Word was as the dropping honey, very delicious to the palate of their soul—but now it is otherwise. They can taste no more sweetness in spiritual things than in the "white of an egg" (Job 6:6). This is a sign they are in a decay; to lose the taste, argues the loss of the first love.
(2). When they have lost their appetite. A man in a deep decay has not that relish for his food as formerly. Time was, when Christians did "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matthew 5:6). They minded things of a heavenly aspect, the grace of the Spirit, the blood of the cross, the light of God’s countenance. They had a longing for ordinances, and came to them as a hungry man to a feast. But now the case is altered. They have no appetite, they do not so prize Christ, they have not such strong affections to the Word, their hearts do not burn within them; a sad presage, they are in a decay, their love is decaying. It was a sign David’s natural strength was abated, when they covered him with clothes, and yet he get no heat (1 Kings 1:1). So when men are plied with hot clothes (1 mean ordinances)—yet they have no heat of affection—but are cold and stiff, as if they were ready to be laid forth; this is a sign their first love is declined, they are in a deep decay.
(3). When they grow more in love with the world, it argues the decrease of spiritual love. They were once of a sublime, heavenly temper, they did speak the language of Canaan: but now they are like the fish in the gospel, which had money in its mouth (Matt. x7:27). They cannot lisp out three words—but one is about mammon. Their thoughts and affections, like Satan, are still compassing the earth, a sign they are going down the hill apace, their love to God is in a decay. We may observe, when nature decays and grows weaker, people go more stooping: and truly, when the heart goes more stooping to the earth, and is so bowed together that it can scarcely lift up itself to a heavenly thought, it is now sadly declining in its first love. When rust cleaves to metal, it not only takes away the brightness of the metal—but it cankers and consumes it: so when the earth cleaves to men’s souls, it not only hinders the shining luster of their graces—but by degrees it cankers them.
(4). When they make little reckoning of God’s worship. Duties of religion are performed in a dead, formal manner; if they are not left undone—yet they are ill done. This is a sad symptom of a spiritual decay; remissness in duty shows a decay in our first love. The strings of a violin being slack, the violin can never make good music; when men grow slack in duty, they pray as if they prayed not; this can never make any harmonious sound in God’s ears. When the spiritual motion is slow and heavy, and the pulse of the soul beats low, it is a sign that Christians have left their first love.
Let us take heed of this spiritual decay; it is dangerous to abatement in our love. Love is such a grace as we know not how to be without. A soldier may as well be without his weapons, an artist without his pencil, a musician without his instrument, as a Christian can be without love. The body cannot lack its natural heat. Love is to the soul as the natural heat is to the body—there is no living without it. Love influences the graces, it excites the affections, it makes us grieve for sin, it makes us cheerful in God; it is like oil to the wheels; it quickens us in God’s service. How careful then should we be to keep alive our love for God!
Question. How may we keep our love from going out?
Answer. Watch your hearts every day. Take notice of the first declinings in grace. Observe yourselves when you begin to grow dull and listless, and use all means for quickening. Be much in prayer, meditation, and holy conference. When the fire is going out you throw on fuel: so when the flame of your love is going out, make use of ordinances and gospel promises, as fuel to keep the fire of your love burning.
3. An exhortation to increase your love to God.
Let me exhort Christians to increase your love to God. Let your love be raised up higher. "And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more" (Php 1:9). Our love to God should be as the light of the morning: first there is the day break, then it shines brighter, to the full meridian. They who have a few sparks of love should blow up those divine sparks into a flame. A Christian should not be content with so small a grain of grace, as may make him wonder whether he has any grace or not—but should be still increasing the stock. He who has a little gold, would have more; you who love God a little, labor to love Him more. A godly man is contented with a very little of the world; yet he is never satisfied—but would have more of the Spirit’s influence, and labors to add one degree of love to another. To persuade Christians to put more oil to the lamp, and increase the flame of their love, let me propose these four divine incentives.
(1). The growth of love evinces its reality. If I see the almond tree bud and flourish, I know there is life in the root. Paint will not grow; a hypocrite, who is but a picture, will not grow. But where we see love to God increasing and growing larger, as Elijah’s cloud, we may conclude it is true and genuine.
(2). By the growth of love we imitate the saints in the Bible. Their love to God, like the waters of the sanctuary, did rise higher. The disciples love to Christ at first was weak, they fled from Christ; but after Christ’s death it grew more vigorous, and they made an open profession of Him. Peter’s love at first was more infirm and languid, he denied Christ; but afterwards how boldly did he preach Him! When Christ put him to a trial of his love, "Simon, love you Me?" (John 21:16), Peter could make his humble yet confident appeal to Christ, "Lord, you know that I love You." Thus that tender plant which before was blown down with the wind of a temptation, now is grown into a cedar, which all the powers of hell cannot shake!
(3). The growth of love will amplify the reward. The more we burn in love—the more we shall shine in glory! The higher our love—the brighter our crown!
(4). The more we love God, the more love we shall have from Him. Would we have God unbosom the sweet secrets of His love to us? Would we have the smiles of His face? Oh, then let us strive for higher degrees of love. Paul counted gold and pearl but dung for Christ, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ." (Php 3:8). Yes, he was so inflamed with love to God, that he could have wished himself accursed from Christ for his brethren the Jews (Romans 9:3). Not that he could be accursed from Christ; but such was his fervent love and pious zeal for the glory of God, that he would have been content to have suffered, even beyond what is fit to speak, if God might have had more honor.
Here was love screwed up to the highest pitch that it was possible for a mortal to arrive at: and behold how near he lay to God’s heart! The Lord takes him up to heaven a while, and lays him in His bosom, where he had such a glorious sight of God, and heard those "unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Corinthians 12:4). Never was any man a loser by his love to God.
If our love to God does not increase—it will soon decrease. If the fire is not blown up—it will quickly go out. Therefore Christians should above all things endeavor to cherish and excite their love to God. This exhortation will be out of date when we come to heaven, for then our light shall be clear, and our love perfect; but now it is in season to exhort, that our love to God may abound yet more and more.