Love's Eternality
The sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding and experiencing God's loving and gracious nature in order to grow in faith and overcome doubts.
Miles J. Stanford preaches about the challenge of truly believing in God's unconditional love amidst the distractions of the old self and the accusations of Satan. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and embracing the constant and unwavering love and grace of Jesus, regardless of our doubts or self-perception. Stanford encourages the congregation to focus on God's love as the ultimate source of strength and assurance, allowing it to shape their perspective and response to difficult circumstances, leading to a deeper understanding of the Father's love and a transformative experience of His grace.
Text
"The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God " (2 Thessalonians 3:5).
Between the activity of the old man and the accusations of Satan, we often find it very difficult to believe and understand that God is lovingly and legally on our side, both now and forever.
"One of the great secrets of growth is the looking upon the Lord Jesus as gracious. How strengthening it is, to know that He is at this moment feeling and exercising the same love and grace towards me as when He died upon the Cross for me. -J.N.D.
"I have got away from grace if I have the slightest doubt about God's love for me. I shall then be saying, I am not happy, because I am not what I should like to be. But, dear friend, this is not the question: the real question is, whether God is what we shall like Him to be, whether the Lord Jesus is all we could wish.
"If the consciousness of what we are in ourselves, has any other effect than, while it humbles us, to increase our adoration of what our Father is, we are off the ground of pure grace. The immediate effect of such consciousness should be to make our hearts reach out to God and to His grace as abounding over all."
"May our hearts get such a lesson in the love of the Father, that, instead of being depressed by trying circumstances, we may know that we are the objects of this wonderful love, and are being educated into it by the only One who knew it in all its power as He walked here below through this wilderness world."
"To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).
Sermon Outline
- I. The Difficulty of Believing God's Love
- A. The old man's activity and Satan's accusations
- B. The struggle to understand God's loving and legal position
- II. The Secret of Growth in Love
- A. Looking upon the Lord Jesus as gracious
- B. Knowing God's love and grace in the present moment
- III. The Importance of Grace in Our Walk
- A. Doubt about God's love leads to a lack of happiness
- B. The focus should be on God's character, not our own
- IV. The Effect of Self-Consciousness
- A. Humility and adoration of God's character
- B. Reaching out to God's grace and love
- V. The Lesson of the Father's Love
- A. Knowing we are objects of God's wonderful love
- B. Being educated into God's love through Christ
Key Quotes
“One of the great secrets of growth is the looking upon the Lord Jesus as gracious.” — Miles J. Stanford
“I have got away from grace if I have the slightest doubt about God's love for me.” — Miles J. Stanford
“May our hearts get such a lesson in the love of the Father, that, instead of being depressed by trying circumstances, we may know that we are the objects of this wonderful love,” — Miles J. Stanford
Application Points
- Make a conscious effort to focus on God's character and love, rather than your own shortcomings.
- Cultivate a deeper understanding of God's love by reaching out to His grace and love.
- Recognize that doubt about God's love can lead to a lack of happiness and a focus on pure grace is essential for spiritual growth.