Do You Love Him?
Submitted by Pastor Donald Sculley
Grace Bible Baptist Church – Corinth, MS
September 5, 2024
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
When the Lord inspired Peter to write this book, it was directed to saved people who had suffered much, and they were encouraged to stay faithful.
A great encouraging and motivating factor is in loving the Lord Jesus Christ. I sure am glad He loved me, or I would be headed straight to Hell. P.P. Bliss wrote, “I am so glad that our Father in Heaven tells of His love in the book He has given. Wonderful things in the Bible I see, this is the dearest that Jesus loves me.”
Yes, Jesus loves me, and I am also to love Him. His love for me was so deep that it took Him all the way to the cross—and His death, burial, and resurrection. Our love for Him should take us deeper with Him.
In a day of such wickedness, when ‘truth is fallen in the street’ (Is. 59:14), preachers need to rail on sin.
On the other hand, society says to accept sin—like sodomy as normal, premarital physical relations as expected, and illicit drug use as being caring. Sin is renamed to make it more acceptable. Drunkenness is called alcoholism, adultery is called an affair, thievery is called kleptomania, as if these are diseases.
The world is pushing hard to tell children they can decide to be a boy or a girl at their whim, as if God had nothing to do with how He made us. That crowd says it is all about the children, but the truth they often leave out is that sinful people are coming for the children.
That kind of preaching and teaching may turn away some, but we must proclaim the truth.
Someone will say, “But preacher, we have to be kind and not offend the young people if we want to keep them in church.” Wait! That is no reason to let truth be fallen in the street. It may cause some to bristle, but if we love the Lord like we should, it wouldn’t bother us in that way. “Whom having not seen, ye love.”
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Consider – Jesus does not have to be standing over our shoulder for us to obey Him and to stand against evil.
