Church Order: Discipline, Enemies, and Institutional Faithfulness

Prerequisites For Loving The Lord

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Church Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-12-03

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver teaches that loving the Lord is a holy determination of the will, not merely an emotion, and that it is the primary way to fortify oneself against sin. He explains that love is obedience, a choice that must be made daily, and that believers should delineate reasons for loving God based on His person and His benefits. The message draws from Psalm 18:1 and Psalm 116:1 to show that a determined, grateful love leads to worship, service, and a life that rejects sin.

[John Weaver] Psalm 18 and Psalm 116. We're going to be looking at both of these passages momentarily. And I want you to look, first of all, at Psalm 18, verse one. David says, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. Then if you'll look in Psalm 116 in verse one, David said, I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications. I want to bring a message today, which I have entitled prerequisites for loving the Lord. I had several messages prepared that I was going to preach today, and I was really at a quandary as to which one to preach. Eventually, I'm going to preach all of them. But then I got to thinking that I believe this message is actually has the place of priority over all the others. And if we can understand this will one little simple message, I think it will change your life. So, uh, Psalm 18 in verse one, David said, I will love the old Lord, my strength. I've preached many times on loving the Lord. And I have told you in times past what it means to love the Lord.

[John Weaver] I've pointed out how that love according to the Bible is obedience. Does it matter if you look in the Old Testament? Does it matter if you look in the New Testament? All throughout the Bible, love is equated with obedience. Let me just quote four short passages for you. I'm not going to ask you to turn to these because I've given these to you in times past, but I want you to have this in your mind just simply by way of remembrance. So we're talking about the fact that love is obedience.

[John Weaver] In John 14 in verse 21, Our Lord said, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself unto him. So our Lord said, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. In John 14 in verse 24, He said this, He that keepeth not my sayings, loveth me not. Very obvious. And then in 1 John 5 in verse 3, the Bible says, For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous. And then in first John chapter two, verses three and four, the word of God says, and hereby we do know that we know him. If we keep his commandments, he that says I know him and keep it, not his commandments is a liar.

[John Weaver] And the truth is not in him. I hope some of you will remember that recently. within the last six months anyhow, I brought a message on how to love the Lord with all of your heart. It's certainly not my intent to re-preach that message or any other messages that I've previously preached on this subject. However, I could say this, I do believe that they bear repeating and probably bear repeating very often simply because we're so absolutely forgetful and we're so easily distracted from our central purpose and calling in life. You say, well, what is our central purpose and calling in life? Well, the answer to that would be this, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

[John Weaver] That is the whole duty of man. And one of the ways that we glorify God is by learning to love him and enjoy him and understanding that he is indeed worthy to be loved. You know, the interesting thing is this. If we do not love the Lord now in time and in history, what makes us think we're going to love him all of a sudden in eternity? If we do not enjoy being in his presence now in time and in history, what makes you think we're going to enjoy being in his presence in eternity? It may surprise you as you read through the Bible to not only find out how many commands there are to love the Lord, But how many commands there are to the saints of God to love the Lord?

[John Weaver] Let me give you just a sampling, alright? Whole Psalm 18, that'll be our first passage. But I want you to turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. We'll work our way through the scripture just momentarily. Just showing you these commands. Notice, if you would, Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. Look what the Bible said. Deuteronomy 6 verse 5. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul and all thy might. And thou shalt, that is it's a command. Turn right over to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and look if you would please at verse 6. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 6. He says this. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. But notice if you would, He would circumcise our hearts so that we may love the Lord with all of our hearts. Look in verse 16. Deuteronomy 30 verse 16.

[John Weaver] In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply, that the Lord, thy God shall bless thee in the land, whether thou go us to possess it. Hmm. Wow. In the book of Joshua chapter 23 in verse 11, I can just quote this one.

[John Weaver] We'll turn to the other. He said, take good heed unto yourselves that you love the Lord, your God.

[John Weaver] Now turn, if you would please to Psalm 31 and look at verse 23, Psalm 31 verse 23. Psalm 31 verse 23. Look at this. Oh, love the Lord. All you, his saints for the Lord preserved the fateful and plentifully rewarded the proud doer. So he cries, Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints. And then in Psalm 97 and verse 10, one last passage in this Psalm 97 verse 10, just showing you how these are applied to saints already. Psalm 97 in verse 10, he says, ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserved the souls of his saints.

[John Weaver] He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. So all of these passages then are not only commanding us to love the Lord, but many of these are already addressed to the people of God.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you why I'm preaching this message. Because recently I have heard about some, and I know firsthand about some other Christians that have fallen headlong into sin, disobedience, and rebellion. And I have to confess that a few of those that I know about and that I've heard about absolutely shocked me. And the reason I was shocked is because I just assumed and I believed that they were far more grounded in the word of God and had more integrity and more character than obviously they did have. We live in a day and time where sin is rampant. We live in a day and time where the easiest and the most natural thing for anybody to do is to sin. Period.

[John Weaver] Our flesh longs for it. The world offers it to us, and it's there. So when I got to thinking about these professing believers who have fallen so far, I thought of Galatians 6 and verse 1.

[John Weaver] Now let me quote it. Listen. He said, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Some of these individuals I could get to some of them I could not get to. But that which was really. Emphasized in my own mind was this. Considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted. I understand if it was not for the grace of God, It could have been me that had fallen and not them.

[John Weaver] And you see, the truth of the matter is this. It is very easy for you and I to fall. Why? Because we're sinners. Because by nature we love sin. But here is my problem. I do not want to fall. I do not want to sin. against our sovereign, gracious Lord. So the question has to be, how do I fortify myself so that I will not fall? How do I fortify myself so that I do not sin against God? You remember what God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. Listen to this.

[John Weaver] He said, Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate. So God commands us not to sin. Sin is that abominable thing which he hates. God says, just don't do it. And John the Apostle wrote in 1st John chapter 2 and verse 1 and he said this, My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not.

[John Weaver] Now he went on to say if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But he said I'm writing these things that you sin not. In other words, if it is a heresy that we can be sinlessly perfect, and it is, It's an equal heresy that we have to sin, because we don't. Because John said, my little children, these things I write on you that you sin not.

[John Weaver] David said in Psalm 119 verse 9, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. So the question that came to my mind is, How do I fortify myself that I will not do that abominable thing which He hates? Well, I suppose there are a number of answers that could be given to that question as to how not to sin against our Heavenly Father. I realize we could fortify ourselves with Scripture. We cannot forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

[John Weaver] We can have constant and continual prayer. There's fellowshipping with the saints. There's giving and receiving admonitions and rebukes. I'm sure there are a lot of answers that we could give. However, I came to this conclusion. I want to concentrate on the primary or the main answer. And if we follow the primary and the main answer, all of these other things are going to fall into place. So what is the primary or the main answer?

[John Weaver] on how to fortify yourself that you do not sin against the Lord. And the answer is to love Him the way He deserves to be loved. He deserves to be loved with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our soul, with everything that we are in. He deserves our devotion, our honor, and our prayer and our praise. I want to give you just two thoughts today and I'm going to show them to you from Psalm 18 and from Psalm 116. So how then do we fortify ourselves? And what is the one thing that will inculcate and include all of these other answers as to how not to sin against our God? If you look in Psalm 18 verse one, first of all, there must be a holy determination a holy determination look what David says in Psalm 18 verse 1 I will love thee O Lord my strength so David then is expressing a truth here that is needed in each of our lives. The truth is of his determination to love the Lord.

[John Weaver] And I want you to note what David says. Look carefully at verse 1. David said, I will love the Lord. He did not say, I want to love the Lord. He did not say, I hope to love the Lord. David said, I will love the Lord. Here is a dedicated determination to love the Lord. I will. There are no maybes. There are no doubts. There are no questions. He is determined to love the Lord. He is made now a verbal and a volitional commitment by saying, I will love thee, O Lord.

[John Weaver] Now the Hebrew word for love is the word rakam, which means to love, to love deeply and have tender feelings for. So here's what David is saying. I'm determined to love the Lord the way he deserves to be loved. It is a holy determination. Anything that involves our Lord has to be holy for he is holy. Romans 15 and not Romans but Revelation 15 in verse 4 says this who shall not fear the Lord and glorify by name for bow only aren't holy. So whatever we do in reference to our God it has to be holy.

[John Weaver] Now everyone in this room can probably quote first John 4 in verse 19 at least if I started it I know you could. We love him. because He first loved us. We understand that our love is a reflection of His love. We cannot love Him first. He loved us first. Therefore, we're to love Him. But you know what our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5?

[John Weaver] He said this, Without Me, you can do nothing. So let me ask you a question. Is loving the Lord something? Well, surely it is. But you can't do it without Christ. For without Him, we can do nothing.

[John Weaver] Now, let me begin by emphasizing one truth. David said, I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. I will. There's a truth here that you and I must remember, and we must constantly rehearse it in our minds, and that is this. Listen carefully. Love is an act of the will. Love is an act of the will. It is true in relationship to our God. It is true in relationship to others. When God commands us to love, He commands our will. It's true we must have an understanding. And it is true emotions oftentimes are involved. However, you cannot command emotions. I couldn't look at Rod and say, I command you to be happy right now. He could feign a smile, but that doesn't mean he's happy. I could say, I command you to be miserable. That doesn't mean he's going to be miserable. You can't command emotions. But if He were obedient, I could say, I command you to get up and go get me a glass of water.

[John Weaver] That is commanding His will. And whether He feels like it or not is immaterial. He could obey that command. Love primarily is an act of the will. It is true emotions are oftentimes involved. But emotions are to always follow and never ever to lead. Let me try to illustrate this. With the truth in our minds firmly that God loved us first. And that God commands our wills. Here's my question. Does God command husbands to love their wives? Yes. In Ephesians 5 verse 25, Husbands, love your wives. Plain and simple. Does God command us to love our neighbors? Sure he does. In Leviticus 19 verse 18, he said, Thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. In James 2 verse 8, he said, If you fulfill the royal law and love thy neighbors thyself, then you do well. So God has commanded us to love our wives as husbands. He's commanded us to love our neighbors. He's commanded us to love him, which all of those verses I took you through. Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints.

[John Weaver] In fact, five times in the book of Deuteronomy alone, God commands us to love him. So God is not commanding feelings, sentiments, abstract concepts, or ethereal desires because those things cannot be commanded. What he is commanding is our wills. Now watch this. God said husbands love your wives. Even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. I love my wife because I choose to love my wife. I love my neighbor because I choose to love my neighbor. I love my God Because I choose to love him since he's worked in my heart. Love is an act of the will. It is a choice. It is a determination.

[John Weaver] Now let me go back and show you this. I told you I've chosen to love my wife. I've willed to love my wife. Are there emotions attached to that love? Well, surely there are. The answer is yes. There are emotions attached. And yes, she makes me happy. Yes, she pleases me. Yes, she satisfies me. Yes, I wish to be around her. Yes, I like to take her with me. And yes, I refuse to forsake her.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen now. Listen carefully. There are plenty of other women, many of them beautiful. But I choose not to love them. And I choose not to be with them. I choose to be with my wife. And I choose to love her. Now I want you to note something. My determination to love my wife has a positive and a negative connotation. Positively, I love her. I choose her. I want her negatively. I do not love other women. I do not want other women. You understand that? So here's love and it's got a positive and a negative. I choose to love the brethren. I choose to love my neighbor as myself. I choose to love those that the Father has given to me. When he tells me to love my neighbor as myself, he is commanding my will.

[John Weaver] I may have affections towards some of my neighbors. I may have emotions towards some of them. Some of them I may like. Some of them I may dislike. That's immaterial. I choose deliberately to love them. Whatever emotions I have are the effects and the results of my love. But I choose to love.

[John Weaver] Now you've got to remember again there's the positive and the negative connotation. If I love the brethren, what does that mean? It means I choose to be with them. I'd rather be with God's people than with anybody else. I've had many people try to tell me and they think I don't understand it. They would say, you know, I'd rather be with believers than I had with my own family. What they mean by that, their own family is not believers and they'd just rather be with God's people. Certainly I understand that. But once I say, That I choose and I will to love my neighbors myself. That means I'm going to protect my brethren. I'm going to promote them. I'm going to seek to please them. And that I'm never ever going to betray them to the enemies of God. Do you love your brother if you betray him? Do you love your neighbor if you betray him? Do you love your wife if you betray her? Do you love your God if you betray him?

[John Weaver] I want you to look, since we're in Psalms, go to Psalm 139. Look what David said concerning the enemies of God. Psalm 139. And look, if you would please, beginning there in verse 21. Psalm 139, verse 21. In fact, let's begin with verse 19, because I want you to see he's talking about the wicked. Psalm 139 verse 19, Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, you bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Now look what David says, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. And to show you this is a perfectly biblical attitude, he then says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.

[John Weaver] So if I love the brethren, I am not going to betray them. I'm not going to despise them, I'm not going to do anything that would lead me to turn them over to the enemies of God's people. No. So, I'm just showing you there's a positive and a negative connotation to love. It's true with my wife, it's true with my brethren, my neighbors, but it's also true with our God.

[John Weaver] If I have a holy determination to love the Lord, It means this, I must understand that I've chosen Him as my Lord and Savior only by His grace, but I've still chosen Him. He worked in me, He worked through me, He drew me to Himself, and I will to come to Him because He loosed my will from the bondage of sin And He renewed my will that I might come to Him and I might choose Him. He enabled me to do that. So when I say, I love the Lord, then I'm expressing a holy determination to bring my life then in conformity to the Word of God. I'm confessing a holy determination to submit to Him, to honor Him, to worship Him, and to praise Him and Him alone. But you got to remember when I say I will love the Lord, there's not only a positive, there's also a negative. So if I say I will love the Lord, I'm also negatively saying I reject and spurn any and everything that is contrary to him.

[John Weaver] I must hate, despise and reject all sin. Listen carefully. no matter how appealing it is to my flesh. I must love His Word. I must love His will above all my fleshly desires and fleshly lust. A holy determination of the Lord enables us to defeat sin, Satan and the world. We know that sin, Satan and the world are in opposition to God. John wrote, In 1 John 2 verses 15 through 17, he said this, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but of the world. And the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

[John Weaver] But notice what he said. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So if I say, I will love thee, O Lord, positively, I am saying, I'm going to obey you, I'm going to honor you, I'm going to worship you and you alone. Negatively, I'm saying, I'm turning my back on sin, on the world, on Satan. I want nothing to do with him.

[John Weaver] Now, let me try to make an application before I ever get to my applications, but here it is. Here's the truth. We must will and choose the love of the Lord not only daily, sometimes hourly, and in times of intense temptation and testing sometimes minute by minute. I must constantly and continually will to love the Lord and refuse sin and Satan and the world. Loving the Lord and choosing to love the Lord is a lifestyle. Listen now. as I fight to maintain my integrity and my character and my love to my wife in a world filled with fornication and adultery. Likewise, I must fight to maintain my determination, my character and my integrity to love the Lord in the face of a world of sin and wickedness. Do you follow that?

[John Weaver] I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 73. I want to show you how intense this holy determination should be. Look in Psalm 73, beginning there with verse 25. Psalm 73 verse 25. David says, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is a strength of my life, of the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Now go back to verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but Thee. And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." David said, Lord, I've come to the place that I want You. I want You in eternity? Yes. But I want You in time and history now. I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. There is a holy determination to love the Lord. As you have to fight for purity in your life, you have to fight to keep your love burning brightly to the Lord. Because sin and the world and Satan will do everything to destroy that love.

[John Weaver] There must be a holy determination. Now I want you to hold Psalm 18, but I want you also now to turn to Psalm 116 because here's the second point today. There must also be a holy delineation. Look at Psalm 116 verse one, then we're going to go back to Psalm 18 just momentarily. Psalm 116 verse one, David said, I love the Lord because. He had heard my voice and my supplication. I love the Lord because. So once you get to Psalm 116, now David is beginning to delineate why exactly he loves the Lord. If you will go back to Psalm 18, you will see he does the same thing in this Psalm. Psalm 18, look at verses one and two. He said, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength and whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. Now, what David is doing in Psalm 18 is this.

[John Weaver] He has just been given a tremendous victory over King Saul and all of his enemies. And he's now proclaiming his love for the Lord. And he particularly calls God his strength, his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his strength, his trust, his buckler, and the horn of his salvation. So David then has been delivered then from his mortal enemies, and for all practical purposes, he is now saying, Lord, you're the one that I'm going to love for your deliverance.

[John Weaver] We're not in a time of war yet in this country. I think it may be close. We're in a time of war, plenty of other places. And we do need God as our strength and our horn and our fortress and our rock and our refuge. I understand that. But do you realize so many times God daily delivers us even from our mortal enemies. And we're totally and completely oblivious to that deliverance. God does indeed withhold the wicked. He overthrows their schemes.

[John Weaver] He foils their plans and he causes them to fall in the pit which they have dug for the righteous. Right now, we don't know of anybody seeking to kill us like Saul was seeking to kill David. But the truth is God still delivers us and we understand According to Proverbs 18 in verse 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. So David does list some things in Psalm 18 as to why he loves the Lord. But once you get to Psalm 116, he delineates things that are even more practical, things that you and I can understand to a greater degree.

[John Weaver] And we need to keep these reasons fresh in our mind and we need to rehearse them daily, yea hourly if need be. Before I go over Psalm 116, let me say this and I want you to understand this. Although there are a number of reasons to love the Lord, we must understand there is one main reason to love the Lord. And that is the excellency of his nature, the majesty of his person, the greatness of his throne, the purity of his attributes, the holiness of his character, and the magnanimous mercy that he's shown toward us in sending his only begotten son for our salvation.

[John Weaver] In other words, we've got to think first and foremost of God himself. The very fact that he is God is reason enough to love him. If God never ever did anything for any of us. The very fact that he's God is sufficient reason to love him. We must learn to focus first and foremost upon his person before we focus upon his provisions. You remember how the disciples came to our Lord and they said, John told his disciples to pray, teach us to pray. And our Lord said, fine, here's how you pray.

[John Weaver] Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as in heaven. Now watch, give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who's indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and amen. What did our Lord just teach us?

[John Weaver] That we are to focus first and foremost upon God. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Only after we focus on Him, then we get to the provisions. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us for our sins. So our Lord is saying, yes, there are things that we need and yes, there are things that God gives us. But first and foremost, we should be thinking of him.

[John Weaver] Now, there are certainly nothing wicked or wrong about being thankful. And delineating the blessings that the father has given unto us. The benefits that he has bestowed upon us certainly merit our praise and thanksgiving. However, we're to focus more upon the giver than the gifts. It's the giver who makes the gifts beneficial. The increase of our love and filial obedience is in proportion to the increased sense we have of our obligation to Him. We must love God for His person. Listen carefully. We also must love Him for the benefits that He's bestowed upon us. We understand that the reason He bestowed those benefits is because God is love. And love should beget love.

[John Weaver] I want you to look with me in Psalm 116, just momentarily. And I want to show you a few of the delineations that David makes as to why he loves the Lord. He says in verse one, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications, because he's inclined his ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. David said, I love the Lord because what? He's heard my prayer. He's heard my supplication. He answered me.

[John Weaver] He took care of me. He supplied my needs. He delivered me. And now David says in verse two, because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. In other words, once God answers our prayer, David says, That is a good reason not only to keep praying, but to keep loving him who answered our prayer. In other words, it's the goodness of God that God hears and answers our prayer. He said, call unto me and I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said, whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the father may be glorified in the son. So David is saying, I love the Lord because he's heard my prayer. Now I could ask you. Without you stating out loud, has God ever answered any of your prayers? Have things ever worked out for you when you prayed and ask about them? Well, of course he has. And yes, he worked them out for you. Well, David said, that's one reason you should be loving the Lord. And that's one reason you should continue to be praying. Don't you notice?

[John Weaver] Secondly, God is also to be loved for his providential deliverance. Look in verses three through six. David said the SARS of death compass me and the pains of hell got hold upon me and I found trouble and sorrow then called upon the name of the Lord. Oh Lord, I beseech thee to deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yay. Our God is merciful. The Lord preserved the simple.

[John Weaver] I was brought low and he helped me. So David once again now is praising the Lord for his marvelous deliverance. I pointed out earlier, and I want to emphasize this, how many times that God delivers us and we don't even realize that he's delivered us. I know I've quoted this passage so many times, but I try to quote it every day. And I like to point out the fact, the reason you're sitting here in church this morning, is that you didn't die last night.

[John Weaver] Lamentations 2, 22 and 23. It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because his compassions, they fail not. They're new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. I believe it would be extremely wise if you and I would develop a habit of every morning when we open our eyes before we ever get out of bed, thanking the Lord for those compassions, those tender mercies and those loving kindnesses and his faithfulness that has allowed us to live through the night

[John Weaver] and asking him to continue those through the day. And when we go to bed at night, once again acknowledge that it's only because of His grace, His mercy, His compassion, His loving kindness that we were allowed to live through the day. And asking the Lord to please extend those mercies and compassion to us through the night. It will tend to make you conscious of the fact that you're wholly and totally and completely dependent upon Him. If God did not sovereignly and graciously provide us with these mercies and compassions and loving kindnesses on a daily basis, we would not make it through one night. We would not make it through one day. David said, look, our Lord is merciful. He preserved the simple.

[John Weaver] I was brought low and He helped me. You know, that's a thought. Sometimes we're arrogant. Sometimes we're proud. Haughty. And God has to humble us. And bring us low. So that he may help us. Because, you remember what the scripture says? God resisted the proud. but he giveth grace to the humble. So David is thanking the Lord for the deliverance here.

[John Weaver] Thirdly, David delineates the bountiful provisions of God as a reason to love Him and walk before Him while He lives. Look at verses 7 through 9. Psalm 116 verse 7, David said, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For that has delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Wow. Returning to the rest of my soul for the Lord has dealt bountifully. With the. Dallas delivered my soul from death. Mine eyes were tears and my feet from falling. What else will David do now because of this? I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Have you stopped to ponder the bountiful provision of God? Let me ask you, has the Lord dealt bountifully with you? Has he fed you? Has he nourished you? Has he sustained you?

[John Weaver] Has He supplied your needs? Has He kept you alive? Has He dried your tears and brought you through things that you thought that you would never ever make it through? Has He kept you from falling into sin and wickedness? Has He given you life and health? Has He given you family and friends? Has He given you breath? Has He given you grace and gifts? Why then do you not love Him more?

[John Weaver] Why do you not walk more holily and righteously before Him? Why do you not sit down and take the time and think through and delineate all of those blessings that God has bestowed upon you and why, list why you should love Him and why you should love Him more abundantly for all that He's done for you? Why do you not tell Him that you love Him? Why do you not tell Him that you have purposefully and deliberately and willed to love Him and that you choose Him over and above sin and wickedness and rebellion?

[John Weaver] Why do you not determine right now to be more loving, to be more obedient, to be more kind, to be more gracious to your Heavenly Father?

[John Weaver] Every one of us in this room could sit down and make a list as to why we should love the Lord, not just because of who he is, but because of everything that he has done for us. Some of us are in better health than others, but even those of us who have been sick, I have a few health problems. The truth of the matter is this, folks.

[John Weaver] We've had more good days than we've ever had bad days. We've had more healthy days than we had sick days. And we've had far more joy than we've had misery. The goodness of God endures continually. Let me ask you a question. I don't know if you've thought about this or not. But have you ever thought what a great goodness it is on the part of our God that he condescends to be loved by poor sinful creatures like us? Do you understand that God does not need our love? Understand that? There are no needs in God. God is the eternal self-existent One and the self-sufficient One. He does not really need anything. He is God. But He does want our love because He commands us to love Him over and over in the Bible. To me, this is a mind-bending blessing just to stop and think that by His grace and by His mercy, we are enabled to love the altogether lovely one, the eternal God who's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ our Lord.

[John Weaver] And the very fact that He condescends to receive our love in Christ. How honored we should be and how humbled we should be that our great God and Father has granted us the grace to love him. Have you ever stopped to think what you and I are by nature? And do you remember what the Bible says in Romans 8 verses 7 and 8? For the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And so God in His grace and mercy has regenerated us and converted us and given us now the ability to love Him. Wow!

[John Weaver] If God had not worked in our hearts, we would still hate Him just like the wicked do. It's only God who made the difference in our lives. And we should love him. I want you to turn in your Bibles to John 21. Here's a passage I'm sure that most of you are familiar with. John 21. And let's begin looking there at verse 15, John 21 and verse 15.

[John Weaver] You remember Peter had denied the Lord three times. I want you to watch. John 21, verse 15. So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He said, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, feed my lambs. He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And he saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep." I want you to watch. Christ asked Peter three times, do you love me? And each time, Peter appealed to his omniscience. He said, yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. After three times, the third time, Peter said, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.

[John Weaver] Are you listening? Like Peter, I know that God is omniscient and I know that He knows all things. But I want Him to hear my voice saying, I love thee, O Lord. And I want him to hear it frequently. And I want him to see that my love is demonstrated by my actions in obedience. Why would Peter have to appeal to our Lord's omniscience? probably because Peter not only had denied the Lord, but had not said, I will love thee, O Lord.

[John Weaver] Let me make some applications. The first one is this. Every believer, without the slightest hesitation, should confess, I love the Lord. Without the slightest hesitation. And immediately after that, you could also confess, I love the Lord because... and start delineating all the reasons why you should love the Lord. Beginning with His person and all of those blessings. You see, such a confession then would tend to humble us and encourage us. It would make us far more grateful to our Heavenly Father if we said, Lord, here is just a sample list of your multitudinous blessings toward me. Now I want you to see something. I want you to go back to Psalm 116. I want to show you that a truly, a truly grateful love will always be evidenced by acts of worship, praise and adoration. Look in Psalm 116. Look if you would at verses 12 through 14. A truly grateful love will always be evidenced by acts of worship, praise and adoration. Look in verse 12, Psalm 116. David asked, after he said, I will love the Lord because, he said, what shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me?

[John Weaver] Now, look at that. You see what I'm talking about? What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? In other words, David has listed some of those reasons. He's listed some of those benefits that he's received. Then he says, I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all of his people. What's he saying?

[John Weaver] I will publicly worship and praise and adore you. Now skip down to verse 16. That's not all. He says, Oh Lord, truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son of mine, thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows of the Lord now. in the presence of all of his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye the Lord." Wow. He said, I'll become your servant. Why?

[John Weaver] Because of all your benefits, you loved me and I'm loving you and I'm demonstrating it by serving you. The profession of our love and acknowledgement of God's mercies and grace and recognition of his greatness and consistency of deliverances in our lives should enable us to walk more holily, to pray more fervently, to obey more carefully, to worship more frequently, to be more studious of his word, and to make us more grateful and thankful individuals. That's why I said earlier, if we love the Lord, all these other things are going to fall into place.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. I told you that love has a positive and a negative connotation. If I told Alice I loved her and then started running around three or four different women, would she believe me? I dare you know.

Prerequisites For Loving The Lord

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	gFoLC-k6btw
Subject	Church Government
Course	Church Order: Discipline, Enemies, and Institutional Faithfulness
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-12-03
Dictation Name
Book	Book 039: Church Order and Worship - Volume 1 — Chapter 15
Source Timed Segments	69

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Priority of Loving the Lord

Weaver introduces the message from Psalm 18:1 and Psalm 116:1, emphasizing that understanding how to love the Lord is foundational and life-changing.

Psalm 18 and Psalm 116. We're going to be looking at both of these passages momentarily. And I want you to look, first of all, at Psalm 18, verse 1. David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

Then if you'll look in Psalm 116 in verse 1, David said, "I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications." I want to bring a message today, which I have entitled "Prerequisites for Loving the Lord." I had several messages prepared that I was going to preach today, and I was really at a quandary as to which one to preach. Eventually, I'm going to preach all of them. But then I got to thinking that I believe this message actually has the place of priority over all the others. And if we can understand this one little simple message, I think it will change your life. So, Psalm 18 in verse 1, David said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

I've preached many times on loving the Lord. And I have told you in times past what it means to love the Lord.

I've pointed out how that love according to the Bible is obedience. Does it matter if you look in the Old Testament? Does it matter if you look in the New Testament? All throughout the Bible, love is equated with obedience. Let me just quote four short passages for you. I'm not going to ask you to turn to these because I've given these to you in times past, but I want you to have this in your mind just simply by way of remembrance. So we're talking about the fact that love is obedience.

Love Defined as Obedience

Love is equated with obedience throughout Scripture, as shown in John 14:21, 24; 1 John 5:3; and 1 John 2:3-4.

Psalm 18 and Psalm 116. We're going to be looking at both of these passages momentarily. And I want you to look, first of all, at Psalm 18, verse 1. David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

I've preached many times on loving the Lord. And I have told you in times past what it means to love the Lord.

In John 14 in verse 21, our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — John 14:21

"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself unto him."

So our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — John 14:21

"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."

In John 14 in verse 24, He said this, "He that keepeth not my sayings, loveth me not." Very obvious. And then in 1 John 5 in verse 3, the Bible says, "For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous." And then in 1 John chapter 2, verses 3 and 4, the word of God says, "And hereby we do know that we know him. If we keep his commandments, he that says I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar."

And the truth is not in him. I hope some of you will remember that recently, within the last six months anyhow, I brought a message on how to love the Lord with all of your heart. It's certainly not my intent to re-preach that message or any other messages that I've previously preached on this subject. However, I could say this, I do believe that they bear repeating and probably bear repeating very often simply because we're so absolutely forgetful and we're so easily distracted from our central purpose and calling in life. You say, well, what is our central purpose and calling in life? Well, the answer to that would be this, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

The Central Purpose: Glorifying God by Loving Him

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and loving God now is essential for enjoying Him in eternity.

That is the whole duty of man. And one of the ways that we glorify God is by learning to love him and enjoy him and understanding that he is indeed worthy to be loved. You know, the interesting thing is this. If we do not love the Lord now in time and in history, what makes us think we're going to love him all of a sudden in eternity? If we do not enjoy being in his presence now in time and in history, what makes you think we're going to enjoy being in his presence in eternity? It may surprise you as you read through the Bible to not only find out how many commands there are to love the Lord, but how many commands there are to the saints of God to love the Lord?

Commands to Love the Lord

Scripture repeatedly commands believers to love the Lord, including Deuteronomy 6:5, 30:6, 16; Joshua 23:11; Psalm 31:23; and Psalm 97:10.

Let me give you just a sampling, alright? Whole Psalm 18, that'll be our first passage. But I want you to turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. We'll work our way through the scripture just momentarily. Just showing you these commands. Notice, if you would, Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. Look what the Bible said. Deuteronomy 6 verse 5.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:5

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul and all thy might."

And thou shalt, that is it's a command. Turn right over to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and look if you would please at verse 6. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 6. He says this.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:5

"And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live."

But notice if you would, He would circumcise our hearts so that we may love the Lord with all of our hearts. Look in verse 16. Deuteronomy 30 verse 16.

"In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply, that the Lord, thy God shall bless thee in the land, whither thou goest to possess it." Hmm. Wow. In the book of Joshua chapter 23 in verse 11, I can just quote this one. We'll turn to the other. He said, "Take good heed unto yourselves that you love the Lord, your God."

Now turn, if you would please to Psalm 31 and look at verse 23, Psalm 31 verse 23. Psalm 31 verse 23. Look at this.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 31:23

"Oh, love the Lord. All you, his saints for the Lord preserved the faithful and plentifully rewarded the proud doer."

So he cries,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 31:23

"Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints."

And then in Psalm 97 and verse 10, one last passage in this Psalm 97 verse 10, just showing you how these are applied to saints already. Psalm 97 in verse 10, he says, "Ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserved the souls of his saints."

He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. So all of these passages then are not only commanding us to love the Lord, but many of these are already addressed to the people of God.

The Danger of Falling into Sin

Weaver shares concern over Christians falling into sin and emphasizes the need for self-examination and fortification against temptation, citing Galatians 6:1.

Now let me tell you why I'm preaching this message. Because recently I have heard about some, and I know firsthand about some other Christians that have fallen headlong into sin, disobedience, and rebellion. And I have to confess that a few of those that I know about and that I've heard about absolutely shocked me. And the reason I was shocked is because I just assumed and I believed that they were far more grounded in the word of God and had more integrity and more character than obviously they did have. We live in a day and time where sin is rampant. We live in a day and time where the easiest and the most natural thing for anybody to do is to sin. Period.

Our flesh longs for it. The world offers it to us, and it's there. So when I got to thinking about these professing believers who have fallen so far, I thought of Galatians 6 and verse 1. Now let me quote it. Listen. He said,

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:1

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

Some of these individuals I could get to, some of them I could not get to. But that which was really emphasized in my own mind was this.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:1

"Considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted."

I understand if it was not for the grace of God, it could have been me that had fallen and not them.

And you see, the truth of the matter is this. It is very easy for you and I to fall. Why? Because we're sinners. Because by nature we love sin. But here is my problem. I do not want to fall. I do not want to sin against our sovereign, gracious Lord. So the question has to be, how do I fortify myself so that I will not fall? How do I fortify myself so that I do not sin against God? You remember what God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. Listen to this.

The Primary Fortification: Loving the Lord

The main way to avoid sin is to love the Lord as He deserves, which encompasses all other spiritual disciplines.

We can have constant and continual prayer. There's fellowshipping with the saints. There's giving and receiving admonitions and rebukes. I'm sure there are a lot of answers that we could give. However, I came to this conclusion. I want to concentrate on the primary or the main answer. And if we follow the primary and the main answer, all of these other things are going to fall into place. So what is the primary or the main answer?

on how to fortify yourself that you do not sin against the Lord. And the answer is to love Him the way He deserves to be loved. He deserves to be loved with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our soul, with everything that we are. He deserves our devotion, our honor, and our prayer and our praise. I want to give you just two thoughts today and I'm going to show them to you from Psalm 18 and from Psalm 116. So how then do we fortify ourselves? And what is the one thing that will inculcate and include all of these other answers as to how not to sin against our God? If you look in Psalm 18 verse 1, first of all, there must be a holy determination. A holy determination. Look what David says in Psalm 18 verse 1: "I will love thee O Lord my strength." So David then is expressing a truth here that is needed in each of our lives. The truth is of his determination to love the Lord.

And I want you to note what David says. Look carefully at verse 1. David said, "I will love the Lord." He did not say, "I want to love the Lord." He did not say, "I hope to love the Lord." David said, "I will love the Lord." Here is a dedicated determination to love the Lord. I will. There are no maybes. There are no doubts. There are no questions. He is determined to love the Lord. He has made now a verbal and a volitional commitment by saying, "I will love thee, O Lord."

First Prerequisite: A Holy Determination (Psalm 18:1)

David's declaration 'I will love thee, O Lord' shows that love is an act of the will, a deliberate choice with both positive (choosing God) and negative (rejecting sin) aspects.

Now the Hebrew word for love is the word rakham, which means to love, to love deeply and have tender feelings for. So here's what David is saying. I'm determined to love the Lord the way he deserves to be loved. It is a holy determination. Anything that involves our Lord has to be holy for he is holy. Revelation 15 in verse 4 says this: "Who shall not fear the Lord and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy." So whatever we do in reference to our God it has to be holy.

Now everyone in this room can probably quote 1 John 4 in verse 19 at least if I started it I know you could. "We love him, because he first loved us." We understand that our love is a reflection of His love. We cannot love Him first. He loved us first. Therefore, we're to love Him. But you know what our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5? He said this, "Without Me, you can do nothing." So let me ask you a question. Is loving the Lord something? Well, surely it is. But you can't do it without Christ. For without Him, we can do nothing.

Now, let me begin by emphasizing one truth. David said, "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. I will." There's a truth here that you and I must remember, and we must constantly rehearse it in our minds, and that is this. Listen carefully. Love is an act of the will. Love is an act of the will. It is true in relationship to our God. It is true in relationship to others. When God commands us to love, He commands our will. It's true we must have an understanding. And it is true emotions oftentimes are involved. However, you cannot command emotions. I couldn't look at Rod and say, "I command you to be happy right now." He could feign a smile, but that doesn't mean he's happy. I could say, "I command you to be miserable." That doesn't mean he's going to be miserable. You can't command emotions. But if he were obedient, I could say, "I command you to get up and go get me a glass of water."

That is commanding his will. And whether he feels like it or not is immaterial. He could obey that command. Love primarily is an act of the will. It is true emotions are oftentimes involved. But emotions are to always follow and never ever to lead. Let me try to illustrate this. With the truth in our minds firmly that God loved us first. And that God commands our wills. Here's my question. Does God command husbands to love their wives? Yes. In Ephesians 5 verse 25, "Husbands, love your wives." Plain and simple. Does God command us to love our neighbors? Sure he does. In Leviticus 19 verse 18, he said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." In James 2 verse 8, he said, "If you fulfill the royal law and love thy neighbor as thyself, then you do well." So God has commanded us to love our wives as husbands. He's commanded us to love our neighbors. He's commanded us to love him, which all of those verses I took you through. "Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints."

In fact, five times in the book of Deuteronomy alone, God commands us to love him. So God is not commanding feelings, sentiments, abstract concepts, or ethereal desires because those things cannot be commanded. What he is commanding is our wills. Now watch this. God said husbands love your wives. Even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. I love my wife because I choose to love my wife. I love my neighbor because I choose to love my neighbor. I love my God because I choose to love him since he's worked in my heart. Love is an act of the will. It is a choice. It is a determination.

Now let me go back and show you this. I told you I've chosen to love my wife. I've willed to love my wife. Are there emotions attached to that love? Well, surely there are. The answer is yes. There are emotions attached. And yes, she makes me happy. Yes, she pleases me. Yes, she satisfies me. Yes, I wish to be around her. Yes, I like to take her with me. And yes, I refuse to forsake her.

Now, I want you to listen now. Listen carefully. There are plenty of other women, many of them beautiful. But I choose not to love them. And I choose not to be with them. I choose to be with my wife. And I choose to love her. Now I want you to note something. My determination to love my wife has a positive and a negative connotation. Positively, I love her. I choose her. I want her. Negatively, I do not love other women. I do not want other women. You understand that? So here's love and it's got a positive and a negative. I choose to love the brethren. I choose to love my neighbor as myself. I choose to love those that the Father has given to me. When he tells me to love my neighbor as myself, he is commanding my will.

I may have affections towards some of my neighbors. I may have emotions towards some of them. Some of them I may like. Some of them I may dislike. That's immaterial. I choose deliberately to love them. Whatever emotions I have are the effects and the results of my love. But I choose to love.

Now you've got to remember again there's the positive and the negative connotation. If I love the brethren, what does that mean? It means I choose to be with them. I'd rather be with God's people than with anybody else. I've had many people try to tell me and they think I don't understand it. They would say, you know, I'd rather be with believers than I had with my own family. What they mean by that, their own family is not believers and they'd just rather be with God's people. Certainly I understand that. But once I say that I choose and I will to love my neighbor as myself, that means I'm going to protect my brethren. I'm going to promote them. I'm going to seek to please them. And that I'm never ever going to betray them to the enemies of God. Do you love your brother if you betray him? Do you love your neighbor if you betray him? Do you love your wife if you betray her? Do you love your God if you betray him?

I want you to look, since we're in Psalms, go to Psalm 139. Look what David said concerning the enemies of God. Psalm 139. And look, if you would please, beginning there in verse 21. Psalm 139, verse 21. In fact, let's begin with verse 19, because I want you to see he's talking about the wicked. Psalm 139 verse 19, "Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, you bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain." Now look what David says, "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies." And to show you this is a perfectly biblical attitude, he then says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting."

So if I love the brethren, I am not going to betray them. I'm not going to despise them, I'm not going to do anything that would lead me to turn them over to the enemies of God's people. No. So, I'm just showing you there's a positive and a negative connotation to love. It's true with my wife, it's true with my brethren, my neighbors, but it's also true with our God. If I have a holy determination to love the Lord, it means this, I must understand that I've chosen Him as my Lord and Savior only by His grace, but I've still chosen Him. He worked in me, He worked through me, He drew me to Himself, and I will to come to Him because He loosed my will from the bondage of sin and He renewed my will that I might come to Him and I might choose Him. He enabled me to do that. So when I say, "I love the Lord," then I'm expressing a holy determination to bring my life then in conformity to the Word of God. I'm confessing a holy determination to submit to Him, to honor Him, to worship Him, and to praise Him and Him alone. But you got to remember when I say "I will love the Lord," there's not only a positive, there's also a negative. So if I say "I will love the Lord," I'm also negatively saying I reject and spurn any and everything that is contrary to him.

I must hate, despise and reject all sin. Listen carefully. No matter how appealing it is to my flesh. I must love His Word. I must love His will above all my fleshly desires and fleshly lust. A holy determination of the Lord enables us to defeat sin, Satan and the world. We know that sin, Satan and the world are in opposition to God. John wrote, in 1 John 2 verses 15 through 17, he said this, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but of the world. And the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

But notice what he said. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So if I say, "I will love thee, O Lord," positively, I am saying, I'm going to obey you, I'm going to honor you, I'm going to worship you and you alone. Negatively, I'm saying, I'm turning my back on sin, on the world, on Satan. I want nothing to do with him.

The Intensity of Determination (Psalm 73:25)

David's desire for God above all else in Psalm 73:25 illustrates the intense, exclusive devotion required in loving the Lord.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 73. I want to show you how intense this holy determination should be. Look in Psalm 73, beginning there with verse 25. Psalm 73 verse 25. David says, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is a strength of my life, of the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Now go back to verse 25. "Whom have I in heaven but Thee. And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." David said, Lord, I've come to the place that I want You. I want You in eternity? Yes. But I want You in time and history now. I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. There is a holy determination to love the Lord. As you have to fight for purity in your life, you have to fight to keep your love burning brightly to the Lord. Because sin and the world and Satan will do everything to destroy that love.

Second Prerequisite: A Holy Delineation (Psalm 116:1)

David delineates reasons for loving the Lord: He hears prayer, delivers from trouble, and provides bountifully. Love should focus first on God's person, then His provisions.

There must be a holy determination. Now I want you to hold Psalm 18, but I want you also now to turn to Psalm 116 because here's the second point today. There must also be a holy delineation. Look at Psalm 116 verse 1, then we're going to go back to Psalm 18 just momentarily. Psalm 116 verse 1, David said, "I love the Lord because. He had heard my voice and my supplication." I love the Lord because. So once you get to Psalm 116, now David is beginning to delineate why exactly he loves the Lord. If you will go back to Psalm 18, you will see he does the same thing in this Psalm. Psalm 18, look at verses 1 and 2. He said, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength and whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower." Now, what David is doing in Psalm 18 is this.

He has just been given a tremendous victory over King Saul and all of his enemies. And he's now proclaiming his love for the Lord. And he particularly calls God his strength, his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his strength, his trust, his buckler, and the horn of his salvation. So David then has been delivered then from his mortal enemies, and for all practical purposes, he is now saying, Lord, you're the one that I'm going to love for your deliverance. We're not in a time of war yet in this country. I think it may be close. We're in a time of war, plenty of other places. And we do need God as our strength and our horn and our fortress and our rock and our refuge. I understand that. But do you realize so many times God daily delivers us even from our mortal enemies. And we're totally and completely oblivious to that deliverance. God does indeed withhold the wicked. He overthrows their schemes.

He foils their plans and he causes them to fall in the pit which they have dug for the righteous. Right now, we don't know of anybody seeking to kill us like Saul was seeking to kill David. But the truth is God still delivers us and we understand according to Proverbs 18 in verse 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. So David does list some things in Psalm 18 as to why he loves the Lord. But once you get to Psalm 116, he delineates things that are even more practical, things that you and I can understand to a greater degree. And we need to keep these reasons fresh in our mind and we need to rehearse them daily, yea hourly if need be. Before I go over Psalm 116, let me say this and I want you to understand this. Although there are a number of reasons to love the Lord, we must understand there is one main reason to love the Lord. And that is the excellency of his nature, the majesty of his person, the greatness of his throne, the purity of his attributes, the holiness of his character, and the magnanimous mercy that he's shown toward us in sending his only begotten son for our salvation.

In other words, we've got to think first and foremost of God himself. The very fact that he is God is reason enough to love him. If God never ever did anything for any of us, the very fact that he's God is sufficient reason to love him. We must learn to focus first and foremost upon his person before we focus upon his provisions. You remember how the disciples came to our Lord and they said, John told his disciples to pray, teach us to pray. And our Lord said, fine, here's how you pray. "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as in heaven. Now watch, give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who's indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and amen." What did our Lord just teach us?

That we are to focus first and foremost upon God. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." Only after we focus on Him, then we get to the provisions. "Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us for our sins." So our Lord is saying, yes, there are things that we need and yes, there are things that God gives us. But first and foremost, we should be thinking of him.

Now, there are certainly nothing wicked or wrong about being thankful. And delineating the blessings that the father has given unto us. The benefits that he has bestowed upon us certainly merit our praise and thanksgiving. However, we're to focus more upon the giver than the gifts. It's the giver who makes the gifts beneficial. The increase of our love and filial obedience is in proportion to the increased sense we have of our obligation to Him. We must love God for His person. Listen carefully. We also must love Him for the benefits that He's bestowed upon us. We understand that the reason He bestowed those benefits is because God is love. And love should beget love.

I want you to look with me in Psalm 116, just momentarily. And I want to show you a few of the delineations that David makes as to why he loves the Lord. He says in verse 1, "I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications, because he's inclined his ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." David said, I love the Lord because what? He's heard my prayer. He's heard my supplication. He answered me.

He took care of me. He supplied my needs. He delivered me. And now David says in verse 2, "because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." In other words, once God answers our prayer, David says, that is a good reason not only to keep praying, but to keep loving him who answered our prayer. In other words, it's the goodness of God that God hears and answers our prayer. He said, "call unto me and I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." Our Lord said, "whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the father may be glorified in the son." So David is saying, I love the Lord because he's heard my prayer. Now I could ask you. Without you stating out loud, has God ever answered any of your prayers? Have things ever worked out for you when you prayed and ask about them? Well, of course he has. And yes, he worked them out for you. Well, David said, that's one reason you should be loving the Lord. And that's one reason you should continue to be praying. Don't you notice?

Secondly, God is also to be loved for his providential deliverance. Look in verses 3 through 6. David said "the sorrows of death compass me and the pains of hell got hold upon me and I found trouble and sorrow then called upon the name of the Lord. Oh Lord, I beseech thee to deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea. Our God is merciful. The Lord preserved the simple."

"I was brought low and he helped me." So David once again now is praising the Lord for his marvelous deliverance. I pointed out earlier, and I want to emphasize this, how many times that God delivers us and we don't even realize that he's delivered us. I know I've quoted this passage so many times, but I try to quote it every day. And I like to point out the fact, the reason you're sitting here in church this morning, is that you didn't die last night. Lamentations 2, 22 and 23. It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because his compassions, they fail not. They're new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. I believe it would be extremely wise if you and I would develop a habit of every morning when we open our eyes before we ever get out of bed, thanking the Lord for those compassions, those tender mercies and those loving kindnesses and his faithfulness that has allowed us to live through the night

and asking him to continue those through the day. And when we go to bed at night, once again acknowledge that it's only because of His grace, His mercy, His compassion, His loving kindness that we were allowed to live through the day. And asking the Lord to please extend those mercies and compassion to us through the night. It will tend to make you conscious of the fact that you're wholly and totally and completely dependent upon Him. If God did not sovereignly and graciously provide us with these mercies and compassions and loving kindnesses on a daily basis, we would not make it through one night. We would not make it through one day. David said, look, our Lord is merciful. He preserved the simple.

"I was brought low and He helped me." You know, that's a thought. Sometimes we're arrogant. Sometimes we're proud. Haughty. And God has to humble us. And bring us low. So that he may help us. Because, you remember what the scripture says? God resisted the proud. but he giveth grace to the humble. So David is thanking the Lord for the deliverance here.

Thirdly, David delineates the bountiful provisions of God as a reason to love Him and walk before Him while He lives. Look at verses 7 through 9. Psalm 116 verse 7, David said, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For that has delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Wow. Returning to the rest of my soul for the Lord has dealt bountifully. With thee. He hath delivered my soul from death. Mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling. What else will David do now because of this? I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Have you stopped to ponder the bountiful provision of God? Let me ask you, has the Lord dealt bountifully with you? Has he fed you? Has he nourished you? Has he sustained you?

The Evidence of Grateful Love: Worship and Service

True love for God results in public worship, praise, and service, as seen in Psalm 116:12-19.

Let me make some applications. The first one is this. Every believer, without the slightest hesitation, should confess, "I love the Lord." Without the slightest hesitation. And immediately after that, you could also confess, "I love the Lord because..." and start delineating all the reasons why you should love the Lord. Beginning with His person and all of those blessings. You see, such a confession then would tend to humble us and encourage us. It would make us far more grateful to our Heavenly Father if we said, Lord, here is just a sample list of your multitudinous blessings toward me. Now I want you to see something. I want you to go back to Psalm 116. I want to show you that a truly, a truly grateful love will always be evidenced by acts of worship, praise and adoration. Look in Psalm 116. Look if you would at verses 12 through 14. A truly grateful love will always be evidenced by acts of worship, praise and adoration. Look in verse 12, Psalm 116. David asked, after he said, "I will love the Lord because," he said, "what shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me?"

Now, look at that. You see what I'm talking about? "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" In other words, David has listed some of those reasons. He's listed some of those benefits that he's received. Then he says, "I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all of his people." What's he saying? I will publicly worship and praise and adore you. Now skip down to verse 16. That's not all. He says, "Oh Lord, truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows of the Lord now. in the presence of all of his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye the Lord." Wow. He said, I'll become your servant. Why?

Because of all your benefits, you loved me and I'm loving you and I'm demonstrating it by serving you. The profession of our love and acknowledgement of God's mercies and grace and recognition of his greatness and consistency of deliverances in our lives should enable us to walk more holily, to pray more fervently, to obey more carefully, to worship more frequently, to be more studious of his word, and to make us more grateful and thankful individuals. That's why I said earlier, if we love the Lord, all these other things are going to fall into place.

Applications: Confessing and Demonstrating Love

Believers should confess their love for God without hesitation, delineate His blessings, and demonstrate love through obedience, worship, and service.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Love as an Act of the Will

Summary: Love is primarily a choice and determination, not a feeling, and can be commanded by God because it involves the will.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Love is an act of the will. It is true in relationship to our God. It is true in relationship to others. When God commands us to love, He commands our will.'

Love as Obedience

Summary: Biblical love is equated with keeping God's commandments, as shown in John 14:21, 24; 1 John 5:3; and 1 John 2:3-4.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John 14:21: 'He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.'

Fortification Against Sin Through Love

Summary: Loving the Lord wholeheartedly is the primary way to fortify oneself against sin and temptation.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I want to concentrate on the primary or the main answer. And if we follow the primary and the main answer, all of these other things are going to fall into place. So what is the primary or the main answer? on how to fortify yourself that you do not sin against the Lord. And the answer is to love Him the way He deserves to be loved.'

The Positive and Negative Aspects of Love

Summary: Choosing to love God involves both a positive commitment to Him and a negative rejection of sin, the world, and Satan.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'If I say "I will love the Lord," I'm also negatively saying I reject and spurn any and everything that is contrary to him.'

Delineating Reasons for Loving God

Summary: Believers should identify and rehearse specific reasons for loving God, focusing first on His person and then on His benefits.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We must learn to focus first and foremost upon his person before we focus upon his provisions.'

Grateful Love Evidenced by Worship and Service

Summary: A genuine love for God will manifest in public worship, praise, and a life of service, as seen in Psalm 116.

Evidence: Weaver points to Psalm 116:12-14: 'What shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all of his people.'

Key Arguments

Love is a Commanded Act of the Will

Summary: Since God commands love, it must be an act of the will, not a mere emotion, because emotions cannot be commanded.

Evidence: Weaver argues, 'You cannot command emotions... But if he were obedient, I could say, "I command you to get up and go get me a glass of water." That is commanding his will.'

Loving God Prevents Sin

Summary: A holy determination to love the Lord enables believers to defeat sin, Satan, and the world by choosing God over all contrary things.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'A holy determination of the Lord enables us to defeat sin, Satan and the world.'

Love Must Be Continually Renewed

Summary: Loving the Lord requires constant, sometimes minute-by-minute, choice, especially in times of temptation.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We must will and choose the love of the Lord not only daily, sometimes hourly, and in times of intense temptation and testing sometimes minute by minute.'

God's Person is the Primary Reason for Love

Summary: The excellency of God's nature and character is sufficient reason to love Him, even apart from His benefits.

Evidence: Weaver asserts, 'If God never ever did anything for any of us, the very fact that he's God is sufficient reason to love him.'

Answered Prayer as a Motive for Love

Summary: David loved the Lord because He heard his prayers, and answered prayer should motivate continued love and prayer.

Evidence: Weaver comments on Psalm 116:1-2: 'David said, I love the Lord because what? He's heard my prayer. He's heard my supplication. He answered me.'

God's Bountiful Provisions Demand a Response of Love

Summary: The many blessings and deliverances God provides should lead believers to love Him more and walk more obediently.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Has He supplied your needs? Has He kept you alive? Has He dried your tears... Why then do you not love Him more?'

Scripture References

Psalm 18:1

Context: David's declaration of love and determination: 'I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.'

Psalm 116:1

Context: David's reason for love: 'I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications.'

John 14:21

Context: Jesus equates love with keeping His commandments.

John 14:24

Context: Jesus states that not keeping His sayings means not loving Him.

1 John 5:3

Context: Love of God is keeping His commandments, which are not burdensome.

1 John 2:3-4

Context: Knowing God is evidenced by keeping His commandments; claiming to know Him without obedience makes one a liar.

Deuteronomy 6:5

Context: Command to love the Lord with all heart, soul, and might.

Deuteronomy 30:6

Context: God circumcises hearts to love Him with all heart and soul.

Deuteronomy 30:16

Context: Command to love the Lord, walk in His ways, and keep His commandments.

Joshua 23:11

Context: Exhortation to take heed to love the Lord.

Psalm 31:23

Context: Call for saints to love the Lord, who preserves the faithful.

Psalm 97:10

Context: Those who love the Lord hate evil; He preserves their souls.

Galatians 6:1

Context: Restoring a fallen brother with meekness, considering oneself lest tempted.

Jeremiah 44:4

Context: God's command not to do the abominable thing He hates (sin).

1 John 2:1

Context: John writes so that believers may not sin, but if they do, they have an advocate.

Psalm 119:9, 10-11

Context: Cleansing one's way by God's word; hiding it in the heart to avoid sin.

Revelation 15:4

Context: God alone is holy; all will fear and glorify Him.

1 John 4:19

Context: We love Him because He first loved us.

John 15:5

Context: Without Christ, we can do nothing.

Ephesians 5:25

Context: Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church.

Historical References

David's victory over Saul and enemies

Context: Psalm 18 is set in the context of David's deliverance from King Saul and his enemies, prompting his declaration of love.

Peter's denial of Christ

Context: The account in John 21 occurs after Peter's three denials, and Jesus questions his love three times.

Important Quotes

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

Significance: David's determined declaration of love, which is the foundation of the message.

I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications.

Significance: David's reason-based love, introducing the concept of delineating motives for love.

He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.

Significance: Jesus' definition of love as obedience, a key scriptural support.

Love is an act of the will.

Significance: Central thesis that love is a choice, not a feeling, enabling obedience to God's commands.

If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him.

Significance: Highlights the incompatibility of loving God and loving the world, reinforcing the negative aspect of love.

Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

Significance: David's intense, exclusive devotion to God, exemplifying the holy determination required.

What shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me?

Significance: David's response of grateful worship and service, showing the practical outworking of love.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding love as an act of the will change the way you approach your relationship with God and others?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that love is a choice, not a feeling, and can be commanded.

What are some practical ways you can 'will' to love the Lord daily, especially in times of temptation?

Context: Weaver stresses the need for constant, sometimes minute-by-minute, determination to love God.

Why is it important to focus first on God's person rather than His provisions when delineating reasons to love Him?

Context: Weaver teaches that God's nature alone is sufficient reason for love, even without His benefits.

How can recalling specific answered prayers and deliverances strengthen your love for God?

Context: David loved the Lord because He heard his prayers; Weaver encourages believers to rehearse such reasons.

In what ways does a genuine love for God naturally lead to public worship and service?

Context: Psalm 116 shows David responding to God's benefits with vows and praise in the congregation.

How does the positive/negative aspect of love (choosing God and rejecting sin) play out in your daily decisions?

Context: Weaver explains that loving God means positively choosing Him and negatively rejecting all that is contrary.

Why is it significant that Peter appealed to Jesus' omniscience when asked about his love?

Context: Peter's response in John 21 shows that love is known by God even when actions have failed.

What are some 'benefits' from God in your life that you can delineate to fuel your love for Him?

Context: Weaver urges believers to list God's blessings as reasons for love, following David's example.

Applications

Confess Love for God Verbally and Frequently

Summary: Believers should regularly and deliberately tell God they love Him, not just assume He knows.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I want Him to hear my voice saying, "I love thee, O Lord." And I want him to hear it frequently.'

Delineate Reasons for Loving God

Summary: Make a list of God's attributes and blessings to rehearse daily, fostering gratitude and love.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Every one of us in this room could sit down and make a list as to why we should love the Lord.'

Choose to Love God in the Face of Temptation

Summary: In moments of temptation, actively will to love God by rejecting sin and choosing obedience.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'I must constantly and continually will to love the Lord and refuse sin and Satan and the world.'

Demonstrate Love Through Obedience and Service

Summary: Love for God should be evidenced by keeping His commandments and serving Him publicly.

Evidence: Weaver points to Psalm 116: 'I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all of his people.'

Begin Each Day with Thanksgiving for God's Mercies

Summary: Develop a habit of thanking God every morning for His compassions and faithfulness that sustained you through the night.

Evidence: Weaver suggests, 'every morning when we open our eyes before we ever get out of bed, thanking the Lord for those compassions.'

Focus on God's Person Before His Provisions

Summary: In prayer and worship, prioritize adoring God for who He is before thanking Him for what He gives.

Evidence: Weaver teaches, 'We must learn to focus first and foremost upon his person before we focus upon his provisions.'

Use Answered Prayer as Fuel for Continued Love and Prayer

Summary: When God answers prayer, let it motivate deeper love and more fervent prayer.

Evidence: Weaver comments on Psalm 116:2: 'once God answers our prayer, David says, that is a good reason not only to keep praying, but to keep loving him.'

Examine Your Love in Light of the World

Summary: Evaluate whether your affections are set on God or on worldly things, as love for the world is incompatible with love for the Father.

Evidence: Weaver quotes 1 John 2:15: 'If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:04:46Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T02:02:36Z

Clean Transcript

Prerequisites For Loving The Lord

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Psalm 18 and Psalm 116. We're going to be looking at both of these passages momentarily. And I want you to look, first of all, at Psalm 18, verse 1. David says, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength." Then if you'll look in Psalm 116 in verse 1, David said, "I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications." I want to bring a message today, which I have entitled "Prerequisites for Loving the Lord." I had several messages prepared that I was going to preach today, and I was really at a quandary as to which one to preach. Eventually, I'm going to preach all of them. But then I got to thinking that I believe this message actually has the place of priority over all the others. And if we can understand this one little simple message, I think it will change your life. So, Psalm 18 in verse 1, David said, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength." I've preached many times on loving the Lord. And I have told you in times past what it means to love the Lord.
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I've pointed out how that love according to the Bible is obedience. Does it matter if you look in the Old Testament? Does it matter if you look in the New Testament? All throughout the Bible, love is equated with obedience. Let me just quote four short passages for you. I'm not going to ask you to turn to these because I've given these to you in times past, but I want you to have this in your mind just simply by way of remembrance. So we're talking about the fact that love is obedience.
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In John 14 in verse 21, our Lord said, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself unto him." So our Lord said, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." In John 14 in verse 24, He said this, "He that keepeth not my sayings, loveth me not." Very obvious. And then in 1 John 5 in verse 3, the Bible says, "For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous." And then in 1 John chapter 2, verses 3 and 4, the word of God says, "And hereby we do know that we know him. If we keep his commandments, he that says I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar."
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And the truth is not in him. I hope some of you will remember that recently, within the last six months anyhow, I brought a message on how to love the Lord with all of your heart. It's certainly not my intent to re-preach that message or any other messages that I've previously preached on this subject. However, I could say this, I do believe that they bear repeating and probably bear repeating very often simply because we're so absolutely forgetful and we're so easily distracted from our central purpose and calling in life. You say, well, what is our central purpose and calling in life? Well, the answer to that would be this, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
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That is the whole duty of man. And one of the ways that we glorify God is by learning to love him and enjoy him and understanding that he is indeed worthy to be loved. You know, the interesting thing is this. If we do not love the Lord now in time and in history, what makes us think we're going to love him all of a sudden in eternity? If we do not enjoy being in his presence now in time and in history, what makes you think we're going to enjoy being in his presence in eternity? It may surprise you as you read through the Bible to not only find out how many commands there are to love the Lord, but how many commands there are to the saints of God to love the Lord?
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Let me give you just a sampling, alright? Whole Psalm 18, that'll be our first passage. But I want you to turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. We'll work our way through the scripture just momentarily. Just showing you these commands. Notice, if you would, Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. Look what the Bible said. Deuteronomy 6 verse 5. "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul and all thy might." And thou shalt, that is it's a command. Turn right over to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and look if you would please at verse 6. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 6. He says this. "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." But notice if you would, He would circumcise our hearts so that we may love the Lord with all of our hearts. Look in verse 16. Deuteronomy 30 verse 16.
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"In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply, that the Lord, thy God shall bless thee in the land, whither thou goest to possess it." Hmm. Wow. In the book of Joshua chapter 23 in verse 11, I can just quote this one.
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We'll turn to the other. He said, "Take good heed unto yourselves that you love the Lord, your God."
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Now turn, if you would please to Psalm 31 and look at verse 23, Psalm 31 verse 23. Psalm 31 verse 23. Look at this. "Oh, love the Lord. All you, his saints for the Lord preserved the faithful and plentifully rewarded the proud doer." So he cries, "Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints." And then in Psalm 97 and verse 10, one last passage in this Psalm 97 verse 10, just showing you how these are applied to saints already. Psalm 97 in verse 10, he says, "Ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserved the souls of his saints."
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He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. So all of these passages then are not only commanding us to love the Lord, but many of these are already addressed to the people of God.
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Now let me tell you why I'm preaching this message. Because recently I have heard about some, and I know firsthand about some other Christians that have fallen headlong into sin, disobedience, and rebellion. And I have to confess that a few of those that I know about and that I've heard about absolutely shocked me. And the reason I was shocked is because I just assumed and I believed that they were far more grounded in the word of God and had more integrity and more character than obviously they did have. We live in a day and time where sin is rampant. We live in a day and time where the easiest and the most natural thing for anybody to do is to sin. Period.
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Our flesh longs for it. The world offers it to us, and it's there. So when I got to thinking about these professing believers who have fallen so far, I thought of Galatians 6 and verse 1.
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Now let me quote it. Listen. He said, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Some of these individuals I could get to, some of them I could not get to. But that which was really emphasized in my own mind was this. "Considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted." I understand if it was not for the grace of God, it could have been me that had fallen and not them.
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And you see, the truth of the matter is this. It is very easy for you and I to fall. Why? Because we're sinners. Because by nature we love sin. But here is my problem. I do not want to fall. I do not want to sin against our sovereign, gracious Lord. So the question has to be, how do I fortify myself so that I will not fall? How do I fortify myself so that I do not sin against God? You remember what God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. Listen to this.
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He said, "Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate." So God commands us not to sin. Sin is that abominable thing which he hates. God says, just don't do it. And John the Apostle wrote in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 1 and he said this, "My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not."
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Now he went on to say if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But he said I'm writing these things that you sin not. In other words, if it is a heresy that we can be sinlessly perfect, and it is, it's an equal heresy that we have to sin, because we don't. Because John said, "My little children, these things I write on you that you sin not."
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David said in Psalm 119 verse 9, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee." So the question that came to my mind is, how do I fortify myself that I will not do that abominable thing which He hates? Well, I suppose there are a number of answers that could be given to that question as to how not to sin against our Heavenly Father. I realize we could fortify ourselves with Scripture. We cannot forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
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We can have constant and continual prayer. There's fellowshipping with the saints. There's giving and receiving admonitions and rebukes. I'm sure there are a lot of answers that we could give. However, I came to this conclusion. I want to concentrate on the primary or the main answer. And if we follow the primary and the main answer, all of these other things are going to fall into place. So what is the primary or the main answer?
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on how to fortify yourself that you do not sin against the Lord. And the answer is to love Him the way He deserves to be loved. He deserves to be loved with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our soul, with everything that we are. He deserves our devotion, our honor, and our prayer and our praise. I want to give you just two thoughts today and I'm going to show them to you from Psalm 18 and from Psalm 116. So how then do we fortify ourselves? And what is the one thing that will inculcate and include all of these other answers as to how not to sin against our God? If you look in Psalm 18 verse 1, first of all, there must be a holy determination. A holy determination. Look what David says in Psalm 18 verse 1: "I will love thee O Lord my strength." So David then is expressing a truth here that is needed in each of our lives. The truth is of his determination to love the Lord.
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And I want you to note what David says. Look carefully at verse 1. David said, "I will love the Lord." He did not say, "I want to love the Lord." He did not say, "I hope to love the Lord." David said, "I will love the Lord." Here is a dedicated determination to love the Lord. I will. There are no maybes. There are no doubts. There are no questions. He is determined to love the Lord. He has made now a verbal and a volitional commitment by saying, "I will love thee, O Lord."
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Now the Hebrew word for love is the word rakham, which means to love, to love deeply and have tender feelings for. So here's what David is saying. I'm determined to love the Lord the way he deserves to be loved. It is a holy determination. Anything that involves our Lord has to be holy for he is holy. Revelation 15 in verse 4 says this: "Who shall not fear the Lord and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy." So whatever we do in reference to our God it has to be holy.
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Now everyone in this room can probably quote 1 John 4 in verse 19 at least if I started it I know you could. "We love him, because he first loved us." We understand that our love is a reflection of His love. We cannot love Him first. He loved us first. Therefore, we're to love Him. But you know what our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5?
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He said this, "Without Me, you can do nothing." So let me ask you a question. Is loving the Lord something? Well, surely it is. But you can't do it without Christ. For without Him, we can do nothing.
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Now, let me begin by emphasizing one truth. David said, "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. I will." There's a truth here that you and I must remember, and we must constantly rehearse it in our minds, and that is this. Listen carefully. Love is an act of the will. Love is an act of the will. It is true in relationship to our God. It is true in relationship to others. When God commands us to love, He commands our will. It's true we must have an understanding. And it is true emotions oftentimes are involved. However, you cannot command emotions. I couldn't look at Rod and say, "I command you to be happy right now." He could feign a smile, but that doesn't mean he's happy. I could say, "I command you to be miserable." That doesn't mean he's going to be miserable. You can't command emotions. But if he were obedient, I could say, "I command you to get up and go get me a glass of water."
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That is commanding his will. And whether he feels like it or not is immaterial. He could obey that command. Love primarily is an act of the will. It is true emotions are oftentimes involved. But emotions are to always follow and never ever to lead. Let me try to illustrate this. With the truth in our minds firmly that God loved us first. And that God commands our wills. Here's my question. Does God command husbands to love their wives? Yes. In Ephesians 5 verse 25, "Husbands, love your wives." Plain and simple. Does God command us to love our neighbors? Sure he does. In Leviticus 19 verse 18, he said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." In James 2 verse 8, he said, "If you fulfill the royal law and love thy neighbor as thyself, then you do well." So God has commanded us to love our wives as husbands. He's commanded us to love our neighbors. He's commanded us to love him, which all of those verses I took you through. "Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints."
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In fact, five times in the book of Deuteronomy alone, God commands us to love him. So God is not commanding feelings, sentiments, abstract concepts, or ethereal desires because those things cannot be commanded. What he is commanding is our wills. Now watch this. God said husbands love your wives. Even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. I love my wife because I choose to love my wife. I love my neighbor because I choose to love my neighbor. I love my God because I choose to love him since he's worked in my heart. Love is an act of the will. It is a choice. It is a determination.
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Now let me go back and show you this. I told you I've chosen to love my wife. I've willed to love my wife. Are there emotions attached to that love? Well, surely there are. The answer is yes. There are emotions attached. And yes, she makes me happy. Yes, she pleases me. Yes, she satisfies me. Yes, I wish to be around her. Yes, I like to take her with me. And yes, I refuse to forsake her.
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Now, I want you to listen now. Listen carefully. There are plenty of other women, many of them beautiful. But I choose not to love them. And I choose not to be with them. I choose to be with my wife. And I choose to love her. Now I want you to note something. My determination to love my wife has a positive and a negative connotation. Positively, I love her. I choose her. I want her. Negatively, I do not love other women. I do not want other women. You understand that? So here's love and it's got a positive and a negative. I choose to love the brethren. I choose to love my neighbor as myself. I choose to love those that the Father has given to me. When he tells me to love my neighbor as myself, he is commanding my will.
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I may have affections towards some of my neighbors. I may have emotions towards some of them. Some of them I may like. Some of them I may dislike. That's immaterial. I choose deliberately to love them. Whatever emotions I have are the effects and the results of my love. But I choose to love.
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Now you've got to remember again there's the positive and the negative connotation. If I love the brethren, what does that mean? It means I choose to be with them. I'd rather be with God's people than with anybody else. I've had many people try to tell me and they think I don't understand it. They would say, you know, I'd rather be with believers than I had with my own family. What they mean by that, their own family is not believers and they'd just rather be with God's people. Certainly I understand that. But once I say that I choose and I will to love my neighbor as myself, that means I'm going to protect my brethren. I'm going to promote them. I'm going to seek to please them. And that I'm never ever going to betray them to the enemies of God. Do you love your brother if you betray him? Do you love your neighbor if you betray him? Do you love your wife if you betray her? Do you love your God if you betray him?
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I want you to look, since we're in Psalms, go to Psalm 139. Look what David said concerning the enemies of God. Psalm 139. And look, if you would please, beginning there in verse 21. Psalm 139, verse 21. In fact, let's begin with verse 19, because I want you to see he's talking about the wicked. Psalm 139 verse 19, "Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, you bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain." Now look what David says, "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies." And to show you this is a perfectly biblical attitude, he then says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting."
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So if I love the brethren, I am not going to betray them. I'm not going to despise them, I'm not going to do anything that would lead me to turn them over to the enemies of God's people. No. So, I'm just showing you there's a positive and a negative connotation to love. It's true with my wife, it's true with my brethren, my neighbors, but it's also true with our God.
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If I have a holy determination to love the Lord, it means this, I must understand that I've chosen Him as my Lord and Savior only by His grace, but I've still chosen Him. He worked in me, He worked through me, He drew me to Himself, and I will to come to Him because He loosed my will from the bondage of sin and He renewed my will that I might come to Him and I might choose Him. He enabled me to do that. So when I say, "I love the Lord," then I'm expressing a holy determination to bring my life then in conformity to the Word of God. I'm confessing a holy determination to submit to Him, to honor Him, to worship Him, and to praise Him and Him alone. But you got to remember when I say "I will love the Lord," there's not only a positive, there's also a negative. So if I say "I will love the Lord," I'm also negatively saying I reject and spurn any and everything that is contrary to him.
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I must hate, despise and reject all sin. Listen carefully. No matter how appealing it is to my flesh. I must love His Word. I must love His will above all my fleshly desires and fleshly lust. A holy determination of the Lord enables us to defeat sin, Satan and the world. We know that sin, Satan and the world are in opposition to God. John wrote, in 1 John 2 verses 15 through 17, he said this, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but of the world. And the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
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But notice what he said. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So if I say, "I will love thee, O Lord," positively, I am saying, I'm going to obey you, I'm going to honor you, I'm going to worship you and you alone. Negatively, I'm saying, I'm turning my back on sin, on the world, on Satan. I want nothing to do with him.
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Now, let me try to make an application before I ever get to my applications, but here it is. Here's the truth. We must will and choose the love of the Lord not only daily, sometimes hourly, and in times of intense temptation and testing sometimes minute by minute. I must constantly and continually will to love the Lord and refuse sin and Satan and the world. Loving the Lord and choosing to love the Lord is a lifestyle. Listen now. As I fight to maintain my integrity and my character and my love to my wife in a world filled with fornication and adultery, likewise, I must fight to maintain my determination, my character and my integrity to love the Lord in the face of a world of sin and wickedness. Do you follow that?
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I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 73. I want to show you how intense this holy determination should be. Look in Psalm 73, beginning there with verse 25. Psalm 73 verse 25. David says, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is a strength of my life, of the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Now go back to verse 25. "Whom have I in heaven but Thee. And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." David said, Lord, I've come to the place that I want You. I want You in eternity? Yes. But I want You in time and history now. I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. There is a holy determination to love the Lord. As you have to fight for purity in your life, you have to fight to keep your love burning brightly to the Lord. Because sin and the world and Satan will do everything to destroy that love.
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There must be a holy determination. Now I want you to hold Psalm 18, but I want you also now to turn to Psalm 116 because here's the second point today. There must also be a holy delineation. Look at Psalm 116 verse 1, then we're going to go back to Psalm 18 just momentarily. Psalm 116 verse 1, David said, "I love the Lord because. He had heard my voice and my supplication." I love the Lord because. So once you get to Psalm 116, now David is beginning to delineate why exactly he loves the Lord. If you will go back to Psalm 18, you will see he does the same thing in this Psalm. Psalm 18, look at verses 1 and 2. He said, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength and whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower." Now, what David is doing in Psalm 18 is this.
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He has just been given a tremendous victory over King Saul and all of his enemies. And he's now proclaiming his love for the Lord. And he particularly calls God his strength, his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his strength, his trust, his buckler, and the horn of his salvation. So David then has been delivered then from his mortal enemies, and for all practical purposes, he is now saying, Lord, you're the one that I'm going to love for your deliverance.
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We're not in a time of war yet in this country. I think it may be close. We're in a time of war, plenty of other places. And we do need God as our strength and our horn and our fortress and our rock and our refuge. I understand that. But do you realize so many times God daily delivers us even from our mortal enemies. And we're totally and completely oblivious to that deliverance. God does indeed withhold the wicked. He overthrows their schemes.
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He foils their plans and he causes them to fall in the pit which they have dug for the righteous. Right now, we don't know of anybody seeking to kill us like Saul was seeking to kill David. But the truth is God still delivers us and we understand according to Proverbs 18 in verse 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. So David does list some things in Psalm 18 as to why he loves the Lord. But once you get to Psalm 116, he delineates things that are even more practical, things that you and I can understand to a greater degree.
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And we need to keep these reasons fresh in our mind and we need to rehearse them daily, yea hourly if need be. Before I go over Psalm 116, let me say this and I want you to understand this. Although there are a number of reasons to love the Lord, we must understand there is one main reason to love the Lord. And that is the excellency of his nature, the majesty of his person, the greatness of his throne, the purity of his attributes, the holiness of his character, and the magnanimous mercy that he's shown toward us in sending his only begotten son for our salvation.
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In other words, we've got to think first and foremost of God himself. The very fact that he is God is reason enough to love him. If God never ever did anything for any of us, the very fact that he's God is sufficient reason to love him. We must learn to focus first and foremost upon his person before we focus upon his provisions. You remember how the disciples came to our Lord and they said, John told his disciples to pray, teach us to pray. And our Lord said, fine, here's how you pray.
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"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as in heaven. Now watch, give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who's indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and amen." What did our Lord just teach us?
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That we are to focus first and foremost upon God. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." Only after we focus on Him, then we get to the provisions. "Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us for our sins." So our Lord is saying, yes, there are things that we need and yes, there are things that God gives us. But first and foremost, we should be thinking of him.
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Now, there are certainly nothing wicked or wrong about being thankful. And delineating the blessings that the father has given unto us. The benefits that he has bestowed upon us certainly merit our praise and thanksgiving. However, we're to focus more upon the giver than the gifts. It's the giver who makes the gifts beneficial. The increase of our love and filial obedience is in proportion to the increased sense we have of our obligation to Him. We must love God for His person. Listen carefully. We also must love Him for the benefits that He's bestowed upon us. We understand that the reason He bestowed those benefits is because God is love. And love should beget love.
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I want you to look with me in Psalm 116, just momentarily. And I want to show you a few of the delineations that David makes as to why he loves the Lord. He says in verse 1, "I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications, because he's inclined his ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." David said, I love the Lord because what? He's heard my prayer. He's heard my supplication. He answered me.
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He took care of me. He supplied my needs. He delivered me. And now David says in verse 2, "because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." In other words, once God answers our prayer, David says, that is a good reason not only to keep praying, but to keep loving him who answered our prayer. In other words, it's the goodness of God that God hears and answers our prayer. He said, "call unto me and I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
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Our Lord said, "whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the father may be glorified in the son." So David is saying, I love the Lord because he's heard my prayer. Now I could ask you. Without you stating out loud, has God ever answered any of your prayers? Have things ever worked out for you when you prayed and ask about them? Well, of course he has. And yes, he worked them out for you. Well, David said, that's one reason you should be loving the Lord. And that's one reason you should continue to be praying. Don't you notice?
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Secondly, God is also to be loved for his providential deliverance. Look in verses 3 through 6. David said "the sorrows of death compass me and the pains of hell got hold upon me and I found trouble and sorrow then called upon the name of the Lord. Oh Lord, I beseech thee to deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea. Our God is merciful. The Lord preserved the simple."
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"I was brought low and he helped me." So David once again now is praising the Lord for his marvelous deliverance. I pointed out earlier, and I want to emphasize this, how many times that God delivers us and we don't even realize that he's delivered us. I know I've quoted this passage so many times, but I try to quote it every day. And I like to point out the fact, the reason you're sitting here in church this morning, is that you didn't die last night.
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Lamentations 2, 22 and 23. It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because his compassions, they fail not. They're new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. I believe it would be extremely wise if you and I would develop a habit of every morning when we open our eyes before we ever get out of bed, thanking the Lord for those compassions, those tender mercies and those loving kindnesses and his faithfulness that has allowed us to live through the night
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and asking him to continue those through the day. And when we go to bed at night, once again acknowledge that it's only because of His grace, His mercy, His compassion, His loving kindness that we were allowed to live through the day. And asking the Lord to please extend those mercies and compassion to us through the night. It will tend to make you conscious of the fact that you're wholly and totally and completely dependent upon Him. If God did not sovereignly and graciously provide us with these mercies and compassions and loving kindnesses on a daily basis, we would not make it through one night. We would not make it through one day. David said, look, our Lord is merciful. He preserved the simple.
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"I was brought low and He helped me." You know, that's a thought. Sometimes we're arrogant. Sometimes we're proud. Haughty. And God has to humble us. And bring us low. So that he may help us. Because, you remember what the scripture says? God resisted the proud. but he giveth grace to the humble. So David is thanking the Lord for the deliverance here.
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Thirdly, David delineates the bountiful provisions of God as a reason to love Him and walk before Him while He lives. Look at verses 7 through 9. Psalm 116 verse 7, David said, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For that has delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Wow. Returning to the rest of my soul for the Lord has dealt bountifully. With thee. He hath delivered my soul from death. Mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling. What else will David do now because of this? I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Have you stopped to ponder the bountiful provision of God? Let me ask you, has the Lord dealt bountifully with you? Has he fed you? Has he nourished you? Has he sustained you?
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Has He supplied your needs? Has He kept you alive? Has He dried your tears and brought you through things that you thought that you would never ever make it through? Has He kept you from falling into sin and wickedness? Has He given you life and health? Has He given you family and friends? Has He given you breath? Has He given you grace and gifts? Why then do you not love Him more?
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Why do you not walk more holily and righteously before Him? Why do you not sit down and take the time and think through and delineate all of those blessings that God has bestowed upon you and why, list why you should love Him and why you should love Him more abundantly for all that He's done for you? Why do you not tell Him that you love Him? Why do you not tell Him that you have purposefully and deliberately and willed to love Him and that you choose Him over and above sin and wickedness and rebellion?
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Why do you not determine right now to be more loving, to be more obedient, to be more kind, to be more gracious to your Heavenly Father?
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Every one of us in this room could sit down and make a list as to why we should love the Lord, not just because of who he is, but because of everything that he has done for us. Some of us are in better health than others, but even those of us who have been sick, I have a few health problems. The truth of the matter is this, folks.
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We've had more good days than we've ever had bad days. We've had more healthy days than we had sick days. And we've had far more joy than we've had misery. The goodness of God endures continually. Let me ask you a question. I don't know if you've thought about this or not. But have you ever thought what a great goodness it is on the part of our God that he condescends to be loved by poor sinful creatures like us? Do you understand that God does not need our love? Understand that? There are no needs in God. God is the eternal self-existent One and the self-sufficient One. He does not really need anything. He is God. But He does want our love because He commands us to love Him over and over in the Bible. To me, this is a mind-bending blessing just to stop and think that by His grace and by His mercy, we are enabled to love the altogether lovely one, the eternal God who's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ our Lord.
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And the very fact that He condescends to receive our love in Christ. How honored we should be and how humbled we should be that our great God and Father has granted us the grace to love him. Have you ever stopped to think what you and I are by nature? And do you remember what the Bible says in Romans 8 verses 7 and 8? "For the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." And so God in His grace and mercy has regenerated us and converted us and given us now the ability to love Him. Wow!
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If God had not worked in our hearts, we would still hate Him just like the wicked do. It's only God who made the difference in our lives. And we should love him. I want you to turn in your Bibles to John 21. Here's a passage I'm sure that most of you are familiar with. John 21. And let's begin looking there at verse 15, John 21 and verse 15.
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You remember Peter had denied the Lord three times. I want you to watch. John 21, verse 15. "So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He said, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, feed my lambs. He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And he saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep." I want you to watch. Christ asked Peter three times, do you love me? And each time, Peter appealed to his omniscience. He said, yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. After three times, the third time, Peter said, "Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee."
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Are you listening? Like Peter, I know that God is omniscient and I know that He knows all things. But I want Him to hear my voice saying, "I love thee, O Lord." And I want him to hear it frequently. And I want him to see that my love is demonstrated by my actions in obedience. Why would Peter have to appeal to our Lord's omniscience? Probably because Peter not only had denied the Lord, but had not said, "I will love thee, O Lord."
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Let me make some applications. The first one is this. Every believer, without the slightest hesitation, should confess, "I love the Lord." Without the slightest hesitation. And immediately after that, you could also confess, "I love the Lord because..." and start delineating all the reasons why you should love the Lord. Beginning with His person and all of those blessings. You see, such a confession then would tend to humble us and encourage us. It would make us far more grateful to our Heavenly Father if we said, Lord, here is just a sample list of your multitudinous blessings toward me. Now I want you to see something. I want you to go back to Psalm 116. I want to show you that a truly, a truly grateful love will always be evidenced by acts of worship, praise and adoration. Look in Psalm 116. Look if you would at verses 12 through 14. A truly grateful love will always be evidenced by acts of worship, praise and adoration. Look in verse 12, Psalm 116. David asked, after he said, "I will love the Lord because," he said, "what shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me?"
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Now, look at that. You see what I'm talking about? "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" In other words, David has listed some of those reasons. He's listed some of those benefits that he's received. Then he says, "I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all of his people." What's he saying?
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I will publicly worship and praise and adore you. Now skip down to verse 16. That's not all. He says, "Oh Lord, truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows of the Lord now. in the presence of all of his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye the Lord." Wow. He said, I'll become your servant. Why?
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Because of all your benefits, you loved me and I'm loving you and I'm demonstrating it by serving you. The profession of our love and acknowledgement of God's mercies and grace and recognition of his greatness and consistency of deliverances in our lives should enable us to walk more holily, to pray more fervently, to obey more carefully, to worship more frequently, to be more studious of his word, and to make us more grateful and thankful individuals. That's why I said earlier, if we love the Lord, all these other things are going to fall into place.
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Now, let me ask you a question. I told you that love has a positive and a negative connotation. If I told Alice I loved her and then started running around three or four different women, would she believe me? I dare you know.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:04:46Z

Prerequisites For Loving The Lord

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver teaches that loving the Lord is a holy determination of the will, not merely an emotion, and that it is the primary way to fortify oneself against sin. He explains that love is obedience, a choice that must be made daily, and that believers should delineate reasons for loving God based on His person and His benefits. The message draws from Psalm 18:1 and Psalm 116:1 to show that a determined, grateful love leads to worship, service, and a life that rejects sin.

Introduction: The Priority of Loving the Lord

Weaver introduces the message from Psalm 18:1 and Psalm 116:1, emphasizing that understanding how to love the Lord is foundational and life-changing.

Psalm 18 and Psalm 116. We're going to be looking at both of these passages momentarily. And I want you to look, first of all, at Psalm 18, verse 1. David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

I've preached many times on loving the Lord. And I have told you in times past what it means to love the Lord.

Love Defined as Obedience

Love is equated with obedience throughout Scripture, as shown in John 14:21, 24; 1 John 5:3; and 1 John 2:3-4.

Psalm 18 and Psalm 116. We're going to be looking at both of these passages momentarily. And I want you to look, first of all, at Psalm 18, verse 1. David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 18:1

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

I've preached many times on loving the Lord. And I have told you in times past what it means to love the Lord.

In John 14 in verse 21, our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — John 14:21

"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself unto him."

So our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — John 14:21

"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."

The Central Purpose: Glorifying God by Loving Him

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and loving God now is essential for enjoying Him in eternity.

Commands to Love the Lord

Scripture repeatedly commands believers to love the Lord, including Deuteronomy 6:5, 30:6, 16; Joshua 23:11; Psalm 31:23; and Psalm 97:10.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:5

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul and all thy might."

And thou shalt, that is it's a command. Turn right over to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and look if you would please at verse 6. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 6. He says this.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:5

"And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live."

But notice if you would, He would circumcise our hearts so that we may love the Lord with all of our hearts. Look in verse 16. Deuteronomy 30 verse 16.

Now turn, if you would please to Psalm 31 and look at verse 23, Psalm 31 verse 23. Psalm 31 verse 23. Look at this.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 31:23

"Oh, love the Lord. All you, his saints for the Lord preserved the faithful and plentifully rewarded the proud doer."

So he cries,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 31:23

"Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints."

He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. So all of these passages then are not only commanding us to love the Lord, but many of these are already addressed to the people of God.

The Danger of Falling into Sin

Weaver shares concern over Christians falling into sin and emphasizes the need for self-examination and fortification against temptation, citing Galatians 6:1.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:1

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

Some of these individuals I could get to, some of them I could not get to. But that which was really emphasized in my own mind was this.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:1

"Considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted."

I understand if it was not for the grace of God, it could have been me that had fallen and not them.

The Primary Fortification: Loving the Lord

The main way to avoid sin is to love the Lord as He deserves, which encompasses all other spiritual disciplines.

First Prerequisite: A Holy Determination (Psalm 18:1)

David's declaration 'I will love thee, O Lord' shows that love is an act of the will, a deliberate choice with both positive (choosing God) and negative (rejecting sin) aspects.

The Intensity of Determination (Psalm 73:25)

David's desire for God above all else in Psalm 73:25 illustrates the intense, exclusive devotion required in loving the Lord.

Second Prerequisite: A Holy Delineation (Psalm 116:1)

David delineates reasons for loving the Lord: He hears prayer, delivers from trouble, and provides bountifully. Love should focus first on God's person, then His provisions.

The Evidence of Grateful Love: Worship and Service

True love for God results in public worship, praise, and service, as seen in Psalm 116:12-19.

Applications: Confessing and Demonstrating Love

Believers should confess their love for God without hesitation, delineate His blessings, and demonstrate love through obedience, worship, and service.

Prerequisites For Loving The Lord

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	gFoLC-k6btw
Subject	Church Government
Course	Church Order: Discipline, Enemies, and Institutional Faithfulness
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-12-03
Dictation Name
Book	Book 039: Church Order and Worship - Volume 1 — Chapter 15
Source Timed Segments	69

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Priority of Loving the Lord: Weaver introduces the message from Psalm 18:1 and Psalm 116:1, emphasizing that understanding how to love the Lord is foundational and life-changing.
Love Defined as Obedience: Love is equated with obedience throughout Scripture, as shown in John 14:21, 24; 1 John 5:3; and 1 John 2:3-4.
The Central Purpose: Glorifying God by Loving Him: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and loving God now is essential for enjoying Him in eternity.
Commands to Love the Lord: Scripture repeatedly commands believers to love the Lord, including Deuteronomy 6:5, 30:6, 16; Joshua 23:11; Psalm 31:23; and Psalm 97:10.
The Danger of Falling into Sin: Weaver shares concern over Christians falling into sin and emphasizes the need for self-examination and fortification against temptation, citing Galatians 6:1.
The Primary Fortification: Loving the Lord: The main way to avoid sin is to love the Lord as He deserves, which encompasses all other spiritual disciplines.
First Prerequisite: A Holy Determination (Psalm 18:1): David's declaration 'I will love thee, O Lord' shows that love is an act of the will, a deliberate choice with both positive (choosing God) and negative (rejecting sin) aspects.
The Intensity of Determination (Psalm 73:25): David's desire for God above all else in Psalm 73:25 illustrates the intense, exclusive devotion required in loving the Lord.
Second Prerequisite: A Holy Delineation (Psalm 116:1): David delineates reasons for loving the Lord: He hears prayer, delivers from trouble, and provides bountifully. Love should focus first on God's person, then His provisions.
The Evidence of Grateful Love: Worship and Service: True love for God results in public worship, praise, and service, as seen in Psalm 116:12-19.
Applications: Confessing and Demonstrating Love: Believers should confess their love for God without hesitation, delineate His blessings, and demonstrate love through obedience, worship, and service.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Love is a Commanded Act of the Will

Since God commands love, it must be an act of the will, not a mere emotion, because emotions cannot be commanded.

Weaver argues, 'You cannot command emotions... But if he were obedient, I could say, "I command you to get up and go get me a glass of water." That is commanding his will.'

Loving God Prevents Sin

A holy determination to love the Lord enables believers to defeat sin, Satan, and the world by choosing God over all contrary things.

Weaver states, 'A holy determination of the Lord enables us to defeat sin, Satan and the world.'

Love Must Be Continually Renewed

Loving the Lord requires constant, sometimes minute-by-minute, choice, especially in times of temptation.

Weaver says, 'We must will and choose the love of the Lord not only daily, sometimes hourly, and in times of intense temptation and testing sometimes minute by minute.'

God's Person is the Primary Reason for Love

The excellency of God's nature and character is sufficient reason to love Him, even apart from His benefits.

Weaver asserts, 'If God never ever did anything for any of us, the very fact that he's God is sufficient reason to love him.'

Answered Prayer as a Motive for Love

David loved the Lord because He heard his prayers, and answered prayer should motivate continued love and prayer.

Weaver comments on Psalm 116:1-2: 'David said, I love the Lord because what? He's heard my prayer. He's heard my supplication. He answered me.'

God's Bountiful Provisions Demand a Response of Love

The many blessings and deliverances God provides should lead believers to love Him more and walk more obediently.

Weaver asks, 'Has He supplied your needs? Has He kept you alive? Has He dried your tears... Why then do you not love Him more?'

Scripture References

Psalm 18:1: David's declaration of love and determination: 'I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.'
Psalm 116:1: David's reason for love: 'I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications.'
John 14:21: Jesus equates love with keeping His commandments.
John 14:24: Jesus states that not keeping His sayings means not loving Him.
1 John 5:3: Love of God is keeping His commandments, which are not burdensome.
1 John 2:3-4: Knowing God is evidenced by keeping His commandments; claiming to know Him without obedience makes one a liar.
Deuteronomy 6:5: Command to love the Lord with all heart, soul, and might.
Deuteronomy 30:6: God circumcises hearts to love Him with all heart and soul.
Deuteronomy 30:16: Command to love the Lord, walk in His ways, and keep His commandments.
Joshua 23:11: Exhortation to take heed to love the Lord.
Psalm 31:23: Call for saints to love the Lord, who preserves the faithful.
Psalm 97:10: Those who love the Lord hate evil; He preserves their souls.
Galatians 6:1: Restoring a fallen brother with meekness, considering oneself lest tempted.
Jeremiah 44:4: God's command not to do the abominable thing He hates (sin).
1 John 2:1: John writes so that believers may not sin, but if they do, they have an advocate.
Psalm 119:9, 10-11: Cleansing one's way by God's word; hiding it in the heart to avoid sin.
Revelation 15:4: God alone is holy; all will fear and glorify Him.
1 John 4:19: We love Him because He first loved us.
John 15:5: Without Christ, we can do nothing.
Ephesians 5:25: Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church.

Historical References

David's victory over Saul and enemies: Psalm 18 is set in the context of David's deliverance from King Saul and his enemies, prompting his declaration of love.
Peter's denial of Christ: The account in John 21 occurs after Peter's three denials, and Jesus questions his love three times.

Important Quotes

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

David's determined declaration of love, which is the foundation of the message.

I love the Lord because he had heard my voice and my supplications.

David's reason-based love, introducing the concept of delineating motives for love.

He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.

Jesus' definition of love as obedience, a key scriptural support.

Love is an act of the will.

Central thesis that love is a choice, not a feeling, enabling obedience to God's commands.

If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him.

Highlights the incompatibility of loving God and loving the world, reinforcing the negative aspect of love.

Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

David's intense, exclusive devotion to God, exemplifying the holy determination required.

What shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me?

David's response of grateful worship and service, showing the practical outworking of love.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does understanding love as an act of the will change the way you approach your relationship with God and others?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that love is a choice, not a feeling, and can be commanded.

[Question]

What are some practical ways you can 'will' to love the Lord daily, especially in times of temptation?

[Context]

Weaver stresses the need for constant, sometimes minute-by-minute, determination to love God.

[Question]

Why is it important to focus first on God's person rather than His provisions when delineating reasons to love Him?

[Context]

Weaver teaches that God's nature alone is sufficient reason for love, even without His benefits.

[Question]

How can recalling specific answered prayers and deliverances strengthen your love for God?

[Context]

David loved the Lord because He heard his prayers; Weaver encourages believers to rehearse such reasons.

[Question]

In what ways does a genuine love for God naturally lead to public worship and service?

[Context]

Psalm 116 shows David responding to God's benefits with vows and praise in the congregation.

[Question]

How does the positive/negative aspect of love (choosing God and rejecting sin) play out in your daily decisions?

[Context]

Weaver explains that loving God means positively choosing Him and negatively rejecting all that is contrary.

[Question]

Why is it significant that Peter appealed to Jesus' omniscience when asked about his love?

[Context]

Peter's response in John 21 shows that love is known by God even when actions have failed.

[Question]

What are some 'benefits' from God in your life that you can delineate to fuel your love for Him?

[Context]

Weaver urges believers to list God's blessings as reasons for love, following David's example.

Applications

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