1st John 4:8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
1st John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
I heard a great sermon today from 1982, preached at the First Baptist Church of Hammond by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), that will save your marriage, friendship or church if you'll heed Dr. Hyles' godly counsel. The sermon is titled...
Some people continually put God on trial every day for the circumstances in their life.
Dear reader, just decide once and for all that God is good. Psalms 145:9, “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”
Just decide once and for all time that God is faithful. 1st Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Just decide once and for all that God is always right. Psalms 18:30, “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.”
Just settle it once and for all that God is no respecter of persons. Acts 10:34, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.”
Just settle it once and for all that God is righteous and merciful. Psalms 116:5, “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” You get the idea.
The phrase “God is” appears 90 times in the Old Testament, and 59 times in the New Testament. Ladies and gentleman, we serve a wonderful, fair, loving and kind God.
Let it never be heard from your lips that you hate anyone, for if you do, it will just prove that you never really loved that individual at all. It will reveal your shallowness and immaturity as God's child. Let the heathen talk that way!
God does not have love; God is love. The LORD is the very embodiment of love, because He is LOVE! Why don't you get off the judge's bunch tonight. Why don't you stop putting everybody in your life on trial for the way that they treat you. ...
Matthew 7:1-3, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
If I am your friend, there is nothing that you can do to jeopardize that. When my wife cruelly divorced me in 2006, she said that she didn't love me anymore. That means she never did love me at all. Such hateful words never came out of my mouth toward my wife. Once you love somebody, it is for life, if it is true love. I am not talking about falling in love (aka, “puppy love”). I am talking about God's unconditional love for every living creature, the same love which nailed Christ to a cross 2,000 years ago for our sins.
I cringe when I hear preachers spewing hatred for sinners. The true test of a Christian's love is not whether you love Jesus, it is whether you love Judas. I decided a very long time ago that I am going to love every human being on earth, regardless of how good or rotten they become. I hate sin. The Bible commands every saint of God to hate evil, as the LORD hates evil (Psalms 97:10). You cannot be right with God if you don't hate evil. Evil is planned sin. Abortion is evil. Sneaking around on your husband is evil. Feminism is evil. Anarchy is evil.
Dear friend, we should never accept the sin with the sinner, nor reject the sinner with the sin. God sent His only begotten Son into the world to die on a criminal's cross for our sins (John 3:16). Let it never be said that God hates anybody, not even the vilest sinner. Truly, the LORD hates all sin, for which He chose to sacrifice His life in death on Calvary's cross, but God does not hate anyone. God hates sinners in the sense that they are defiant against His Word, but He doesn't hate the individual. I learned a very long time ago from Pastor Jack Hyles to view difficult people as being broken, not bad.
Dear reader, let us love one another. There is so much hatred in the world. I watched a few music documentaries over the past couple weeks. I love the music of the 1970's. I enjoy some of the song by the ban, Bread. I was surprised how much the band's members hated each other's guts with a passion. They'd perform without talking to each other, and then go to their separate hotels after the concert, full of pride and resentment. The same can be said of The Beatles, The Eagles, Megadeth, Boston, Hall & Oates and countless other bitter rivals who sued each other in court over money and control over their music. It is so sad.
John 15:12, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
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