 The Proclaimer
Loving The Lord
Paul tells
each of us as individual Christians to, “Try your own selves, whether ye are
in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor. 13:5). This self-examination
needs to be done as objectively as possible. There needs to be a periodic
scrutiny of our attitude and disposition towards life as well as our conduct
and behavior. Without this constant testing of self the dangers of
accepting false doctrine or being overcome by sin in our lives increase
dramatically.
When Jesus was
asked which commandment was first, He replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
with all thy strength” (Mark 12:28). Such a love for the Lord demands
fidelity on our part. We must not allow our allegiance to be to the church,
for Christ is our Savior, not the church. Neither is our allegiance to be
to some preacher. When this occurred in Corinth, Paul made it plain that
this ought not to be (see 1 Cor. 1:10-17). Our love for the Lord will
prompt us to serve Him and be faithful to Him and Him alone.
John writes that
the church at Ephesus had worked hard for the cause of Christ when they
could easily have grown weary; that they stood for truth, maintaining
correct doctrine as they opposed false teachers; that they had persevered in
spite of persecution. The Lord, however, is concerned with man’s heart as
much as with his form of worship and service. And so, it was also said
concerning the church at Ephesus, “But I have this against thee, that thou
didst leave thy first love” (Rev. 2:4).
It seems that in
form, the church at Ephesus was still a “sound church” which fended off
false doctrine, but they no longer had the zeal and vigor they once held for
the Lord and His cause. The fire had simply gone out. They were going
through the motions of work and worship, but there is more to serving God
than adhering to mechanical routine. One truly converted to the Lord never
quits loving Him, and obedience continues to be from the heart (Rom. 6:17).
We cannot love
the Lord without loving His truth. Those that love the Lord will not resent
the plain and forceful preaching of the truth of God. Instead, they will
“long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow
thereby unto salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). But Paul warned about those that
would “believe a lie” because “they receive not the love of the truth” (2
Thess. 2:10, 11). He warned of a time “when they will not endure the sound
doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after
their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn
aside unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). Our love for truth must be so strong
that the preaching of it is to be desired even when our own hearts are
convicted of sin. We must continue to love the truth even when it demands
obedience in spite of inconvenience and persecution. While many may enjoy
and even prefer sermons filled with funny stories, those who love the Lord
and His truth will demand the preaching of the word of God.
Finally, we simply cannot claim to love God and His word without loving one
another. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar;
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom
he hath not seen. And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth
God love his brother also” (1 John 4: 20, 21).
-- Clark Dugger
The Proclaimer
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