Mat_22:37, Mat_22:35. Supreme Love to God
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind This is the first and great commandment."’97Mat_22:37, Mat_22:35.
I. Let us explain and illustrate the Duty,
II. Enforce it upon your practical Attention.
I. Let us explain and illustrate the Duty.
Now here are three things, the nature, degree, and evidences of love to God.
1. The nature of love to God.
(1) There must be first a true knowledge of God. The mind must be acquainted with him.
(2) There must be approbation of God. Many objects when known are despised.
(3) There must be esteem, so approved as to be esteemed.
(4) Attachment to God. A feeling of affection.
(5) Delight in God; warm glowing affection; that which gives the soul satisfaction, pleasure, and joy in God. The mind drawn to him, united to him, &c.
2. The degree of love specified in the text.
(1) With all our hearts; with all the affections we possess; all our passions going out after God; so that our hearts are comparatively cold to every thing else.
(2) With all our soul or life; life devoted to him. Consider this as the essence, as the sweetness, as the end of life.
3. With all our mind.
So as to fix our mental powers upon him; make him the great object of study, of contemplation, remembrance. Superlatively; soul absorbed with God. Let us consider the evidences of this love. How is it to be manifested to ourselves and to others, that we thus love God? that is, with all our heart, soul, and mind.
(1) God will be in all our thoughts; our first thoughts, day thoughts, night thoughts; our meditation of him will be sweet.
(2) Communion with him will be our delight; cannot be too near, too close and distance will be wretchedness, misery, be deplored, &c.
(3) We shall be jealous for his honor. As we adore and extol, so we shall desire others. Hallowed be thy name.
(4) Our mouths will be filled with his praise; we shall extol and bless and magnify, &c.; from the fulness of the heart, &c.
(5) We shall always be concerned to please him. Speak, Lord, &c. Run in the way of his statutes with delight, &c. Set the Lord always before us.
(6) We shall be unfeignedly attached to his people; love his image wherever we see it, whether rich or poor, with sincerity, &c.
(7) There will be an entire, and unreserved consecration of ourselves to his service; can keep nothing back; he will have our heart, soul, and mind. What have we left? Our time, our talents, our wealth, our ease, yea, life cannot be refused. Sin abandoned; self annihilated; suffering cheerfully endured, death welcomed, &c. These then are the evidences.
II. Let us enforce it upon your practical Attention.
1. God is infinitely lovely in himself.
All that is beautiful, all that is excellent, is in God; in God to an infinite degree. Without mixture. Highest intelligence of sublime grandeur and glory.
2. Our relative connection with him demands it.
"Thy God," who fashioned thee in secret, who wrote all thy members in his book, who gave thee life and all things to enjoy; who made thee a man, not a brute; an intelligent man, not an idiot; who made the events of thy birth so favorable to thy happiness; placed thee in a land of vision; gave thee thy lot in a rich and pleasant place, &c.; "thy God," on whom thou dependest for all things; who holds thee in his hand: blesses thee from day to day Who has all thy concerns under his immediate control; "Thy God," who redeemed thee from destruction; who so loved the world, &c.; whose responsible agent thou art; who numbers all thy actions; watches all thy steps; knows all thy thoughts, and who will bring thee into judgment and decide thy destiny forever.
3. Our eternal necessities, which God alone can supply, demand it.
No creature can ever be independent: angels are not; Adam was not; in heaven all are dependent. The soul will exist forever. Now only one thing can ever make it happy: change of place cannot; nor society, nor employment. God’s favor, the light of his heavenly countenance, all you need will follow this. Then there is a claim upon your love as long as eternity.
Application
1. Congratulate those who love God; rejoice; abound in love, &c.
2. Encourage those who desire to love him.
3. Reason with the enemies of God. What iniquity, what ingratitude, what folly, what eternally direful effects.
Autor: JABEZ BURNS