Chambersburg Bible Church

Do you love God?  Do you really love God? I am amazed at the number of people who say they love God yet seem to have little or no understanding as to what love for God is.  It is easy to say “I love God,” but love for God is difficult to measure.  Love cannot be measured with a ruler or a yardstick.  You cannot pour love into a measuring cup to find out how much you actually have.  Love in not a commodity that you can carry in a paper sack.  Love for God is an allusive concept!

Does that mean that those who say they love God simply must be taken at their word?  Is it possible to determine if a person’s love for God is genuine?  Is there an objective standard by which love is gauged?  Is it possible to be involved in religious activities and not love God?

Many people deceive themselves when they equate religious activity with love for God.  Jesus predicted that there would be those who were outwardly connected to God through religious activity, but who did not truly love Him (Matthew 25:31-40Matthew 25:31-40
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: ³² And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: ³³ And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. ³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? ³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? ³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? ⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  
).  Fortunately, Jesus addressed the issue of loving God with His disciples in John 14:15John 14:15
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.  
.  Jesus declared that active obedience to His commandments was proof that a person loved Him.  Based upon Jesus’ statement it is possible to evaluate a person’s proclaimed affection for God by examining their willingness to order their lives after His words.  Habitual obedience to the commandments of Christ is the acid test of one’s love.

The obvious question then is this: “Which commandments must we obey?” If obedience is the standard, which commands require obedience?  The short answer is all of them!  God has not issued any superfluous commandments.  Everything that God speaks is important and He expects complete obedience.  Since obedience indicates love and since God demands complete obedience, where do we begin?  It is impossible to examine all that God commands in this short article, but I want to look at one.

In Acts17:30, God commands all men to repent.  No matter whom you are or where you live, God universally commands everyone to repent.  The idea behind the word “repent” is to change your mind.  God expects man to think differently, but think differently about what?  God commands us to repent of our sin!  Sin is breaking God’s law (I John 3:4John 3:4
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?  
).  If you have ever broken any of God’s laws (this includes The Ten Commandments), you have sinned.  In God’s eyes you are a law-breaker (James 2:10James 2:10
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.  
).  You are a sinner (Romans 3:23Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  
) and your sin has separated you from God (Isaiah 59:2Isaiah 59:2
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. have hid: or, have made him hide  
)!  Not only that, but your sin has earned you death (both physical death and spiritual death) (Romans 6:23Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  
).  To further complicate the matter, sin makes you God’s enemy (Romans 5:10Romans 5:10
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  
).

In light of these basic truths, you can see why God commands you to repent (Acts 17:30Acts 17:30
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  
).  Sin is the very thing that hinders you from loving Him.  Sin separates us from God and man is powerless to close the distance (Romans 5:6Romans 5:6
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. in due time: or, according to the time  
).  God sent His Son, Jesus, to bridge the gap that sin created.  Jesus bridged the gap by paying the penalty for our sin when He died on the cross.  By repenting of your sin and asking Jesus to forgive and save you, you obey the commandment of God.  It is impossible for a person to say they love God if they are unwilling to obey God’s foundational commandment.  Do you love God?  Do you really love Him?  If you really love Him you will keep His commandments!

Text: Jonah 4:1-3Jonah 4:1-3
4 ¹ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. ² And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. ³ Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.  

Topic: Gleaning life principles from the Book of Jonah

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The book of Exodus tells us that Moses received a very clear command from the Lord at the burning bush. God had called him to be a deliverer of His people, and instead of responding to the call, Moses offered excuses (fear, speech, incapable).

The book of Judges tells us that Gideon received a very clear command from the Lord while he was beating out the wheat at the wine press at Ophrah. God called Gideon to deliver His people from the oppression of the Midianites, but instead of responding to God’s call, Gideon offered excuses (fear, lack of family prominence, youngest child).

In the book of Jonah, we also find a servant of God running from the calling of God, only not simply through excuses, but through a naïve response, fleeing the presence of the Lord! In Jonah 1:1-2Jonah 1:1-2
Jonah ^{1 1} Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Jonah: Gr. Jonas ² Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.  
, the prophet receives a very clear calling to preach deliverance to Nineveh.

Jonah 4:1-3Jonah 4:1-3
4 ¹ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. ² And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. ³ Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.  
tells us why Jonah fled.

• Jonah knew that God delighted in mercy
• Jonah knew that God was longsuffering
• Jonah knew that if God was willing to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of 10 righteous souls, He would most certainly spare Nineveh should the people repent.

Jonah did not disobey out fear, but he disobeyed because he was partial

• Jonah fled because he knew God well
• Jonah fled because he knew what kind of people the Assyrians were
• Jonah hated the Assyrian people

• The servant of the Lord is not free to choose his place of service
  • Jonah was a true prophet
    • Even though the Book of Jonah contains no prophetic message, it is still one of the minor prophetic books
    • Jesus refers to the Book of Jonah twice
    • Jonah was zealous for the Lord’s righteousness
      • Jonah understood God’s character
        • Jonah understood God’s grace and mercy
        • Being a Jew he was a member of God’s chosen people
        • Jonah understood God’s power
          • Jonah 1:8-9Jonah 1:8-9
            8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? ⁹ And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. the LORD: or, JEHOVAH  
            – God controls nature
          • Jonah 2:7-9Jonah 2:7-9
            7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. ⁸ They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. ⁹ But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.  
            – God hears prayers
      • Jonah was a good man
        • He was passionate for God’s glory
        • G. Campbell Morgan said: “A passion for righteousness, which makes us vindictive and incapable of forgiveness, even in the case of those as cruel as Nineveh, puts us out of fellowship with God.”
      • Jonah was willing to go anywhere except to Nineveh
        • The servant of the Lord becomes disobedient if he limits God’s call to service with any exception clause.

• God determines where we are to service
  • God called the prophets to preach His message to a specific people
    • Noah, the preacher of righteousness
    • Jeremiah, the preacher to God’s stubborn people
      • Jeremiah 1:8Jeremiah 1:8
        8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.  
        – “Do not be afraid of their faces”
      • Jeremiah 1:17Jeremiah 1:17
        17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. confound: or, break to pieces  
        – “Do not be dismayed because of their faces”
      • Jeremiah 5:3Jeremiah 5:3
        3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.  
        – “Faces would be harder than rock”
      • God called the apostles to preach to specific people
      • God calls us to a specific task

Supporting Texts:

• Matthew 12:39-40Matthew 12:39-40
  39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: ⁴⁰ For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  
  
• Matthew 16:4Matthew 16:4
  4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.  
  
• Acts 10 (Peter’s calling)
• Acts 16 (Paul’s calling)

Pastor Ben Fisler

Text: John 15:5John 15:5
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. without me: or, severed from me  

Topic: Jesus saved our souls so that we could be involved in active service for Him

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• The Potter’s Instruments
  • The potter uses several implements to bring the clay to a place where it is usable.
    • Hands / Shovel / Mallet / Wheels / etc…

• The Potter Deals with the Problems of the Clay
  • Many times we feel we are fine, but then the temptations of life come our way.
  • It is easy to get off course in our life
• The Potter Has Patience When Molding the Clay
  • He does not throw away the clay but he molds its into the likeness he has for it
  • We need to ask ourselves are we totally yielded to the Lord’s molding of us

Supporting Texts

• 1 Corinthians 9:271 Corinthians 9:27
  27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.  
  
• Hebrews 13:5Hebrews 13:5
  5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  
  
• 1 Corinthians 4:131 Corinthians 4:13
  13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.  
  
• Proverbs 15:3Proverbs 15:3
  3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.