Whom Do You Love Most?

(John 4:34)



I. Introduction.

A. Last week

We saw what eternal life is: That you may know God & Son Jesus (John 17:3).

Jesus came that you might know of, about, Him, know Him.

Goal of your coming to Him, of learning, of knowing, of becoming like Him,

Is that you might better know Him

By experiencing His power and suffering

That you might better love, serve/glorify Him.


B. What was Jesus like?

What is this image youre to be growing into?

The first thing well look at is His love for His Father:

How He loved Him most of all,

And served Him with His whole being and life.


If you would know Jesus, this is what you must do:

1. You must love God above all,

2. And serve Him with your whole life.


II. Sermon.
A. Paul says you were predestined to become like Jesus (Rom. 8:29),

And part of that image is loving God most of all.


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1. Thats what Jesus did.

This is what Hes always done.


Lets not forget, He is the Son of God from all eternity

Eternally begotten

John calls Him, The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father
(John 1:18).

This means He was loved by Father from all eternity.

But its also true that He has eternally loved Him in return.

They have always delighted in each other.


Ill: When you love someone with your whole heart,

You want to be with them.

Youre thrilled just to spend time with them.

Theyre all you think about.

This kind of love the Father and Son have,

Only their love is infinitely strong and has been going on from all eternity.


For Edwards, this love and delight they have in each other

Is none other than the Holy Spirit.

This is how he explains the eternal procession of the Spirit.

He is the love of God.

Well see the importance of this in a moment.


2. The point is:

If you know Jesus Christ,
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If youre experiencing His life in you,

This is the kind of love you have for God (the Father and the Son),

And the kind of love you are to be cultivating:


You delight in Them,

You want to be with Them,

Youre excited to be in a relationship with Them,

And to spend time with them:

They are on your mind constantly,

And thrill your heart more than anything else.


Do you love Them in this way?

If youve received their grace and mercy, you do.

Jesus, in His high priestly prayer,

Prayed that the love with which the Father loved Him, would be in you (John
17:26)

That the Father would put His Spirit in your heart

That you might love Them.


Thats why you came to Christ in first place:

Why you want to spend any time with God at all.

Why you want to be with Him at the end of your time here

Because of His Spirit dwelling in you.


If you have this love, why isnt it stronger than it is?

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Maybe its because you havent been cultivating that love as you should.


Ill: If we dont recharge the batteries in these microphones,

Theyll eventually run out of power and stop working.

If you dont recharge the spiritual batteries of your soul

By using the means God provides,

Your desire for Him will weaken,

Though thankfully, it wont go away entirely.


You need to spend time with Him

In His Word, in prayer, with His people, in His service

If you are to be spiritually strong,

If you are to charge your spiritual batteries.


But you also need to avoid the things that drain that power.

Theres something else that can weaken that love

Besides not charging your spiritual battery through the means:

And thats from charging the other battery in your soul.


When you draw power from the world

By spending time in the world

You feed another principle/power source in your soul,

One that weakens the influence of the Spirit that is your flesh.


The more you drink from the worlds fountain

The more you listen to its message,
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Desire what it has to offer,

Spend time with its people,

And give yourself to serve it,

The more you strengthen your flesh,

The more you weaken the Spirits influence in your soul,

The less you love God,

And the less you are like Jesus.


Obviously, this is counterproductive

If you want to be like Jesus, you cant do this

It will set you back it will stunt your growth.


The Spirits work is so precious

And so necessary to your spiritual growth in love

That you should do everything you can to increase it,

Everything you can to preserve it, by not grieving/quenching Him;

And everything you can to drain and kill the power of the flesh in your soul.


If you want to know Jesus

If you want to love God as He did

You must be filled with the Spirit,

And kill your sins.


B. What can you use to measure just how much you love Him?

In the same way you can measure it in Jesus:
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By looking at your life to see just how devoted you really are to Him.


1. Jesus is the perfect example of devotion to God.

This is what our Lord said He would be like.

In our call to worship, He declares, I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your
Law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8).


His obedience was the evidence and the measure of His love for the Father.

But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father
commanded Me (John 14:31).


His love was so strong that obeying Him trumped even His concern for His
basic needs:

My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work
(John 4:34).


It trumped life itself:

He willingly gave His life, as the Father commanded,

That He might bring you life.


Note too that His love didnt come in spurts:

He had a strong and continual desire to fulfill His Fathers commandments,

Especially the greatest: To love the Lord His God with all His heart, mind, soul
and strength (Mark 12:30).


We would expect this, because Jesus is God in human flesh.

We would expect it because He was filled with the Spirit above measure.


2. What we often dont expect is that this is what we are to be like as well
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Thats why God gave us His Holy Spirit.


Thats why Jesus came into the world

To put His Spirit in your heart,

That you might have this love for Him and His Father,

That you would delight in doing the Fathers will,

That you would show the world you love Him by obeying Him,

That you would want to obey Him more than seeking your necessary bread,

That you would love and serve Him:

With all the desire of your heart,

With every thought of your mind,

With all the strength He gives you each day,

With every faculty of your soul.


This is the goal of Jesus work

The reason He came into the world

That you would love and obey Him.


He says to you this morning,

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (John 14:15).

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept
My Fathers commandments and abide in His love (John 15:10).


Do you know Jesus in this way?

Is His love in your heart?

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Do you love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength?

Does your life show you do through your obedience?


When you have a choice between submitting to God or to your flesh, which do
you choose?

When you have a choice between doing what gives Him pleasure or doing what
gives you pleasure,

Between obedience or disobedience, which do you choose?

Do you choose what you know Jesus would choose?


If not, why not?

If its because you dont love Him,

Then you must come to Him

Pray that He would give you the grace to do so.


If its because your love is too weak:

Then stop drinking from the polluted well of this world

Stop refreshing your flesh

Drink instead from the fountain of His grace

Spend time with Him,

Be refreshed in His presence, by His Spirit,

That your love might grow,

And that you might become more like Jesus Christ.

If you really want to know Him, thats what you must do. Amen.


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