Required reading
The Works (Vol 4) by William Bates (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon IV (How men are said to be the sons of God).
My summary
This week's sermon is on 'By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments' (1Jo 5:2).
Bates doctrine is that the 'sincerity of our love to the children of God, is certainly discovered by our love to God, and obedience to his commands'.
Thus Bates shows:
(i) who are described by the title 'the children of God' (angels and men);
(ii) what is included in our love to them;
(iii) what the love of God is and the obedience that flows from it;
(iv) how from love to God and willing obedience to his commands, we may convincingly know the sincerity of our love to his children.
What grabbed me
I liked the encouragement that love should be pleasant: 'The obedience of Iove is chosen and pleasant. "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.'' 1 John 5.3. Those that are are strangers to this heavenly affection, imagine that a solicitous diligent respect to all God's precepts, is a melancholy task; but it is delightful to the saints: for obedience is the continual exercise of love to God, the paradise of holy souls. The mortification of the carnal appetites, and the restraint from such objects as powerfully insinuate and engage carnal hearts, is with a freer complacency to a saint, than a sensual fruition of them. The sharpest sufferings for religion are allayed, nay sweetened to a saint from the love of God, that is then most sincerely, strongly, and purely acted. The apostle more rejoiced in sharp tribulation for Christ's sake, than in divine revelation.'
For the true Christian, love towards his brothers is a joy.
Next week's reading
Read Sermon V (How to bear afflictions).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
2 comments:
I enjoyed this sermon very much! We've been having a preaching series on the Beatitudes, and this last Lord's Day was on the verse "blessed are the merciful" so this sermon was another encouragement for me to pray for grace to show love and mercy to the brethren! I especially appreciated this comment:
'The use of the doctrine, is, to try our love to the children go God, to which all pretend, by this infallible rule, our obedience to his commands. This is absolutely necessary, because the deceit is so easy and so dangerous; and it will be most comfortable, if upon this trial our love be found to be spiritual and divine."
We can love the brethren, and not love and obey God, which is just a worldly love of the brethren; but if we love and obey God, then we know that we truly love the brethren in a way that is pleasing to God.
Thanks for the reminder of the command to love others, CJ. We can never hear it enough...
Post a Comment