“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
I am led to inform some of you of a truth that you may not care to hear, but it does not alter the fact of its truth.
Love, my friends, is not enough.
To those of you who attend what is considered a house of worship, who bow your heads, listen to the sermon, sing the songs and enjoy the company of those present. Who feel the love emanating from the room, even knowing the words spoken to be true, yet spend the entirety of the week barely even thinking about the One you say you serve, to you, these words are truth.
Your love is not enough.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)
To you who say you love the Lord Jesus Christ, who feel a deep emotional attachment to Him, whose heart swells at the thought of Him, yet you never speak to anyone about Him. Barely a word to family and friends, much less to the stranger you meet, singing of His love for you and your love for Him in your heart, but never revealing that love to others.
Your love is not enough.
To those of you who are embarrassed for His name, no matter the excuse you have formulated in your mind, to those who believe that even judging in righteous judgment would seem unloving, that correcting and reproving, much less rebuking would cause you to be seen in the eyes of others as one who is not expressing the love of the Savior. To those who fear not only to speak of the wonders you say await you in His eternal Kingdom, who will not warn the unrepentant sinner of the eternal pain and suffering that awaits those who refuse His love, who deny the Lord Jesus Christ.
To you I say, your love is not enough.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Look at the first few words of the opening verse in this letter to you again.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave.”
Love is an action, if love is not revealed by an action of love, it is not fully and completely love. The emotion may be there, of that there can be no doubt, and no one can dispute that there are those who truly love the Lord in that way of emotion, but without the action of love, that love is incomplete, and it goes far beyond simply adhering to Hebrews 10:25.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Beyond singing the words of the hymn that all present in the church are asked to stand and sing, beyond those emotionally uplifting moments, even beyond, my friends, denying yourself certain pleasures of the flesh and this world because you say you love Him.
We are to reveal our desires to the Almighty in secret, to go into our closet to pray, but He is not to be kept secret, we are not to remain in our closet.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
“But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 10:33)
The love I speak of here, that love you feel so deeply but will not speak to others about, that you have in your heart that you will not reveal to others, is not enough.
If this letter is for you today, I offer you this truth, you are deceiving yourself and you need to stop, you need to admit these truths to yourself, pray with many tears for forgiveness, and ask for strength from the Almighty to start opening your mouth and professing that love to all that will listen.
Whether they hear or not is immaterial, you are the one who needs to judge yourself in this matter, and you must realize this truth, you will be judged by your actions, not only by the feelings of love for Him you say you love.
