OceanSide church of Christ

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RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE TRUTH (2)

 

Love the Truth

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.  The first responsibility one has to the truth is to hear the truth.

 

B.   When truth is proclaimed, one must love it dearly and deeply.

 

C.  Let’s look at this responsibility to the truth.

 

I.         THE PRECEPTS ON LOVING THE TRUTH

 

A.  Psalm 119 is a psalm about the Word of God.  In this psalm, the writer affirms his love for truth numerous times.

1.    Psalm 119:47

 

And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

 

2.    Psalm 119:97

 

O how love I thy law!  It is my meditation all the day.

 

3.    Psalm 119:113

 

I hate vain thoughts:  but thy law do I love.

 

B.   Loving God’s law is mentioned once in the New Testament.

1.    It refers to those who do not love God’s law.

2.    II Thessalonians 2:10

 

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

 

a.    These individuals heard the truth.

b.    But, there was no love for the truth.

c.    Therefore, they were going to perish instead of being saved.

 

II.       WHY SHOULD A PERSON LOVE GOD’S WORD?

 

A.  We should love the Word of God because it is the Word of our Father in heaven.

1.    We know the passage that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God” (II Tim. 3:16).

2.    I only have a few words scribbled down from my earthly father.  I do not have any instructions from my father to me.

3.    We do have instructions from our heavenly Father in the Word of God.  These words should be extremely valuable to us.

 

B.   We should love the Word of God because of its character.

1.    It is truth (John 17:17).

2.    It is divine wisdom (Prov. 2:6).

 

For the Lord giveth wisdom:  out of his cometh knowledge and understanding.

 

3.    It is pure (Ps. 119:140).

 

Thy word is very pure:  therefore thy servant loveth it.

 

C.  We should love the Word of God because of what it reveals.

1.    Romans 3:24

 

Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

 

2.    II Corinthians 5:19

 

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses to them…

 

3.    Titus 3:5-7

 

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

D.  We should love the Word of God because of what it does for us.

1.    Saves us (James 1:21)

2.    Guides us (Ps. 119:105)

3.    Protects us (Ps. 119:11)

4.    Comforts us (I Thess. 4:18)

5.    Give us hope (Ps. 119:49)

 

III.      OUR MANIFESTATION OF LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD

 

A.  Awe

1.    Each of us should stand before the Word of God with reverence and respect.

2.    Isaiah 66:5a

 

Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word…

 

3.    Examples

a.    The children stood up at the reading of God’s law (Neh. 8:5).

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up for to read.

 

b.    Josiah (II Kings 22:11)

 

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.

 

B.   Affection

1.    Affection is defined as emotion, feelings, sentiment

2.    Some of the feelings we should have toward God’s Word are fondness, tenderness, friendliness, liking, friendship, attraction, and enthusiasm.

3.    Some may think that it is odd for us to tell you that love for God’s Word involves an affection for the Bible which is an inanimate object.

a.     We can have affection for inanimate objects (Ex., cell phones).

b.    God’s Word is not inanimate.  It is living and powerful (Heb. 4:12).

c.    The words are the expression of the one who revealed the words, God himself.

 

C.  Appreciation

1.    We should be grateful to God for revealing His Word to us.

2.    We should be grateful to the inspired men who wrote this message down often to their own peril.

3.    We should be thankful to those who accurately copied the text and translated it into our language for us.

4.    We should be grateful for the Word itself that does so much for us.

 

D.  Appetite

1.    Our love for something is seen in our appetite, our desire, for that something (i.e., seafood).

2.    I Peter 2:2

 

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.

 

a.    Every mother should immediately grasp the desire that one should have for the Word of God by this simile.

b.    It should be a desire, a hunger, a longing that will cause one to suffer if it is not fulfilled.

3.    NOTE:  Our appetite for God’s Word is not natural like the hunger pains we have for food.

a.    This is a desire that we must constantly develop.

b.    This is a desire that we must constantly maintain.

 

IV.      HOW MUCH SHOULD BE LOVE THE WORD OF GOD?

 

A.  There are levels of love that individuals can have for things.

 

 

B.   What is to be our level of love for God’s Word?

1.    Psalm 119:127

 

Therefore I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold.

 

a.    The price of gold is currently about $1200 per ounce.  One pound of gold would cost $19,200.  Fifty pounds of gold would be $380,000.

b.    Which would you choose to have?  The Word of God?  Or, fifty pounds of gold?

2.    Psalm 119:167

 

My soul hath kept thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.

 

a.    Definition of exceedingly

1)     Strong (3966):  vehemently (strongly emotional, passionately)

2)    BDB:  much, abundance, force, greatly, very, to a great degree, with muchness

b.    Have you ever seen a person who is a fan of football and loves it exceedingly? (season tickets, tail-gating, TV, stats, paraphernalia, constant talk).

c.    Our behaviors and conversations should manifest the fact that we love the Word of God exceedingly, that is, to a great degree.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.  Love is a powerful emotion.

 

B.   Love drives one to do many things for the object of that love.

 

C.  It is essential for all of us to love the Word of God.

 

D.  If we do not, we will perish.