Ministering: Pastor Paul Olusola Aderoju
The Presiding Pastor, Christ Apostolic Church Oke-Ayo, Headquarters, Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria
IF YOU LOVE GOD
I thank God and give glory to Almighty God, who protects us and spares our lives. May God continue to protect us in Jesus name (Amen)
Last week, I shared with us “WHY WE SHOULD LOVE GOD“, and I promised us last week that if Christ delayed His coming, and counted us worthy today, I would share with us “IF YOU LOVE GOD“. Let’s once again go into the scripture, John 3:16. Last week I told you that some people made mistake because they believe that only God should love them, which is not so. God Himself wants us to love Him. I also shared with us,”why you should love God”. Today, I want us to concentrate because many claim to love God. Even those that do not serve God say they love Him. So, read with full concentration. “IF YOU LOVE GOD“, what will happen?
Three things that will manifest in your life if you love God. You will know if you love God or not. Please, don’t deceive yourself, by claiming that you love God. If any or all of these three things do not manifest in your life, that means you don’t love God. And I told you last week that you must love God. As a human being, it is dangerous not to love God. You must love God. If you love God, these three things will manifest in your life.
- YOU WILL KNOW HIM AND ACCEPT HIM AS YOUR GOD: Ex. 20:1-3.
If you love God, you will know Him, and accept Him as your God.
This Bible verses say “I am your God“; not idols, not trees, nor animals, and many are worshipping these. God said, “I am your God, and thou shall have no other God except me“. So if you love God, you will know Him as your God, and accept Him as God. He is the only God. Some people that are worshipping other gods are still claiming they love God. Some people do not worship Him at all but if you ask them, they will tell you that they love Him. If you love God, you will know Him as your God and accept Him as your God. He is the only God, there is no other God. Some people accept God as God but still accept other gods as God. You don’t love Him. Let me ask you, will you believe that a wife loves her husband if she has a concubine? If you love Him, you will know Him as your God, and accept Him as God. You will accept that there is no other God. If a wife loves her husband, she will use everything she has got to serve him. Do you love God now? If you love Him, these things will manifest in your life. Love God for He says “I am your God”. So, He is your God, know Him as your God. Love Him!
- YOU WILL OBEY HIS VOICE: Whatever He tells you, you will obey. Let us go into the Scripture. I want to use this verse because of what I want to say about it. Acts 2:1. We are considering the disciples of Jesus Christ here. Before Jesus Christ left this world, He commanded His disciples to stay in one place, that they should not go anywhere, until He endowed them with the Holy Spirit.
And when Christ left, they obeyed His voice. I ask you, “how do you obey God’s voice?” You obey His voice by keeping His commandments. You know what they did here was not easy, because we didn’t know how long they stayed there. But they stayed until Jesus Christ did what He promised to do. None of them went anywhere. If I ask you that you should keep God’s commandments if you love Him, I know you will say “but some of God’s commandments are not easy. Let me share with you this example. In marriage, if we love each other, do you know that there are some things that we do for our partners and because of our partners that are not easy? There are somethings that the husbands do for their wives and because of their wives that are not easy, but they are doing them because they love their wives. Likewise, wives, there are somethings they do for their husbands and because of their husbands that are not easy. But they are doing these because they love their husbands. The same thing happens in our workplaces. Do you know that in our workplaces, there are some things we do that are not easy? But we are doing them because we love money, because we like our welfare, and because of what we want to do with the money we are earning from that workplace. Remember, is it easy for God to surrender His only begotten son? But He did it because He loves us. The same thing must happen to you and me. If you love God, you will keep God’s commandments (whether it is easy or not). For some people, it is only the voice of God that is easy that they will obey. It is God’s commandments that are easy that they will keep. Those commandments that do not tamper with how they want to live their lives, where they want to go, the clothes they want to wear, and the type of life they want to live. It is not so! If you love God, you will obey His voice and keep His commandments whether it is easy or not. It was not easy for the disciples to just wait there. They didn’t know how many days they would be there. Jesus asked them to wait until something happened, and they all waited until that thing happened. Whether easy or not, obey God’s voice and keep His commandments if you love Him. There are many things that are not easy that we are doing for our partners or other people because we love them. I repeat, it is not easy for God to surrender His only begotten son. Remember, He did not surrender Him to be a president or to become a rich man or any other things. He surrendered Him for sacrifice. His only son died for us, is this easy? But God did this because He loves us. If you also love God, you will obey His commandments whether they are easy or not. May God help you to do that in Jesus name Amen.
- YOU WILL GIVE GOD OR PEOPLE WHATEVER HE ASKS YOU TO GIVE: You will give God His due. When we say God’s due, we mean everything God asks us to give. If you are giving to the poor, the Bible says “you are giving God“, not that particular poor, but God. In Matt 5, Jesus told some people that “blessed are you for yours is the kingdom because when I was hungry you fed me, when I was without cloth you gave me cloth”. And they answered Him that “Jesus, but we have not seen you?, When were you hungry, when were you naked?” And He said “once you did it to people around you, you did it to me“. So, if you are giving to the poor, you are giving God. When you are paying your tithes, you are giving God. When you are using your money to do the work of God, you are giving God. When you are helping others, you are giving God. If you are using your talent to do the work of God, you are giving God. So, if you love God, you will give God His due. Most people claim they love God yet they are not concerned about the poor, they don’t give to meet people’s need, they don’t pay their tithes or have time for God. Jesus Himself when He was alive, some were working for Him through their possession. So, if you love God, you will give God His due. You will not deny God what He asks from you. Remember, God did not just say He loves us, but He manifested it by giving the most precious thing to us. The most important thing He got, he gave. That means He loves us. If you are saying that you love God, where are the signs? You are keeping what you supposed to give God. If God says “He loves us“, the right-thinking mind will accept that He loves us. He gave us His only begotten son. We know truly that He loves us. If you claim to love God, where is the proof when you don’t give what you are supposed to give because of God? When you don’t use your talent, wisdom, riches, or time to serve God when you are denying Him what you are supposed to give Him, remember that God did not deny us His only begotten son because He loves us.
Brethren, I urge you, change as from today. Remember that God loves us, but if we refuse to love Him, if we don’t repay Him that love, He will later cease from loving us, and the end will be terrible. May God help you to love Him. If Christ delays His coming, we shall meet again next week.
I thank the lovers of this program. May God be with you, meet your need, continue to touch the area where you have pain, and at the end of everything we shall be counted worthy in His kingdom. Thanks and God bless
