DELIVERED BY
C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Show you the proof of your love." 2 Corinthians 8:24.
IN every Believer's heart there is love to God, otherwise he cannot be
a child of God! In every Christian's soul there is love to Jesus
Christ. How could he be a Christian otherwise? As a consequence of
this, in every Christian's bosom there is a love to the
brotherhood–"We know that we have passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren." In every Christian's breast there is also a love
to all mankind. He practices that second great Commandment, "You shall
love your neighbor as yourself." The spirit of God has cast out the
demon of selfishness and, in proportion as that is the case, the man
possesses the mind of Christ which is love. As all the Law is fulfilled
in one word which is, "love," so the outcome of our holy faith is also
contained in that one word, "love."
Oh that we were saturated with it! Where there is true love in the
heart, it becomes a working principle. It does not lie dormant, but it
works–works abundantly! It is a vital principle that where there is
life there is movement and a measure of activity. It is a principle
that grows and out of its growth there comes fruit. For these reasons
and in these ways, true Believers give sure proofs of the love that is
in their hearts. I wish to speak to you, at this time, by answering
four questions.
I. First, WHAT IS THE EXCELLENCE OF THIS LOVE that we should be so
anxious to prove it? This Christian love must have some great worth
about it, or else we should not be exhorted by the Apostle once and
again to prove that we have it. Remember, first, that true love to God
and the saints in the Christian heart is Divine in its origin. We would
never have loved God if He had not first loved us! And, unless His Holy
Spirit had turned the stream of our affections in that direction, we
would have run away from God and have hated God and we would neither
have loved Him nor His people. It is the nature of the seed of the
serpent to hate the Seed of the woman and as long as we are under
condemnation and wrath and in our natural state, we are on the
serpent's side and we war against that which is good.
"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
Law of God, neither, indeed, can be." If, therefore, we have even a
spark of love to God, God must have given it to us! It is, therefore, a
precious thing because it is of God and we ought to take heed that we
assuredly possess it. And we also should endeavor to live so that
others may be convinced that this Divine principle rules our spirits.
As it is Divine in its origin, so it is surpassing in its energy, for
true love to God exceeds all other love. Does not Christ tell us that a
man must love Him better than father or mother, or the dearest relative
he has, or else he does not love Him at all?
Christ will not be put off with the leftovers of our heart. He must
have our whole heart. All human affections which are natural and proper
are to be held in subservience to this grand and master passion which
is to set our soul on a blaze–love to God in Christ Jesus. He loves
not Christ at all who does not love Him first and last. This affection,
like Aaron's rod, must swallow up all others and our whole heart must
belong to the Lord our God! We must take care that we give proof of an
affection which is so surpassing in its energy, for surely, if it has
such force, it must produce its own proof!
If it were some minor passion–some little narrow jet of flame that
might light up a corner of our being–we might not be so particular
about it. But if it is to fire our entire manhood, it must produce some
effect or else we may well question whether we possess it. This love is
absolutely vital in its necessity. If it can be proven that a man does
not love God, love Christ and love His people, then the life of God
does not dwell in him. Life and love are two words singularly alike
and, when we get to the bottom and radical principle of the spiritual
nature, we perceive that they are singularly bound up together insomuch
that, "He that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him."
These are some of the Apostle John's great little words, which, in
their miniature form, contain whole worlds of meaning. Beloved, we must
love God, or else we are not in Christ! Hence the importance that the
proofs of our love
should be very distinct and unmistakable. We should make our calling
and election sure–and those things can never be sure unless we have
abundant proofs of our love. It is vital in its necessity. However
great that love becomes and I have spoken of it as rising to a
superlative degree, it is warranted by the facts of the case. Love to
God–I will not spend a word in justifying it. Love to Christ–how can
it be necessary to commend it to you?–
"Love so amazing, so Divine,
Demands our soul, our life, our all."
And it shall have it, too!
Do you not say so, my Brothers and Sisters? Do you not yield to this
soft, yet mighty bond–soft as silk, yet strong as iron? It holds us
fast! We cannot escape from it. Not love Christ? Not love His people?
Not love the world of lost sinners? Oh, Sirs, surely we were, of all
creatures, the most brutish if we were to dispute the necessity of
love! "You know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was
rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you, through His poverty
might be rich." Go and love Jesus Christ till men call you a fanatic!
Go and love Him till you give all your goods to feed the poor! Go and
love Him till you lie in a prison and the moss grows on your eyelids!
Go and love Him till you burn to ashes at the stake and you have not
loved Him one whit more than He deserves!
O our best Beloved, You, Yourself, warrant us in permitting our zeal
for You to eat us up and, eaten up, we would be for Your Glory's sake!
This love to Christ has been, in all ages, very eminent in its
achievements. Wherever love reigns in a Christian, it makes him strong.
Faith laughs at impossibilities and cries, "It must be done!" But love
performs the deed, for, "faith works by love." Love is the right hand
of faith. What have not men done out of love to Christ? Truly, the time
would fail me to tell of its exploits. What you shall do, dear Sister,
if you become full of love to Jesus, will astonish you! And what you
shall do, dear Brother, if the love of Christ burns through your soul,
will far exceed what you have dreamed of as yet. Oh, for more love!
Let the martyrs tell you what poor suffering flesh and blood can do
when love strengthens it! Let holy women that have debated and disputed
and bled and died for Christ and in all their timidity and weakness
made brave as lions for Christ tell what love has done! Let the walls
of the Coliseum at Rome; let the arenas of hundreds of amphitheaters
tell how bravely men have played the man–how bravely women have met
death for Christ's sake! All that the Church needs is the Holy Spirit
to baptize her into the love of Christ and nothing will be impossible
to her!
Thus have I tried to commend this love and surely we ought to be able
to prove that we have it. If we have any question as to whether we have
it or not, let us find no rest, day or night, till the grand debate is
ended! We MUST love Christ or perish! Oh, by the certainty that His
saints shall see Him face to face and be like He, let us rise to
something nobler in the form of love to Him than we have ever reached
as yet! This is the love which we are to give proof of.
II. Secondly, WHAT IS THIS PROOF? The text says, "Show you to them and
before the churches, the proof of your love." What proof shall we show?
There are so many forms of action which would prove love to Christ that
I cannot possibly go through them all, especially as each person, I
believe, will give a different proof of his love. There is (to use a
difficult word) an idiosyncrasy about each Believer. He is a man by
himself and his love, if it is genuine, will take a form peculiar to
himself in the proof which it gives. Certain proofs look towards God
and the Lord Jesus. If you love Him, you will keep His Commandments and
His Commandments are not grievous.
If you love Him, you will seek to honor Him–to spread the savor of His
glorious name. If you love God in Christ Jesus, you will be anxious to
extend His rule over the hearts of men. If you love God, you will long
for communion with Him–you will not be satisfied to live for days
without speaking with Him. If you love Him, you will grieve yourself
when you grieve Him–your heart will smite you when you have gone
astray. If you love God, you will long to be like He–you will strive
after holiness. If you love God, He will reign over you–Christ will be
your King. Your mind will be under subjection to Him. Your thoughts
will be guided by Him. Your opinions will be taken from His Word. Your
whole life will be seasoned by His Spirit which dwells in you. Do you
not see that there are hundreds of ways in which you can show proof of
your love towards God? Oh, that we may not be found lacking in any of
these things!
We may show this love, in the next place, towards God's ministers. I
cannot help mentioning them because the Apostle so distinctly, in this
chapter, speaks of himself and his Brothers. And one special way of
showing it is this–if they speak well of you, do not let them have
cause to retract their holy boasts and have to say with tears, "I was
deceived in these people." If any have brought you to Christ, be an
honor to them and to the Gospel that they preach, because, dear
Friends, the world turns round and however retired a minister may be,
yet worldlings are sure to throw the inconsistencies of his people in
his teeth. They say, "That is one of So-and-So's people! Look how he
acts!" And our ministry is hindered and our hearts are grieved whenever
those who profess to have been brought to Christ walk unworthily. Show
us a proof of the love you often express to us as your servants in
Christ Jesus by endeavoring so to walk that when we give our account we
may do it with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable
to you.
Next, show proofs of your love in reference to God's people. How can
that be done? Some of you need to have this thing gone over with you
because you have evidently forgotten it. If you are God's servants, you
love His people and the first proof you should give is to go and join
with them. Say, "Where is the list of their names kept? I will count it
an honor to have my name enrolled." Certain of you say, "I should count
it an honor, but I have hardly the courage to come forward." What? Have
I been sitting these various days to see the timid ones and have you
not all come? We will have another time for you, then, and try if we
cannot get you right, for really, we are not so frightful as you think
we are and you need not be timid about telling to a poor servant of
Jesus Christ that you really love the name of his Master! He will be
glad and so will you.
No, but you say you are half afraid of yourself I wish you were
altogether afraid of yourself. The more afraid of yourself the better,
for you are good for nothing in yourself! But do not be afraid of
trusting yourself with Jesus and when you have done so, then the very
next thing is to become identified with the visible Church of Christ!
If you say, "I love the Brethren," the Brethren may turn round and say,
"Give us a proof of your love. Cast in your lot with us." Do as she did
who, though she had been a heathen, nevertheless clung to one who
worshipped the true God and said, "Where you go, I will go; and where
you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my
God."
And when you have joined the Church, then surely you should show a
proof of your love by a hearty fellowship with the saints. We do not
need you to put your name in the book and to be a professor and then
sit in one of those pews up in the corner and come in and go out and
never speak to anybody! I meet, even now, with some who say, "I have
been at the Tabernacle for months and nobody has ever spoken to me."
Well, I know that there are so many earnest Christians on the watch
here to speak with strangers that if you have not been spoken to it
must be your own fault! Perhaps you are some dreadfully stiff body and
you have frightened them. I do not know, but it may be so. There are
some who look as if they said, "Do not come near me. I do not need any
questions asked me."
We have some Brothers and Sisters who will break through your
stiffness, though, I dare say. But if it is really so, I am very sorry
for it and it need not be so any longer. Speak to somebody at this very
service! I do not dislike to hear a low hum of godly conversation
before service begins, though some people think it horrible. Neither do
I deprecate a little lingering upon the steps and around the
building–you are holding fellowship, one with another, and I like that
it should be so, for we do not meet too often. It is no desecration of
the Sabbath or of the place of worship for Christian people to speak
with one another to edification.
When you join the Church, join it in earnest and converse much with the
people of God! And by your hearty zeal show them a proof of your love.
And then unite with them in all their service. The school needs Sunday
school teachers. You love Christ, you say, and you love the young–show
us a proof of your love! Come and help in that good work. There is
something or other that you can do for Jesus and for His Church–do it
and thus show us a proof of your love! Show the proof of your love by
comforting the saints in affliction–by helping them, as much as you
can, when they are in need–by defending their good name whenever you
hear them railed at. Prove your love by suffering nobody to speak
against them falsely when you are by. Stand up for them! Show them the
proof of your love by bearing with their infirmities.
The Church is not perfect and if it were, it would not be perfect after
you had joined it! You who have so many infirmities, yourself, should
patiently bear with the infirmities of others. If the saints are not
all you would like them to be, remember, nevertheless, that they are
dear to the heart of Christ and He, perhaps, sees in them beauties
which you would see, too, if you had more beauties yourself! Perhaps
your power to find fault arises from your having so many faults
yourself and if you were more sanctified and more like Christ, you
would fix your eyes, as well, upon the beauties of their character as
upon their defects. Show us the proof of your love! I am not speaking
as though I did not see among you abundant proofs of your love–but I
am speaking to some who, perhaps, as yet, have never realized their
position of
privilege in reference to Christ and to His people–and they have never
let their hearts go out as they should go out towards those whom Christ
has purchased with His precious blood.
Show us the proof of your love to the ungodly, too–to this great city
of four millions! Show us the proof of your love by trying to snatch
the firebrands from the flame. Be up and doing. Stand at the street
corners, if you can, and preach Jesus Christ! Scatter the printed
Gospel in every room to which you have access. Talk of Christ to your
work people. Speak of Him to your companions. Endeavor to spread this
potent all-heal–this cure for all manner of spiritual diseases–for
otherwise, talk as you may, profess as you may–we shall have to say to
you, "Show us the proof of your
love."
I have only given you a sort of charcoal sketch of what might be the
proof of your love–I have not drawn the picture or laid on the colors.
Think, dear Friends, how you can give such proof at once.
III. But now, in the third place, WHY IS THIS PROOF CALLED FOR?
Somebody says, "Why am I called upon to prove my love?" Do not grieve,
even if I press it very hard upon you, for your case will be something
like that of Simon Peter when he, too, was pressed exceedingly. Peter
was grieved when his Master said to him the third time, "Simon, son of
Jonas, do you love Me?" Now the Lord did not ask it because He doubted
him, for He knew Peter's heart. Peter's appeal was a true one, "You
know all things. You know that I love You." Do not, therefore, resent
it and say, "Why should I prove my love?" No, but just listen.
True love always longs to prove itself–it does not need a command to
do it! It is waiting for an opportunity. It is so with your domestic
life. You know that it is so! I need not give instances. What a
pleasure it is to show love to those we love! In a far higher degree,
what a delight it is to a Christian to do something for Jesus! If you
have never done anything distinctly for Jesus, what sort of a child of
God can you be? I love my Master's service and I can truly say that I
think that I would do anything for His people–but I am not quite so
sure about that as I am about the feeling that I would do anything for
Him. When I get a hold of something that is distinctly and undividedly
for my Lord's Glory, I am glad to do it!
To break an alabaster box of ointment upon His head is a rich
delight–truly, it might have been given to the poor and have blessed
the poor, but Jesus, Himself, is best! "It is a waste," somebody
murmurs. Yes, yes, but to be wasteful for Christ is the noblest
economy! O hearts that love your Lord, never count the silver when you
are spending for Jesus! Break the box! Pour out the ointment! The room
will be filled with the perfume and it will not be wasted. Even if
there were no nostrils to smell it, if only Jesus had the refreshment
of it, it would be all the better!
I like to enter the glade of a forest where there are spots unseen by
eyes of man and thickets of brush through which nobody but the red deer
has ever passed! I delight to sit down by a little rippling brook upon
a bank of thyme undese-crated by human foot and think, "This is God's
garden and every leaf waves for Him." How dare the poet say that
flowers which were born to blush unseen are wasting their fragrance on
the desert air? Why, they are flowering for God and He delights in them
and they are just the best used flowers in the world! Oh to be just
such a flower as that at times and to feel that you have got away–away
from the gardens where men may come and praise or offend and offer
mercenary prizes for flowers and fruits–away where God sees you and
delights in you! We should try to work for Jesus only. Proof is called
for, not because Jesus doubts, but because He loves to please us by
giving us opportunities of proving our love!
But one reason why we are called upon to prove our love is that it may
become a blessing to other people. The Corinthians were to prove their
love because the poor folks at Jerusalem were starving. It would be of
no use for the Corinthians to sing a hymn about charity while the poor
saints at Jerusalem had not a loaf to eat. No, they must prove their
love that it might be a benefit to others and that the influence of
that love might spread to others, because the Apostle said, "If you
Corinthians do not discharge your promise, those people at Macedonia
will throw it in my teeth and do nothing, themselves, and, therefore,
for the sake of the Churches in Macedonia, you must be generous."
So, Beloved, oftentimes one man, by serving his Master well, stirs up a
whole regiment of other Christians who become ashamed to be doing so
little! I may preach a great many sermons, Brothers and Sisters, but
they will do very little good compared with what your sermons will do,
if, as a Church, you live up to the mark as Christians! If, in holy
love and concord and every Grace, you abound, other Churches will say,
"Look at this Church!" Oh that you may be such saints that others may
be encouraged in their work for Christ by you! That is why you are
asked to prove your love!
You are asked to prove your love, for it is reasonable that you should
do so. God did not love you and keep it to Himself and say, "My name is
Love, but I will do nothing." No! He gave His Son from His bosom, His
only Son, and that
Son He gave to die. God is practical. That which He feels, He
does–that which He speaks is done. We have many idle words, but the
word and mind of God come out in deeds of Grace. Is it not right,
therefore, that we should give practical proof of our love?
IV. Time fails me, or I would have dwelt on the fourth point, namely,
WHO IT IS THAT CALLS FOR THIS
PROOF OF OUR LOVE? I will leave out everybody else but One and say it
is your Lord–your own dying, living Savior who says, "Show Me the
proof of your love." I will tell you how He is saying it. Affliction
has come into your house. There is a dear one dead and Jesus says, "Now
will you kick against Me, or will you yield Me your treasure? Simon,
son of Jonas, do you love Me more than these dear ones? If so, you will
part with them and not complain." "Mary, do you love Me better than
mother, or sister, or friend? If so, you will bless Me when I take them
away. Now is your time–show Me the proof of your love by bowing before
My chastening and love Me still."
Our Lord only takes from us what He gave to us! Let us, therefore,
bless His name! Bereaved one, that may be the proof of love to which He
is calling you. Perhaps you have had a difference lately with one to
whom you ought to be united in friendship and now your conscience is
saying, "Christians ought to live in peace and love." But Satan is
saying "You were not to blame. Do not humble yourself before such a
proud person as your opponent." But my Lord and Master says to you,
"Show Me the proof of your love. Forgive him for My sake even to 70
times seven. And if you have wronged him, confess the wrong and humble
yourself for My sake. Because I washed My disciples' feet, show Me the
proof of your love by washing one another's feet." Attend to that
admonition, I pray you!
But possibly there are some here who have had in their minds the
project of doing something unusual for Jesus, or the Church, or the
poor, or for missions to the heathen. Satan has said, "You must not
give as much as that." Jesus says, "I have prospered you–when others
have failed in business I have taken care of you. Show Me the proof of
your love." Will you not hear His call? Do not hold back your hand and
do not need anybody to persuade you, because that will spoil it all. It
must be spontaneous! It must come from your heart, moved only by the
Spirit of God, if you wish it to be accepted.
Perhaps I am addressing a young man who has been, for years, a member
of the Church and it is crossing his mind, "What shall I do to show my
love?" And, perhaps, it is his ambition to be a missionary in a distant
land. Keep not yourself back, my dear young Brother! Should it rend a
fond connection, or cost you your life, give Jesus such proof of your
love as His Spirit suggests to you! Or is it that you ought to speak to
people about their souls? The Lord will throw somebody in your way.
Give a proof of your love by a holy bravery and speak right out for
Jesus Christ and do not be ashamed. The Lord invites you to a closer
fellowship with Himself, to come higher up the mount of God and to be
more thoroughly consecrated. Then show Him the proof of your love!
I leave this with you. If you love Him, show it! If you do not love
Him, tremble! I will not repeat what the Scripture says, as though it
came from myself, but I would have you remember it. Paul says, "If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema
maranatha"–cursed with a curse at the coming of Christ. So it must be
if you love not Christ. Oh, if you love Him, be inventive! Think of a
new thing that nobody else ever did for Jesus! Strike out a fresh path.
Deny yourselves comforts to have the comfort of proving your love, as
His Spirit shall guide and help you. And to His name be praise
evermore. Amen and Amen.
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The Royal Prerogative