In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of not being deceived by false teachings. He speaks about the joy that comes from knowing God and how it surpasses the joy found in the world. The preacher shares a personal story of a man whose life was transformed after he prayed to God and gave up his vices. This man went on to passionately preach about Christ and his zeal for God was evident to others. The sermon also addresses the question of how one can know if they truly love God with all their heart, soul, and mind. The preacher shares examples of individuals who had a deep love for God and were used mightily by Him. The sermon encourages the listeners to seek the love of God and to devote their lives fully to Him.

Would someone like to open in prayer or not? You can put up your hand if you want to open in prayer. Okay, thank you very much. It's quite amazing. I'm not married obviously, but how are you supposed to love your wife? And how much more are we supposed to love God? Even our wives. There was a man in South Africa. Sorry. There was a man in South Africa, his name was Ethelbert Smith. Quite a hard name. And someone once said, if you could put on your one hand the five greatest people who were ever used in our nation, who have had many godly, godly, godly men. If you could put on your hand the five greatest men who were used by God in our land, one of them would be Ethelbert Smith. He was greatly, greatly anointed and very godly. There were thousands, I think, of people who came to the Lord through him. And you can ask the question, would God use someone mightily if that person did not love God greatly? And I can tell you one thing, Ethelbert Smith loved God. He didn't love God with the love that you have for your mother or the love you have for your wife. He loved God passionately and with all his heart. One day, my dad used this illustration. Ethelbert Smith was sitting in a church and he saw another person sitting opposite. He wasn't preaching at that time. He saw a Bible and there was a hymn book on top of the Bible, on top of the word of God, the word of Christ Jesus who died for our sins. And he walked slowly over to that Bible and picked up that hymnal and took it off. And tears ran down his eyes. He was silent and he just hung his head and he walked back and sat down again. He loved God with all his heart. And God used him mightily. We all know, I told you yesterday, that 2,000 years ago Christ died on a flank. He died with nails through his hands for you and me. He loved us greatly. The Bible says greater love is no man than he that laid down his life for his friends. But Jesus Christ laid down his life for his enemies. That's what we were, sinners. And most Christians, or many Christians who call themselves Christians, that's all they've got. They take what Jesus has to offer, the blood, cleansing. And yet they give so little in return. They give so little in return. You can ask, what does God ask in return? He doesn't just say, yeah, I give my love, I give my life. He says these words in Matthew 22, verse 37 and 38. He says, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. God just didn't give his love to us. He expects back from us everything. And I know it's wonderful how people pray for the love of God. But many Christians, they say to themselves, I know I don't love God with all my heart. But it's alright, I've got the blood. God understands. Even though I want it, I don't have it. It's not that desperate. I'll die and I'll be in heaven with the angels and I'll rejoice with God forever. And it'll be alright that I didn't love God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. But they forget something. The Christians are one day going to be judged. And they're going to be judged by Jesus Christ who died for their sins. And they're going to be judged according to the law of liberty, says James. And if you do not obey the greatest commandment, then you are committing the greatest sin. That's logic. If you do not love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, then you are committing the greatest sin that is in the entire Bible. I believe. But how do you know? How do you know with honesty that you love the Lord your God with all your mind and all your soul and all your heart, but mixed up? That's a question many people might ask themselves. Because how do you know? When I was a little boy, I had a problem. It was a funny thing. It was my parents. I loved them very much. I loved them passionately. If my father died on a cross, I would cry for hours over it. Or my mother. And yet, the Bible says, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And I knew, even though I loved Christ and I was sad that He died, and I was trying to be a good Christian, pray a lot and read my Bible all the time, I knew that I loved my parents more than I loved Christ. I knew it in my heart. I had to be honest. And the Bible says, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. It's not that you mustn't love your father or mother. It's not that you mustn't love your wife. But if you do not love God more than you love your father or mother, then you do not love God with all your heart and you are not worthy of God. I began to seek God, that He would give me His love. And I can tell you with honesty, I came to the point where I know, I know, that if I die now and I stand in the judgment, I can tell God, and He will know it, I loved you more than I loved my father and mother. I can ask you that question if you come to that point, where there is nothing on earth, no one, no person. Like the Bible said, Let the dead bury their dead, but follow the army. There is no one who is more important to you than God. Do you know something? How terrifying this sin is? If you do not love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul, you send people to hell. And you will have to answer for their souls before God. Most people don't realize this. There was a man in India, he was a missionary. It's wonderful to give up your entire life to go to India as a missionary. It's a big sacrifice. But he had a wife. You heard this morning, we must love our lives as ourselves. It's wonderful. But he loved his wife more than he loved God. And nothing much happened. I suppose he brought a few people to the Lord, but nothing much happened. And one day his wife had a terrible sickness, and she was dying in her bed. And eventually he came to the point where he said, Lord, I give her to you. I give my wife to you. Do you know what happened? God looked down from heaven, and I suppose he saw that for the first time in his life, there's nothing that is more important to him than God. His wife he had given up. And you know what happened? Revival swept through that area straight afterwards. After all that time of nothing much happening, he eventually gave up his wife. I don't think she died, but I'll tell you this. This sin of not loving God with all your heart is not something that is nice to pray for. Oh Lord, please give it to me. I need it, oh Lord, with utter reverence. I don't want to be funny. It's a desperate situation that is sending souls to hell. It's a desperate sin. That one day when you stand before God, I don't want to die and stand before God and not be able to say that I loved you with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind, because then I would have committed the greatest sin in the Bible. I was once with a boy who was very much in sin. He smoked and he drank and he took drugs. I found out afterwards. And this boy, I knew him. I tried to bring him to the Lord. I told him about Christ, but he would not. He knew the way, he knew everything. He knew the gospel. But I could not bring him to Christ. I tried my hardest. I went out of my way. Then after I had found this love for Christ, I'm nothing. Don't let me come across as if I am something. I'm nothing. I met him again. It was about three months ago. After a long time of not seeing him. And he swore at me. And in love I reprimanded him. He swore at me again, I think. He was at this place. He was smoking, he was drinking. Then after a while, after a few days, he came to me in my room. He said, Roy, there's something different in you that I didn't notice before. You hate sin. Before you didn't take part of sin. You didn't do it with me. You wouldn't be part of it. But now you hate sin. Something like that. Then he said these amazing words. He said, Roy, there's a joy in the world. Smoking and drinking and these parties and these wonderful things. He said, don't let anybody lie to you. There is a joy in it. It is fun. He said, there's a joy I see in you now which is better than the joy in the world. And I want that joy. He knelt down on that bed. I still remember it. He prayed to God to save his soul. He stood up and he went out, threw away his cigarettes, his drink, everything. He went out testifying that the Lord had changed his life. I met him again after three months. I didn't see him for the last three months. Just before I left for America now, I met him again. He told me how his life had changed. How school, the people had seen his zeal for Christ so much that they had organized a series of meetings at his school where every single morning he preached to Christ, preached to the people of Christ, all the school boys, hundreds of children. And at other times he had meetings. God was using him there. And I would have had to answer to God for those souls that he spoke to if I had not found a love for Christ. You know, it says something in Romans 12 verse 9. You ask the Christian, How do you know that you love God with all your heart? It says in Romans 12 verse 9, Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good. Which basically means if your love is sincere, if your love is true, then you will hate the evil. It's not that you won't be tempted. I'm still tempted. Jesus was tempted, but he hated evil. If your love is sincere, and you can ask yourself, Do I love God with all my heart? If you love God with all your heart, you will hate evil. It won't be just, Oh, it's terrifying. It will be terrifying in your heart if you think that these people are blaspheming in the name of Christ who died on the cross for my sins. Phineas, Charles Phineas, I love reading his autobiography. How the Lord used him. Do you know what? He loved the Lord God with all his heart. No man can deny that. One day he was walking through a street. He didn't cry or anything, but he sensed the sin and heard the blasphemy of his precious, towards his precious Savior who died for his sins. He felt vomited and nauseous. There's a word in the Greek, I think, it means, turn in horror from that which is evil if your love is sincere, if your love is true. It's not something that you do. It's something that you are in your heart. I mean, it's easy to go up and say to the sinners, You're sinners. You're going to hell. I hate your sins. But some people unsaved as these sinners. My own experience, I was once in England in a train. And I realized that only 3% of these people go to church. That's what someone said to me. And I suddenly realized that most of these people every day take the name of the Lord their God in vain. They blaspheme. They do not worry about God. They swear. They sin. And I was brought to tears as I realized that my Jesus who died on the cross for my sins who I love. God filled me with the love then and I think it was for an hour as I cried over my Jesus. I'm nothing. But let me ask you one question. Have you ever cried one tear? One tear about the sin in this world? It's stupid because they're doing it against Jesus Christ who died for my sins. Do you truly love Jesus? Do you truly love Jesus? Brother Ran said something to me earlier this week. He says the second commandment that you should love your neighbors yourself. You can't love your neighbors yourself truly unless you love God with all your heart. There was a young boy William Burns was in Scotland in a time where there had not been revival I think for a hundred years. The state of the church was terrifying. As a young boy he said to his father I don't want to become a preacher. I don't want to be poor. I want to be a lawyer and get lots of money. He didn't love God with all his heart. Then he got saved and said this word I'm going to devote my entire life everything holding nothing back to God. God loved that. One day at 17 years old I don't know how old you people are his mother couldn't find him when she went shopping. Eventually she found him in a little street in Glasgow on his knees crying before God streams of water to the ground. 17 years old. He said why are you crying? He said I cannot stand the tramp of these Christless people on the way to hell. Do you know what happened to him? It wasn't long before God came in revival again. Ten thousand people used to meet as God came down in absolute agony and this young person I'm not saying this can happen to any of you but God loves those who love him. Can I ask you a question? Do you love God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul or do you just learn your scriptures and enjoy praising God and it's wonderful I love it too but I had to come to the point where I had to ask myself do I love God more than my father and mother? Do I love God more than everything in life? More than any ambition I have? I prayed three months ago I am nothing I said I'm nothing but I prayed three months ago on my knees in a prayer meeting we have at college and I said Lord give us not only love for thee but love like it says in my word. Ye that love the Lord hate evil says Psalm 90 something and one boy a very godly fellow was sitting opposite me and he heard me and his heart was touched and he started seeking God for this love he said oh I would love to have this love that hates evil and God loves that and God sees someone actually seeking God for the true love not just and you know what happened like brother ran said you can't love your neighbor you can't love your neighbor if you don't love God with all your heart first and he sought God for this love that hates evil we go on Sundays to a prison and we were struggling there and Satan didn't want us to save souls truly we tried our hardest and God was moving but this person as he sought God to give him this love stood up and he preached and God came down and people in brokenness were saved many of them and I asked him afterwards about it and he says we Christians so often sing Lord I pray Lord I pray Lord I pray Lord I I Lord I pray Lord pray Lord Lord I pray Lord I pray for God people Lord everything. Perhaps they've loved their parents or something else more than Thee. Lord give them the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Give them the desire for Thee and Thee alone. Let nothing else Lord come between them and Thee. But let you be the only thing in their lives Lord. And I pray this for myself as well. Lord let them find and come to the place in their lives where they know I love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. Lord I plead the blood of every single one of them. Cleanse them through and through and forgive them for this sin Lord. This terrifying sin of not loving God with all my heart. Lord I give them over to Thee to do Thy will Lord in their lives. In Jesus name, Amen.