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The sermon presents Christian love as a response to God’s prior love, especially the Father’s gift of the Son and Christ’s suffering and death for sinners. Spurgeon emphasizes that genuine love cannot be forced; it is produced by grace as believers contemplate Christ’s excellencies and redeeming affection. This love transforms Christian life by making obedience, service, suffering, communion, and trust joyful. Unbelievers are urged to renounce self-righteousness, trust Christ alone, and receive salvation through His blood and righteousness.
Theological center: Christ’s prior, sacrificial love for sinners—culminating in the cross—creates faith and love in the redeemed and draws them into salvation and communion with Him.
Applications: Love the Triune God · Serve Christ willingly · Trust Christ in every circumstance · Trust Christ for salvation
Primary texts: Psalm 31:23 · 1 John 4:19 · Acts 16:31
“O love the LORD, all ye his saints.” Psalm 31:23 LOVE JEHOVAH—so the text runs. God the Father demands your love, and He deserves the warmest affection of your hearts. He has chosen you from before the foundation of the world. He has given His Son that He might redeem you with His precious blood. He has taken you into His family by divine adoption. He has “begotten you again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It is to Him that you address your prayers, it is He who grants you your requests. ’Tis He who glorified His Son Jesus, receiving Him into the heavens as your representative, and He will glorify Him yet again by gathering you together with all His people into the mansions provided for the blessed. “O love the LORD, all ye his saints.” Love the Son! ’Tis He whose delights were with the sons of men of old, He who entered into suretyship and covenant engagement on the behalf of His elect. ’Tis He who with His precious blood has ransomed our souls and delivered them “from going down into the pit.” He is our mediator through whom we pray, and our intercessor who prays for us. He is our Head, our Husband, our King. He it is, even Jesus, who took our nature, and wears a body like our own. ’Tis He who imparts to us His mind now, and promises that hereafter we shall bear His likeness in glory. “O love the LORD, all ye his saints.” Love the Holy Spirit! He has been revealed to us, and is known by us as “the Comforter.” How endearing! “He in our hearts of sin and woe Hath bidden streams of grace arise, Which unto endless glory flow.” He has quickened us when we were dead in sins, He has given us the grace of repentance and of faith, He has sanctified us, and kept and preserved us up till now. He has taken of the things of Christ and has showed them unto us, He has dwelt in our poor hearts, He has been our Comforter, our instructor and our daily teacher, ’tis He who convicted us of sin when as yet we perceived not its malignity, and ’tis He who inspires our hearts and souls with the supernatural will and disposition of living to God. It is of the Holy Spirit we are born again and made partakers of the new creation. It is by the same Spirit we are ultimately to be changed into the image of our Lord from glory to glory. “O love the LORD, all ye his saints.” If a blind world sees no beauty in its God, and therefore does not love Him, yet oh ye saints, love your God. If the enemies of the Most High set up other gods, and bow down before them, if they turn aside into crooked ways, and go a whoring after their false gods, yet, oh…