|
A gross contradiction!
From Spurgeon's sermon, "Love Thy Neighbor"
Christ loved you before you loved him.
He loved you when there was nothing good in you.
He loved you though you insulted him,
though you despised him and rebelled against him.
He has loved you right on, and never ceased to love you.
He has loved you in your backslidings
and loved you out of them.
He has loved you in your sins, in your wickedness and folly.
His loving heart was still eternally the same,
and he shed his heart's blood to prove his love for you.
He has given you what you need on earth,
and provided for you an habitation in heaven.
Now Christian, your religion claims from you,
that you should love others, as your Master loved you.
How can you imitate him, unless you love too?
With you "un"kindness should be a strange anomaly.
It is a gross contradiction to the spirit of
your religion,
and if you do not love your neighbor, I cannot see
how you can be a true follower of the Lord Jesus.
|