1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. I. WHAT RELATION WE STAND IN TO GOD. II. THE RELATION WE BEAR TO ONE ANOTHER. 1. We are all creatures made of the same ignoble materials, and derived from the same Hand. 2. We all agree in one common nature. 3. We have all of us occasion for the assistance of one another. 4. As to the injuries we may receive, they do not come up to our sinning against God. (1) Our sins against God are more numerous than the injuries one man offers to another. (2) Another difference is the greatness as well as multitude of our sins. 5. Let us consider the relation we bear to one another as being united in one common Christianity, and having embraced the same profession of faith. A motive this, to love, the most prevailing that can possibly be urged. III. WHAT BENEFITS GOD HATH CONFERRED UPON US. Were our minds fully possessed of a hearty sense of the extreme bounty of God, we could not be so base as to deny Him the only returns we are capable of making, that is love and compassion for one another. IV. THE KINDNESS AND LOVE WE ARE CAPABLE OF SHOWING THOSE OF THE SAME FRAME AND CONSTITUTION WITH OURSELVES, COMES PRODIGIOUSLY SHORT OF THE MARVELLOUS FAVOURS AND REPEATED KINDNESSES WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD. (R. Warren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.WEB: Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. |
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