Loving Jesus — Hans R. Waldvogel

The Love That Reveals Whether We Love Jesus

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's go through the rank and file of this meeting tonight and say let me, let me feel your pulse. You know a lie detector will quickly detect if there's a lie in your system.

But here's a love detector that detects quickly whether you're in love or not. Or you can detect people that are in love naturally. But if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that love the Bible says passes knowledge.

If human love can quicken the pulse of a person. And can make them to be so careful. I've seen the worst bums turn into dudes overnight. I have. Fellas that would never think of cleaning their fingernails or pressing their pants or shining their shoes.

Overnight they became gentlemen par excellence. They couldn't talk Brooklyn Vogue anymore. They had to speak to Oxford. Just human attachment. Some human affection will turn a bum into a prince. Parsley doesn't stay that way.

It's just skin deep. That kind of stuff. But the love of Jesus Christ. Oh, that wonderful love without which no man can get saved. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. With all thy mind.

With all thy soul. With all thy strength. Sounds like law. It isn't law. It's a love affair. It's a proposal of almighty God. To a poor beggar on the dunghill. To you and to me. My precious Jesus. Do you want me to love you?

A prince so dazzlingly beautiful and wonderful. Oh, it's because we don't know him. Because we haven't seen him. We haven't gotten close enough to him. Else we'd be wild in our love affair toward Jesus Christ.

There have been people like that. They gave their lives. They said, had I a thousand hearts to give, Lord, they should all be thine. And I tell you, every one of us would say that. If we really got a vision of him.

Hearing the Call to Come Away With Christ

And the reason we don't is because we don't heed his voice. He calls us. He says, come away, my sister. My love, my job, my undefiled. Who are you talking to? Why, says Father, I don't pray for the world.

The world has not known me. The world has hated me. The natural mind is enmity against God. It cannot be subject to the law of God. It can't be in vain you seek the love of God. Or the knowledge of God in the world.

Even among the wise of this world. They don't know a thing about it. They can't. They're constituted of rebelliousness. Of hatred toward God. They can't help it. Even people that talk about God. But he says, come away, my sister.

There is a sister. There is a love. There is a dog. A undefiled. They are the hearts that have come to the blood. To be cleansed. They are the people that have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. And opened their hearts.

Salvation Through Christ's Great Love

And not because they love him. But because of his great love. Where we feel loved us. Even when we were dead in sins. He quickened us. Together with Christ. And raised us up together. In heavenly places.

In Christ. They used to sing in the shade of the old apple tree. That's a worldly love song. That's one of the clean love songs. They sang 50 years ago. Today it's all a lot of trash. A lot of hogwash.

Today it's defiled and rotten. It stinks like a corroding corpse. But that was a nice song. In the shade of the old apple tree. But now in heavenly places. In Christ Jesus. Have you ever been seated there?

Returning to the First Love

Beloved. I'm talking seriously. If any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him be cursed. That's a strong word. But he is cursed. Jesus Christ says I'll throw that candlestick out of its place. Except you repent.

I know your works. I know the gifts of God that I bestowed upon you. I gave them to you. But you've left your first love. What are these gifts for? That people boast of. That we like to boast of. We like to make a fuss over.

We like to make propaganda over the blessings that God gives us. And beloved all the while we're being cursed. We're being cut off from the fountain of living water. You've left your first love. Oh Jesus cannot use me.

He can't do anything with me. That's why he blesses me. That's why he baptizes me with the Holy Ghost. That's why he heals me when I'm sick. That's why he sends the unction of the Spirit upon me. Oh I know your works.

I know that you have discernment. I know all that. I know that you have stayed true to me under all circumstances. But I've got this against you. You've left your first love. What is that first love? Why that first love is my love for himself.

When nothing else bothers me. And nothing else interests me. And nothing gives me any joy but himself. Oh he hanging on the cross. There's my Branko. There's the lover of my soul. There's where he gives me his love.

When I eat his flesh. And drink his blood. When I become united to Jesus Christ. Because that blood was shed for me. That blood was shed as the price of my redemption. That I might become his own purchased possession.

Rebecca's Journey as a Picture of the Bride

I believe a while ago I was using the illustration of Rebecca. When Elisa was sent by Abraham to find a bride for Isaac. And by the leading of the Holy Ghost he had located Rebecca. She was a pretty girl.

She was a clean, pure virgin. And when he knew that that's the girl that God has chosen for Isaac. He loaded her with jewelry. Can you see that Rebecca with her raven black hair. Now adorned with earrings and nose rings.

And bells on her toes. And pearl necklaces. And loaded down like the Queen of Sheba. Coming to her father and coming to her brothers. My! Who is she that comes like an army with a banner. Why they didn't know their sister.

Surely whoever gave her that jewelry has an intention. What is his intention? Oh she could have gone to a dance. She could have gone among the fellows of that age. She could have been a queen in her jewelry.

But there was a purpose in it. They said will you go with this man? Will you become his wife? That's what Jesus Christ is asking of you and of me tonight. Will you go with this man? If any man will come after me.

The Holy Spirit Creates Love for Jesus

That's the first love. When he's your choice. And I'm so thankful to know that the Holy Ghost is here tonight in power. He can make these things real to hearts. He made it real to my heart one time. When I was like a lone sparrow upon a housetop in the Baptist church.

When nobody understood me. They said he's gone crazy. Yes I'd gone crazy after Jesus Christ. And I knew the Holy Ghost had done it. You can't explain it. It's inexplicable. But I fell head over heels in love with Jesus.

I look back upon those days now and I wonder how in the world did that happen? To a kid like me. Day and night I couldn't forget him. Day and night my heart was just in love with Jesus. Not his gifts.

Not his blessings at all. Nothing but himself. How did it happen? Why it happens by the Holy Ghost. It happens by the Spirit of the Living God. Who comes directly from the heart of Jesus to your heart.

That's what it is. That's why he says his arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies. They slay that old man that has cursed you. And they bring life. Life abundant to you. Beloved that's the first love.

It's his love. And he invites us all to come and lean upon his bosom. He invites every one of us to come to him. And to get so close to him. That's what constitutes the first love. He is the fountain of living water.

Christ's Love Proven at the Cross

And there is no life outside of him. And it's because of his great love. Wherewith he loved us. Think of it for a moment. He loved you when you were an enemy. When you didn't think of him. When you sinned against him.

He still loves you. And oh how he loved. How he loved. When he cried on the cross I thirst. They brought him vinegar and he wouldn't take it. That wasn't the thing that constituted thirst. It was the thirst for your soul.

It was that great burning heart of Jehovah. Burning with love for sinners. And he wasn't able to gain their hearts. In any other way but by bleeding himself to death. That's the only way he could gain my heart.

But he did thank God. He's gained your heart. And now he asks how is it? If any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to search our own hearts and see. Dear Lord Jesus. Do I love you? It doesn't mean that I've got a burning feeling.

Obedience When Feelings Are Absent

That's very wonderful when you have that burning sensation of love for Jesus Christ. But there's another way. It's the way of obedience when you feel nothing. When in the midst of a trial. Like Abraham.

When everything had forsaken him. And God demanded of him Isaac. And yet. He did exactly what God told him to do. My father or the three Hebrew children. Shadrach. Meshach. And Abednego. And when they were placed before the choice of a fiery furnace.

They said. Our God is able. And if he doesn't. Our hearts are healed. All this wonderful love of Jesus Christ. The Bible says passive knowledge. The love of Christ. With passive knowledge. The world says love makes the world go round.

And really today. The whole world is plunged into a foul bog. And their songs and their music sounds like. The toads in the dirty stinking pond. Do you call that love? Beloved men hate themselves. I read a testimony of a pretty girl some time ago.

She was an actress. And she says I hate these men that chase me for my beauty. I know they don't love me. They're hogs. That's what the world calls love today. But your heart is too good for that kind of a thing.

The Consuming Love of Jesus Christ

God wants your heart. For eternity. Oh Jesus Christ is looking into our hearts tonight. And he says I've got this against you. You've left your first love. When you've left me. You left your first love.

It isn't something you can produce. It's something that must come by union with the son of God. His love is the first love. That fire. That consuming fire. Our God is a consuming fire. Thank God. And that love of Jesus Christ will consume all earthly loves.

All the things that defile my soul and my body and my spirit. That love of Jesus Christ. Do you want it? Oh you can have it. Jesus Christ loved me when I was an enemy. How much more now? When my heart opens to him.

When my ear is open to hear the voice of the spirit of God. And I tell you it is a great and wonderful distinction to be able to hear the spirit of God. Do you know that the great bulk of people who come to meetings, Pentecostal meetings, don't hear it?

They don't. They hear it with their ears. But it's a great distinction when Jesus Christ has touched you. With the fire of his love. And when that word which is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword won't let you run anymore.

It's like a golden chain around your heart that binds you to Jesus Christ. You can't get away. Others can. You can. They can talk what they please. You can. They can think what they please. You can. They can spend their time like they please.

You can. You're his bride. You're sworn to him. You're one with him. If any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Beloved, we have reached a place in the history of the world when it is imperative for us to wake up.

Readiness for the Bridegroom's Coming

The Bible says, the bright groom cometh. Go ye forth to meet him. And they that were ready went in. Do you know that that lies just before us? It's such a thrilling thought. Such, you know, this Bible is the most thrilling book.

I've been at it over 70 years now. And it becomes more alive. And more brilliant. And more powerful. Every day. That proves that it's God's book. But the wonderful thing is this. It's written for me. My name's there.

My God put my name there. He wrote this book for me. And he wrote it for you. And I made the statement the other day. A physician of note made the statement that he believed, honestly, it would be good for humanity if there never had been a doctor.

And he said it would be good for humanity if all the medicine were dumped into the ocean. He said it would be bad for the fish. But it would be good for humanity. And I said it would be good for humanity if all the books and all the pamphlets and all the writings were burned in a great bonfire.

And people were forced to get into this Bible. All things that pertain to life and godliness are here. Here is the fountain of living water. And people are digging fountains and cisterns that can hold no water.

And they drown in them. And here is the book. Written for me. An old testament. And here is a new testament. I will and I bequeath to you the unsearchable riches of Christ. Who wants them? And the unsearchable riches of Christ are himself.

Drawing Near to the Beloved Christ

Himself. Oh in all his beauty and all his righteousness. In all his godliness. In all his purity. And as I draw nigh to him he draws nigh to me. Hallelujah. He washes me with his own precious blood. Oh that blood.

Isn't it hot? Doesn't it burn? Doesn't it wash away all uncleanness? And he keeps me and holds me as the apple of his eye. Oh come away my sister. My love. My dog. My undefiled. That puts the stamp upon it.

My undefiled. And nothing but the love of Jesus Christ will keep me that way. If any man love me he will keep my words. Friend. What a privilege. What a call. What a call. Living or dying. Loving Jesus Christ.

Go on world with all your siren voices. Go to the devil where you belong. Living alone with Jesus.