LOVE
The world will know a follower of the risen Christ by their love. Not love as the world knows it, but the love of God poured out into the heart of the one who believes in the only Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. This love defines God, this love defies the world, and this love exposes the darkness as the light within the believer grows stronger and brighter every waking moment. It is written that he who loves his brother abides in the light, and that light is the life of Christ in us. However, he who hates his brother is in the darknesss and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. So, take heed to yourselves that the light within you is the life of Christ and not the spirit of darkness.
Now, he who does not like his brother is the same as one that hates his brother, the Lord makes no distinction on word play because it stems from the heart. We are called to walk in love, and not to act as insolent little children picking and choosing whom to like or dislike. The command is to walk in love. It is written that we are to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, and that includes people who despise us, and members of our own families who have turned their faces against us.
Love does not keep a litle black book of wrongs committed, love does not harbor resentment, love forgives generously, love is patient, love is kind, but where there is a lack of love, the world will fill in. Jealousy, hate, emulations, strife, bitterness, accusations, pride, haughtiness, arrogance, gossip, back-bitings, and these things many of those who call themselves believers are doing. But this should not be! We should be strengthening one another in the faith, praying for each others needs, supporting one anothers needs, looking after the poor, the widows in their distress, helping the homeless and the helpless, these things are good and right in the eyes of our heavenly Father. But when we neglect to do these things, what makes us any different from the world? Our faith becomes nothing more than clanging cymbals as Paul warned us. What good does it to have all knowledge without love? To know the scriptures down to the letter and have pride as the crown jewel? Where is love when pride sits in the heart?
Can a spring produce both fresh and bitter waters? Or a vine grapes and thistles? Then how much less a believer who claims to walk in the light but yet despises a brother! How will the world know the difference between a disciple of Christ and a servant of sin if the love is not evident? The old hymn, they will know we are Christians by our love, is seldom heard nowadays, having been assigned a place in the museum of antiquities by those favoring more modern melodies. However, its truth cannot be denied. Love is the deciding factor in a believers witness. Without love, there is no viable witness to present, no truth is evident because you are walking in the darkness while despising a brother, sister, father, mother, the stranger, for love knows no distinction as to race, color, education, social standing, male or female, job title, appearances, and goods. Love covers a multitude of sins, and love took away our unrighteous acts and washed us in the redeeming blood of the Lamb of God.
And this Lamb of God became a sacrifice for the sins of the entire world of which we once were, but no longer by faith and the appropiation of that sacrifice through faith. And will we deny others that same opportunity by denying them the love of God? And who made you judges over others? Who are you to determine whether one should receive God’s love or is worthy of it? The scriptures rightly point out the utter hypocrisy of those pointing out the faults of others while ignoring their own as the Lord declares in His parables, or as Paul pointed out in his letter to the church at Rome. Hypocrisy is the bane of the believers and it should not be found among us for it stems from a heart that walks in the dark, and love walks in the light. The two are absolutely incompatible.
Do you pray when you are treated rudely by a fellow worker? Do you treat them kindly and pray for their needs even when they act contemptously towards you and despise that good name by which you are saved from the wrath to come? Or do you harbor bitterness within and hope that God will pay them back for what they are doing to you? Revenge is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. Therefore why are you concerned about God’s revenge? That is His to do, and does not require any urging from you nor are you to take any thought as to how it should be carried out. I have seen with my own eyes as God has taken revenge upon those that despised me even as I prayed for them. We are not called to be the sword of the Lord at this time though there will indeed come a time for the saints of the Lord to execute the will of the Father against all evil doers. But that time is not yet here.
Recall the first martyrs in Christ, Stephen and James and then more as the first persecution spread and Saul went about about arresting and acting as a witness as many were being stoned to death, and how he found great mercy on the road to Damascus, and through his great trials. Think on their witnesses and how they served Christ in the bonds of love which we are to imitate in both words and deeds. Or do we dare to presume that we will not have to endure persecutions and trials to test our faith? Have any of us as of yet endured beatings, stonings, the loss of property and social standing, imprisonment, and even life itself or have we been forced to flee for our lives as other brethern need to do in lands such as Africa, the Middle East, or Asia? Their faith is purified through the trials they endure, and are we to think that we are exempt? Those fiery trials will soon be upon us, and those that we think are our friends will betray us, even those claiming the faith and members of our own families. You need to exercise love now in order to stand when the entire world hisses at you with a hatred so intense because you love that holy name by which you are saved, Jesus Christ.
We have been warned that because this world hates Jesus, it will hate us. Do not expect this world to look favorably upon you, nor to spare you in that great hour of testing as we all must go through the purging fires of persecution. You need to walk in love today, every day and every hour. You need to pray for those who persecute you, prosecute you in the courts, fire you from your jobs, deny your loan applications, harass you in schools, and you need to understand that this is the will of God as you and I are called to be His witnesses in this world of hate and sin and darkness. The world does not know God, and what it doesn’t know, it fears, and fear is the driving force behind hatred. A fear of divine retribution, of judgment, and the fear of holy wrath, Sin is madness, and madness propels the heart ever deeper into wickedness and hatred towards those walking in the light. And we are walking in that light which is Jesus Christ, and this world hates that name and it hates us also. It persecuted Him unto death and they will do the same to us as well.
Walk in love. Do not seek your own will, nor rely on your own understanding, neither are you to seek revenge. But take all things in prayer to the Lord, interceding, pleading, praising, and worshiping with an upright heart. Do not forsake the gathering together to encourage and strengthen one another. Remember that where two or more are gathered in His name, there is the church. It can be in a room, a garage, a living room or kitchen, in a field or the open desert, and believe me that the hour is coming in which you will be forced to do just that, just as they were forced to do in times past. But you and I must walk continuously in love, ready to forgive, pray, and let our lives be examples of godliness and tempered speech. Not given to coarse jesting, destroying our witness through callous displays of worldly behavior, not compromising with the world for we have been called out of it to become His witnesses, and not to indulge in its practices any longer for what witness do we present when we live as though we never left those things behind?
The mark of a true believer is the love of Christ in us, and if we are not walking in love then we remain in the darkness, and that darkness is the reason why we are stumbling. Therefore, don’t let the darkness be your light, but let the love of God be shed abroad in your hearts through the power of His Holy Spirit. Love the brethern, not this world for the love of the world has not the love of the Father. The Father loves men and desires fellowship and seeks those willing to come to His Son and become His disciples and to walk in His love, and not the love that the world knows.
This world is fading and is corrupt and love of the world and the things that are in it are not of God. You need to know the difference between Godly love and worldly love and choose. You cannot have both. One leads to life and the other to death.
Life is eternal in Jesus Christ alone, whereas the world leads to death eternal. You must choose before that decision is no longer yours to decide.
I remain a brother to the faithful in Jesus Christ.
Edward L Ordway
