The Love of God – The Divine Demonstration

[00:00:00] If you would turn with me to the first letter of John and chapter three, I'm going to read to you from verse 13 to 16. [00:00:19] Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you. [00:00:23] We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. [00:00:30] He that loveth not abideth in death. [00:00:34] Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. And ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. [00:00:45] Hereby know we love because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [00:00:58] And then in the fourth chapter, I'm going to read from verse seven to verse 21. [00:01:06] Beloved, let us love one another. [00:01:10] For love is of God, and everyone that loveth is begotten of God, and everyone. [00:01:20] And he that loveth not knoweth not God. For God is love. [00:01:28] Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him here in his love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. [00:01:52] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [00:02:02] No man hath beheld God at any time. [00:02:06] If we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us. [00:02:14] Hereby we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit. [00:02:21] And we have beheld and bear witness that the father hath sent the son to be the savior of the world. [00:02:32] Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. [00:02:42] And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. [00:02:47] God is love, and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. [00:02:56] Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because as he is, even so are we in this world. [00:03:09] There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath punishment. And he that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen cannot love God, whom he hath not seen. [00:03:43] And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. [00:03:55] Can you hear me? [00:03:58] Now shall we bow together in a word of prayer and lets all unite together to really ask that the Lord will overcome all these obstacles and help us to really receive something from him. [00:04:11] O heavenly Father, we are so thankful that this evening has not taken thee by surprise. [00:04:18] And were glad, Lord, that therefore thou hast made a special provision of grace and power for this evening. Now, Lord, we take that grace and power. [00:04:32] We pray for the one who speaks, Lord, that thou wilt give him strength in voice. [00:04:38] And that thou help all of us to hear physically the words as well as to hear what thou art seeking to say through the human language. [00:04:49] O father, how glad we are that thou hast given us an anointing. And by faith, together we stand into that anointing, that it may operate fully in this time. And that in spite of all these difficult conditions, we may be enabled to overcome and may be enabled, o Lord, to meet with thee and to receive from thee. Now we pray for any children that are here, Lord, that thou wilt keep them quiet because of these peculiar conditions. [00:05:22] So that all of us may receive from thyself and hear thy voice. And we ask this together in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:05:39] Well, now, this evening we come to the last of the times that have been my responsibility. [00:05:53] And as you know, I've had this burden about the love of God. [00:06:00] Based on that little verse in Philippians, chapter one and verse nine. I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment. That ye may approve the things which are excellent, that ye may be sincere and void of offense unto the day of Jesus Christ. [00:06:30] In that first evening we had together on this matter, I spoke upon the divine command. Hear, o Israel, the Lord thy God is one. [00:06:46] Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [00:07:02] On that second evening we spoke on the divine challenge. [00:07:10] Lovest thou me tend, my lamb? [00:07:18] Lovest thou me shepherd, my sheep? [00:07:25] And the third evening we spoke last night on the divine diagnosis. [00:07:33] You have left your first love. [00:07:38] Repent and do the first works, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, except you. Repent. [00:07:52] Or again, I would that you were hot or cold, but you are lukewarm, therefore I will spew thee out of my mouth. [00:08:04] Be zealous therefore, and repent. [00:08:11] Now, tonight I want finally to speak on what I have entitled the divine demonstration. [00:08:22] The divine demonstration. [00:08:26] God has demonstrated that love of his in a supreme way. Of course, everything about God is a demonstration of love. [00:08:43] Bethlehem is a demonstration of love. The ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ for those three years or more was a demonstration of love. But it was his work on Calvary that was the supreme demonstration of love. We read it this morning in the message that Stephen brought to us in revelation, chapter one and verse five and six, where it reads, unto him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins in his blood and made us to be a kingdom and priests unto his God and father. To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, to him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins in his blood, blood, and made us to be a kingdom and priests unto his God and father. What wonderful words. Or again, those very well known verse, I imagine known to every single one in this place tonight. [00:10:07] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. Or in the passages that we have read in one John and chapter three and verse 16, it says, hereby know we love because he laid down his life for us. [00:10:43] Or again in chapter four and verse nine, herein was the love of God manifested to us that God sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him. Or verse ten, herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Or again, verse 19, we love because he first loved us. The demonstration of his love. [00:11:41] I would like you for a few moments to consider the mystery of the cross. [00:11:49] In all the mysteries that there are in the Bible, there is no mystery as fathomless, as immeasurable, as incomprehensible as the mystery of the cross. [00:12:07] It was six short hours from 09:00 in the morning till 03:00 in the afternoon, that Jesus the Messiah finished the work of our salvation and save to the uttermost everyone who comes to God by him. [00:12:35] 6 hours on one day in time, we can fall very easily into a trap of thinking, a way of thought that somehow, because it was only 6 hours, hours of suffering, it must have been easy for the Lord Jesus. Relatively speaking. It must have been light, a light burden for him. Relatively speaking, it could not have cost him so much. 6 hours. Many of us have known people personally who have suffered not for 6 hours, physically and mentally, but for months and months, and some of them for years. [00:13:24] There are martyrs that have suffered far, far more than 6 hours what then really happened on the cross? [00:13:39] Sometimes, because our salvation is the free gift of God, we pay nothing, we can do nothing. It is given to us by God freely and of grace. We can imagine that it is cheap because it costs us nothing in one sense except unpopularity and a humbling of ourselves before God and before men, that somehow or other this salvation was cheap. [00:14:17] But into those few hours of time was condensed a suffering, a world of anguish, of death that is beyond comprehension and beyond computation. [00:14:43] It was a world of suffering, of death contracted into a few hours in the person of the Messiah. [00:15:00] It was a measureless cost. [00:15:04] It was a fathomless pain. [00:15:08] It is, as I have said, far beyond all human comprehension. Not the greatest theological minds in the world, nor the most devout spirits who have ever been saved by the grace of God can fully comprehend what it cost the Lord Jesus to save us. [00:15:31] It is beyond human computation. Only God the Father and God the spirit know what the Son did on the cross and the price that he paid. It is essential mystery that we face. [00:15:54] How did Christ become sin for us? [00:16:03] How was he in the words, the inspired words of the apostle Paul? How was he who knew no sin made our sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him? Can anyone explain it? [00:16:27] To what extent did he become our sin? [00:16:33] What did he do to him, the father? [00:16:41] Human language, even when divinely inspired, is totally inadequate to describe or define exactly what happened in those 6 hours on the cross. [00:16:58] Indeed, it is a noteworthy fact that none of the evangelists try to tell us exactly what happened. All they do is to describe the outward facts in an almost journalistic style. They say at 09:00 he was nailed to the cross and he prayed, father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And then they just tell us the different things that happened, the cries, the torments, the jeers, the darkness that came, the final great cry of the Lord Jesus Christ. They tell us that the veil was went into. It's just almost journalistic. They don't try to define exactly what happened in those 6 hours, and they certainly do not explain how he became sin for us. [00:17:57] I think that that is a noteworthy fact. [00:18:03] Furthermore, there is another noteworthy fact, and that is the evangelists do not dwell upon the physical sufferings of the Lord Jesus. Sometimes christians make a great mistake by somehow trying to describe all the different aspects of crucifixion. Now, crucifixion is a hideous and horrific death. [00:18:32] But it is a most interesting thing that none of the evangelists, nor any of the writers or the letters of the New Testament dwell upon the physical sufferings of Christ. It is as if they are saying to us, those physical sufferings, the outward cries, the outward acts, they are the least part of this story. [00:18:56] The real story is unknowable, untellable. It is in the invisible. It is what happens behind what is seen. [00:19:07] And so they do not even try to tell us. It is an interesting fact that the apostles and other writers of the rest of the New Testament nowhere tried to tell us in detail how Jesus bore away the sin of the world, or how he became the sin of the world, or what tasting death for every man actually meant, to what extent he died. [00:19:37] They don't try to describe it or define it, or fully to explain it. They just tell us the facts in the most glorious manner. They say he died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. They say he that knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. They simply tell us the facts and the glorious consequences of which they were witnesses and of which they had real and original experience. [00:20:20] All this I find of tremendous import. In fact, if I may say it, I don't know if you're with me there in the dark, because I can't see you. [00:20:32] For all I know, you might have all stolen back to your rooms. [00:20:40] It is a most remarkable fact that the greatest, most detailed account of what happened to Jesus in those 6 hours on the cross is not found anywhere in the New Testament. It is found in the Old Testament, and it is found in the 22nd Psalm. [00:21:10] Because in the four gospels you have the eyewitness account of a spectator watching the form of the messiah on the cross, suffering and dying. [00:21:25] But in the 22nd Psalm you have the whole scene described, not by a spectator watching the person die and suffer in the midst, but through the eyes of the one who was pierced in his hands and his feet. [00:21:45] It is a most remarkable account for that very reason. Furthermore, if we believe in the traditional authorship of King David, we have the history of King David chronicled, and nowhere can we find any such experience that he had when his hands and his feet were pierced, or when they all gathered around him and jeered and so on. It is an amazing account. Furthermore, nowhere in the New Testament do we have a more detailed definition of what the Messiah did in those 6 hours than in Isaiah, chapter 53. [00:22:32] That goes farther than anything you will find even in the New Testament, in describing how he was wounded for our transgressions, how he was bruised for our iniquities. How the chastisement of our peace fell upon him, and how with his stripes we are healed. [00:22:54] So I could go on and on and on. There are some people who perhaps subconsciously, if not outwardly ever, they would not say it outwardly, but subconsciously feel that since Jesus was God, surely it was relatively easy for him to save us on the clothes, as if what he did on the cross was a kind of sham. He went through something in order to satisfy the legal requirements of our being justified and saved and delivered. This is a lie. [00:23:36] If you look at Mark's gospel and in chapter 13 and verse, let me just find it. Chapter 15 and verse 33, we read this. And when the 6th hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the 9th hour, that is, from noon until 03:00 in the afternoon, a darkness came over the whole land. The very light of the sun faded. Now those of you who know a few things about the universe will know that this could not have been an eclipse. Some people tell us that it was an eclipse of the sun. But there has never been and could never be an eclipse of the sun for 3 hours. [00:24:35] What then happened when the light of the sun failed and darkness came over the whole earth? Unless it is found? The answer is found in a little verse in colossians and chapter one and verse 17, where it says in him, all things hold together. [00:25:03] And when Jesus was made sin for us, it was as if a sword went not only through the heart of the creation, but through the very godhead himself. [00:25:18] It was as if God. May I speak without blaspheming? It was as if God shuddered, halted, hesitated for a moment, contracted within himself, and as if the universe trembled and the very natural light and energy of the universe faded for 3 hours. [00:25:43] Dear friends, for me that speaks volume. [00:25:51] It means that this 6 hours on the cross was no cheap, easy matter, but in some way it cost God everything to save us. [00:26:11] Now, dear ones, if you can hear me and you understand me, what I am saying is the real story of what happened on the cross in those 6 hours is unknowable and untellable. [00:26:35] The real price that he paid, how he was made sin for us, we shall never really know. [00:26:49] The outward facts that have been recorded for us are the merest indication of that unseen and untellable story. [00:27:05] For me, I think it is as if we stand on the brink of an ocean of unutterable, inexplicable, incommunicable anguish. [00:27:24] And all we can do is bow our heads in worship because here we have the demonstration of love such as this world has never, ever known. [00:27:45] The mystery of the cross. You know, I dont think any child of God will ever be delivered from cheapness, from familiarity, from not fearing the Lord, until they come face to face with the mystery of the cross. [00:28:06] Sometimes the way we behave, sometimes the way we speak, it almost sounds as if it was the easiest thing in the world for God to save us. [00:28:17] But it was not. [00:28:20] Love paid a price that not a single one of the saints individually will ever be able to comprehend, nor all of us put together. [00:28:40] I would like to say something about the work of the cross. [00:28:45] What happened? [00:28:47] As I have said, we shall never fully know. But at least there are some scriptures that bring us face to face with this mystery and the glory of it. For instance, take the one that ive quoted a number of times. Well just go through these scriptures. Ill make some comment and underline certain facts about them. But maybe they will leave you with an understanding at least of the love of God for you and for me, such as youve not had before. [00:29:21] Two Corinthians, chapter five and verse 21 says, him who knew no sin, God made to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. In him. Did you hear these well known words? Him who knew no sin, the sinless one, God made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God. God's righteousness. [00:30:13] In him a divine exchange. He was made my sin, and I have been made his righteousness. [00:30:26] Can anyone explain it? Can anyone understand it? [00:30:33] Let me take you to another scripture in the Old Testament. In Isaiah and chapter 53 and verse six, listen to the words. [00:30:44] Isaiah 53. Six. [00:30:48] All, we, like sheep, have gone astray. [00:30:52] We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Now, in the Hebrew, the word, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And the Lord has caused to gather on him, to meet in him the iniquity of us all. Now, this word, iniquity is the strongest word in the Bible for sin, the iniquity of us all, all the iniquity of the world, from Adam to the last one that will ever live, the iniquity of Adolf Hitler, the iniquity of Mussolini, the iniquity of Stalin, the iniquity of Nero, the iniquity of all these evil, demonized men. And John iniquity and my iniquity, the iniquity of every century of time, all of it was cause to gather in him, to meet in him all. We, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Let me give you another scripture. In John and chapter one and verse 29. Oh, these are so well known scriptures, I'm sure to all of you. But may they come home in a new way tonight in these unusual circumstances. Behold the lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. The lamb is one of the sweetest creatures in the world. [00:32:50] A little lamb is by its very being a symbol of purity, of life, of freshness, of almost sinlessness, of spring. [00:33:07] Behold the lamb of God, who beareth away the sin of the world. Look again in John and chapter three and verse 14. This is what it says. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life. Did you hear that? [00:33:41] As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. How has the lamb become the lifted up serpent? [00:33:59] What has happened that somehow the lamb should have become a lifted up serpent? Why a serpent? [00:34:09] I think the serpent is the exact opposite of everything. The lamb is cunning, full of guile, full of poison. [00:34:20] So, as it were somehow to do with death, to do with darkness, it belongs to an underworld almost. [00:34:30] How is it that that poison which has come into the bloodstream of humanity, of mankind, has been taken upon the lamb, and the lamb in some way has become the uplifted serpent, so that all of us bitten by this evil, by the power of darkness, by God's great adversary, can in him have eternal life? [00:35:07] Look again at another scripture in the letters of the apostle Paul in Galatians and chapter three and verse 13. [00:35:19] Listen to the words. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. [00:35:38] This word cursed in the Hebrew means excommunicated, banned, put outside of the covenant, people, thrown out of the redeemed community. [00:35:55] Thats how it was looked upon. And Jesus became a curse for us. [00:36:03] He was made sin for us all our iniquity was laid on him. Him, the lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world, became the uplifted serpent, that anyone who looks to him may in him have eternal life. [00:36:26] Curse. [00:36:28] Excommunicated so that we who are under the curse and already excommunicated may be reconciled to God. And then I want you to look at another verse, or at least I will read it to you. Mark and 14 and verse 27. Here is, for those of you who are Bible students, a very interesting verse. And jesus saith unto them, all ye shall be offended. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered aboard. Now, jesus was quoting from the prophet Zechariah. But the prophet Zechariah did not quite put it that way. This is how he put it in the hebrew version, Zechariah, chapter 13, verse seven. Awake, o sword, against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord. [00:37:33] Now, the septuagint says exactly the same. [00:37:37] So it is to me, an inescapable conclusion, that the Lord Jesus made it abundantly clear when he quoted the prophet Zechariah, that when God said, awake, o sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my fellow, says the Lord, that it was the Lord who was smiting him. [00:38:05] And he said, it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. So now we at least understand this, that the Lord Jesus in those 6 hours was made sin for us. And when the lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, became the uplifted serpent, God struck him. [00:38:40] And in that moment, out of his anguished heart was torn the cry recorded in Matthew. Let me find it for you. We've got mark 15 and verse 34. [00:39:01] My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [00:39:13] That was the moment when darkness came over the face of the earth, when somehow God withdrew from his son, and when the Lord Jesus, being made sin for us, was struck by God. [00:39:33] And lastly, theres one more scripture I want to give you in hebrews and chapter two and verse nine. And this is what it says. But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even JesUS, BECAUSE of the suffering of deatH, crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God, he should taste of death for every man. [00:40:05] He should taste of death, death for every man. A vast universe of sin, a vast world of iniquity, a world of abomination, all placed upon him and done away with all the pain of history, all the sickness and disease of history, all the death that is our common lot. [00:40:42] He tasted, condensed into the experience of 6 hours. [00:40:55] And in that work which he finished, he took with him into death an old world order, an old creation poisoned by the serpent. [00:41:11] A man. An old man, an old nature who could never satisfy God and never serve God acceptably. [00:41:22] For at the end of those 6 hours, Jesus cried in weakness, I thirst. [00:41:33] And he was given vinegar to drink a kind of sour wine. [00:41:40] And then suddenly, he shouted with a loud voice, and John, the apostle says, he cried, finished. [00:41:55] And in that moment, the veil of the temple with those great cherubim woven on it, seven, eight hands thick, so enormous it was, the Talmud tells us, was torn in two from top to bottom. What a shock for the priest on duty that day, when suddenly he heard the sound of a mighty wind, a rushing noise, like a great steam engine, going through the sanctuary. And looking round, he saw what must to him seemed blasphemy. The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, and he stood gazing into the holiest of holies. [00:42:45] It is no wonder to me that the acts of the. The apostle says that a great company of the priests and Levites believed the story must have gone right through them all. What would the earthquake, what with the saints who rose from their tombs and appeared to people in the city? They must have thought, what is it? It happened exactly the moment he died. [00:43:08] The moment he cried. [00:43:10] That moment it happened. [00:43:18] Dear people of God, I don't know whether you are able to receive what I am saying this evening in these somewhat difficult conditions, but I have no doubt that the enemy would do anything to stop us from really understanding even a little of the mystery of the cross. [00:43:42] Some people think this is kindergarten stuff that shows how trite and stupid they are. [00:43:52] This is not kindergarten stuff. [00:43:56] This lies at the very heart of the kingdom of God. [00:44:03] For when John the apostle, looking into eternity, saw the rainbow encircled throne of God and saw the one who was and who is and who is to come sitting on the throne, and saw in his hand a scroll with seven seals sealed up, which any jew knew was a testament, a will, an inheritance. [00:44:33] And when the voice said, who can break the seals? Who can fulfill the purpose of God? Who can secure for God what he has ever desired? No one moved in heaven or on earth or under the earth. And John burst into tears, and an angel came and touched him and said, john, don't cry. Look. [00:45:08] And John turned toward the throne, and there, in the midst of the throne of him, who was and who is and who is to come, the eternal, he saw a little lamb as it had been slain, and he took the scroll out of his hand, and he broke first one seal, and then the next and the next and the next and the next, until the seven seals were broken. And then all kinds of things began to happen as John watched. He saw vision after vision after vision. And out of the 7th seal came seven trumpets. And out of the 7th trumpet came seven bowls. And at the end of the 7th bowl, Babylon was destroyed. And then there was a great hallelujah that went up from the whole assembled multitude in heaven. Hallelujah. The Lord God, the almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad. For the marriage. Supper of the lamb has come. And the bride hath made herself ready. [00:46:34] Dear, dear people of God, I can never tell you how much I at least, least, and I'm sure all of you must feel the same, how humbled one is before God to believe that he loved you. And that he loved me so much that he gave himself to save us, to bring us into this purpose of love, to bring us into this bride of. To bring us into this city of glory, to bring us into this eternal vocation. [00:47:17] It is a love story from beginning to end. Has anyone, even those dearest to you and nearest to you. Has anyone ever put on you the price that the Lord Jesus placed on you? [00:47:33] Has anyone ever, ever put a cost on saving you and delivering you that God has put on you? Oh, dear people of God, how wonderful all this is when you really think about it. The demonstration of love. Some people say to me, how do I know God loves me? [00:47:59] Oh, that the spirit of God would touch the eyes of their hearts. [00:48:05] Here is the supreme demonstration of the love of God. [00:48:12] We love because he first loved us when we were ugly, when we were dead in sins, when we were blind in our willfulness, when we hated him or ignored him, he had us in mind, and he gave himself for us. I can think of no more wonderful word than the word of the apostle Paul. He loved me and gave himself for me. [00:48:54] What is the result of all this? [00:49:00] The result, it seems to me, can only be what we find in Romans chapter eight. They are so well known words. Let me read them to you. [00:49:15] What then shall we say to these things? [00:49:20] If God is for us, who is against us? [00:49:26] He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not also with him freely give us all things? [00:49:43] Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus, the died. Yea, rather that was raised from the dead. Who is at the right hand of God? Who also maketh intercession for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [00:50:18] Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword, even as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [00:50:47] Nay, in all, listen. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves. [00:51:06] For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature or creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [00:51:51] I don't know whether what I have said this evening, it's difficult, because I can't see any of you to know just whether anything has somehow awakened accord in you, or met some need in you, or given you some little understanding of just how much God loves you. [00:52:16] There is a little phrase in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians that says this. But God, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, quickened us together with Christ, and raised us up together with him, and made us to sit together with him in heavenly places. O dear child of God, will we ever, ever fathom the love of God? Will we ever be able to walk out of the love of God? Has the love of God got boundaries to which we can come and somehow exhaust it? No. It is limitless, unsearchable, fathomless, measureless. [00:53:13] Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to be loved by God. Now, if this is true, then listen again to the apostle Paul. [00:53:28] I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that ye may approve the things which are excellent, that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Jesus Christ. [00:53:52] Can you understand the apostle Paul's concern? [00:53:58] And I believe God has put this. This burden on me for this very reason. Dear people of God, we are moving into times of unparalleled disorder and change and shaking and strife and darkness. [00:54:23] If there is one thing more basic, more essential, more vital than anything else, it is the love of God shed aboard in our hearts. [00:54:41] Without it, we are nothing. Without it, everything we do profits us nothing. We are noisy gongs and clanging symbols. [00:54:53] But if we have that quality of first love in us, if that flame of his love engulfs us, then, dear people of God, we shall be kept by the power of God in these days that lie ahead. [00:55:16] And we shall know what it is for the body to build up itself in love. [00:55:23] We shall know what it is to be servants one to another. Through love. [00:55:30] We shall know what it is to persevere together until God brings that top stone into its place with shouts of grace, grace unto it, dear people of God, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [00:55:57] Thats what the apostle John said in one John and chapter three and verse 16. I always think its interesting that Johns Gospel, chapter three and verse 16 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But in one John chapter three and verse 16 we have the next step. Here it is hereby know we love because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [00:56:45] And again in chapter four and verse eleven, beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [00:57:01] Don't you think that somehow or other this matter of love is not just a luxury or some sentimental ecstasy, but is an essential, the essential constituent in the things of God? [00:57:23] If what lies behind the perseverance of God with us? [00:57:29] If what lies behind the redemption of God? [00:57:35] If what lies behind the atoning work of the Lord Jesus? If what lies behind the gift of the Holy Spirit? If what lies behind the sanctifying grace of God? [00:57:52] If what lies behind the goal of God? The aim of God is divine love. Oh, dear people of God, we need this love more than I can ever say. [00:58:10] May God inflame your hearts with a hunger and a thirst for him. [00:58:17] May these words come back again and again and again to you, and may he be enabled to find in you and me that response of love which alone will finally and fully satisfy him. [00:58:47] I dont know whether I can remember it fully, but there is a beautiful poem or hymn of Charles Wesley which through the years has been one of my favorites. [00:59:05] Maybe the Lord will just help me to remember it. [00:59:09] O thou who camest from above the pure celestial fire to impart kindle a sacred flame of love on the mean altar of my heart. [00:59:28] There let it for thy glory burn with inextinguishable blade and trembling to its source. Return in humble prayer and fervent praise, Jesus, confirm my heart's desire to work and speak and think for thee still. Let me guard the holy fire and still stir up thy gift in me, ready for all thy perfect will. [01:00:18] My acts of faith and love repeat till death thine endless mercies seal and make my sacrifice complete. [01:00:40] Shall we pray, O Lord, when we consider something of the mystery of that finished work of our Lord Jesus on the cross at Golgotha, we are humbled, Lord, to the dust o, forgive us in this 20th century, Lord, for our lukewarmness, for all our apathy, our indifference, our familiarity with thy things, O God, we treat this matter of the cross as if it is a we treat our salvation, Lord, as if it was somehow easy for thee because it was free for us. [01:01:44] O God, give us a glimpse that will change our lives tonight of the measureless cost that thou didst pay to save us. [01:01:58] And may, as that dawns upon our hearts, Lord, may a new love be born in us. [01:02:08] May that great love of thine and our little appreciation of it, Lord, filling us anew, may it beget in us a love for thee, O Lord, that will be first love in its quality. [01:02:26] And may that love mean that we shall love our neighbor as ourselves. Lord, O Lord, do this we pray enough. [01:02:36] Kindle a sacred flame of love on the mean altar of my heart. [01:02:46] O God, may we be people in whom the fire of God, the fire of thy love is found burning yet more and more. [01:03:01] And Lord, may we be assemblies, communities, companies of believers all over this nation, all over Canada, all over the world. [01:03:14] May we be communities of people burning with the love of God in whom the flame of divine love is found first love, Lord. [01:03:26] O God, only thou canst do this. [01:03:30] Baptize us afresh with that love of thine and grant, O Lord, that we shall never be the same again. [01:03:41] And we ask it together in the name of our Lord Jesus. [01:03:48] Amen.