God’s Kind Of Love

What is the strongest power in this universe? Is it nuclear fission or fusion? It is said that if man could unlock the power of controlled nuclear fusion; the power of the sun, he would have unlimited power to probe the uttermost reaches of the galaxy in which we live. Couple this with a viable superconductor and an industrial and technological revolution of unimaginable dimensions might be possible.

But what is really the greatest power in the universe? Paul defined it when he penned his famous love poem. The power of love. What is the most powerful force that could be brought to bear in this time of economic turmoil, political upheaval, cultural dissolution and societal breakdown? The old song said it all, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.”

Not the mushy, sentimental sort, written about in the romantic ballads of days gone by. Not the erotic, sexual exploitative emotions, permeating so much of today’s so-called entertainment. An emotion that could be more accurately characterised as lust rather than love.

But the sort that has its source and power in God. An agape love. A Godlike love. The word love (agape) is essentially a Christian word. It has been defined by a selfless act and haloed with a glory that only God could provide. He used it to express His attitude toward all men and women.

The overwhelming thing about this love is that God has made it freely available to all mankind. But He has especially given it as a gift to His children. Paul said this love is shed abroad in a Christian’s heart by the Spirit of the Living God. He also characterised this love as the constraining and motive force that under-girds and lifts up the Christian as he lovingly serves His Lord by serving those around him.

Love finds its highest example in the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. His love was unconditional. A love freely given to and for the unlovely and unlovable; without any strings attached or the requirement or expectation of reciprocation or reward. As Paul also said, “But He commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is a love that is so foreign to the flesh and so strange to the situation of human kind, that it is hard to even conceive it, much less express it in its purest form.

God’s kind of love is not characterised in the life of a Christian by seeking or expressing some sort of constant emotional high. Rather, it is the ongoing totality of one’s utter dedication to serving the Lord and those around him; without an expectation, condition or anticipation of recognition, reciprocation or reward. A presenting of one’s self as a living sacrifice. A pouring out of one’s self upon the altar of selfless service. A giving that continues, come weal or come woe, in  the lean or rich times of life’s experiences. No matter which side of the bed one might arise from in the mornings or what headaches, physical or mental, might afflict one’s day, the constancy of agape love should always prevail. - John White

You'll Know Where To Find Me!

I shared the following old story a few years back at the funeral of an very elderly saint of God whom I had known and loved in the Lord for some twenty-five years.  It is also included in one of my messages in my book of sermons entitled, "What Jesus Said And Did.'

You'll Know Where To Find Me!

"An elderly pastor lay critically ill. In the opinion of his doctor he could live only a few more days. His wife put through a long-distance call to their son, who was also a pastor and who served a congregation in a small town three hundred miles away. Within a few hours the son was at the father's bedside, and the two men prayed together. Saturday came, and there was no change to the elderly man's condition. Calling his son to his bedside, he spoke in a weak and faltering voice: 'Go back to your congregation, son, and preach tomorrow. If I should slip away while you are gone, you'll know where to find me.”

What a wonderful thing, when a father can speak thus to his children. What a wonderful thing at the sunset of life, to know just where we will be at eternity's dawn - in our Father's house, in the company of our Saviour who has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. And what a wonderful thing for a father who is taking leave of his children to know where he is going; and that they, too, by God's grace, will share a mansion in the Father's house above. You'll know where to find me!' Let those of us who are fathers and mothers ask ourselves; have we arrived at that spiritual certainty which enables us to say: 'I know where I am going'? And have we passed on this knowledge and this faith to our children so that we can say confidently them: "You'll know where to find me!' We can do both if, by God's grace, we root our faith - our own and that of our children - firmly in Him who died for us and who even now is awaiting our arrival in His Father's house above." - Pastor John White

Amazing Grace

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of ourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath\ before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Just what is the grace of God? It has been simply defined as the unmerited love and favour of God. This is true. But I like say it this way: “The unmerited love and favour of God acting on our behalf now and forever..” The grace of God not only saves us through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, but it also enables and empowers us to love and serve Him in every aspect of the Christian life. The testimony of the writer of these verses is a tremendous tribute to the grace of God. His story is a story of a classic and complete conversion. His simple statement, “ . . because I persecuted the church of God...” says it all.

What happened to him on the road to Damascus is a clear and undeniable example of the most radical change and spiritual metamorphosis one could ever imagine. The violent hatred, hostility, and horrible slaughter perpetrated by Saul, the powerful persecutor, is beyond our capacity to conceive. Is it not significant that he did it all with great and sincere devotion and dedication to his religion; just as the religious terrorists of our day purport to do? I am sure he had in mind the white hot religious fervour that drove his terrible Jerusalem campaign of persecution when he later penned these words about his great burden for his earlier zealous companions in violence: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. . . “ Is it any wonder the diminutive Paul would later exclaim, “But by the grace of God I am what I am!” Who among us can not make the same assertion?   Amazing Grace!