Sunday, July 20th - Love that Compels

The Lord Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those would persecute us. This text was the focus of Stan's sermon and gave us plenty to meditate on and to continue to consider as we seek to obey our Lord.

As I have continued to consider this, I cannot help but think of missions and the proclamation of the Gospel as the ultimate fulfillment of this command. As Stan mentioned during the sermon, in Psalm 139, King David states that he hates those who hate God; they are his enemies who he utterly despises. Under the Old Covenant, David could remain this way and be considered to be a man after God's own heart.

But the Gospel has brought a different command. The apostles could not agree with King David. Paul would not go into pagan lands if he hated those peoples with an utmost hatred. He did not view them as enemies that he wanted to see destroyed and crushed, but rather he desired to see them redeemed and brought near to God and to one another in the Body of Christ. He begged them, as though God were appealing through him that they would be reconciled to God. This is love. This is the commandment of the New Covenant.

May God grant to us the love which our Lord spoke about. May He empower us through the Holy Spirit to pursue others in love, and may His sovereign mercy go forth for the glory of Christ.

Christ and His Bride

As we draw near to Tim and Christy's wedding this Saturday, these words from Spurgeon ought to draw us near to Christ...

"What I am driving at, and what I want every Christian here to get at, is this thought. Whatever Jesus Christ is—and you do not know half of what He is, even you who know most of Him—whatever Christ is in any relationship, or from any point of view, He has given Himself to us! Not merely has He given His thoughts, His actions, His wisdom, His power and His wealth but He has given Himself to us. Oh, I like to think of this! All that I can imagine Christ to be must still fall far short of Himself! It is Himself that we love and I would sooner have Christ than have Heaven! It is Himself we love and I would sooner have Christ than His crown! It is Himself we love and I would sooner have Christ than all the golden streets! It is Himself that we love and it is Himself that belongs to us—not merely the sight of His eyes, but His eyes themselves! Not only the love of His heart, but His heart itself! Himself, His Godhead and His Manhood, the complex Person of the Christ of God is given to His Church!

I feel as if I do not know how to talk at all about this great Truth of God. Some Brother cried out this morning when I was speaking, and I noticed that somebody else immediately followed him. But oh, if ever there is a time for crying out—and yet, on the other hand, if ever there is a time for being struck with silence—it is when we get on this topic of Christ’s love to His people! I feel as if I need to run from this platform and go home—and shut the door and sit down—and weep to the praise of this mighty love! And then I should want to get up and run back, again, and say, “What a fool I was not to tell you all I could about it!” May God the Holy Spirit help you to realize it! That you are loved by anyone is a joy, for love is a precious thing, whoever gives it. But you, Believer, are loved by Christ! You are so loved by Christ as not merely to be espoused to Him, but united to Him in eternal wedlock! You are joined to Him in such a way that you must, by-and-by, be with Him in all the Glory of His royal estate, for the King will bring His queen home and He will bring you home to dwell with Him forever and ever!"