Love Series # 6

Love of God (d)

Fred Coulter – May 20, 1995

I’ve been studying some rather technical things, and the study that you have for next week when I won’t be here is a rather technical study. And I got to thinking, you know, you can have all the technical knowledge in the world that you want, but if you don’t have the love of God, you really don’t have anything. Now it’s fine to understand the technical things, and that needs to be. But if you don’t understand the love of God, and if it doesn’t come from the heart, then all the technical things in the world are not going to save you. It may be interesting information, it may be fine to try and understand the Bible more, but God wants us to be able to have His love and His Spirit as the primary and most important thing.

Let me just show you in example here. Let’s go to Revelation 2, and let’s look at the church which is called Thyatira. Now this church had an awful lot of problems, and He even says that they have a prophetess; some of them have known the depths of Satan. But notice what He commends them for, verse 19: “I know thy works, and [your love] charity…” So works and love go hand and hand. This is Revelation 2:19: “…I know thy works, and [your love] charity, and [your] service, and [your] faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” So in spite of all of these problems God commends them for their love, and their works, and their patience, and their faith. And they got into trouble (I am sure just like so many do) by getting into the technicalities of philosophy and being taken down with the inner things of Satan the devil. So God is interested in love, and love is really the most important thing that we can do.

Now let’s go to I John 4. Now if you have your study paper, fine; you can follow along with that. Since I didn’t announce to everyone to bring it this week, we don’t have it, so we’ll go right along in the King James because I can still point out the things that are necessary for us to know as we go along with it. And if you have any notes you can go ahead and transfer those to your study paper.

Now first of all, let’s pick it up here in verse 6. Now we’re going to review a few things because it’s been quite a while. And what I’m going to do is, I’m going to wrap up the epistles of John as quickly as possible. Verse 6: “We are of God…” Now God wants us to know that, that we are of God. “…He that knoweth…” Again, if you’re following along with the King James, that means “the one who is knowing.” “…[The one who is knowing] God heareth us…” And how do we understand that we know God?

Well, John tells us. He told us in I John 2:7: “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep [are keeping] His commandments” (I John 2:3). Anyone who knows God is going to keep His commandments. Just turn back to Chapter 2 and let’s just review that, because you will find that the epistles of John fit together almost like a sphere, almost like a ball, everything interrelates one with another. I John 2, and let’s pick it up here in verse 3. It says: “And hereby we do know that we know Him…” So here’s a double affirmation. “…If we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word…” And again, this has an awful lot to do with our relationship with God. It’s not just commandment-keeping, but it is even the Words of Christ. Which word of Christ would you be willing to reject? Which Word of God would you be willing to reject? Well you see, that why it’s this way, so that we understand: “…[whosoever is keeping] His word, in him verily is the love of God [is] perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him” (I John 2:3-5).

So everything that we do in growing in love and grace and knowledge is a perfecting. Isn’t that what Jesus said? He said, “Be you perfect as My Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48, paraphrased). And the first time you read that you think, “My, how can you possibly do that?” Well, you can do that with the Spirit of God, and the love of God. And you know, brethren, one thing that we need to understand and realize, which is this: if God is perfecting His love in you, is it pleasing to Him? Yes. Can you do the things that please Him? Yes. Should not that be taught in the church, that what you do then is to build the love of God and to do the things which please Him, which John talks about? Yes. So you see, it’s very important. Now notice here, verse 6 after it says: “..hereby we know that we are in Him. He [the one] that saith [or the one who is saying] he abideth [is abiding] in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (verses 5-6). That’s the whole reason for the very love of God in our lives. We are to know God.

Now let’s go back to Chapter 4 again, please: “…He that knoweth [is knowing] God heareth [is hearing] us…” And isn’t that what we get with so many of the letters that the brethren write, that, “We’re thankful for hearing the Word of God”? They hear us. “…He that is not of God heareth not us.” Now that’s a good thing to be able to know and understand. “…Hereby [or that is, in this way] know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error [or, the spirit of deception]” (I John 4:6). We’re to know that. We’re to understand the wiles of the devil. We’re to prove whether these things are so or not, as we covered last week. God commended the Ephesians “…for trying them which say they are apostles, and you found that they weren’t, and you found them to be liars…” (Rev. 2:2, paraphrased). Which means that God is expecting us not only with the love of God and His Spirit, but He’s expecting us then to have the kind of thinking and the kind of mind that God has, so we can understand the truth from the error. Which means that you need to be spiritually mature enough to be able read anything, as it were, and be able to discern the truth from the error. And I think just about everyone here is able to do that because you are exercising your senses.

Now hold your place right here and go to Hebrews 5, please. Because when people do not do that… God has given us a mind very akin to His. The only problem is, most people put it to evil. God wants us to put it to good. Now in Hebrews 5 we find something very, very interesting. It shows what happens when you don’t exercise your mind spiritually. Now the other night I was watching Discovery Channel. That’s one of my favorites because they have things on there which are at least reasonably true. Do you know what the most watched channel is today? Just to show you the intelligentsia of people, the most watched channel today is Nickelodeon – the cartoon channel. [Laughter] And I don’t think it’s all children watching it. But if you don’t exercise your mind then you’re mind becomes stagnant. What they were doing, they were showing a special as to what happened when they had to have an operation and take out part of this person’s brain. And that how they were able to reinstruct other parts of the mind to make up for the missing part of the physical brain. They had to do it with training, they had to do with physical therapy and exercise so that the brain would readjust. But what happens is the brain actually changes and can permanently retain these things in another area. So if you have the problem of lack of memory because of age, don’t worry it’s still there. It’s the recall that’s the problem.

Now let’s understand this in relationship to what God wants us to do in growing in grace and knowledge, in growing in love, in growing in the Word of God; letting the Word of God rule in our minds. It becomes a part of us and actually becomes a part of our minds, coupled with the Holy Spirit of God. Now here’s what happens when that is not done. Hebrews 5:11, speaking of Christ: “Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.” They weren’t exercising their minds as God expected them to, to know good from evil, to understand righteousness from sin, to be able to understand the more technical aspects of God’s Word. Verse 12: “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God…” (Heb. 5:11-12). Just like anything else, if you don’t use it, you lose it. If part of your mind is gone, taken out, then you have to reeducate the rest of your mind. Beginning what? From the very basics.

They actually found – they ran a test on this one Japanese boy who had to have a whole half of his brain removed. And everything shifted to the other side of the brain, because the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. And in order for the brain to on one side control both the right and left side, he had to start right back from the very beginning – to move the arm, to move the fingers, to move the eyes, to pronounce the words. But after about two years, this boy was hardly detectable from any other child his age; just a wee bit slower.

Now spiritually the same thing can happen, if spiritually we let ourselves go brain dead, then we have to do the same thing here: “…have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful [unskilled] in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age…” Mature Christians, so that we can discern right from wrong, truth from deception; so that we are able to think properly with the Spirit and the Word of God. And when you have that in your mind, and you put it in your mind, and you study and you grow, and you let God’s Spirit and God’s grace work with you and you exercise it, then you are able to understand. You then become “…of full age, even those who by reason of use [it must be used] have their senses exercised to discern [understand] both good and evil” (verses 12-14). That’s what the Love God will do for you.

Now let’s go back to I John 4, again please. And I know some of this is review, but this is so profound that we need to really repeat it, and know it, and understand it. I John 4 and we’ll finish off verse 6: “Hereby [in this manner] know we the spirit of [the] truth, and the spirit of [the] error,” as it should read in the Greek, or “the deception.” And that’s so important for us to know today, because Satan’s deception is really going to sweep this whole world. And if we don’t know it, if we don’t understand what’s happening, we won’t be able to realize. Ok, verse 7: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God…” And this means in the Greek, “for love is coming from God” to us. “…For love is of God; and every one that loveth [who is loving] is born [begotten] of God, and knoweth [is knowing] God.” I’m reading the correct translation here, I John 4:7, “…And is knowing God.” And we’re going to see when we get to I Corinthians 13, that everything there as I have mentioned, just like in the epistles of John, is in the present tense. It is helping us now doing what we are doing now. “…And is knowing God. He that loveth [is loving] not knoweth [is knowing] not God…” Or you could in the more practical English say: “…[is not knowing God]; for God is love” (I John 4:6-8).

And this is the test for what? This is the test for all of those who are religious and profess religiosity, that if they don’t preach and teach the love of God, which is the greatest thing of the Gospel is it not – are they not missing the boat? Yes. Are they not falling short of what God wants them to learn? Yes. Because everything else is going to fall. Love never fails. The reason is: “…for God is love…” How can you possibly have a religion which does not have love and say it’s from God, and claim you know God when you don’t have love, because God is love? That’s the very characteristic that comes from God. And I’ll also tell you this, I’ve taken my own advice and ask God to help me grow in love. I’ve had some difficult times. So will you. Why? So that you will learn it. And if you get discouraged in growing in love and understanding it, don’t worry about it. Christ came and had to love God the Father and love the world while it was an enemy of His, while it was plotting against Him, while it was seeking to kill Him and finally did.

Verse 9: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love [this defines the true love], not that we loved God…” Because God is love isn’t He? How can we then as human beings go to God and give something to God which we don’t have by nature? We can’t. God has to give it to us, so it comes back to God. That’s why God is not a glob. You try this sometime – get a balloon and fill it with water. You don’t have to put much in there, but you can bounce it around and you have a glob. Now if God is like a glob, how can you love that? How can you have a relationship with that? I mean, you may be able to do some interesting childish things with it, like have a water balloon fight. But how can you love a glob? That’s why God is a person. That why we are to have a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, and that’s why John said in the very first chapter: “…And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (I John 1:3).

Now you can love a thing to a certain degree, but real love is between persons. That’s why God created us the way that He did, so that we can understand His love is a greater expression beyond that. And He wants us to have the relationship with Him, because He loved us first. “…[And that through Him we might live]. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation [which is a continual atoning] for our sins” (I John 4:9-10). Question: Does God know you have a sinful nature? Yes. Did He give it to you by inheritance? Yes. Does it surprise Him if you sin? No. What He wants you to not do is to intentionally, determinedly, with will and forethought and malice, go sin. But it doesn’t surprise God. That’s why it’s a propitiation – continual atonement. And part of overcoming is realizing how wicked the human mind really is, and how much you need that propitiation.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” And that’s the whole basis – you can take this tape and you can put it in there as number four for how a church should function. We ought to love one another. “No man hath seen God at any time.” And he has that in there because I’m sure there were those saying, “Well, I’ve seen God.” “If we love one another, God dwelleth [is dwelling] in us, and His love is [being] perfected in us” as it should read. God is dwelling in us. Christ is dwelling us. That’s what’s so profound and important in the whole aspect of love. “Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit” (verses 11-13). So we can check that. We know that we have the Spirit of God. And having the Spirit of God, we also realize the depths of the evil of human nature. You can’t understand your own mind unless God reveals it to you. People in the world do not try and overcome a thought of temptation that comes in their mind. They may think it’s a really good idea and go right along with it, you see. But with God’s Spirit we’re able to understand. That’s how we know. And we know that we know with the Spirit of God. And He wants us to grow in that love, and grow in His Spirit, and grow in His grace in a continual, expanding and deepening relationship with Him.

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God…” Now that means truly, truly confess that. “…God dwelleth [is dwelling] in him, and he in God. And [hereby] we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love…” (verses 14-16). And that’s the only thing that’s going to straighten out the church of God, brethren. As I mentioned in my last letter, all the reorganization in the world, if there’s not repentance and the love of God it isn’t going to straighten any thing out, because of what the whole church and the whole world is going through – is to realize that unless they love God, life really is miserable. Life is rotten.

 “…God is love; and he that dwelleth [is dwelling] in love…” (verse 16). That is, living. His way of life is living in love. Now that’s hard to do. That is really hard to do. But you can do it with the Spirit of God, and that’s why he’s telling us that if you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, you can do it. Now it’s going to take some effort, because everything we do, spiritually, is going to take some effort. God hasn’t done it for us that we do nothing. Otherwise He would’ve just made robots. You could have happy little robots all programmed running around. No. But to come to the understand love, and truth, and have God’s Spirit in you is really a profound and fantastic thing. Especially living in an evil world. That is a great accomplishment, brethren. What God is doing is marvelous. You consider all the odds against it. That’s why it takes the Spirit of God, you see.

“…And he that dwelleth [is dwelling] in love [or, living in love] dwelleth [is living] in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect…” (verses 16-17). It’s a whole life long process that finally in the end God has, with what He has already created with your mind and the way it functions, as we described just a little teeny bit of it – with God’s Spirit in us, to come to that perfect love. And then that perfect love is, as much as we can have it perfected in this life, at the Resurrection, and we have a spirit mind, and we have a spirit body; and we have the true seeing God face to face, and seeing Christ exactly as He is, can you imagine the profound love that that is going to give us? That’s something. And I think that’s why God has us live in this life the way that it is, and why the evil is there so that we really come to desire the love of God and when all the chips are down and when every episode of life has been lived we know that the love of God never, never, never fails.

So it’s perfected. And what is this going to do for us? “…That we may have boldness [or confidence, or courage] in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world” (verse 17). Now because of this love God does something so profound for you, that it still takes an awful lot of understanding to realize. God says, “Alright, because you love Me with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and being, and because I sent My Son to be the propitiation for your sins, because I love you and loved you first, and you responded to My love, and I know that you’re physical, and I know that you have human nature, therefore I’m going to give you a gift that is going to be profound: 1) My love; and 2) the righteousness of Christ.”

So then in the day of judgment it’s not going to be, “Let’s look at the record. Hmm… you have – Our qualification was that if you have one thousand good works, you may enter into eternal life. Now let’s look at your record. My, my, my, my, you missed it. You only have 999 and it requires a thousand.” You’d say, “Well Lord...” That’s why you have to have the righteousness of Christ, that in the day of judgment, the judgment of God for you will be the same as Christ – eternal life. There are no sins against you. Your name is written in the Book of Life. God is not doing an accounting system. Now yes, our reward is going to be based upon our works, that is true. Absolutely true. But only God can give love, and only God can give life, and so that we are in this world as Christ was. Therefore, now you understand verse 18: “There is no fear in love…” And that was one of the hardest verses for me to understand. Very hard for me to understand when I first read it because I didn’t know a thing about the love of God. Are we not to fear God? Yes. Well how can you have no fear in love then? Because your love becomes so strong, and with the Spirit of God in you, that there is no fear and torment. While you fear God in reverential awe (and that’s what that means) and in worship, and love, and adoration, this kind of fear is the fear which is torment, as we will see.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love [the love which is being perfected, which is that love which comes from God] “…casteth [is casting] out fear:…” That’s why we need the love of God. It’s casting out fear. “…Because fear hath torment.” And oh, yes, it does. And every time you go through an experience where you’re fearful, or you’re upset, or you’re angry, you’re just miserable and you are tormented, aren’t you? Yes. Mentally. Spiritually. Maybe even sometimes physically. Maybe you even are tormented so much you get sick. “…He that feareth [the one who is fearing] is not made perfect in love” (verse 18). So we can work this around the other way. If you are not preaching the love of God, and teaching the love of God, and teaching the brethren that, then you have a church which is what – run on fear, and you don’t have a clue as to what the truth of the Gospel is.

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” That’s what it has to be, always. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar…” We’ve already gone through that. You can put any name you want there. “…For he that loveth not [the one who is not loving] his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (verses 19-20). That’s a challenge. This is a lifelong…these from verse 16 on to verse 21, these, brethren, are lifelong, Christian, lifelong goals. Because God has made us to have challenges, correct? Isn’t that correct? When there is no challenge there is nothing to work for. Right? So God has set before us the greatest challenge of all – perfect love, that we grow into in our whole lives. And sometimes we just have to start by getting on our knees and say, “O God, I just don’t have a clue as to what love is. I want it; I desire it. My heart says yes, but my life says no. Teach me how to love. Teach me how to understand the love. Teach me how to express the love.” And the answer may come back, “Well, ok. Let’s start you out with some of your enemies.”

Now you’ve got it, because that’s perfect love, correct? Yes. Or what if it’s just a hateful situation that you can’t get out of? Just look at the politics going on today with all the conspiracies and counter-conspiracies, and all that sort of thing that’s going on. Are they solving any problems? No. God is just going to let it just heap up, and heap up, and heap up until it collapses under its own. Now: “…how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” So God is saying, “Let’s prove your love here.” “And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (verse 20-21). And that’s the way a congregation needs to be.

Now let’s please go to I Corinthians 13 again. We’ll review just a little bit there. But I Corinthians 13 is also, we are going to see as we look at the King James, that this is an active thing of loving, of doing, of bringing forth the fruit that God wants us to bring forth. And again, this is a lifelong challenge. You’re not all of a sudden one day going to go from being totally evil to being totally righteous; from being totally hateful to being totally loving. It isn’t going to happen. It is a process, it is a growth, and it is the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. And so God wants us to understand what love will really do.

The first part he talks about what a minister should do. So we’ll review that. I Corinthians 13:1: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love]…” It says “charity” in the King James. I don’t know why they translated it that way. Sometimes in the King James Version they translate some of these words just a little bit awkwardly, because it’s not charity it is love. Charity is doing something out the kindness of your heart to someone who needs help. That’s why there are what are called “charitable” organizations. That’s why there are “charities” to help. But all of those charities then should be based upon love. So I assume that’s why they translated it “charity” here. Ok. “…And have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Just so much noise that it isn’t even worth listening to. And as I mention before, every minister needs to read these things and understand that if he doesn’t have love, as I Corinthians 13 is showing us here, then what kind of a ministry does he have?

Ok, I Corinthians 13, now let’s read verse 2: “And though I have the gift of prophecy…”Boy, I tell you, isn’t that something? I would like to understand every prophecy wouldn’t you? But you know what would happen if we understood every prophecy? We would be so vain. We would be so puffed up, wouldn’t we? Maybe you can understand why God hasn’t let very many prophecies of too many ministers really come to fruition, because they would get all lifted up in their vanity. There was a man who said that this year in Los Angeles that there would be a drought. California was going to be drought-stricken, and literally burn off the face of the earth. Well, God and Christ probably said, “Well now, let’s show this little man down here a thing or two. Let’s send some rain.” So what did we have? We had floods, and floods, and rain, and rain. And they have more snow pack up in the Sierra’s than they have a clue as to know what to do. And when it all starts melting and running down there are going to be problems with it. So you see, his prophesy failed. That’s the kind of prophecies that fail.

And then he goes on to say: “…And understand all mysteries [be the greatest brain in the world], and all knowledge…” Wouldn’t that be something? You could take all the technical things that there were, and you could just understand them [snap] snap, bam, boom. You could understand everything scientifically; you could understand everything that there was. And if you don’t have love, you’re nothing. “…And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity [love], I am nothing.” And I think about that a lot. I think about that a lot. Jesus said, “If you ask in faith, if you have the faith, the grain of a mustard seed...” I said that one time, and Marilyn Gremlich came the next week and brought me a little bag of mustard seed. And every time I get to thinking about real faith, “If you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed...” Now I probably have, if you would count them, two hundred or three hundred mustard seeds here. Christ said, “You could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Be removed and go into the ocean,’ and it would” (Luke 17:6, paraphrased). Jesus also said, “Ask whatsoever you will, and I will do it for you” (John 14:13, paraphrased). And then Paul says, “We know not how to pray for the things as we ought to” (Romans 8:26, paraphrased), and it makes me wonder a lot of things, you know, that how much faith do we really have? How much love do we really have? How much do we really know? See, that’s why the love of God is so important. That’s why He said that, so you could look a little teeny seed and realize, “Get off your stinking high horse. You’re not so great.” That’s what God wants us to understand: “I’m nothing.”

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,…” And there are a lot of people give everything. There’s one person who left a mammoth amount to take care of cats. Not even people – cats. Finally they all died off and didn’t know what to do with the remaining money. “…And though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity [love], it profiteth me nothing” (verse 3).

Now let’s begin in verse 4. This tells us, love gives us the ability to do some things positively, and it also gives us the ability to restrain ourselves from doing things negatively or sinfully. So it has a twofold effect: to do what is right and good and positive; and to restrain from doing evil. “Charity [love] suffereth long…” Now this means “patient, forbearing, patiently enduring.” Suffers long, as well as being able to endure suffering. “…And is kind…” This gives us those qualities. And “kind” comes from the word, chrestos (chresis), which means gracious, that then you will do the things which are gracious, regardless of what is happening in your suffering, regardless of what it may be. “…Charity [love] envieth not…” Which means it’s not affected by covetousness, by wanting what other people have.