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Ancient Paths: The Way of Allurement

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’” [Jeremiah 16:6]

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” [Psalm 37:4]

Sometimes the universe just feels…empty. The open skies, once a source of enormous delight and wonder, are just cold, distant, and—worst of all—silent. It feels as though someone who'd been bathing your soul in a warm and beautiful song has stopped singing abruptly and has completely disappeared from the world. Who it was you're not exactly sure, but you're sure someone's missing. And the cold their absence brings is palpable, and the sudden silence is deafening. Nothing seems to have any meaning, and the hands of the clock stoically whisper the passing of another unrecoverable hour into the depths of inevitability. Life has turned to a mass of useless material; salt without taste.

This is the complaint of an emaciated soul; a soul starved for too long—deprived of the only food that can satisfy. It’s the complaint of a soul in the gravest of dangers. And there is only one remedy—and it must be taken immediately, and it must be fought for and won at all cost. But perhaps this isn’t a land you’ve yet walked through. Perhaps your soul is in another place…

Perhaps urgency for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the expanse of his kingdom fuels you every single moment. Perhaps you search and seek and knock and devour everything you can get your hands on because everything you read and hear and think about Christ just doesn’t seem to quite scratch the soul-deep itch in your innermost being. You’re desperate for a greater capacity to express your joy so, like the psalmist, you’re pleading with the creation to help you shout his praises because your voice just isn’t loud enough or full enough; You think for a split second of the majesty of Christ and you leap to your feet and your arms spring upward and your chest heaves and your eyes instantly water for joy and you wish to double your size to take in more of Christ’s glorious Spirit—you jump, leap, reach and no matter where you look you’re still hungrier for more of God—to know him and commune with him and be conformed to him. Has this yet been your experience?

Whether your soul is dying without God, or dying for more of God, there is only one remedy: a bigger vision of Christ and him crucified. And today, when ‘bestsellers’ are so light and empty; and God’s sovereignty is mocked; and his glorious foreknowledge is apologized for; and Christ is nothing but a gentleman caller asking for a dainty dance, rather than a mighty firefighter who can revive you to life and effortlessly carry you from a burning building before it crashes down all around you; when Christ isn’t able to save, only able to offer; when Christ isn’t an almighty Lord and Master of Creation but a candidate running for spiritual office over your life—it’s simply no wonder we’re starving!

We need—we desperately need—to follow our Lord’s direction, which national Israel “would not.” He told them to “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” [Jeremiah 6:16] These “ancient paths” have been long abandoned because men felt a need to soften God, or apologize for his purposes, and be more ‘sensitive’ and more ‘relevant.’¹ Treason! But nothing is more relevant, nothing is more necessary, to the human condition, than an enormous and grand vision of God as God.

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” [Exodus 34:6-7]

“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other!” [Isaiah 42:8]

“Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle!” [Psalm 24:8]

We need a daily dose of concentrated God is GOD! time to keep our souls from starving and to scratch that soul-deep itch. Whether we have no appetite for God at this point, or if our appetite seems insatiable—our appetite for spiritual delight in God needs to grow. The Lord has directed us to “stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, [that we might] find rest for [our] souls.” Jonathan Edwards is the perfect person to “ask for the ancient paths;” he said that all Christians ought

…to be endeavoring by all possible ways to inflame their desires and to obtain more spiritual pleasures. . . . Our hungerings and thirstings after God and Jesus Christ and after holiness can't be too great for the value of these things, for they are things of infinite value. . . . [Therefore] endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way of allurement...²

And that’s what we all must set ourselves to do: lay ourselves in the way of allurement. We must set things before us continually that point our minds and hearts at the ultimate beauty and majesty of God in Christ. To that end, I’ve included a list of resources (all free) under the recommendations section below. First, there are bible reading plans (which are good for structured reading, and are meant to be springboards for further meditation and study). Then there are daily devotionals and sermons; God has given us teachers to open the Word of God for us. Let’s glean from them. Finally, there are old-school confessions and creeds, which organize the content of the Bible into brief statements or into question and answer form. All of these could be of great help in laying ourselves in the way of allurement.

Whether you’re currently in a bleak, grey, almost artificial-feeling desert longing for God, or you’re in a white-hot fury of desire for him, we can never desire God too much: lay yourself in the way of allurement!

¹ I am not beating a straw man here; I’m talking specifically about the theological liberals who tried to destroy biblical inerrancy in the 1970s (as revealed in Harold Lindsell’s Battle for the Bible), who tried to tear down God-ordained gender roles in the 1980s, and those who are trying to abandon the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and dismiss God’s perfect foreknowledge in order to retain a false understanding of fallen human nature today. All killers of God’s glory and our joy.

² I found this quote in John Piper, A God-Entranced View of All Things: Why We Need Jonathan Edwards 300 Years Later. Desiring God, 10 October 2003. <http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/edwards/edwards_300.html> Accessed 20 January 2005.

Recommendations

Bible Reading Plans

The Scriptures are the surest source of personal and corporate revival; spending time in it daily is like breathing the sweetest air, and eating the sweetest food. Don’t risk living without it.

[reading plan] The Navigators’ Discipleship Journal Daily Bible Reading Plan. Read portions from the 1) gospels, 2) epistles, 3) wisdom and poetry books, and 4) law and history each day! A great way to read through the Bible in one year. Only 25 days per month scheduled—time to catch up or read ahead! I’ve been using this plan for a couple of years now and I’ve found it very helpful.

[reading plan] In December of 1842, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a tender Scottish pastor, designed this reading plan for his flock. Following it, you’ll get through the Old Testament once, and the New Testament and the Psalms twice in one year. The 2 page large-print introduction alone is an amazing piece of encouragement. Very good—especially for those of you who are starting out with a young family, and wish to begin a regular daily family devotion. I plan to switch to this one next. Email me for a copy.

Daily Devotionals

I find these to be great kindlers of fire either first thing in the morning, or at various times in the day. Sometimes we all need a little priming of the pump.

[devotional] Charles Spurgeon’s daily devotional, Morning and Evening. Strong meat and solid encouragement, yet brief. A good mix of doctrinal truth and practical application. Subscribe to the daily email version here.

[devotional] The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers to ‘prime the pump.’ Get a taste of the heights of puritan love for God and piety of life. I’ve found them to be quite heart-penetrating. Click on the little green arrow next to the word “Welcome.” (Also available as a paperback or leather-bound book.)

Sermons

If you have a little more time in the morning, evening, a long mid-day break, or time on a weekend, reading some of these sermons would be greatly encouraging to you. Why should we ignore what these great teachers and preachers had to say, simply because they are dead? I don’t think so. Enjoy.

[sermons] The Sermons of Charles Spurgeon. Just start with volume 1 sermon 1; he wasn’t called the ‘prince of preachers’ for nothing. Some Spurgeon each day keeps apathy away!

[sermons] Select sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Meet the man called, simply, ‘The Doctor.’

[sermons] The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. A bit bumpy in places, but no one exalts Christ like Edwards. Try ‘The Excellency of Christ,’ ‘God Glorified in Man’s Dependence,’ or ‘God’s Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men’ for starters.

Confessions and Catechisms

You may find reading a question or two each morning, and looking up the scripture proofs, a wonderful way to spend your devotional time. Confessions and catechisms help to organize the overall teaching of the bible in either topically in a confession, or in question and answer style, as in a catechism. Have some questions about what the bible teaches? Check out the Westminster Confession.

[confession] The Westminster Confession of Faith. The standard by which all others are judged.

[catechism] The Westminster Shorter Catechism. “What is the whole duty of man?”

[catechism] The Westminster Larger Catechism.

[catechism] The Heidelberg Catechism. The first question and answer are amazing!

[others] A list of historic creeds, confessions, and catechisms.

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light!

- Dylan Thomas [more…]

The Absolute Freedom and Justice of God

“You are good and do good…” [ Psalm 119:68 ]

I have to admit that Jim Elliot is a modern hero of mine. If you’re not familiar with his life—and particularly his death—I’d highly recommend reading either Through Gates of Splendor (by his wife, Elisabeth Elliot), or The Journals of Jim Elliot (edited by his wife)¹. He’s the one who wrote that famous and blindingly true statement, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. For those of you who don’t know, he was a young and radical missionary to Ecuador in the mid 1950s. He and five friends determined, at great personal risk, to attempt to bring the gospel to the tribes of savage Aucan Indians who lived in the jungle near his home. They were all killed—speared to death—in the attempt. Jim Elliot was 28 years old.

Elisabeth (also a sort of modern hero of mine) had just given birth to their only child, Veronica. The story of the 5 young martyrs spread over the world like wildfire. Some were angered at the Indians, some blamed the missionaries for lack of wisdom, some questioned God’s justice for allowing his children to die so heinously. Others waited for the reports of mass salvations in the Aucan tribes, to defend God’s taking of the 5 young lives.

Elisabeth had a much different reaction, written 27 years after Jim’s death, which is recorded in the Epilogue II of Through Gates of Splendor:

We all know…that time and again in the history of the Christian Church, the blood of martyrs has been its seed. So we are tempted to assume a simple equation here. Five men died. This will mean x-number of Auca Christians.

Perhaps so. Perhaps not. Cause and effect are in God’s hands. Is it not part of faith simply to let them rest there? God is God. I dethrone him in my heart if I demand that He act in ways that satisfy my idea of justice. It is the same spirit that taunted ‘If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross.” There is unbelief, there is even rebellion, in the attitude which says, “God has no right to do this to five men unless…”

The massacre was a hard fact, widely reported at the time, and surprisingly well remembered by many even today. It was interpreted according to the measure of one’s faith or faithlessness—full of meaning or empty. A triumph or tragedy. […] The beginning of a great work, a demonstration of the power of God, a sorrowful first act which would lead to a beautifully predictable third act in which all puzzles would be solved, God would vindicate Himself, Aucas would be converted, and we could all “feel good” about our faith. […] But the danger lies in seizing upon the immediate and hoped-for, as though God’s justice is thereby verified, and glossing over as neatly as possible certain other consequences…

We are not always sure where the horizon is. […] The One who laid earth’s foundations and settled its dimensions knows where the lines are drawn. He gives all the light we need for trust and for obedience.²

Mrs. Elliot’s point is that God does not need to explain his actions to us—not ever. Even if none of the Aucans were saved as a result, God would be no less righteous for the taking of these 5 young lives. He is always Good, always right, always working everything for the good of those who are called, for those that love him, and always for his glory. Even—especially—when it appears completely otherwise to our limited, vaporous, fallible minds. Trusting his goodness and his power is the very core of faith in him; doubt either, and we are lost.

Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” He is absolutely free. And he is always, and only, absolutely good and just in everything he pleases, and does. He does not answer to us. He “is good, and he does good.” [ Psalm 119:68 ] Always…and only. It simply cannot be otherwise. And so, with Job, in the face of calamity, let us worship him for his goodness and for his mysterious purposes in the world. And, at the warning of Christ upon hearing of great calamity in Siloam, let us also “repent, lest we perish likewise.” [ Luke 13:1-5 ]

We serve a big and good God, though his ways are sometimes inscrutable. How is your faith?

¹ I haven’t yet read Shadow of the Almighty, his official biography (also by his wife), so I can’t recommend it in good conscience. But I’m sure it, too, would be life-changing!

² Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor. (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1956 [repr. 1981]), pp. 269-273. Jim’s passion and devotion to “live life to the hilt” for the glory of God moved me to tears of longing a half-dozen times just in the first two chapters of this book. I may have just been tired…but I doubt it. It’s about $5 used.

Recommendations

[ministry] The Missionary Aviation Fellowship (“MAF”) has been asked to oversee the organization and distribution of all airborne aid in Indonesia, which was greatly affected by the recent tsunami. Since most roads and bridges were taken out by the tsunami, going airborne avoids the bottleneck and gets the supplies to the people that need them the most. MAF is providing technological, organizational, and airborne support to get the supplies to the people in need. Read more, and consider donating, here.

[devotional] A recent ONELIFE message on how to respond to calamity, titled How Firm a Foundation. Lest we become deists or idolaters, let us glorify God for his awesome power displayed in the ‘strong winds and mighty waves.’ Lest we become hard-hearted, let us weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice, and pray that the Lord of the harvest would send workers in the field.

[devotional] Charles Spurgeon’s daily devotional, Morning and Evening. Strong meat and solid encouragement, yet brief. A good mix of doctrinal truth and practical application. Subscribe to the daily email version here.

Our Master said 'Love one another, as you are loved.' (Part 4)

"First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." [Matthew 5:24]

Part 4: When Sparks Fly

Note: If you only have time to read one article today, skip this and read Schaeffer’s article recommended below.

There is so much godly, practical wisdom in the Bible on handling conflicts. Here are a few great examples:

• “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” [Ephesians 4:26]. This means we must 1) deal with our conflicts and 2) deal with them quickly. There’s nothing magical about sundown—he just means take care of the situation before it gets buried in bitterness, before it snowballs, or before it becomes something much worse. So if sundown comes before we take care of things, that doesn’t mean we’re off the hook…

• “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” [Matthew 18:15f] Which means that, 1) we go (we don’t ignore it, we don’t wait for him, we don’t leave a message, we don’t send a scathing email—we go), and 2) we go alone at first (don’t bring a support group—even in conversation: “We all think that…”, “…and I’m not the only one!”), and 3) we go in person.

• “…in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” [Philippians 2:3]. For our purpose, this means walk in preemptive forgiveness. That’s not the same as preemptive anger management; the absence of anger is not the presence of love.¹ It means walk with a tendency, a leaning, a habit, of forgiveness. But this presents us with a huge problem—that is completely against our nature! That can’t be dong by willpower! So, how does it become second nature? (We’ll come back to that in a moment.)

And there is other great advice:

• We must learn to “…make a distinction between errors and persons” ² –that is, to separate people from their ideas, and we must learn to separate ourselves from our ideas. We can love people and still challenge their ideas without making it personal. And, we can still have our ideas challenged without taking it personally. All of us want our iron sharp, and when “iron sharpens iron,” sparks fly. It’s just part of the process. Sometimes our ideas, attitudes, or behaviors are so far out of line we need correction. (When I spent a summer framing houses, I often came across twisted or warped 2x4s. Some I could force into place with my hands and nail them, but others required the use of my (beautiful, 20 oz. Estwing® framing) hammer. But some were so far out of line I had to bring out the sledgehammer—which we nicknamed “The Motivator.”) Sometimes we need a good, loving, dose of ‘motivation’ for the sake of the house of God. We just need to give and receive it in genuine and visible love, remembering that “the wounds of a friend are faithful.” [Proverbs 27:6]

So there are many great guidelines and principles to apply in our attempt to love one another in the midst of conflict. But there’s a huge problem. These guidelines require that something else has happened, and is happening, deep in our heart. Jesus says that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” [Luke 6:45]. No amount of anger management will help. Something deep inside of us needs to change, and continue changing each day. That something is self. That something is pride.

The best medicine for pride and antidote for self is the gospel—straight up. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a great preacher in England in the 50s, said that a Christian is “at bottom, a man whose mouth has been stopped.”³ [Romans 3:19] In our own power, we can do nothing but bring about the wrath of God. We were wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked, sinners, without hope, doomed and hell-bound:

“…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:8]

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” [1 Corinthians 1:27, KJV]

“but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;” [1 Corinthians 10:13, KJV]

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” [Ephesians 2:4-9]

We have nothing that we have not received from God! [1 Corinthians 4:7]

We are completely undeserving, yet he “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…”! [Ephesians 1:3]

We were his enemies, yet he “has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence”! [2 Peter 1:3]

We “were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,” yet “he has now reconciled [us] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present [us] holy and blameless and above reproach before him”!! [Colossians 1:22-23]

We deserve endless torment in hell, yet he has prayed [John 17:24] and paid [Acts 20:28, Hebrews 9:12] that we might be with him where he is, to look upon his Glory! And to be in his presence where there is fullness of joy, and pleasures forever more! [Psalm 16:11]

It’s nearly unfathomable! When we think long and hard on this, we ought to be utterly broken, and filled with humility and joy and thankfulness toward our God for his grace and mercy! Freely we have received, and freely we must give. It’s a lesson we must learn—and I’m convinced it must be learned—for if we forgive, we shall be forgiven, yet if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven. [Matthew 6:14-15]

So the best lesson on how to walk in humility and forgiveness is to gain a deep understanding of how much we’ve been forgiven. It’s the essence of the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-35. Once I prayed:

“Father, please forg—“

“You are forgiven,” he answered, before I finished.

“Father, teach me how to forgive.”

“You are forgiven. And that is your lesson on forgiveness,” he replied.

Loving Christ means loving one another, because he has asked it—even commanded it (love turns wishes into joyfully obeyed commands). To those who don’t yet know the powerful, Lion-like shepherd, his word is all command. And they would be right. But to those who’ve tasted and seen that he is good, they don’t sound like commands; they sound like life-saving, loving instruction from the Shepherd and Bishop of our soul [1 Peter 2:25]. And his commands can become easier—even a source of delight: “…for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.” [Psalm 119:47]

So let’s marinate our minds, hearts, and lives in God’s word, think on his greatness and our weakness and his mercy and his glory and our joy and be humble, thankful, merciful sons of our Father in heaven! For as Christiana Rossetti wrote in her Sonnet of Sonnets⁴, we cannot love God without loving one another, and we cannot love one another without loving God.

Recommendations

[article] Francis Schaeffer’s The Mark of a Christian. What is the ‘final apologetic’ for Christianity? Schaeffer offers a convincing argument, and a strong exhortation. If you’re not yet familiar with Schaeffer, here’s an excellent introduction. (Also available in book form.)

[book] Chapters 25 & 26 of Garry Friesen’s Decision-Making and the Will of God. Very practical wisdom for handling disagreements, differences, and the occasional Pharisee who feels the need to remind you that you’re not perfect. Part 4 alone is worth the price of this book.

[page] Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions. While many of us have given up on making resolutions, these are a great inspiration for aiming at a life of obedience and devotion and holiness. Use only as directed. #10 is reminiscent of the ‘big toe’ incident a few months back, which I shared with you. I especially like #22 – let me know which ones stick out to you!

Our Master said, "Love one another, as you are loved." (Part 3)

Part 3: I am your stepping stone

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering of sacrifice to God." [Ephesians 5:1-2]

For the past few weeks we’ve been unfolding the phrase “Our Master said, ‘Love one another, as you are loved.’” First we thought about what it means to have a Master, or to be Mastered. Then we considered what it meant that Jesus told us not only that we must love, but that we must love in a certain way, namely, ‘as we are loved.’ That’s where we were last time. Before we move on, I’d like to paint a picture of what this looks like.

Remember the old Monkees song, “I’m not your stepping stone?” Well, it’s a catchy tune but don’t let it affect your worldview. Jesus Christ, our Master, is called the “stumbling block of Israel,” and “a rock of offense” to those who are condemned [1 Peter 2]. For those who believe, however, he is a rock to make our steps secure [Psalm 40], a sure foundation [Isaiah 28:16], and solid ground [Matthew 7:24-27]. We are built up on him as the chief cornerstone of the building of God [1 Corinthians 3:11, Ephesians 2:20]. What I see here—if we are to love as we are loved—is that we are to be stepping stones for each other!

Jesus said “Greater love has no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends.” [John 15:13]. Laying down one's life means, in part, being willing to get stepped on. But is this so bad? Think with me for a moment about what a stepping stone actually does and the image is really quite extraordinary:

A stepping stone serves, supports, lifts, strengthens, and directs a person’s path upward to a higher destination. To do this, it must know the destination and point to it, it must be humble, it must have adequate strength, and it must be willing to get a bit dirty in the process. And for someone to really get to higher ground, it takes more than just one step. Which means that we must be willing to repeat the process of getting stepped on for another’s benefit. And it also means that we should assemble with others who are like-minded. And when you have a bunch of stepping stones all working together, pointing toward one goal, you get a rock stairway—and that’s kind of like what a church body should be like. Can you picture it?

By God’s grace the person exerts the energy to climb the rock stairway, but the stairs support him, direct him, draw his vision upward to the destination, beckon toward the upward goal, and they repeat the process until he gets there. Think about all the other character traits this image brings out! Attitude, humility, teamwork, etc. A rock stairway is a great picture of what we should be doing for each other: being each other’s support, direction, encouragement, and vision-realigner. (A good brother just did this for me recently!)

It’s just simple imagery, but it fits in so well. When we get into those conversations with people who are having a tough time, it’s time to take on the role of a step—get humble, get supportive, get positive and encouraging, set the vision toward the higher ground of truth and joy, and gather others to help you. Sometimes we all need a way out of the dark cellar of solitude into the light-warmed family room. So let’s aim at becoming willing stepping stones for each other—for the higher ground awaits! Look for opportunities today, for our Master has said “…give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” [Luke 6:38]

[Next week we’ll continue our discussion, and focus on handling conflicts. Thanks for reading!]

Recommendations
[movie] Luther (2003), starring Joseph Fiennes, just came out on VHS/DVD—highly recommended! Majority of the manuscript was taken from actual statements or manuscripts or court records. Low budget, but a great movie! Should be available in your local video rental store.
[article] Francis Schaeffer’s The Mark of the Christian. A classic work on our theme of loving one another.
[site] John Piper’s Fresh Words, a weekly devotional similar to this one.

Our Master said, "Love one another as you are loved." (Part 2)

Part 2: What it Means to ‘Love…as we are Loved’

“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.” [Psalm 36:5]

Last week we looked at what it means to have a Master—or, what it means to be Mastered. We discovered that it means his commands are non-negotiable: we must say to him “thy will be done,” or he’ll say to us “thou will be done” ; we must choose either “No,” or “Lord,” but we can never say “No, Lord.” Now that we understand this command is not up for debate, we must get to the business of understanding exactly what we have been commanded to do. So, this week, we’re going to look at what it means to “love…as we are loved.’

To begin with, we must realize that we are not free to love people in any we see fit. We cannot say “well, this is how I love people.” He didn’t command that. His command was very specific: “Love one another as you are loved.” In essence, he said ‘this is what love looks like: do it this way. Rather, do it my way—follow my example.’ Which means that if we are to obey this command in truth, we must understand the nature of God’s love toward us.

So, what does God’s love toward us look like? I think the answer is in at least two parts:

1) what is the purpose of God’s love? (or, why does God love us? To what end?) and

2) what is the nature of God’s love? (or, how does God love us?)

First, what is the purpose of God’s love? In his essay titled The End for Which God Created the World, Jonathan Edwards wrote “All that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God's works, is included in that one phrase, the glory of God.” All of God’s activities and motives are all wrapped up in that same purpose: the glory of his name. (See Romans 9, 11; Ephesians 2:7-9; Colossians 1:16; and Revelation 4:11, KJV. For a complete list, see Edwards’ book—especially chapter 2, section III.) This means that in our loving one another, our goal must be to bring glory to God. And, since “the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever,” that means that we love people by helping them enjoy God. And joy in God glorifies God. So, the purpose of our loving one another must be God-centered and God-exalting and God-soaked—we must love people for His glory, and their joy. Sometimes that will mean saying things that are temporarily hard to hear, but will lead to eternal Joy in God himself. We love people best by loving God most.

Second, what is the nature of God’s love, or “how does God love us?” This is a huge question, but we’ll just look at four basic ways: initially, undeservedly, unreservedly, andunceasingly.

a) Initially. Throughout scripture, God always makes the first move. This was so with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, you, and me. If we are to love one another as we are loved, we must love one another initially. That means that we make the first move toward godly relationships. (See John 6:44; Ephesians 1:4; 1 John 4:19) (Please note that I am not referring here to godly romantic relationships. There are other principles for those—perhaps that will come later.)

b) Undeservedly. God’s love is a gift—no person alive (apart from Christ) has ever deserved it. God’s love and forgiveness springs from his mercy and grace, and so must ours. Many will offend us, both believers and non-believers—they will not always deserve our love. But if we are to love one another as we are loved, we must love one another undeservedly. (See Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Isaiah 64:6; Titus 3:5)

c) Unreservedly. Since God’s love for us is not based on our merit, or on our performance, but on that of Christ, he can and does love us unreservedly. There is no end to his love, neither in quality or quantity. “He who did not spare his only Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” If we are to love one another as we are loved, we must love one another unreservedly. (See Matthew 18:21-35; Romans 8:32)

d) Unceasingly. Here is perhaps the best, and most challenging part: God loves us without end. Once he chooses us, and sets his love upon us, it will never, ever, fade away. His love is eternal and unchanging. So, if we are to love one another as we are loved, we must love one another unceasingly. (See Psalm 16:11; Jeremiah 31:3; John 6, 10; Romans 8, 11:29; Revelation 5)

Our Master said “Love one another, as you are loved.” To obey this command, the purpose of our love must be God’s glory and their joy, and we must love initially, undeservedly, unreservedly, and unceasingly. I don’t write this so our minds will be filled with more fodder for lively, spiritual-sounding conversation. I write this so that we all might “think on our ways, and turn our feet toward his testimonies” [Psalm 119:59], and “Examine ourselves, to see whether we are in the faith.” [2 Corinthians 13:5] We are so prone to deceiving ourselves about how we’re really doing with God; and that’s eternally dangerous. I write so that would apply truth to life, live out being mastered, and “Strive [Gk. ‘agonize’] to enter through the narrow door. For many, [our Master told us], will seek to enter and will not be able.” [Luke 13:24]. Let’s not deceive ourselves—let’s be doers.

[Stay tuned for Part 3: Loving as we are loved: ‘I AM, your stepping stone.’ An illustration of a community loving as they are loved. Thanks for reading!]

Recommendations

[site] Louie Giglio’s message from this past Tuesday night, “Good God Almighty: Who is Jesus? (Part 2)” – A great follow-up to last week’s discussion about the absolute, invasive Lordship of Christ. (He even used the same text: Luke 6:46!) He does a much better job than I could, and even goes on to answer the question ‘why don’t we submit to his Lordship?’ – which we talked about in the message from 10/07/2004. Message starts about 34 minutes in.

[book] Jonathan Edwards’ The End For Which God Created the World,available online. It’s long and challenging, but it’s one of the most important things I’ve ever read outside the Bible.

Our Master said, "Love one another as you are loved."

Part 1: What it Means to be ‘Mastered’

"Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" [Luke 6:46, NASB]

We have no idea what it really means to have a Master—rather, to be mastered. We having nothing in our world to compare it to. But we desperately need to understand and embrace it. It’s crucial to our eternal survival. Henry Blackaby (author of Experiencing God) has said, “When God calls a man to himself, he calls him to the absolute, unconditional Lordship of Jesus Christ over every area of his life.” When he emphasized the words “absolute,” “unconditional,” “Lordship” and “every area,” the idea was seared into my conscience. It was a small beginning to this understanding—which I am far from having attained—that He is my Master. This blessed road we’ve been chosen to walk is no light footpath; it is a harsh, hard, and narrow path—but never-ending and always-increasing joy awaits us at the crest of the hill.

This week we begin a series of messages directed by the statement above: “Our Master said ‘Love one another, as you are loved.’” We may not care to admit it, but this can be one of the steepest, and rockiest sections of our upward climb. It is hard to love people. More clearly, it is hard to love all people, at all times, in all circumstances. Yet, “Our Master has spoken.” So we must obey fully, and joyfully, because there is no other path to his presence than faith-induced, and love-soaked obedience. So, first, we look at the words “Our Master said…” – at what it means to be Mastered.

To have a Master means that we have no final say over what happens to our lives. This is the case for everyone and everything in the created world: this is his world, and we just live in it. God is not campaigning for office: he’s already on the throne—and his term lasts forever. Every creature ever created is subject to his “absolute, unconditional Lordship.” Some are striving to be loyal, obedient (and therefore joyful) subjects. The vast majority, however, are not. Instead, they live out a tragic life, well-expressed by William Earnest Henley in his poem Invictus:

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

It is merely an eloquent way of expressing the same rebellion inherent in all of us as children: “You’re not the boss of me!” This is the mantra of the treasonous subject: “I AM the master…I AM the captain…” But God is the only “I AM.” And those endeavoring to be loyal subjects understand this. We have seen the reality of our situation, which Charles Wesley put into the awe-inspiring words of his hymn, Amazing Love:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Here is the heart of a soul set free: out of love and thankfulness and a desire to be in very presence of their King, we labor “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” until we attain Christ. And these two views frame the choice we make every day as we live out our life: what kind of subject will I be? Loyal, or treasonous? In the office or on the campus, in the bedroom or in the car, Jesus is our Master. When he gives instruction, there are no negotiations: we say to him “thy will be done,” or he says to us “thou will be done.” This is what it means to be mastered.

But we all know this—at least, we know it in concept. In practice, we fail in many ways. I’ll mention three of the most common ways that I’ve experienced.

The first is when we plainly say, “No, Lord.” And this we cannot say. The first word undoes the second one. We cannot say “No” to our “Lord.” We may say only “No,” or we may say only “Lord.” We cannot have both—they do not belong together. If he is our Lord, “No” must be dropped from our vocabulary.

The second is that we, sometimes unconsciously, pass his commands through our ‘approval process.’ We try to imagine why we should obey, or what the outcome might be, and then, seeing it, we agree. As if to say, “I think I see where you’re going with this, Lord, and I hereby deem it a worthy project and thus have decided in favor of your proposal, O God most High. I give it full support—well done, thou good and faithful God.” The essence of being Mastered is deciding before we even hear the command that we will obey—period. The rest is just details.

The third way is that we receive the command, then ‘revise it,’ then imagine that we have somehow obeyed. C. S. Lewis puts it perfectly in his book, The Four Loves:

"Those like myself, whose imagination far exceeds their obedience are subject to a just penalty; we easily imagine conditions far higher than any we have really reached. If we describe what we have imagined we may make others, and make ourselves believe that we have really been there - and so fool both them and ourselves." [C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves [New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1960], p. 140. Thanks, Dunphey, for the quote.

Piercing words—they sure hit home for me. We must know ourselves in reality—we are so prone to imagination. And this ‘knowing’ will only come if we are alert and aware as we leave the ‘devotional time’ or ‘church’ bubble, and carry our Master’s commands into the world. How do I react when someone cuts me off? How about when they won’t let me return a damaged good? “Love them, as you are loved.” How often do we revise it, and apply the command to whomever we will or won’t? That is not for us to do. Only God ‘shows mercy on whom he will show mercy.’ Only He has that absolute freedom to do as wills, when he wills, nothing more or less. We, on the other hand, have a Master. And “Our Master said ‘Love one another, as you are loved.” Case closed.

So this is, briefly, what it means to have a Master, and to be mastered by him: absolute, unconditional, consistent, joyful obedience. And “Our Master said ‘Love one another, as you are loved.’” If we would be honest, this is a very steep, and very rocky portion of the path. But, thankfully, God is good. And “with God, all things are possible.” Is it worth it? Oh, I cannot say ‘yes!’ loudly enough! The joy set before us is unimaginable. It is unthinkable. It is beyond all hope and expectation—so let us labor not to fall from the heights, and let us examine our hearts in honesty, and lay down those areas we’ve held back from our King, and let us press on to attain the prize! For “Our Master has spoken...!” and he awaits us at the hill’s crest!!

[Next week we’ll look at the next part of our statement above: “Love…as you are loved.” Loving as we are loved means two things: loving how we are loved, and loving why are loved. And that's where we'll pick up our discussion next week. Thanks for reading!]

Recommendations
[site] 722.org, Louie Giglio’s (of Passion) weekly Bible Study for twenty-somethings [loosely defined as 18-35]. Streaming video of live worship and excellent exhortation. A great way to spend a late night.