–Zane Grey  (The Light of the Western Stars)

       “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And His commandments are not burdensome.”

                    –1 John 5:3  (NKJV)
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Last week we looked at the first of the moral attributes of God.  Remember, these are characteristics of God that we can share and should try to obtain.  This week I want to share some thoughts about the love of God.  Love–such a misunderstood term.  I am not going to discuss love per se, but look at some characteristics of the love of God.  We know that God is a spirit, the He is light, that He is a jealous God, and that He is a consuming fire, but He is also love.
     It does not say that God loves, but that He is Love itself.  Love is not merely one of His attributes, but it is His very nature.  That should grip us.  If God loves me because He knows me–shouldn’t I know Him so I can love Him better and more completely?  We see then that the love of God is uninfluenced.  There is nothing in the objects of His love, you and me, to call it into exercise.  His love is free, spontaneous, uncaused.  Paul writes, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NKJV)  John writes that most famous verse, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, NKJV)  John also wrote in his first epistle, “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NKJV)
     The love of God is eternal.  He isn’t going to change His mind regarding love in the eons of eternity.  Since He is love this is of necessity–God is eternal, God is love, therefore, His love is eternal.  The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:  ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.'” (Jeremiah 31:3, NKJV)    In this we see that His love is sovereign and His love is infinite.  “His love is without limit.  There is a depth to it which none can fathom; there is a height to it which none can scale; there is a length and breadth to it which defies measurement, by any creature-standard.” (Arthur W. Pink)   Paul declares, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, NKJV)
     Our hearts should rejoice, our faith should rest secure in this love.  For as God is immutable, so is His love.  Divine love is strong as death.  “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealously as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.  Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.  If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised.” (Song of Solomon 8:6-7, NKJV)
     The love of God is gracious and full of mercy.  It is holy; His love never conflicts with His holiness.  That was one of the main purposes of the cross.  Justice, righteous, holiness demanded a guilty verdict and death.  Jesus Christ, the love of God incarnate became that sacrifice to appease the holiness of God yet should His marvelous, divine love.  I would point you again to John 3:16.  Ponder the words of Arthur Pink, “Here then is abundant cause for trust and patience under Divine affliction.  Christ was beloved of the Father, yet He was not exempt from poverty, disgrace, and persecution.  He hungered and thirsted.  Thus, it was not incompatible with God’s love for Christ when He permitted men to spit upon and smite Him.  Then let no Christian call into question God’s love when he is brought under painful affliction and trials.  God did not enrich Christ on earth with temporal prosperity, for ‘He had had not where to lay His head.’  But He did give Him the Spirit ‘without measure.’  Learn then that spiritual blessings are the principal gifts of Divine love.  How blessed to know that when the world hates us, God loves us.”

               “The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
               It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell;
               The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
               His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
                         Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
                         How measureless and strong!
                         It shall forevermore endure–
                         The saints’ and angels’ song.”
                                     –Frederick M. Lehman

 

       “This is my practice:  I obey Your precepts.”
                    –Psalm 119:56 (HCSB)
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If you spend much time reading Psalm 119 there are two things that you cannot get away from:  promises and prayers.  There are the promises the psalmist made to God and the promises of God to man.  The psalm is very personal and its entirety is actually a prayer but there are also petitions throughout the psalm.  Perhaps you have had a “precious promises box” or have put promises of God on the wall in your house.  We read them, admire them, look at them, but do we make use of them?  In this journey it is up to us to determine to trust the promises of God and enjoy His blessings.
       Richard Sibbes wrote, “When we hear any promise in the Word of God, let us turn it into a prayer.  God’s promises are His bond.  He loves it when we wrestle with Him by His promises.”  We appropriate the promises of God by faith, and when we pray it should be grounded in His promises.

          vs 49 — Remember your promise to me, for it is my only hope. (NLT)
          vs 50 — This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.  (ESV)

When we rely and have faith in God’s word we can rise above our troubles.  The word of God, sealed to the heart, infuses sensible relief; it brings comfort.  This term “comfort” literally means “to cheer up, to invigorate, to cause to breathe and rest, and to smile while in pain.”  The Word of God brings comfort to the weary man and the weary soul.
       There is something about music.  It is all around us–the good, the bad, the ugly, and the really ugly.  Steven Lawson says, “So strong is the Word that it puts a permanent song in the heart.”  We must also consider that the psalms were sung by the people.  Those who sang this psalm were truly placing God’s Word in their heart.

          vs 54 — Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.  (NASB)
                       Your statues are the theme of my song during my earthly life.  (HCSB)
                       Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage.  (NLT)

Do you sing as you go through the day?  If not out loud, within your mind and soul?   Songs support the exercise of faith and patience; they help lift the spirit and testify to the goodness of God who provides even in the bad times.  There is much truth in what that preacher of old, Charles Bridges, said, “It is dull, wearisome, to be a pilgrim without a song.”  He stated further, “It is important to remember that our cheerful song is connected with a pilgrim-spirit.”  Do you recall the song of your youth?  “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing…”

          vs 57 — The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.  (NASB)

     God is faith; His word is true.  He is unchanging, every-present, all-knowing, and almighty.  George Stevens said, “To keep the commands of Jesus is the duty of love.  To keep His sayings is the life of love.  To keep His words is the joy of love.”  Can we say as the psalmist, because He is our portion I will promise to obey His words?  Augustine cried out, “Lord, give me Yourself!”  Is that what we want?  Do we practice prayer as the psalmist writes?

        vs 58 — I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to Your word.  (NKJV)
                 — I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.  (NIV)

     Possession of God encourages us to practice prayer.  We pray when we are in pain and need relief.  We pray for we need His constant mercy.  We pray because we can do nothing other than to cry out for God.  We pray because we want to seek Him and dwell in His presence.  “To seek God’s face is to know His favor.” (David Chapman)

               “Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
               When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
               By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
               Standing on the promises of God.”
                       –R. Kelso Carter

Sin is a violation of God’s law.  Crime is a violation of man’s law.  Man’s laws are based on God’s laws.”

                    –Dan Arnold  (Bear Creek)

 

       “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

                    –Matthew 23:28(NKJV)   

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If you have or are watching “The Chosen,” one of the things that stand out are the Pharisees.  An interesting group to say the least.  If you have followed much you see that there are several subgroups all “bickering” for their right to be heard and that their cause was just.  In my studies I have found that there are three groups of Pharisees, though they would not label it as such.  First, in my mind, are those who would have trouble not drowning during a hard rain because of their nose stuck in the air.  These are the “holier than thou” who didn’t have much time for the common Jewish person.  Second, there were those who had a heart for the truth of the law.  Those who sought truth and tried to live truth.  And the last group are those who began to seek earnestly the Messiah.  

     Not all Pharisees were bad, but the writers of the Gospels lump them together and then throw in the Sadducees, Herodians, and scribes.  The work of the Pharisees can be traced back to Ezra.  If you remember, the Persians were releasing groups of Jews to go back to their homeland after being held in captivity by the Chaldeans.  What was there in Jerusalem, but a destroyed temple, a city in ruins, and a wall that was a crumpled mess.  The people had been without the Law for over seventy years.  Ezra found the Law in the ruins of the Temple and read it aloud to the people.  From there, a group was started that would keep the Law, that it would not be lost again.  The term “Pharisee,” however did not come into existence until the rule of John Hyrcanus somewhere between 135-105 B.C.  The word meant, “separated ones,” and there were around 6,000 in the time of Jesus.

     The Pharisees were to be the keepers of the Law, but the problem became when they began to add tradition to the Law.  Many of the Pharisees, believed that the cause of the Exile to Babylon was caused by Israel’s failure to keep the Torah.  “The Torah was not merely ‘law’ but also ‘instruction’, it consisted not merely of fixed commandments but was adaptable to changing conditions, and from it could be inferred God’s will for situations not expressly mentioned.  This adaptation or inference was the task of those who had made a special study of the Torah, and a majority decision was binding on all.” (New Bible Dictionary)  It was determined that the Torah contained 613 commandments, 248 positive and 365 negative.  Then comes the bickering.  Notice the usage of the above quotation “inferred”.  Who determines what was inferred?  How was it all to be interpreted?

     An example of this bickering and arguing and debating is seen in Matthew 22.  “But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, as Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'” (22:34-36, NKJV)  Can you imagine sitting around, a group of scholars and debating which of the Commandments was the greatest?  They were missing the point, the context of the commandments.  “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.” (22:37-38, NKJV)

     In Luke (18:18-23) and Matthew (19:16-22) we see a rich young ruler (probably not a Pharisee, but the condition fits) comes to Jesus saying he had kept all the commandments, Jesus then tells him to “sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (18:22, NKJV)  This was the same situation of the Pharisees, not seeing the truth of the Law, the whole picture.

     John calls them a “brood of vipers!” (Matthew 3:7)  Jesus uses the same term, when they are accusing Him of being “Beelzebub.”  Jesus calls them out, “Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34, NKJV)  He uses the same term in Matthew 23:33, “Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (NKJV).   In fact, in Matthew 23, we see the thoughts of Jesus towards the Pharisees.  Jesus had been and continues to warn “the people of the Pharisees’ legalism, their tendency to value their own rules and regulations over the Scriptures.” (NKJV Study Bible)  

     The term here is “legalism,” and I do not want to get in a discussion over that here.  One of the problems of the Pharisees was that they were equating the traditions of the elders with that of God’s Word.  An example of that was thrown in my face as I was watching an old western.  The law in Abilene prohibited guns to be worn, however, a man was set to kill the marshal, when a citizen shot the man.  The marshal proceeded to take the man to stand before the judge.  The judge questioned the marshal, “You are going to arrest a man on a misdemeanor charge when he saved your life from a felon?”  This is the idea of what Jesus was referring to when He said, “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24, NKJV)

     I will say this, be careful of legalism and how that term is slung around.  Speaking the truth is not legalism.  Keeping the commandments is not legalism.  Saying that Jesus is the only way to heaven and salvation is through Him only is not legalism.  But also, be careful of having a Pharisaic attitude.  Justice, humility, mercy should be at the forefront of your thinking.

                    –Kenneth Pratt  (The Wolves of Windsor Ridge)

       “Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.  Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

                    –Isaiah 61:7 (NKJV)
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               “For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  And they began to be merry.
                         –Luke 15:24 (NKJV)

I mentioned last week that this famous parable could be called, the Lost Son, or the Wayward Son, but today I want to give it a different name.  Instead of focusing on the waywardness of the son, we should focus on the “Loving Father.”  
     To go back, the son had to come to his senses.  As Gary Inrig said, “There is an insanity to sin.”  Think on that.  To sin is to break fellowship with God, to live in disharmony with the Father.  Oh, that we could talk with Adam about his loss of fellowship and the harmony that was no longer there with the Father because of sin.  We live in a time when counselors and psychologists say that there should not be shame and that guilt is abnormal.  It’s only human to sin, therefore there should be no guilt or shame in it.  Nonsense!  “Shame is to the moral health of a society what pain is to the body.” (Ravi Zacharias)  It lets society and the individual know that there is something wrong.  “To remove shame is to perpetuate evil.” (Zacharias)  It was hunger that motivated the boy, but it was shame and guilt that drove him back to his father for we see his repentance as he came to his senses.
     “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:21, NKJV)  Look at this more closely, while the boy was along way off the father saw him.  Perhaps he looked for him every day, or most likely his view was down that long stretch of road continually.  Whenever the road came before him, he would look to see if his son would return.  He was waiting with anxious anticipation.  Another thing, while the boy was a great way off, the father recognized who he was.  This is the Father’s love:  He treats us as of we had never been away.  Shame drove the young man back to his father, but now, as Greg Lanes writes, “If/when you return to the Father’s House He will receive you back with open arms and will remove your feelings of unworthiness.”  Shame and guilt are removed, the boy is part of the Father’s family again.  This is a picture of grace.  The father (God) runs, rejoices, and embraces the returning son.  “If you return to the Father He will restore your broken fellowship with Him, even though others may disapprove of the restoration.” (Lane)
     Notice who it was who disapproved.  A member of the family (Pharisee?)  The older brother is symbolic of “a goodness that is not good and a righteousness that is not right.” (Gary Inrig)  Luke writes that, “he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.” (15:28, NKJV)  The older son refused to see his brother and join in the festive activities.  In fact, he does not call him brother but refers to him as “this son of yours” (15:30).  This is a direct insult to the father.  Publicly he has shown disapproval of his father’s actions.  Inrig says, “This son would rather not have fellowship with his father than to accept his father’s treatment of his brother.”  
     Look at the words of the older brother, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time…” (15:29)  Yes, he served the father, but was it out of grim duty or was it from loving service.  Remember, Jesus said, if you love me you will keep my commandments.  Is this grim, harsh duty or is it done out of genuine love?  This discontent did not happen overnight.  It must have been seething and growing inside him for quite a spell.  
     Think of this, they were both the father’s sons.  One came back remorseful and repentant and was accepted.  One never left, but there was resentment in his heart.  The question that rises before me, did the older son ever enter?  Did he ever accept his brother again?  We are not told, nor is it even alluded to.  We do know he added something to the narrative that the younger son spent his inheritance of harlots, but that is not mentioned in the words of Jesus, it could have been true, but it shows the hardness of the elder brother’s heart.  It is important, as William Barclay relates, “The love of God can defeat the foolishness of man, the seduction of the tempting voices, and even the deliberate rebellion of the heart.”