"That Love Which Is Of God"

True and genuine love (agape) is a forever event, a forever situation. In our society, where divorces are fast reaching to one out of two marriages, one would fully come to believe that "love" is only a temporary emotion rather than an eternal nature.

Young people "fall" into a love that is from letter jacket to letter jacket or class ring to class ring, and now, in my children's generation, from bed affair to bed affair. Is this the agape-love of God? If it is, it denies every principle of truth which we have discussed up to this point.

Homosexual persons go from partner to partner and call it love. Television and movie heroes go from adulterous affair to adulterous affair and call that love. Young people go from youn person to young person and call that love. Divorcees often chose to remain unmarried, but do not remain unfilled in companionships and call that love. Our society teaches that love is emotion and that it is affectionate feelings or temporary at best. Is true love temporary? This question has been proven already, but let's examine the question deeper.

In I Corinthians 1;3:8, we hear the Holy Spirit speak from the Apostle Paul, saying, "...charity (love-agape) never faileth..." We are told this just after we have been given some "implied" invisible trials and some facts about love's attitude through the invisible trials. ("Love beareth all things (through tests), believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.") Genuine (agape) love is proven to be forever, even enduring trials; it "never" fails. Where does that leave this so-called "love' we hear so much of today, which cannot hold marriages together, or parents and children, or mom's love from aborting her child and father's love encourages her? Child's love beats the parent's brains out, or stabs, or is otherwise brutal to parents! Pastor's love takes him from pulpit to pulpit, in short terms, leaving too quickly to become a lover of the souls of any people!

Do the parents know real love? Does this mother know real love" Does this pastor know real love? I do not think so, for the "fruit" is contrary to the truth.

Galatians 5:6 is a fascinating but not often heard truth. "...faith which worketh by love." The Greek structure of this word "worketh" is that present tense, continued action. This shows us that the Holy Spirit is saying, "...faith keeps on always working by love."

"Faith keeps on always working by love?" Does this mean that the force behind faith is eternal love, which always keeps on working, pushing faith forever?

Well, "God is love" (agape), and that nature (love) within the child of God works. "He that hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it..." (Philippians 1:6) to keep on working. "...God which worketh (present tense again) in you..." (Philippians 2:13) "...working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight..." (Hebrews 13:21).

What is God working within a genuine saint? Galatians 5:6 says it is faith, among other divine qualities, and "...the love of God is shed abroad (or poured out) in our hearts by the Holy Ghost..." The remarkable thing, however, to me is that this working is present tense or continues always to be going on. Eternal love keeps on working eternally. Now, it seems that if one had Christ (who is God, who is agape-love) within the heart in regeneration, that the fruit of all which has been said priro to this would be evident in an "intensifying" continuing sense.

"Husbands, love (agape) your wives...:" would mean more, much more, than just be affectionate toward them. Husbands who genuinely love their wives would keep on giving themselves continually, forever to their wives.

Love never faileth! Real love never give sup or gives out. Real love keeps on proving, demonstrating itself by bearing all things for its object of love. Real love keeps on proving, demonstrating itself by hoping for the best toward its object of love. Real love keeps on proving, demon-strating itself by enduring all defamation, all affliction for its object of love.

This application is true also for parents who love their children. Real love will just keep on bearing, believing, hoping and enduring by giving and giving on and on and on and on, with the apprearance of eternity as the inner fruit of divinity is working outwardly. So with children who love their parents, they likewise will just keep on con-;tinually giving themselves to their folks in bearing all, giving themselves in believing all, giving themselves by hoping all, giving themselves by enduring all, with the lasting continued appearance of eternity working within.

This same is true with real pastors. "The diseased have ye (pastors) not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them." (Ezekiel 34:4). "Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns..." (Ezekiel 34:21). In II Peter 5:2-3, we read, "...taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, ...not for filthy lucre... Neither as being lords over God's heritage, ..." This age is the age when even fundamental, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching pastors are seemingly fulfilling II Timoty 3:2-4: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, ...Without natural affection, accusers, incontinent, ... lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; God's people are hungry to be loved and often are without a lover pastor. How tragic this is!

"Charity (love-agape) shall cover the multitude of sins" (I Peter 4:8). This covering is the bearing of love, the believing of love, the holding of love, the enduring of love. This covering is to be given and given and given, as God gave His Son, which (keeps on continually and always) "cleanseth us from all sin." (Present tense - cleanseth) I John 1:7.

Love's run is eternal. It keeps on running, giving itself. It never faileth or ceaseth giving under any circumstances ever! "But love covereth all sins." (Proverbs 10:12).

Genuine love (agape) is why God can require "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:31-32), and "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." (Colossians 3:12-13), and "...but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." (Philippians 2:3).

Love overlooks that which would naturally cause one to esteem himself better than another. Love stoops one below another, willingly. Love (agape) is the power of choosing to be servant of, or under other. Love (agape) demotes itself of itself of its own will and places another in its place, taking the place of the other.