Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 29
Under no circumstances are we to yield to the bitterness and hatred toward another believer, or toward an unsaved person, with which Satan injects the unwary Christian. God enables us to maintain a heart free of bitterness and hatred no matter how we are treated, and a kind, affectionate attitude toward God's people.
There is much being said these days about love. Love is held out as the answer to most of the problems of the world. However, the unsaved person or the believer walking in the appetites of the flesh is unable to produce a conquering love. No matter how good the intentions, the attempt to maintain a loving attitude breaks down as soon as evil and perversity reach a certain level.
There is too much evil, and of too venomous a quality, in the world today for us to go about loving everybody and thinking happy thoughts. After having had some experience with unsaved people who teach that love is the solution to our problems, we have come to the conclusion that we would rather live among a pride of lions than among such advocates of "love."
The love of God that is imparted to us from God is different in kind from human love. The love of God is as distinct in kind from our love as gold, silver, and precious stones are distinct in kind from wood, hay, and straw. The love of God is the Substance of God that comes down from Heaven and enters us. The love of God is pure, authoritative, powerful, full of Divine compassion. It cannot be provoked easily, is impartial, does not seek its own advantage but behaves in a kindly, generous spirit.
The love of God grows in us as a fruit of the Spirit of God. It is so different from human love that we ourselves are surprised at the spiritual strength growing in the depth of our nature. Love is the mark of redemption and maturity. All the workings of the Holy Spirit bring us into the love of God. We are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and allow the love of God to grow and flow in us.
There is no greater working of God in us than the creation of His love. Love is the sign of perfection. Love does not come to maturity overnight but is the fruit of the Spirit growing in us throughout the course of our discipleship.
Some day in the not too distant future we Christians will be seeing Christ face to face. We will be gazing at pure, perfect, holy, Divine love. We will be contemplating that glory for billions of years. In time we will begin to be formed into the image of love. This will involve the transformation of every atom of our personality.
Total transformation is necessary if we are to dwell in the centre of the fire of God. When we are submerged in the love of God we will see Him face to face and we will know as we are known.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:8)
Faith, Christian character, the knowledge of the holy, self-control, patient endurance, devoutness, brotherly affection, and Christian love are to abound in us. When these qualities abound in us they will insure that we are fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is not enough to "receive Christ" and then state that we know Him. It is possible to be unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ, and it is the fruit of the moral image of Christ that is the crop the Farmer is looking for, not just an initial mental knowledge.
It is not enough to make a profession of Christ, even if our knowledge of theology is correct. It is the development of faith, character, patient endurance, love, and other fruit that are the necessary outcomes of receiving Christ. If these virtues are not forthcoming we may have believed in Christ in vain. Is it possible to profess Christ in vain?
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (II Peter 1:9)
If we are continuing in the same pattern of behaviour, waiting for the resurrection, hoping that when the Lord appears we will be transformed from our coldness, indifference, bitterness, into heroes of faith, we are ignorant of the process of redemption, of the method and outcome of the new covenant.
If we lack the faith, the Christian character, the knowledge of Christ, self-control, patient endurance, devoutness toward God, brotherly kindness and affection, and Christian love, we are blind. We are stumbling around in the dark. We are as Samson, our strength gone, grinding corn for the enemy.
There is much blindness among the people of God today. There is talk about the rapture, the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, the coming of Christ, but little understanding of what actually will take place. The reason for this blindness, this inability to "see afar off," is sin—simply that.
When we Christians turn away from the sins of our flesh and begin to seek the righteousness of Christ, our eyes are opened. We do not continue to labour in the dark, trusting that a careless, indifferent, pleasure-loving crowd of people will be caught up in clouds to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. We see instead that the Lord Jesus is coming for His true saints and that a day of extraordinary trouble is just over the horizon.
When we can "see" we understand the terror of the Lord, realizing that He will not hand out the rewards of the Kingdom to lukewarm followers. We become conscious of the fact that redemption is taking place in us now in preparation for the day when the Lord Jesus will come to judge the world.
The more we possess of the virtues mentioned in the first chapter of II Peter, the further we can see. We no longer are blind. Our eyes have been opened by the righteous conduct that has been created in us by the impartation of the Divine Nature.
When we are blind we have forgotten we were purged from our old sins. We have returned as a dog to its vomit. Having tasted the salvation of Christ we have chosen to turn back into the filth of this age.
What will be the end of those who, having once received the Lord Jesus and been baptized in water, have not followed on to the development of Christian character?
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: (II Peter 1:10)