Depth of Love
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July 08, 2018 |
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"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10).
Dr. Jaerock Lee,
Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church
Chairman, The United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ
Permanent President, The World Christianity Revival Mission Association
Founder & Board Chairman, Global Christian Network
Founder & Board Chairman, World Christian Doctors Network
Founder & Board Chairman, Manmin International Seminary
Founder & Board Chairman, The Alliance Holiness Theological Seminary
Doctorate of Ministry, and Honorary Doctorate of Divinity
His sermons were broadcast by the Far East Broadcasting Company and the Asia Broadcast Station.
He conducted crusades in New York City, Washington D. C., Baltimore, Maryland, Los Angeles, and in Hawaii of the USA; Japan; India; Pakistan; the Philippines; Argentina; Honduras; Peru; Russia; Germany; Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Jerusalem of Israel; and Estonia.
"To enter New Jerusalem, the best dwelling place in heaven, we must achieve the deep levels of love. It is the way to recover God's image, become His true children, understand His heart, and share true love with Him." _ Excerpted from the Leadership Conference message "The Depth of Love"
God created the first man Adam. He later began cultivating humans on the earth. The purpose of His human cultivation is to gain true children with whom He can share love forever. To the extent that we become new creatures in the Lord and recover the image of God, we can feel His love at deeper levels.
When you understand the depth of His love you can understand more of His heart. You can then become His true children whom He can truly share love with. Let's delve into the depth of love in the seven levels for a better understanding of it.
1. Love is the fulfillment of the law.
There are 613 provisions written in the five books of Moses. There are 248 'Do' rules and 365 'Don't' rules. The condensed version of them is the "Ten Commandments". A passage from Matthew 22:35 provides an even more condensed summary of the rules.
A lawyer asked Jesus a question, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
As written, all the rules of the Law are summarized in the two phrases as: love for God and love for neighbors. It is all about love. In other words, if you love God and neighbors, even if you do not know the all 613 rules in the Law, you can practice them all.
Then, why is there the Law although it is all about love? It is because love is not something visible. When someone says, "I love God," it is based on the Law that we can measure the love.
1 John 5:3 reads, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome." The commandments of the Law serve as the criteria to tell how much we love God and if we love Him with all our heart. No matter how many times you say with your lips that you love God, if you do not keep them, it is not true love.
Obedience to the commandments is the criteria to measure your love for God. From now on, I am going to talk about seven points to let you check the depth of your love.
2. The seven checkpoints to measure the depth of your love
The first level is 'forgiveness'.
The forgiveness of God is not just about forgiving those who deserve to be forgiven. His forgiveness is about forgiving even those who do not deserve any forgiveness. King Manasseh of Southern Kingdom of Judah did great evil and received warnings from God, but he didn't pay attention. He ended up being taken to a Gentile nation. Only then did he repent and ask God to grant him mercy. God forgave him (2 Chronicles 33:1-13). King Ahab also lowered himself and asked for God's mercy only after God had proclaimed judgment on him. God forgave even such a person as Ahab (1 Kings 21:17-29).
The following Scriptures from Matthew 18:21 tell us about the forgiveness of God. Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." 'Seven' is the number of perfection. 'Up to seventy times seven' refers to limitless forgiveness, that is, perfect forgiveness. Jesus forgave the evil people who crucified Him (Luke 22:34). He even opened the way for them to receive forgiveness and salvation by accepting Him as their Savior.
If you believe in the love of the cross you should also forgive from your heart those who did evil to you. God forgives people who do not deserve it and He gives boundless forgiveness. He does not remember their transgressions once He forgives (Isaiah 43:25; Psalm 103:12-14).
Second, it is the level of 'giving life'.
'Giving life' means giving opportunities. It is to provide good conditions to live and regain a footing in their lives. In Genesis 4, Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. Afraid of the punishment that would come to him, he asked God for His mercy. God forgave him even though his repentance was not true but a confession made only out of fear. God even guaranteed his life so that he could repent thoroughly, bear the fruit in keeping with repentance, and eventually receive salvation.
When Jesus was captured, Peter denied Him three times. But when the resurrected Lord Jesus met Peter, He forgave him of his transgression and even entrusted His souls into his hands. He gave him the precious duty to spread the gospel of the Lord as His disciple. With His love in his heart, Peter performed his ministry with all his mind and strength and finally was martyred by being crucified upside down. It is true love to give opportunities to be renewed and move forward in life while being forgiven of past transgressions.
Third, it is the level of 'patience'.
Patience in the truth is not about holding something in that is hard to contend with. It is to continue to show patience until other people repent, become renewed, and bear fruit. You do not impatiently push and tell them to repent, be renewed, and bear fruit.
When a person is renewed and forgiven by the grace of God after sinning, the person may not have the strength spiritually to make a spiritual leap. He needs to steadily fill himself with the truth in the Lord. In the process, Satan may try to make him stumble and fall again but he has to continually fight. He might stumble and even fall again but we should understand this human weakness. We should remain patient with love and goodness for such souls who cannot quickly change themselves.
While conducting my ministry, I have been misunderstood, slandered, and faced with persecution. One of the reasons is because I have performed many signs and wonders. Even in these situations I just prayed and kept patient (Matthew 5:11-12). At times, some of the church members were instigated by Satan to mislead other members, but I never gave them up on my side as long as there was the most minute chance that they would repent. I willingly remained patient as long as it could lead to one more person's salvation (2 Timothy 2:10).
The fourth level is that of 'believing'
I could remain patient for souls and endure everything because I had faith in the outcome of the patience. I believe my church members have been sent by God and they are good sheep. I also believe they will become qualified to enter New Jerusalem.
Thus, I have never given up on anyone although they committed sin, tried to deceive me, and disobeyed. I have never hated them. I just believed that they would change, so I could not give up on them. I just felt sorry for them. When they looked disheartened, I encouraged them and said to them they can make it. Because I believe God, I can also believe my members even if they transgress and have shortcomings.
This trust in souls comes from my faith in the living God. I believe God can make the impossible possible and He takes responsibility for them. That is why I can trust them. When I sincerely gave my trust to them with true love and committed them to God, He accepted my faith with joy and let things be done as I had believed.
The fifth level is that of 'hoping'.
Let's say, you see 99 shortcomings of a person but also the one good point is seen among the 99. Here, 'hoping' is about seeing and hoping for the one good point. It is hoping for the one good point to grow and expand in their hearts. When it comes to your children, if you hope for them with faith unchangingly, God will renew them because of your love for them (Hebrews 11:1). When you try to guide your spouses or parents to church, you have to rely on God's love and mercy and pray with hope until they change. Then, you can receive the answer.
Since I opened my church, I have met many different people. They were different in terms of heart-field, personality, education, and social etiquette. Because I believed they would go to New Jerusalem along with me, I always saw their good point. I believed if I praised them for the good point and encouraged them to cultivate their good point, they would cover their shortcomings with their good point. I hoped that even those who were under God's punishment due to sin would pass the trials well and become perfect. In my prayers I talked with God about the good deeds that they had previously done and asked for His forgiveness and mercy.
God's love changed Saul into Apostle Paul who manifested God's power. His strong personality turned into strong willpower that never failed under big persecutions. His knowledge that had stood against the gospel of the Lord was transformed into an instrument to absorb His gospel, and his passion with which he had persecuted Christians turned into passion to travel the world opening the Lord's churches. Thus, we should hope for everybody with belief that they will be renewed, and for those who are afflicted with physical and mental hardship, to also be renewed.
The sixth level is 'waiting'.
Until the one you have hoped for with faith comes to become renewed, you must not become impatient, but wait, even if it takes a long time. This is the level of waiting. God created the first man Adam with great expectation and love.
However, Adam sinned and was sent out to the earth from the Garden of Eden. His descendants were rapidly stained with sin. Just 1,600 years later, sin and evil were so prevalent that God felt sorry that He had made man on the earth. And the Judgment of Flood was inevitable. But God did not forsake His expectation for human cultivation. He expected that true children would come out through the human cultivation that resumed through Noah. He is still waiting and expecting (2 Peter 3:8-9). The God of love has forgiven people, given opportunities for them to regain their footing, remained patient, believed, and hoped for a long time. He did not become impatient even when it seemed the fruit was less than His expectation. And He still waits.
Therefore, we should wait for the souls that we have believed and hoped until they become the fruit of renewal. We should continue to plant faith in them and give them the word of life. Then, we should commit the outcome completely to God (1 Corinthians 3:6). But you may hear bad words from them or they may do harm to you, but you still have to wait for them with hope. You should expect them to get a chance of turning back and wait. During human cultivation, God felt immeasurable pain but has waited and waited with hope for fruit that will be borne abundantly.
The seventh level is 'shedding tears'.
The God of love shed a lot of tears during the waiting. When the Judgment of Flood started, tears flowed from His eyes. But He did not give up His expectation for mankind. He remounted His expectations once again and was determined to wait and surely achieve His will.
The Lord donned flesh, came to the earth, and showed the love of the cross. On the earth, He also shed a lot of tears when He was faced with mankind's evilness. He prayed for even the one who would betray Him with hot tears. He prayed as well for those disciples who would receive persecutions with Him and spread the gospel in those persecutions. The drop of a single tear shed for souls will not just fade away, but every drop will go up to heaven as fragrance (Psalm 56:8). I also shed many tears for souls. I couldn't but shed tears when I saw evil. I couldn't but cry when I saw people who misunderstood God. However, I am running earnestly in the Lord with hope for the day when the tears of love will glorify God as the evidence of my love for Him.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to become united with God and the Lord, you should understand the depth of love and achieve perfect love. In the process, you may undergo severe pain and bitter sorrow. But you can understand the depth of love while shedding tears of love for souls and finally become His true children with whom God can share true love eternally. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will fulfill the Law with love and enter New Jerusalem the best dwelling place in heaven.
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