Is LOVE The Answer?

There is a lot of silly thinking about this word LOVE.

Some preachers have said that there are certain people who spread damnable heresies among the brethern. Then some will attack the man who said that because it was not a Christian thing to say.

WAS IT??? Dosen't Jesus say in His Holy Word that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us"? Well of course He said that, but we also need to notice who He said it to.

The Lord Jesus had some very harsh things to say about the religious rulers of His day. He said,
"Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do", in John 8:44.

Also He said, "Ye serpants, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell" in Matthew 23:33. He called the devil their father and a snake their mother. I do not now of anyone more extreme in the Scripture than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:9 says.................
"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment".

WHY would Paul say that???/

The answer is found in verse #10.

"That you may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ".

We are to LOVE all believers in Christ. Now.....some of the believers are a little difficult to love. Some of our friends are just as difficult to love. We are to love the un-lovely BUT we are to love with knowledge and discernment. That is what the Scriptures say. That does not mean we just let our love slop over on every side and fall onto the floor no matter what. It is to abound WITH DISCERNMENT.
 
Yes, there were and dangerous people who if receive life were willing to use it for satanic/evil faith/religion/spirituality, and i mean namely the unrighteous/bad clerics/believers/occultists, namely about them St. John say: "There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." 1 John 5:16, because if such people receive life they are ready to use it for performance of spiritual/religious/occult iniquity. Namely about them testifies St. Jude saying: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly(ie unrighteous/bad clerics/believers/occultists) among them of all their ungodly(ie unrighteous/bad religious/spiritual/occult) deeds which they have ungodly(ie spiritual(-ly)/occult) committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly(ie spiritual/religious/occult) sinners have spoken against him.", Jesus also explains about them: "many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.....And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity(ie spiritual/religious iniquity) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.....When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: ) Then let them which be in Judaea(ie in religion) flee into the mountains(ie out of the religions):.....Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.....But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking(ie followed their spiritual/religious/occult self-interests/self-benefits), marrying and giving in marriage(ie baptized/devoted in/to/from their religions/faiths/gurus), until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:5-38
 
There is a lot of silly thinking about this word LOVE.

Some preachers have said that there are certain people who spread damnable heresies among the brethern. Then some will attack the man who said that because it was not a Christian thing to say.

WAS IT??? Dosen't Jesus say in His Holy Word that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us"? Well of course He said that, but we also need to notice who He said it to.

The Lord Jesus had some very harsh things to say about the religious rulers of His day. He said,
"Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do", in John 8:44.

Also He said, "Ye serpants, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell" in Matthew 23:33. He called the devil their father and a snake their mother. I do not now of anyone more extreme in the Scripture than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:9 says.................
"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment".

WHY would Paul say that???/

The answer is found in verse #10.

"That you may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ".

We are to LOVE all believers in Christ. Now.....some of the believers are a little difficult to love. Some of our friends are just as difficult to love. We are to love the un-lovely BUT we are to love with knowledge and discernment. That is what the Scriptures say. That does not mean we just let our love slop over on every side and fall onto the floor no matter what. It is to abound WITH DISCERNMENT.
Hi Major,

I totally agree that in many cases our definition of love is faulty. Often Christians see love as not hurting someone's feelings - yet that temporary pain may be the very thing that is needed to turn them back to God.

I have said it often (and have probably shared it before in this forum, but the old brain can't remember for sure
wink.png
) - I was brought to Christ out of spiritualism by a man who shoved Deuteronomy 18:9-12 under my nose and showed me that God said that I was an abomination to the Lord because of what I was doing. Then, just to emphasise it, he closed the Bible, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, "Woman, you are an abomination to God." Now, some Christians would say that was terrible - what a mean, unkind, hurtful thing to say! But 36 years of serving the Lord later, I'm happy to tell anyone that it was the kindest, most loving thing that anyone has ever done for me. Far better to tell someone that he/she is heading for an eternity in hell, than to sit politely back and allow him/her to go there!

blessings,

Lynn
 
Hi Major,

I totally agree that in many cases our definition of love is faulty. Often Christians see love as not hurting someone's feelings - yet that temporary pain may be the very thing that is needed to turn them back to God.

I have said it often (and have probably shared it before in this forum, but the old brain can't remember for sure ;)) - I was brought to Christ out of spiritualism by a man who shoved Deuteronomy 18:9-12 under my nose and showed me that God said that I was an abomination to the Lord because of what I was doing. Then, just to emphasise it, he closed the Bible, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, "Woman, you are an abomination to God." Now, some Christians would say that was terrible - what a mean, unkind, hurtful thing to say! But 36 years of serving the Lord later, I'm happy to tell anyone that it was the kindest, most loving thing that anyone has ever done for me. Far better to tell someone that he/she is heading for an eternity in hell, than to sit politely back and allow him/her to go there!

blessings,

Lynn

My dear Christian Sister in Christ,

We are on the same page. I in no way mean to lower or dishonor the LOVE of God for us in this world and life we live. BUT having said that we all need to and IMO have to come to realization that God is LOVE but He is also a RIGHTEOUSE JUDGE!!

Over the years it seems to me that the body of christ has attempted to LOVE people to the extreme. I AM NOT SAYING THAT IS WRONG!!! I am however saying that there is two wides to ever story.

Just like your friend spoke to you, I had an old time evangelist by the name of E.J. Daniels look he square in the eyes and say to me...................

"Son, God love you so much that He died for YOU..........but if you do not stop the living the sin you are in, you will die and burn in hell forever and ever"!

I thank God that he spoke in such a straight forward and powerful way to me because it shook me to my bones and changed me forever.
We don't here a lot of sermons like that anymore I guess because we don't want to "scare" anyone. But for one, I am glad I was scared stright to Jesus!!!
 
I thank God that he spoke in such a straight forward and powerful way to me because it shook me to my bones and changed me forever.
We don't here a lot of sermons like that anymore I guess because we don't want to "scare" anyone. But for one, I am glad I was scared stright to Jesus!!!
Amen, amen and amen!

What's more, I believe there are many hearts out there which are desperately hungry for such a straight-forward "tough love" message. They are tired of fairy-floss sweetness - they can get that in bucket loads from the New Age movement. They want reality. Sadly, the Church as a whole is so afraid of actually being the "peculiar people" that God has called us to be, that it rarely gets preached.

Throughout my years as a preacher, most of the messages that the Lord gives me (particularly when I am preaching away from home) are pretty heavy stuff. Sometimes I find myself, before a meeting, thinking "They're going to lynch me if I preach this!" Yet every time the message has been received with open, hungry hearts and an enthusiastic response. People want a God who demands something of them.

blessings,

Lynn
 
Amen, amen and amen!

What's more, I believe there are many hearts out there which are desperately hungry for such a straight-forward "tough love" message. They are tired of fairy-floss sweetness - they can get that in bucket loads from the New Age movement. They want reality. Sadly, the Church as a whole is so afraid of actually being the "peculiar people" that God has called us to be, that it rarely gets preached.

Throughout my years as a preacher, most of the messages that the Lord gives me (particularly when I am preaching away from home) are pretty heavy stuff. Sometimes I find myself, before a meeting, thinking "They're going to lynch me if I preach this!" Yet every time the message has been received with open, hungry hearts and an enthusiastic response. People want a God who demands something of them.

blessings,

Lynn

Well said and did you notice that in the middle of this how God has used an old Baptist and a young Pentacostal to agree on the Word of God about what is needed in this world today????

That in IMO is the unappolgetic Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit!!!!

I have done exactly what you described and IMO the people at other churches were actully "starved" to here the straight forward Word of God. It is almost like........."where has that been" kind of responce.
 
Well said and did you notice that in the middle of this how God has used an old Baptist and a young Pentacostal to agree on the Word of God about what is needed in this world today????

That in IMO is the unappolgetic Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit!!!!

I have done exactly what you described and IMO the people at other churches were actully "starved" to here the straight forward Word of God. It is almost like........."where has that been" kind of responce.
<grin> Keep up with the "young" and you're my friend for life!

blessings,

Lynn
 
There is a lot of silly thinking about this word LOVE.

Some preachers have said that there are certain people who spread damnable heresies among the brethern. Then some will attack the man who said that because it was not a Christian thing to say.

WAS IT??? Dosen't Jesus say in His Holy Word that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us"? Well of course He said that, but we also need to notice who He said it to.

The Lord Jesus had some very harsh things to say about the religious rulers of His day. He said,
"Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do", in John 8:44.

Also He said, "Ye serpants, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell" in Matthew 23:33. He called the devil their father and a snake their mother. I do not now of anyone more extreme in the Scripture than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:9 says.................
"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment".

WHY would Paul say that???/

The answer is found in verse #10.

"That you may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ".

We are to LOVE all believers in Christ. Now.....some of the believers are a little difficult to love. Some of our friends are just as difficult to love. We are to love the un-lovely BUT we are to love with knowledge and discernment. That is what the Scriptures say. That does not mean we just let our love slop over on every side and fall onto the floor no matter what. It is to abound WITH DISCERNMENT.

Hello Major,
Great post. I know it's a bit old but I figured it's still a relevant topic and wanted to fully understand what you are saying. When you say "We are to LOVE all believers in Christ," is the point you are making, that we do not need to love non believers? Or when you say "We are to love the un-lovely" are you talking about the non believers? Thanks again for taking the time to read my post.

Be blessed,

- Where is the Messiah
 
Hello Major,
Great post. I know it's a bit old but I figured it's still a relevant topic and wanted to fully understand what you are saying. When you say "We are to LOVE all believers in Christ," is the point you are making, that we do not need to love non believers? Or when you say "We are to love the un-lovely" are you talking about the non believers? Thanks again for taking the time to read my post.

Be blessed,

- Where is the Messiah

This is really an old topic......back to 2011.

By the way, I wonder if anyone heard what happened to "revlynn"???

The Bible teaches us that we are to do BOTH.

We are to love all believers because they have Christ in them just as we do.

We are to love unbelievers not necessarily for who they are BUT who they can be with Christ in them.
 
This is really an old topic......back to 2011.

By the way, I wonder if anyone heard what happened to "revlynn"???

The Bible teaches us that we are to do BOTH.

We are to love all believers because they have Christ in them just as we do.

We are to love unbelievers not necessarily for who they are BUT who they can be with Christ in them.
Ok that makes more sense.
 
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