What Love is This?
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Just how do we truly look at these verses? Do we truly love one another as Christ loved us or do we simply claim to love one another? I am sure that there are some emotional bonds between us and we consider this to be the fulfillment of that command but is it really what He meant? Does our love for one another go beyond the body of Christ and extend outward to those who we come into contact with or those who are in our community or perhaps standing on the corners holding up “will work for food signs.” Does our love extend out to those who are not of our race or sexual preference?
To fully understand the type of love that Christ was talking about here we have to forgo our own definition of love and look back throughout the entire Word of God to grasp His definition of love. We have to understand that the times He exacted punishment upon people it was because of their disobedience of remaining in sin. It was His hatred towards sin and not the people that exacted His vengeance and even in those cases He was longsuffering. He did not exact any judgment without first providing time for repentance nor did He do so without first providing an example of His goodness and love. As we look back through the Old Testament we can clearly see these examples being provided and the unwillingness of man to repent. It is mans decision to continue in disobedience that forces God to exact His judgment upon the children of disobedience and I believe we are seeing the many repercussions of our own disobedience today in and out of the church.
In Deuteronomy we are told to not withhold our hand from our poor brothers and that we are to give with a pure heart not looking for what we will get out of it, yet we have changed our perspective on our giving by placing requirements upon our giving. We change the rules to fit our own needs being more concerned for our own well being than that of others, yet if we consider carefully Christ’s words are we truly loving as He loved us. Look first at the promise made in Deuteronomy 15;
Deut. 15:10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
Before you claim it is of yourself let us remember His words in chapter 8;
Deut 8:10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Deut 8:11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Deut 8:12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Deut 8:13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Deut 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Deut 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Deut 8:16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Deut. 8:17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Deut. 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deut. 8:19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
Originally I intended to only put verses 17 through 19 in here but as I read the verses again I felt the need to put the preceding ones in because they hold so much relevance to our actions today. I myself have found my family in situations that we were unable to obtain income for a period of time and while many knew of the situation we had no offers of help in those situations. After losing my job we started a business, in a field that I had previously had a business in before we met. There are many people in our church who are in the same industry who could have helped provide contacts or even business for us because our business is the service side of the industry and yet no one has bothered to attempt to help. Before I go on it is not merely me who is seeing this but many others in our church and in churches all across the nation. Yet every Sunday we put on the display of loving on each other. We put on our fake smiles and hug each other and do nothing else to reach out to those who are hurting amongst us. We forget that God gave us these things not just for our benefit but so that we could help meet the needs of others that through us they might see the love of Christ.
When the children of Israel prepared to take Jericho, Joshua sent spies into the city and they went to a woman who was known as a harlot who hid them. When they arrived at her house she told them how they had heard all the things that their God had done and how the people were afraid, yet she was the only one who repented. Because of her actions God had spared her. God uses the actions of others to display His love and grace. Jericho could have been taken many years earlier but because of the disobedience of the children of Israel they were given another 40 years to turn from their wickedness and yet during that time only one family did so. As we go around preaching the love of God to others unless they see it in us first they cannot fully understand it. They are like Rahab the harlot who has heard of all these things that God has done. They are like the rest of Jericho who has heard it and are fearful but not willing to turn from their wickedness, yet when someone comes in and shares the goodness of God with them and then the time comes that they go and pull then out of the rubble and allows them to dwell with them within the encampment and not at the outside edges of the camp then there is no telling what God will do with that person for through the lineage of Rahab came the greatest king of the Jewish people and from him came the promised Messiah. (Matt. 1:5) We see the love of Christ being displayed at the church during Pentecost and God adding to the church by the thousands. They met the continual needs of those who could not work and helped those who could by providing for them until they were able to provide for themselves.
Consider for a moment the story of Ruth and Boaz. Again we have a women outside of the children of Israel being shown the love of God through the actions of Boaz and while she might have received even better treatment than others the fact was that they purposely left food in the field so that the poor could glean from it in order to provide food for their house hold. Over and over again we see the display of love reveals the love of Christ and draws others to Him. It is not a one time action which is why we seldom see people come to church when we pay a utility bill or help with their rent. It is continual, by continuing to meet physical needs and spiritual needs. Perhaps they have lost their job and need help finding a new one, it is then providing work for them while they search out new employment or perhaps watching their children while they look for work or while they attend classes to increase their education so they can get a better job or by training them in a different position at your own company whatever the case is, if they see it as a constant in our actions toward them then they see Christ’s love through us and this is the love that He first showed us. It is the love that kept him from wiping us off the face of the earth while we were in our disobedience. It is the love that continued to call us to Him even when we continually refused His calling and it is the love that, even while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. It is the love that reveals that we are His disciples. It is the love that is lacking and so desperately needed now during these trying times that we are facing. It is the love that will possibly lead to another great revival and help usher in the second coming of Christ. How sad it would be to not be obedient in these times when He could do a great work through and allow countless millions to pass into utter darkness because of our refusal to obey Christ.
You see it is a love of sacrifice. Rahab sacrificed her own lustful desires, Ruth sacrificed her pride, and Christ sacrificed His position in heaven to take on the form of man and then provided His body as a sacrifice for our sins, to pay the penalty for our disobedience, our sins against a just and holy God. He who knew no sin became sin that we might be redeemed. Then in the greatest of victories He defeated death so that we might have eternal life through Him. We have denied sacrifice to be a part of the love that we are supposed to show others because honestly the lack of sacrifice permits us to justify our own lusts, particularly greed. It is basic human nature to gather up for themselves over and above their needs. This was the reason that God had commanded the Israelites to only gather what they needed for the day when He provided the manna from heaven, it was to teach them that they could survive by allowing Him to provide and yet when they reached the promise land they soon forgot these lessons. We have allowed people to come in and teach supposed biblical aspects to financial freedoms and a prosperity message because we all strive to have more. None of us truly want to be in debt or unable to provide sufficiently for our families but the truth is that the bible is clear regarding what we earn and that message is it all belongs to God. His command to not withhold from the poor was not part of His 10% but part of what was left over. It was not that we give to the co-op and let them hand it out as they saw fit but to give it as He led us to give it. It was not to go to the church to help meet the needs of others that we might have met but for us to open our pockets to them ourselves first and then let the church know so we could meet together and determine how else we could help them.
We are reaching the time when we are very vulnerable to outside influence because of the status of the country. We have already been hearing the voices of others who claim that Christians are a prejudiced religion and that their lack of love towards other religions is well documented in the Bible. As we look at the condition of this country and the lack of morals that are being flaunted in public we have got to recognize that it is time to get back to the unconditional love of Christ. It is important because we are facing the same circumstances now that Europe faced when communism took power and if you do not believe me then read this exert from a minister who was at the meeting in Romania when they began the congress of churches.
Once the Communists came to power, they skillfully used the means of seduction toward the Church. The language of love and the language of seduction are the same. The one who wishes a girl for a wife and the one who wishes her for only a night both say the words, “I love you.” Jesus has told us to discern between the language of seduction and the language of love, and to know the wolves clad in sheepskin from the real sheep. Unfortunately, when the Communists came to power, thousands of priests, pastors, and ministers did not know how to discern between the two voices.
The Communists convened a con¬gress of all Christian bodies in our Parliament building. There were four thousand priests, pastors, and ministers of all denominations—and these men of God chose Joseph Stalin as honorary president of this congress. At the same time he was president of the World Movement of the Godless and a mass murderer of Christians. One after another, bishops and pastors arose and declared that communism and Christianity are fundamentally the same and could coexist. One minister after another said words of praise toward communism and assured the new government of the loyalty of the Church.
My wife and I were present at this congress. Sabina told me, “Richard, stand up and wash away this shame from the face of Christ! They are spitting in His face.” I said to her, “If I do so, you lose your husband.” She replied, “I don’t wish to have a coward as a husband.”
Then I arose and spoke to this congress, praising not the murderers of Christians, but Jesus Christ, stating that our loyalty is due first to Him. The speeches at this congress were broad¬cast and the whole country could hear proclaimed from the rostrum of the Communist Parliament the message of Christ! Afterward I had to pay for this, but it was worthwhile.
We are already seeing many one time strong denominations crumble to the whims of the people. They are denying the inerrancy of the scriptures and the deity of Christ in order to gain a larger congregation and to align themselves with those who will come into power. The approval of same sex marriages will provide them the power to create laws that will silence many churches. Yet there will be a few who will still stand for the word of God and continue to preach against sin. The truth is that the preaching against sin is not being prejudiced against a group of individuals and this is the love we need to remember. While Christ preached against sin He loved the sinner and showed it in His actions. He was not tolerant of their sins because tolerance would mean that He kept quiet about it, therefore showing approval of it. No, He spoke loudly against sin but even louder regarding His love towards them. This He did by eating with them and healing their ailments. He did not condemn them but revealed that they were condemned already; the women at the well and the women caught in adultery are examples of this. Yet we pass over these examples quickly because we; like the Pharisees consider ourselves as better than these lowly sinners and this is the reason that the world has been able to convince so many to turn from Christ and we go right along with it because it keeps us from having to reach out to others.
The conditions surrounding us today is preparation for yet another dark time in history. We are at the edge of persecution as never seen before in our own country. We have people in power who can convince many that the watering down of scripture or the total elimination as them as the inerrant Word of God is necessary to insure world peace and peace within our own nation. And with the passing of recent laws we are insured that this will soon come to pass if spoken against, with the justification being that we as Christians are a prejudiced religion responsible for ethnic cleansing throughout history. Hate crime bills we be passed in attempt to silence the word of God and they will justify their own hatred towards us based upon these laws.
Oswald Spengler wrote in Decline of the West:
You are dying. I see in you all the characteristic stigma of decay. I can prove that your great wealth and your great poverty, your capitalism and your socialism, your wars and your revolutions, your atheism and your ¬pessimism and your cynicism, your immorality, your broken-down marriages, your birth-control, that is bleeding you from the bottom and killing you off at the top in your brains—can prove to you that there are characteristic marks of the dying ages of ancient states—Alexandria and Greece and neurotic Rome.
This was written in 1926. Since then, democracy and civilization have died already in half of Europe and even as far as Cuba. Much of the West sleeps.
To those who think science proves anything; (exerts from trials during persecution in Europe)
“Your religion is anti-scientific,” the judge taunted at another trial, to which the accused girl—a student—answered, “Do you know more science than Einstein? Than Newton? They were believers. Our universe bears Einstein’s name. I have learned in high school that its name is the Einsteinian universe. Einstein writes: ‘If we cleanse the Judaism of the prophets and Chris¬tianity as Jesus has taught it from what came afterwards, especially from priestcraft, we have a religion which can save the world from all social evils. It is the holy duty of every man to do his utmost to bring this religion to triumph.’ And re¬mem¬ber our great physiologist Pav¬lov! Do not our books say that he was a Christian? Even Marx, in his preface to Das Kap¬i¬tal, said that ‘Chris-tian¬ity, especially in its Prot¬es¬tant form, is the ideal religion for remaking characters destroyed by sin.’ I had a character destroyed by sin. Marx has taught me to be¬come a Chris¬tian in order to remake it. How can you, Marx¬ists, judge me for this?”
It is easy to understand why the judge remained speechless.
To the same accusation of having an anti-scientific religion, a Christian answered before the court: “I am sure, Mr. Judge, that you are not such a great scientist as Simpson, the discoverer of chloroform and many other medicines. When asked which he considered to be his greatest discovery, he answered: ‘It was not chloroform. My greatest discovery has been to know that I am a sinner and that I could be saved by the grace of God.’”
Christians in some of the former Soviet Republics are still persecuted today. In restricted nations worldwide, the Christians of the Underground Church are suffering today more than ever before. It is estimated that approximately 160,000 Chris¬tians were martyred in 1997.
The only sadness that should scream out of our heart is the sadness that we have not done more before now. It should be that we have allowed so many to reject Christ because of our actions. The sadness should lead us to repentance and a bolder approach to those within and without the body of Christ. The truth of our own condition may come sooner rather than later and when it does come where will you stand?
Following are three letters from Maria, a Christian girl who led Varia, a member of the Communist Youth Organization, to Christ.
First letter
...I continue to live here. I am very beloved. I am beloved also by a member of the cell of the Komsomol [the Communist Youth Organization]. She told me, “I cannot understand what a being you are. Here many insult and hurt you and yet you love all.” I answered that God has taught us to love all, not only friends, but also enemies. Before, this girl did much harm to me, but I prayed for her with special concern. When she asked me if I can love her, too, I embraced her and we both began to weep. Now, we pray together.
Please, pray for her. Her name is Varia.
When you listen to those who loudly deny God, it seems that they really mean it. But life shows that many of them, although they curse God with their lips, in their hearts have a great longing. And you hear the groaning of the heart...They seek something and wish to cover their inner emptiness with their godlessness.
Your sister in Christ, Maria
Second letter
In my former letter I wrote you about the atheist girl, Varia. Now I hurry to tell you, my beloved ones, about our great joy: Varia has received Christ as her personal Savior, witnessing openly to everyone about this.
When she believed in Christ and knew the gladness of salvation, she, at the same time, felt very unhappy. She was un¬happy, because before she had propagated that there is no God. Now she has decided to atone for her guilt.
We went together to the assembly of the godless. Although I warned her to be reserved, it was useless. Varia went and I went with her to see what would happen. After the common singing of the Communist hymn (singing in which Varia did not participate), she came forward before the whole assembly. Courageously and with much feeling, she witnessed to those gathered about Christ as her Savior and asked her former comrades for forgiveness that she had had her spiritual eyes closed until then and had not seen that she herself was going to per¬dition and leading others toward it. She implored all to give up the way of sin and to come to Christ.
All became silent and no one interrupted her. When she finished speaking, she sang with her splendid voice the whole Christian hymn: “I am not ashamed to proclaim the Christ who died to defend His commandments and the power of His cross.”
And afterwards...afterwards they took away our Varia.
Today it is the ninth of May. We know nothing about her. But God is powerful to save her. Pray!
Your Maria
Third letter
Yesterday, the second of August, I had a talk in prison with our beloved Varia. My heart bleeds when I think about her. In fact she is still a child. She is only nineteen years of age. As a believer in the Lord, she is also a spiritual babe. But she loves the Lord with all her heart and went at once on the difficult way. The poor girl is so hungry. When we knew that she was in prison, we began to send her parcels. But she received only little of what was sent to her.
When I saw her yesterday, she was thin, pale, beaten. Only the eyes shone with the peace of God and with an unearthly joy.
Yes, my dear ones, those who have not experienced the won¬derful peace of Christ cannot understand it...But how happy are those who have this peace...For us who are in Christ no sufferings and frustrations should stop us...
I asked through the iron bars: “Varia, don’t you regret what you did?” “No,” she answered. “And if they would free me, I would go again and would tell them about the great love of Christ. Don’t think that I suffer. I am very glad that the Lord loves me so much and gives me the joy to endure for His name.”
I beg that you pray for her. She will probably be sent to Siberia. They have taken away her clothes and all of her things. She has remained without anything, except what is on her. She has no relatives and we must collect for the most necessary things. I have put apart the last sum which you sent me. If Varia is deported, I will hand it to her. I believe that God will strengthen her and will give her power to en-dure in the future, too. May God keep her!
Your Maria
Fourth letter
Dear Maria, at last I am able to write you. We arrived well at [loca¬tion omitted]. Our camp is ten miles from town. I cannot de¬scribe our life. You know it. I wish to write only a little about me. I thank God that He gives me health and that I can work physically. Sister X and I were put to work in a work¬shop where we work at machines. The work is difficult and Sister X’s health is bad. I must work for both her and me. I finish my work first and then I help my sister. We work twelve to thirteen hours a day. Our food is just as yours, very scarce. But it is not about this that I wished to write to you.
My heart praises and thanks God that, through you, He showed me the way to salvation. Now, being on this way, my life has a purpose and I know where to go and for whom I suffer. I feel the desire to tell and to witness to everybody about the great joy of salvation that I have in my heart. Who can separate us from the love of God in Christ? Nobody and nothing. Neither prison nor suffering. The sufferings that God sends us only strengthen us more and more in the faith in Him. My heart is so full that the grace of God overflows. At work, they curse and punish me, giving me extra work because I cannot be silent. I must tell everyone what the Lord has done for me. He has made me a new being, a new creation, of me who was on the way of perdition. Can I be silent after this? No, never! As long as my lips can speak, I will witness to every one about His great love.
On the way to the camp, we met with many brethren and sisters in Christ. How amazing it is that you feel through the Spirit that they are children of God when you first see the brethren and the sisters. It is useless to speak. From the first look you feel and know who they are.
While we were on the way to the camp, at one railway station, a woman came, gave us food and said only two words: “God lives.”
The first evening when we arrived here (it was late), we were taken to underground barracks. We greeted those present with the words, “Peace with you.” To our great joy, from all corners we heard the answer, “We receive you with peace.” And from the first evening we felt that we are in a family.
Yes, it was really so. Here there are many who believe in Christ as their personal Savior. More than half of the prisoners are believers. We have among us great singers and good preachers of the gospel. In the evening, when we all gather after heavy work, how wonderful it is to pass at least some time together in prayer at the feet of our Savior. With Christ there is freedom every¬where. I learned here many beautiful hymns and every day God gives me more and more of His Word. At the age of nineteen, I celebrated the birthday of Christ for the first time. Never will I forget this wonderful day! We had to work the whole day long. But some of our brethren were able to go to the river nearby. There they broke the ice and prepared the place where, during the night—according to the Word of God—seven brethren and I were baptized. Oh, how happy I am and how I would like that you, Maria, should be with me, too, that I may atone at least a little bit, through my love toward you for the wrong I committed in times past against you. But God puts every one of us in His place and we must stand firm where God has put us.
Give greetings to the whole family of God’s children. God will richly bless your common work, as He blessed me, too. Read Heb_12:1-3.
All our brethren greet you and are glad that your faith in God is so powerful and that you praise Him in your sufferings unceasingly. If you write to others, tell them our greetings.
Yours, Varia
Fifth letter
Dear Maria, at last I have found the opportunity to write you a few lines. I can tell you, my dear one, that, by the grace of God, Sister X and I are healthy and feel well. We are now in [location omitted].
I thank you for your motherly care for me. We received all you have prepared for us. I thank you for the most valuable thing, the Bible. Thanks to all. When you write to them, send my greetings and thanks for what they have done for me.
Since the Lord revealed to me the deep mystery of His holy love, I consider myself to be the happiest in the world. The persecutions that I have to endure I consider as a special grace. I am glad that the Lord gave me from the first days of my faith the great happiness to suffer for Him. Pray for me that I may remain faithful to the Lord to the end.
May the Lord keep you all and strengthen you for the holy battle!
Sister X and I kiss you all. When we are sent to [location omitted] perhaps we will have the opportunity to write to you again. Don’t worry about us. We are glad and joyful, because our reward in heaven is great (Mat_5:11-12).
Your Varia
This is the last letter from Varia—the young Communist girl who found Christ, witnessed about Him, and was sentenced to slave labor. She was never heard from again, but her beautiful love and witness for Christ shows the spiritual beauty of the suffering, faithful Underground Church.
If this is the testimony of a young believer, one must ask, where are we failing? How many of us will be willing to stand for Him in the midst of persecution regardless of the outcome? There are many more stories regarding those who have been persecuted but I will only share one more with you.
A pastor by the name of Florescu was tortured with red-hot iron pokers and with knives. He was beaten very badly. Then starving rats were driven into his cell through a large pipe. He could not sleep because he had to defend himself all the time. If he rested a moment, the rats would attack him.
He was forced to stand for two weeks, day and night. The Communists wished to compel him to betray his brethren, but he resisted steadfastly. Eventually, they brought his fourteen-year-old son to the prison and began to whip the boy in front of his father, saying that they would continue to beat him until the pastor said what they wished him to say. The poor man was half mad. He bore it as long as he could, then he cried to his son, “Alexander, I must say what they want! I can’t bear your beating anymore!” The son answered, “Father, don’t do me the injustice of having a traitor as a parent. Withstand! If they kill me, I will die with the words, ‘Jesus and my fatherland.’” The Communists, enraged, fell upon the child and beat him to death, with blood spattered over the walls of the cell. He died praising God. Our dear brother Florescu was never the same after seeing this.
This is the love of Christ exemplified by those who believe in Him. It is the willingness to sacrifice all things that His love might be shown to others. There is no accounting for how many have come to know Christ through the actions of others who were not afraid to stand for Him. Because they face constant persecution they understand the need for sacrifice concerning love. They give regardless of their own situation because it is what Christ has asked them to do and not what man expects them to do. If we were to do the same thing today what do you think the result would be in our surrounding communities? If we went out into the community and helped feed those who are hungry and I am not talking about just one meal or if we fixed their houses for them or helped clothe their kids and we did this on a regular basis while sharing Christ with them. If we took the young boys who did not have father figures and included them in on our time with our own boys and the mothers with the girls and we showed them the love of Christ in our actions and how He works in our lives what kind of response do you think we would have in our communities? We can do this now if we begin to sacrifice our own wants and desires and begin to heed His or we can wait for full persecution to come and see who is really willing to stand for their faith in Jesus Christ.
