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Love: The Protection of God 1 Pet. 4:8 (KJV) “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” The love of God is broad. Love is not able to be fully understood by carnal man, but scripturally a partial definition of love is that it covers. Many in the church believe that agape love is unconditional love, meaning that once we are saved there is nothing we can do to separate ourselves from the protection or the covering. It is as if God entered into a lifelong commitment with us to always keep blessing us even if we stop loving and serving Him. The church uses this verse: Rom. 8:35 (KJV) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” But let us notice that this verse is speaking of outward influences against us. Nothing outside of us has power over us, except by God and our own choices. Is it possible that by our own choices to sin that we separate ourselves from God and from His love as well? Also, is it possible that if we continue to cover someone in sin we can actually interfere with the restitution that God desires to use through repentance to bring the individual back under the protection of His love? Isa. 32:1-2 (KJV) “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. 2And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” “Christ our righteous King, and his true disciples, are evidently here intended. The consolations and graces of his Spirit are as rivers of water in this dry land; and as the overhanging rock affords refreshing shade and shelter to the weary traveler in the desert, so his power, truth, and love, yield the believer the only real protection and refreshment in the weary land through which he journeys to heaven. Christ bore the storm himself, to keep it off from us. To him let the trembling sinner flee for refuge; for he alone can protect and refresh us in every trial. See what pains sinners take in sin; they labour at it, their hearts are intent upon it, and with art they work iniquity; but this is our comfort, that they can do no more mischief than God permits. Let us seek to have our hearts more freed from selfishness. The liberal soul devises liberal things concerning God, and desires that He will grant wisdom and prudence, the comforts of his presence, the influence of his Spirit, and in due time the enjoyment of his glory.” Matthew Henry Commentary It is the King of Righteousness and Princes of Judgment that protect. Righteousness proves our innocence or guilt and Judgment sentences us to freedom or torture. Repentance is the key to the covering. Without the key, there is ultimate doom. But it is important to note that even the sinners can do no more mischief than God allows. Isa. 4:2-6 (KJV) “In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 5And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” It is God’s love and kindness that lead us to repentance. Some, however, feel they must prove their way is right. Scripture says that by judgment the fire burns and that ultimately filth will be washed from the church. If the filth has not been separated by repentance, the sinners will be separated from the church with the filth. King David had sinned and had an encounter with the prophet: 2 Sam. 12:12-14 (KJV) “For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit…” Nathan lists the things that will happen because of the sin. Some may ask, “Well, didn’t God love David? Why didn’t God cover David’s secret sin?” In God’s awesome power of love, David didn’t die from his sin. That is the love of God; that is the protection. There are consequences to our choices and we can throw fits when the consequences seem severe, but God has every right to slay every sinner. Nathan also could have taken matters into his own hands and covered David from the knowledge of God’s love, but because he loved David and feared God, he spoke the truth. This is protection. This is love. -S. Chad Ross June Newsletter 2003 | Pursue Your God In Holiness | Love: The Protection of God Pastor's Journal June 2002 | The Lord Is Our Refuge | Present Day Fathers part 3 | Pillars and Posts part 3 of 3 |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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