Serve With Fervent Love!

Serve With Fervent Love!

First, I want to express my thanks for the articles that were sent in to the paper the last few months! It has been blessed, good, and edifying to read the articles by young brothers and sisters from the various local churches. The fact that Skjulte Skatter (Hidden Treasures) mirrors such diversity is valuable, because the paper is the main spiritual publication of Brunstad Christian Church. May God give much grace to the coming generations to be preserved in the fear of God so that both brothers and sisters receive content for edifying themselves and others through their ministry in the home and in the church, as well as through the publications Skjulte Skatter and Mandelblomsten (Almond Blossom), BCC Online, conferences, and gatherings. 2 Cor. 1:1-7.

We sing in song #810 in Almond Blossom: “Love from God outpours from His boundless stores, like a river right from His throne.”

Because God loved the world, “He gave His only begotten Son . . . .” John 3:16. He did this while we were still sinners so that we might be saved. This verse is so all-inclusive that it is called the Little Bible.

Our entire ministry must be driven by God’s fervent love in the mind of Christ. It is written in Romans 5:5 that hope does not make ashamed (KJV) because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The question is whether we have had God’s love poured out in our hearts so that we serve people with hope for their salvation and transformation!

A smile can be full of hypocrisy, and when leaving the person, perhaps both our thoughts and our countenance express anything but hope for that person, hope being a characteristic of God’s love.

Many people can speak doctrinally correct words at meetings and gatherings, but he who has received the Spirit poured out in his heart can hear whether they are learned platitudes or if they proceed from the heart to be a blessing and for edification! Our life confirms our words, whether it imparts heaven into my works! “So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.” 1 Thess. 2:8.

When my words are grounded in God’s love, their power will be entirely different from only words of knowledge. Therefore it is written in 2 Corinthians 4:13-15 that by our words, “grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” Then you have something on your heart that is important to your listeners, and you speak to those who have a desire to partake of the same love of which you have partaken. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17.

Not everyone has an ear to hear God’s message in the church! People can even be gripped by a sinner’s flowery speech, thinking that it is good to hear him. Such words are vanity and emptiness, without fervent love for the people who listen to them. A lack of the fear of God is the reason people cannot hear such deception! However, a God-fearing person or someone seeking to live a God-fearing life hears whether the words are sincere, driven forth by the love of Christ.

“And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. But the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as are within [NASB]; then indeed all things are clean to you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” Luke 11:37-42.

Always inquire after justice and the love of God! A person can do many things that are very good, but what do they matter if God’s care for people does not follow their works? If you possess the love of God, then you are also filled with God’s love for people.

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” 1 Pet. 4:8. A pure heart harbors no prejudices! If you possess the love of God, you are set free from external things; you see a person whom you can love unto salvation! You are not occupied with external things and do not look for things like rings and necklaces, etc., or for things that are wrong and have to be corrected! A shepherd who possesses fervent love does not work like this but rather looks for souls who can be loved unto salvation; he looks for souls who long for God, even though they do not understand that all these external things ought to be in order. This is important to understand; otherwise you are heading in the wrong direction, leading others astray as well. It can go very badly with you if you continue as a Pharisee; in the new covenant we can also be Pharisees who carry on with merely external things without appreciating or loving our fellow men.

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering . . . .” Col. 3:12. Tenderness proceeds from the love of God in a pure heart that loves people as they are, just as God loves them. As far as you are concerned, people can be just as they are for the rest of their lives; you love them regardless, just as they are. Therefore, in your entire ministry, you can only be of real benefit to people when you love God and have a pure heart.

Do not get caught up in all kinds of things, such as how people behave or conduct themselves or in external things! “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate [follow] me” 1 Cor. 4:15-16.

These ten thousand instructors are also among us today. If they gained authority in the church, they would soon put people under the law, under one or another human commandment and carnal regulation. They would start by correcting different people, making life terrible and unbearable to live. Therefore such people must not have any authority in the church! “Purify your souls in obeying the truth [Norw.] through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” 1 Pet. 1:22.

Fathers in Christ must have the authority in the church, and fathers must also be awake and speak up when it matters. Being a father in Christ does not necessarily mean that you are old in years, but you must be rooted and grounded in love, so that you never depart from what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15: “For the love of Christ constrains us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then we all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

May God give grace that in the New Year we are entering, we may be in the Spirit which Paul writes about in 1 Thessalonians 3:10: “. . . night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith.”

This is how we become fellow workers of Christ, warm and fervent in doing good, who work together for the joy of people instead of ruling over their faith! 2 Cor. 1:24.

I wish you all a blessed New Year 2021, a year of grace and a year of work as fellow workers in God’s fervent love.