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THE LOVE OF THE CHRIST

My purpose is to speak about the love of Christ. The subject is such as to draw out our feelings, for it is said, “The Father loves the Son”, John 3:35. At the Jordan the Father took occasion to speak about Him: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”, Matthew 3:17. On the mount He added, “Hear him”, Matthew 17:5.

First, I wish to speak of the Lord’s love for Paul. Paul is distinguished in many ways, but particularly in this that he says of the Son of God, “Who has loved me and given himself for me”, Galatians 2:20. I do not recall that anyone else has said just those words. John says, in speaking of himself, that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, but Paul says, “Who has loved me and given himself for me”. But I desire to make a few remarks as to the context in which this remark occurs. The first and second chapters of this epistle to the Galatians are particularly in mind. Now, in saying this about himself, Paul works up to it, as if the thought grew in his mind as he reviewed events. In this epistle, the apostle is seen in relation to certain persons and circumstances which gave rise to certain thoughts about persons, some of whom were conspicuous. But in speaking of their conspicuousness he also brings in what he was; what marked him in those circumstances, and he gives some of the facts of his conversion. Now, in having to do with persons who are conspicuous we may be challenged as to the state of our minds. Naturally, we would be disposed to be conspicuous if there was any good reason for it. He had to do with the greatest persons on earth and the greatest in the mind of heaven. He recounts what happened at a certain time in Jerusalem and mentions ^[p. 2] certain facts. Paul was there, and Barnabas, and Peter, and James, and John and others. Paul himself speaks of what his feelings were, but he is going to tell us, later, that Christ loved him. He is going to tell us that as he proceeds with this letter. He says, “The Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”.

Now, as having it in mind to say that, he touches on the reasons for saying it. This is not just anybody saying this. It is Paul! And in working up to this statement he has in mind that, when he says it, it will be obvious that he was loved by the Son of God. So that the mind is taken to the scene at Jerusalem where the greatest personnel in the universe were. There were others, too, who came in surreptitiously to spy out the apostle’s liberty. But these would be ministers of the devil. But there were Peter and James and John who were conspicuous as being pillars. When Paul was younger, fourteen or more years before the events we have been speaking about, he went to Arabia. He had been converted, and he says, “I went to Arabia”, Galatians 1:17. Well, why did he go there? I am speaking now as to how persons who are loved of the Lord can give reasons for what they do. We may be ready to say that we are loved of the Lord, but I am just a little afraid of persons being too ready to say these things, especially if we are quoting Paul. I would challenge our hearts as to this. But why did he go to Arabia? Maybe he went there to deny the flesh. No doubt he did. But what bearing did that have on Christ’s love for him? The opposite would be found in one that was not spiritual. Such a one may go to Jerusalem to see what was there. But Paul did not do that. He went to Arabia. The Lord watched him on that journey. It was a long way. The Lord watched his footsteps; doubtless he was a lone man. He had not gone to Damascus a lone man; he was a man of importance; he was a great representative of the priesthood ^[p. 3] in Jerusalem in opposition to Christ. And he had company. But then he “went to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus”, Galatians 1:17. Then after three years he went up to Jerusalem. We may have thought that he was going up to see the prominent brethren, to see the large meetings in Jerusalem. The leading men were there. But he did not go for that. He did not see any of them except Peter and James. He says that he “saw none other of the apostles, but James the brother of the Lord”, Galatians 1:19. He did not go there to become acquainted with the great brethren and with the big meetings. Yet, that is just what we may be inclined to do as we have opportunity, but I would challenge our hearts as to it. Paul did not go to Jerusalem to get to big tea meetings or social affairs. This may be current among the brethren. Afternoon and evening teas may become quite social with very little about Christ in them. But Paul went up to Jerusalem to see Peter. We may like to do that too, and to see all the other great personages there. But Paul went up to see Peter, and not only to see him, but to make acquaintance with him. The young brethren need to make the acquaintance of the elder brethren; not simply to be able to say, I have seen Peter — and James — and John, but to make acquaintance that will advance you spiritually. Well, that is what Paul did. He was at Jerusalem for fifteen days, which would mean, very likely, that he spent two Lord’s days with Peter, or, possibly, three.

Well now, in the second chapter, he says that there were those who were conspicuous. How we do love to be something! But the apostle says, “If I ... have not love, I am nothing”, 1 Corinthians 13:2. We need to take that home. If we have not love we are nothing! But there were those who were conspicuous, of whom Paul says, They communicated nothing to me. But nevertheless they were something. Peter and John had said earlier, “Look on us”, Acts 3:4. They had something. “What I have, this give I to thee”. They had love. They told the ^[p. 4] lame man at the Beautiful gate of the temple to look at them. But now Peter and James and John are said to be pillars, and Paul says that they “gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship”, Galatians 2:9. What a beautiful picture; Peter and Paul and James and John and Barnabas — these great men in the testimony, shaking hands together! They loved each other in the testimony.

Well now, after these things, which I have mentioned briefly, Paul tells us that when Peter came to Antioch, he withstood him to the face, because he was to be condemned. Now that is a very important feature of a person whom Christ loves, and that is what I am leading up to: a person whom Christ loves — as to how he is worth loving. What a change had taken place! Here is Peter, the elder brother whom Paul had gone up to Jerusalem to see, and with whom he had spent fifteen delightful days. How much Peter could say to Paul, and how much Paul would value what his elder brother said to him! But now there is a change. We are all liable to change, even the most spiritual of us. Peter had become affected by party feeling. And not one of us is exempt from that. When some came from James, Peter withdrew and would not eat with the gentiles. But what is this man, whom Christ loved, going to do about Peter? Paul says, “I withstood him to the face, because he was to be condemned”, Galatians 2:11. What he did shows why Christ loved him. If I say that Christ loved me, I want to show that there is some reason beyond the fact that I am a believer. Paul is telling us what he had done, and one of the important events was, that when Peter acted on party lines, and was not faithful to the truth, Paul withstood him to the face, and spoke to him about it before all.

Well, that is the point I am making, dear brethren; that if we make much of the fact that the Lord loves us, and there is little reason to be seen, we are liable to be challenged and should be challenged. Before ^[p. 5] Paul says that the Son of God loved him, he tells us these things which show that he was worthy of being loved. I have often said that the Lord has the right to make selection. God has the right to set His love upon a person in a special way, but if He does, there is usually some good reason for it. See how He speaks about Moses. Persons traduced Moses; his own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, spoke evil of him, but God stood in the breach. He said, “Why then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”, Numbers 12:8. If God sets His heart on a man He will show that it is deserved. So it is here; Paul is about to say that the Son of God loved him and had given Himself for him. And is it not justified in every respect? What a place Paul will have in heaven! “Henceforth the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will render to me in that day; but not only to me, but also to all who love his appearing”, 2 Timothy 4:8. One of the best reasons for advancing that the Lord loves me is that I love His appearing. What a day it will be for all lovers of Christ! I should not like to be among the non-lovers of Christ when He appears.

Well now, Paul says, “Who has loved me and given himself for me”. He carried that in his heart. In all the circumstances at Jerusalem he had carried in his heart that Christ loved him. But then, what portion did Christ have in what happened at Jerusalem? I believe that every movement of that servant was pleasurable to Him. I am sure of that. It was a long experience, and great conflict for the truth entered into it, but during every moment of it the Lord’s eye rested on His servant. We have to remember that this was an inspired letter; the Spirit of God was in the matter and caused Paul to write these words. And the Spirit of God would have pleasure in him; so that, after all these events and all his faithfulness, which is recorded, He causes him to write: “But in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”.

That was Paul’s life, and, I might say, Christ’s life entered into it. That is exactly what is meant. That was his wilderness life; it was his life in flesh, not yet life in heaven. All these events that I have spoken about refer to wilderness circumstances, and in these circumstances Christ was his life. “When the Christ is manifested who is our life ...” Colossians 3:4. Christ was his life; Christ was everything to him. It mattered little what others thought of him. “Whatsoever they were”, he says, “it makes no difference to me”, Galatians 2:6. He was dead, in the sense of which I have been speaking. He was “crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me”.

Well, I trust that each of us will be affected by what has been said and will challenge ourselves if there is any good cause why Christ should love us. Do we provide any such cause as Paul gives? any history like his? What part has my history with Christ’s life? The history of the assembly enters into Christ’s life; He lives for her, but then she is His joy, the pearl of great price. Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians with his own hand, but the Spirit of God guided his hand to put down indelibly that the Son of God loved Paul and gave Himself for Paul. It was not that He loved Paul just as he was writing. Paul was relating history — that when Christ died He had Paul in His heart; He died for Paul. I do not know of anybody else whose hand was guided by the Spirit of God to say that Christ loved him when He died. What an honour! And surely we may aim to be somewhat like him and give a reason why Christ loves us. We may say that we are lovers of Christ, but then, He is a Lover of us. That is just the point I make, and He wants to say that He is a Lover of us. But when He comes to some of us, how much can He say as to the reason for His love for us? Of course, there is the general thought that He loved the assembly, and gave Himself ^[p. 7] for it, but I am speaking now of what is par excellence. John speaks of “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. We have to find out who that was, but not so with Paul. Paul says, He loved me. All these years since He died He has had me in His heart; He gave Himself for me there, and He is the same now as He was then. I am sure Paul could say that as advancing in the knowledge of his Saviour.

Well now, I just go on to 2 Corinthians 5:13 where the apostle says, “For whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God; or are sober, it is for you. For the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died; and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised”. I am now going to speak about the influence of Christ’s love and how it leads up to a right judgment because I find in myself, as I do in the brethren, that we are very poor in our judgment, both of persons and of things. This passage is to teach us something of judgment. He says, “For the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died”. That is judgment, and it hangs, really, on the fact of Christ’s love for him. He had acquired experience of the love of Christ and it influenced him in the way of judgment: “having judged this that one died for all, then all have died”. And again, “He died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised”. I wish to enlarge on the importance of forming a judgment of persons and things. The Corinthians were very poor in their judgment. Some of the leaders there spoke very disparagingly of Paul. They said that his speech was contemptible. They spoke ill of each other. There were partisans among them. They had their friends, and non-friends. It was a humbling situation but it is written down, beloved, that we should not be marked by these things.

The apostle says, “For the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died”. Now, that is how we judge. If it were possible for Paul to stand up with the hundreds of millions of men and women on the earth before him, he would take account of them as dead. They may be scholars, orators, great statesmen, great soldiers, and what not. They are all dead. I speak now of those that are not christians. Of believers, he says, “That they who live ...” But what about those great men who have fought and judged nations, who are ruling countries? Is it right to say that they are living to Christ? “That they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised”. Is it right? Can they be said to be living to Christ? It is not so. I am leaving out true christians for the moment. But take the millions of people who are not believers — Paul has judged “that one died for all, then all have died”. It would take time to give some idea of the meaning of this. I only mention the scripture itself for us to look into it and face the fact as to what is on the earth and how God looks at it. Men are dying every day, but morally it is all done. One died for all, then all have died. But then we are to see what modifications there are. It says, “that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised”. The others are all dead; but anybody that lives, is not to live to himself, not to be selfish, but to live to Him who died for us and rose again. The Lord Jesus has died for us and has risen again for us. He is glorious! He is triumphant! He is in heaven! He is received there! He is everything there! Well, what about my life from now on? What is it to be? Living to Christ? That is the only thing. Morally, we should not live at all if we are not living to Him who died for us and rose again. It is a matter of only a few years and our lives here will all be over. We may as well look it in the ^[p. 9] face; and the summation of it all is “that they who live” are to live to Christ. It is a great victory that the Lord has secured so many who live to Him. Others are dead. How thankful we should be, dear brethren, as we come together in these gatherings, that we belong to the living. Abigail said to David, “The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living”, 1 Samuel 25:29. I ask each one here tonight, Are you in the bundle of the living? What are you living for? “That they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised”.

May God grant us to be stirred up by these things.

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