Love vs Antilove
Speaker: M.Noorhoff

Let me start off today asking you a question.

 

Is God Love or Is Love God?

 

Now your answer to this is important as it will directly effect how you read your Bible, live your life and find salvation or not. It decides your focus point and with the wrong focus point you will not see clearly.

 The Bible states that God is love and this is quite different from Love is God but too often people actually believe in the later and thus never approach God fully because they are aligned to the wrong focal point and their focal point is always shifting. But when we focus on God the creator of life and the source of love is non-changing by definition. Therefore we may also have a solid definition of love.

 In the same way we can say God is Just but we can not say Justice is God. The virtues cannot supersede the Authority or source. It can only do this by our choice and in our mind we may even put the law in before God.

 Let me state one more thing since I believe it is true. That love and justice can only exist if they indeed coexist and that true justice is love and true love is just.

 So now we can see that if God is love he must also be just and what He creates for us and in us is a law of love.

 Jesus state when asked about the law:

 But in todayfs world where many of us put love before God one would say Love your neighbor and then love God but in such away they destroy love itself by putting the cart in front of the horse.

 To understand this better letfs look at the original 10 commandments.

 ‚d‚˜‚‚„‚•‚“@20:1  And God spoke all these words:

2  "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3  "You shall have no other gods before me.

4  "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

5  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

6  but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7  "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8  "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

9  Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.

11  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12  "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

13  "You shall not murder.

14  "You shall not commit adultery.

15  "You shall not steal.

16  "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17  "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

"You shall have no other gods before me.

God is the foundation of all things God is love He is the source if we remain in him like a branch to a vine then His perfect love may flow into us. This is the first and the most important of all the other commandments.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol

Why would you put something dead above something living. But we are a land of idols Japan with its plethora of idols and overseas with its American idols. We worship power, money, and ourselves, but these must not go above God we must rely on Him alone

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD

This is one that can have several meaning of course most believe it to be about cursing, but it means so much more, the new testament says do not swear by the lords name but let your yes be yes and your no be no. It also refers to those who take the name of Christ but do not live a Christ-like life they are not willing to change to be made perfect in Him.

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

This is the Lords day a day to recharge a day to spend Loving God and Loving your neighbour and your family It is a day on which we redevote ourselves to God. We spend absorbing his love. Jesus saidh "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." We devote ourselves to learning and doing his ways

"Honor your father and your mother

Jesus said: For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,'  he is not to 'honor his father ' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:  "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

He also said   Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

We should always be humble and childlike and honor our mother and father for by doing this we come closer to God

"You shall not murder.

But Jesus said  "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.  "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

"You shall not commit adultery.

But Jesus said "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

"You shall not steal.

But Jesus said   Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Jesus said "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.  I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

And "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

"You shall not covet

Paul wrote:  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

And   Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Let us look at the first commandment carefully. You shall have no Gods before me. So you can see only when god, the source of love is put first, do we have true love at all. I could go on but I will simply go back to the words of Jesus.

You see Jesus said nothing different from what God did in the Ten Commandments in the old testament. How could he, being a part of God himself. He merely reduced it to the basic form without the added details. These basics should have been understood by a country that has been molded by these same laws for nearly 2000 years. We find He does the same throughout his ministry. His sayings always referring back to a larger meaning than may first be observed. They refer us to something that we should know that should be within us? 

The question is how does one fully love their neighbor, their fellow man.

One must follow the rules of love and this is essentially what the commandments are, rules to love, And through them or more specifically through there source be as love, as we are brought closer the Father.

Todayfs world has once again forgotten what true complete love is. We are not talking free love, pampering love, appeasement love or self love, but we speak of love as God sees love

4  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8  Love never fails.

What we are essentially dealing with is love vs antilove.

Call it what you will

Love for God vs Rebellion from

Godfs love vs self love

God Conscious vs self conscious

Living by the spirit vs living by the world

But Ifm going to say Love vs Antilove

 

And in describing this are language doesnft allow us any other way but a do or donf is or isnft kind of way. So in essence we are describing what love is and what antilove is.

 "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'@ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

 Jesus removed the parameters so that we may live love and not the law but Godfs law is the embodiment of what love is and the source and authority of it and it is just. Just as God is just and God is love.

 We do run into problems here because we think we can pick and choose love and that we can also pick and choose what needs to be fixed in us in order that we may love. If this is you I can only tell you to be ready for more than you expected or even wanted perhaps. You see Godfs deal is a package deal and the house has the advantage.

Jesus told us to be perfect just as our father in heaven was perfect and many of us think that this is just an ideal we should strive for and never obtain but how many of us do strive for it, how many of us really want to be perfect at all. How many just want a touch up or a trim but not a complete renewal. But it is not up to us because by nature God only knows perfection and anything he does deals with perfection basically it is the only thing he knows how to do. And this should be a comfort to you because it means he only knows perfect love and perfect justice and perfect salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. For how could we be secure with anything else? But this poses a problem to those of us who only want God to fix the things we find worse in ourselves. We expect Him to stop after fixing those. Donft dare take away those things I kind of like even though they go against what God says, But he doesnft work that way, asking Him to fix one thing means asking him to fix everything. Many is the time god can not fix what you want Him to until He fixes something that you donft want Him to. If you are not willing to let Him fix the one how can you expect Him to fix the other. Eventually if you do accept him fully He will fix you fully whether you like what he is doing all the time or not. You will be amazed at the finished work. You can not raise anything above God but by putting all below him all may be made to fit Him.

This is necessary for God wants to reunite yourself with Himself to do this he must first unite the properties or the solvent and that solvent is Love. God himself can not change by his very nature, and even when he enter the human sphere he remained perfect and without sin, living the commandments, living the love. But we are like oil and God is the water and we can not mix unless the oil is broken down and made like the water. This is cleansing and just as soap does this in nature love does in in supernature.

Why do we think of these as rules or oppressive when really the are uplifting and cleansing. Lifting us up out of the world.

But does the world really want to be rid of these commandments. I would say no because we love rules and have made up millions more since the time of Moses and will make up millions more in the future. It is not the rule itself that the world wants to rid itself of but the authority. When they talk about removing the commandments what they really want to do is take out the 1st and second only. If we could leave God out of the picture then they can accept but this itself is a lie and useless for the law loses its authority. Imagine the world today without police without courts without any authority. It sounds wonderful but we all know what would happen and the anarchy that would ensue. The law itself means nothing without the authority unfortunately. I myself would love to see a world where police were not needed and armies were not needed. But we are not living in such a world and even if not between nations we hurt others around us. 

 Satan does not oppose good morals but what he does oppose is the authority of Jesus Christ.

 Let me head off in a different direction that maybe you have figured out for yourself. Something about a personal philosophy. You see I am saddened by every new law or treaty that man creates or is forced to create to fix an unfairness or fill a hole etc. In this way I reflect the words of Oliver Wendall Holmes: Law reflects but in no sense determines the moral worth of a society. The values of a reasonably just society will reflect themselves in a reasonably just law.

   The better the society, the less law there will be. In Heaven there will be no law, and the lion will lie down with the lamb. The values of an unjust society will reflect themselves in an unjust law. The worse the society, the more law there will be. In Hell there will be nothing but law, and due process will be meticulously observed.

     Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

 Each time we need such a thing it shows that we have moved farther apart from God and each other, we have institutionalized loving your brother without the actual source of the love. I look at all the great documents and constitutions and know that without love they are nothing but ink on paper.

If we take the example of article 9 of the Japanese Constitution I sometimes feel it is the same. Now donft get me wrong I pray the world comes to peace someday but I sometimes see these as only shells of truth without a core, without a heart.

Article 9 states

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. 2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

A beautiful sentiment and if only it could be so for the world. but this is something that must be written in the hearts of the Japanese people.@As well as hearts around the world.  I once talked with a woman who opposed the war in one sentence then ranted on about how much she hated this person and that in the next. Her message of peace was completely lost in the sea of anger and hatred in her heart. Antilove had taken her over. Remember Jesus said that anger and hatred are the same as murder. Sadly this is true among so many. We hate our brother when we are to love him for even our enemy is our brother. Let me state this is a simple sentence: You should not pray for peace while you live in hatred but live in peace a personal peace that comes in faith and you have already started to make those prayers come true.

How can we say we are a peaceful nation at all when we have no peace in our homes, schools, workplaces, and ultimately ourselves? How can this mean anything if brother does not love brother, sister, sister, neighbor, neighbor. Without the true love and authority of God we are merely covering over our antilove, sweeping under the rug.

It would be better to live without such things if there deaden our own individual commitment to this in all ways

This is not only non-Christians I speak on

Arthur Pink once said about some in the church

They bring their bodies to the house of prayer but not their souls. They worship with their mouths but not in spirit and in truth.

   They are sticklers for early morning communion with God but they take no thought about keeping their hearts with all diligence.

   They boast of their orthodoxy but disregard the precepts of Christ.

   Multitudes of professing Christians abstain from external acts of violence, yet hesitate not to rob their neighbors of a good name by spreading evil reports against them.

   They contribute regularly to the church but shrink not from misrepresenting their goods and cheating their customers persuading themselves that business is business.

   They have more regard for the laws of man than those of God for his fear is not before their eyes.

   -- Arthur Pink

In the beginning, there was only one law and that was the first to love God with all your heart soul and body. With this we needed nothing else until we put ourselves before him. This was the point where the law was needed.

Even Jesus command to love god with all your heart mind and soul and to love your neighbor as God loved you seems to have one law to many. It is time for us to go back to our original state and simple love God with all our being. Let us put nothing before God, not ourselves, nothing no matter how virtuous it may seem. He alone must drive the cart.  All else flows from this.

 

Let us pray