Even As He Loves

Even As He Loves

by Marcia Brown

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

I’m going to be opening my Bible to the 13th chapter of John in a few moments. Many, many years ago, Glenn Clark and the camps suggested that campers ought to do some memorizing of Scripture. Perhaps he suspected we didn’t know as much of it as we should know, and we didn’t know it as well as we should know it. And so he outlined, not single verses, but portions.

Some portions in the Old Testament, 53rd chapter of Isaiah, 23rd Psalm, 91st Psalm. I don’t remember if the 103rd was included or not. But over in the New Testament, he asked us to memorize Matthew 5, 6, and 7. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke 15.

The lost boy, the lost coin, the lost sheep. The ninth chapter of Mark, the Transfiguration chapter. And then over in the book of John, the latter portion of the 13th chapter. Then John 14, 15, and 17. Every word of it.

Then some chapters that you might expect. 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Fourth chapter of Philippians. A portion of the fifth chapter of James. Because I knew some of those portions of Scripture already, I decided the only fair thing to do would be to substitute and add some others. To take the place of… So I’d have the proper number of chapters, you know.

And… And… It proved to be probably the finest piece of work I’ve ever done. So far as becoming acquainted with the Scriptures. I love to memorize. Ever since I was a youngster in Sunday school, where we were taught to memorize certain verses.

Memorizing had become a very great pleasure. Not only of Scripture, but poetry. And… On and on and on. I enjoyed it. I still enjoy it. I love it. And I formed the habit of… When we were in church and… The Scripture reading… The response of reading was from a portion of the Scriptures that I knew by heart. I would close the hymn book or my Bible and I would… take my part from memory. Then I discovered something that happened to my memory. I’d forgotten some of those words. The little words that I thought were… not as important as the big words. Words like “and,” “or if,” “or but,” “or for,” “or with.” Preposition words, in particular, that tie things together.

Very, very important. And I discovered I’d forgotten certain phrases. And today when I’m in a group, with a group, and they’re quoting from memory, I discover that they too forget some phrases. Some of the same phrases that I’d forgotten.

Like that from… Fourth chapter, Philippians. “With prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” That “and thanksgiving” is forgotten. Well, anyway, back to the 13th chapter of John. I suggested that you bring your Bibles and a pencil and paper, so that you could jot down these references and later on digest them. Let them become a part of you. A part of your living.

34th verse. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” The portion I had forgotten: “as I have loved you.” Loving one another in the same way that He has loved us. With the same fullness.

The same measure. The same measure. The quality of love. He commands us to love one another in that same way. A love that never gets ragged edges. A love that never gets tired of loving. But keeps on and on and on.

Not depending on whether it’s easy to do it or not. He says, “Do it.” And remember who it is that says, “Do it.” And He knows what He’s talking about. The 35th verse. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.” This kind of love, one for another. His kind of love, one for another.

Even as He loves. That’s my theme for tonight. Even as, even as, in the same way, the same measure. On into the 14th chapter. Picking it up at the 15th verse. Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. Keep my commandments.” I have no idea how many times He says, “Keep my commandments.”

Neither have I any idea how many times He says, “Love one another.” A command. And of course, because those words pop at the different portions of these chapters, I used to get them all mixed up. Not quite sure of what followed. And then I wonder, why was He said it so often? Well, I found out in a hurry. I had to hear it often. I had to read it often. In many, many places. Before I really began to see, and to hear, and to obey.

Yes, the 15th verse of the 14th chapter. Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Then He goes on to tell what will happen if we do. If we love Him enough to obey Him. He says, “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” That’s a big word.

“Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. But ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” He dwelleth with you now, shall be in you. When? When we love Him enough to obey Him.

Down to the 21st verse. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Jesus, manifesting Himself to us when we love Him.

No need to do it if we don’t. Is there? And of course, and of course, every one of you, and me included, yearn that Jesus might manifest Himself to us, and to others. And He does. Someday you’ll start counting the ways.

And you’ll thank God. 22nd verse. “Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” Lord, how are You going to do it? You know, it’s so much easier to get into a discussion about a certain thing than it is to obey that thing.

At least I find myself discussing some things rather than obeying them, until I discover what I’m doing. Yes. “How is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” And Jesus, just like Him, Jesus answered and said unto him, “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

Yes. If we haven’t heard, He says it again. And keeps saying it until we do hear. On over into the fifteenth chapter of John. The ninth verse. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.” Keep it up. Continue. And He doesn’t say how long. He just says continue. Keep it up. Keep it up until the end of time. Never stop.

“Continue ye in my love.” Tenth verse. “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” That word abide. Remain. Rest. Live. Stay. Abide in.

In His love. Eleventh verse. “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” It comes as a result of abiding in Him. Step it back. We abide in Him as we love Him enough to obey Him.

Step it back. 34th verse. Plus all the others. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” In the same way. The same manner. The same fullness. The same measure. Farthest out. Love.

His love. 12th verse. He’s saying it again. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” 13th verse. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” He lay down His life for His friends. Also for His enemies. That’s love.

“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” I don’t know much about the rest of the world when it comes to this word command, but I’ve discovered that Americans just don’t like to be told, “I command you.”

But who is it that’s asking it? It’s One that not only asks us to do it, but helps us in the process of doing it. For that matter, for that matter, it’s as if He comes inside, and we and He do it together.

Jesus. 17th verse. It’s back again. “These things I command you, that ye love one another.” And because He doesn’t repeat the “as I have loved you” at this point, don’t forget it. Don’t look for the verse that doesn’t include it. Other verses do.

On over into 1 John. 2nd chapter. 3rd verse. “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” And what are they? “He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in Him.” 10th verse. “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light.” That’s one of the tremendous blessings that comes as a result of abiding. Obeying.

Abiding in the light. “And there is none occasion of stumbling in him.” My, what a verse. Or to the third chapter. The first verse. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”

That’s another tremendous result of loving Him. Obeying Him. Obeying Him. Abiding in His love. “We should be called the sons of God.” Second verse. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Another tremendous, another tremendous benefit. Tenth verse. Beginning in the middle of the tenth verse. “Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” Eleventh. “For this is the message that ye have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” From the beginning of what?

From the beginning of the New Testament? Of course. But also from the beginning of the Old Testament. Read the Old Testament someday with the idea in your mind that what God is saying is a part of His love song to us.

Fourteenth verse. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” Sixteenth verse. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” See what I mean when I said He keeps saying it again and again?

Seventeen. “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Let’s not restrict it to just talking it. Let’s do it.

Truly do it. Over in the fourth chapter, seventh verse. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” Ninth verse. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” I like to add the idea to these two particular verses: God loved us into loving one another.

Twelfth verse. “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.” Sixteenth. “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Eighteenth. “There is no fear in love.” Another tremendous benefit.

“But perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” So if we fear, we’ve got some more homework and knee work to do. “We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.”

I skipped one verse. I’m going back to it. You may wonder if this loving one another and obeying one another has anything to do with prayer. And you’ll find it in the… Twice at 22nd verse of the third chapter of 1st John.

We read, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” Obedience to Jesus, you would gather from this, is a prerequisite to answer prayer. You know, it’s so much easier to turn to that verse in the 7th chapter of Matthew, which says, “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, and knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” I sometimes wish this verse followed that portion, “And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” I don’t know how all of this affects you, but to me it opened doors.

Tremendous doors. Opened a whole new arena for living. Loving. Obeying. On a kingdom level. On a kingdom level. A kingdom type of obedience. I began to wonder if there are other things that we were supposed to do in the same way that God does, or that Jesus does. Or if this was the only requirement where we would match Him. I began to search, and I began to find.

Like… Christ. It’s a way to become like Him. I haven’t arranged these in any particular order. I just put them down as I found them, and I’ve never changed the order. The first that I have here is Ephesians 4, verses 31 and 32. And keep this in mind: we are to match Jesus. And it is possible to match Jesus. He makes it possible. We don’t, on our own. That’s impossible.

But He makes it possible. That 31st verse. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking,” that’s an awful lot of rubbish, “be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind, forgiving one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Match God in the way in which you forgive.

And of course, I immediately thought, but how can you? Well, what He tells us to do can be done. In Him. Through Him. And again, these verses opened up a tremendous vista. I have an awful lot of homework to do. Knee work to do.

I suspect maybe some of you do too. Ephesians 5, the second verse. “And walk in love.” Live in love. Let this be your relationship, not only with your friends, but with everyone. “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” And if those of us who call ourselves by His name, Christian, did it, it would be a very sweet-smelling world for the rest of the world to live in.

The sweetness of love. Christ’s love to be our environment. To be our environment. John 15, 10. I’ve already read it once. I’m going to read it again. “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.”

If we obey. And again, realize who it is we’re obeying. God. God is love. He sent His only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn us, but to save us. Rescue us. “For God sent not His Son into the world except to save.” John 3, 16 and 17.

1 John 3, verses 2 and 3. Earlier I read verses 1 and 2, but this time 2 and 3. “But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” And the third verse. “And everyone that hath this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure.”

I suppose all of you know that all of the promises concerning prayer rest on conditions. Sometimes we have no idea what those conditions are. We don’t read that portion. But there are conditions here too. “Everyone that hath this hope in Him.” This hope of being like Him. “Purifies himself, even as He is pure.” Match Jesus at that point. Revelation 3, 21. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” Match Him in overcoming. Remember, it’s possible.

John 15, 12. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” Matthew 5, 48. And this is one that I had frequently said, way back when, just wasn’t possible. 48th verse. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

My immediate response to that for years was, how to match God in being perfect? So I didn’t even try. If you think a thing is impossible, you won’t try. If you’re convinced at that point. But where does that verse start? To me it starts back at “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be called the children of your Father which is in heaven. For He makes the sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and He sends the rain on the just and on the unjust.”

“What good is it to do, if you love only those who love you? Or what good is it to do if you salute your brethren only? What do ye more than others? Even the publicans do that.” But, “Be ye therefore perfect.” You can at least start by loving your enemies. By loving your enemies. By doing good to those that hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. It’s a good place to begin. And just keep on. “Be ye therefore perfect.”

Don’t whittle that verse down to mean something less, like I used to try to whittle it down. Colossians 3:13. “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, even so do ye.” Forbearing and forgiving. Matching Jesus at that point.

And He doesn’t say, do it if they’re to blame. “If any have a quarrel against any.” Regardless of who started it. Anything like that. Forgive. Match Him with the prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

With Him in us, we can pray that prayer, and mean it. John 17, verses 16 and 18. Jesus says, “They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.” He puts us in the same category with Him. Isn’t that wonderful?

18th verse. “As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” He sends us forth with the same mission. Identically the same mission. Continuing His work. Completing His work. Empowered as He was empowered. His Spirit in us.

His Spirit doing it. Back again to John 15, 9. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.” That almost becomes like a benediction. I know there are other verses that I haven’t found yet, but I am still looking for them. But don’t forget that portion in the third chapter of 1st John. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” The RSV version has, “And do what pleases Him.” Obey Him. And then do whatever else there is that you can think of that might please Him. Going way beyond just obeying.

I know that as I began compiling this list, I felt myself getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller. And I began to think, well, this, and then this too, and then, adding it. And I thought, oh, what an impossible situation. Then all of a sudden it dawned on me: you don’t do it alone. He doesn’t wind you up and then put you down and let you go on your own until you stop.

Not like a battery. It’s full current. Plugged in. A piece of… on His power. Yes. You begin to catch a vision of what’s possible. And if all of this that I’ve read about is possible for me, my, what a life I have ahead of me.

What achievements. Not only are all things possible with God, but in Him, with Him, going all the way, all things are also possible with me. Do you catch it? Do you see it? Farthest out. My little life.

I hadn’t realized that we were going to have CFO International tonight. I’m going to read something. It fits in with what I’ve been talking about at the beginning. You may wonder how. But close your eyes while I read. I’m reading from a little book that came from Ceylon. Came from a very dear friend.

Mrs. D.T. Niles. The wife of D.T. Niles. Some of you Methodists surely should know that name. A beautiful person. A wonderful CFO-… She wrote it. The book. She came up to me and handed it to me one day, and I opened it and started reading. And then I looked at her. I’d always been looking for something like this. Everywhere I go, I look for something like this. I mean, that quality. And I said, “Who wrote it?” And she didn’t answer me. So I looked up, and I said, “But who wrote it?” She still didn’t answer.

I said, “Did you write it?” She said, “Yes.” She said, “But I didn’t want anyone to ever know that I wrote it.” You see, she has another name on the cover. And she said, “My husband is a wonderful leader in the church, but I’m nothing. I can’t do anything. But I love Jesus. I can’t talk. I can’t give speeches. I can’t do personal work. None of that. But I love Jesus, and I can’t keep still. So I put it on paper.”

This is part of what she put on paper. Oh, close your eyes. “Oh Lord, come and help. I stood on the shore and gazed at the ocean before me. I heard some murmurings rise from the depths of it. The waves, as they came and dashed on the shore one after another, seemed to say something to me, but I could not understand them. I do not know how long I stood there, when all of a sudden I saw some people in the midst of the sea. They looked at me and beckoned to me for help. But I did not know what to do, for I was no swimmer. There was no soul around me. And in sheer desperation I cried, ‘Oh Lord, come and help.’ As if in answer to my cry, I saw a boat appear, and I waved to it. I do not know if the persons in the boat saw me, but I saw I was heading for those people in distress. When the boat came nearer, I saw there was only one person in it. Suddenly a great wind arose and began to toss the boat, while the sea rose and fell. I heard the cry of those sinking souls, and wondered what this man could do all by himself. How I wished I could swim to his help.

But I was helpless. He dived into the raging sea and rescued them one by one and put them into the boat. But the sea raged and roared. It did not seem to want to let its victims go. The rescuer, though, was masterful. I forgot everything else and looked on with great admiration at the man who fought those waves to save those people at the risk of his own life. Were they worth all that risk? I wondered. I then saw the boat heading for the shore, and the sea, which had lost its victims, seemed to quiet down in sorrow. He brought them to the shore and beckoned to me to help them, to help him take them out of the boat. I went to him, but stopped in surprise, for as I went nearer, it was my Master Himself. He turned and looked at me, and all that He seemed to say was, ‘My child, you must learn to swim to help Him.’ But before I could ask Him how, He and the boat and the people within it disappeared, and I stood there alone, pondering over His words. I found myself one day at the crossroads of a great city. I stood at the corner of the pavement and watched the traffic pass by. The whole city, it seemed to me, was in one mad rush.

There were so many who passed up and down. Rich people, fashionable people, beautiful people, and yet none of them seemed happy. There were poor people, dirty people, and sad people, and all of them looked hopeless. But they were all rushing about, obviously in search of something. I was sure that they were searching for joy and peace. But could the world give these to them? It could not give something which it did not have. How I wished I could stand there and tell those people where to find joy and peace, but I could not. I felt as I felt by the seashore. Helpless. I walked down the pavement, thinking. I did not know how far I walked, when I found myself near an open meadow. It was lovely to be there after all that I had seen. I sat down in a place where I thought that nothing would disturb me. I wondered what I could do. I was not clever or learned enough to write what I knew. I was not a good speaker, to speak the word of God from a platform or pulpit. I was not even able to go from house to house witnessing to His love.

I sat with my head between my hands, looking down on the ground, when I saw a shadow fall in front of me. I had thought I was alone. I looked up. It was my Master. I stood up with my head bowed before Him. He placed His hands on my shoulders. I always felt different when He touched me. I felt light and happy. And I looked into His face. He looked at me and smiled, and then asked me, ‘My child, do you love Me?’ At that moment I felt that I loved no one better, but I also felt that I did not love Him in the way I should. ‘You love Me enough,’ He said, ‘to pray for those whom you like, for whom you care, but you do not love Me enough to pray for those whom you do not like. They also are My children.’ As I listened to Him, I thought I saw again all those whom I had seen before, and this time I recognized them. The people I saw struggling in the ocean. The people I saw at the crossroads of life. ‘My child, pray for them. And also for all those who in My name I shall send to them. All of them need your prayers.’

To pray for them.” Written by Dulce Niles. Do you know the meaning of high-fi? High-fidelity? Faithful reproduction of the original. Here at CFO, we are all together, loving and praying for one another, anticipating that someday, and maybe someday very soon, CFO will mean spiritual high-fi.

Faithfulness to the original. Jesus. High-fi. There is a little story. Someone asked Matthew why it was that he had given up his work as a tax collector and become one of Jesus’ disciples. And Matthew looked at them and answered,

“I looked at Jesus and I saw what I could become. Even as, like, of His nature. Loving as He loves. Forgiving as He forgives. Patient as He is patient. Gentle as He is gentle. Kind. Ministering in love. Endlessly.”

He considered Himself expendable in His Father’s work. In His Father’s work. We too, expendable. Wanting to be used up, not just well-preserved. Well-preserved for what? In order that Jesus might be known. In order that His work might be accomplished.

Everywhere. Everywhere. Not just this week in Minnesota. God bless you.