We have an abundance of sermonizing.  What is most needed . . . is love for perishing souls, that love which comes in rich currents from the throne of God.  True Christianity diffuses love through the whole being.  It touches every vital part, the brain, the heart, the helping hands, the feet, enabling men to stand firmly where God requires them to stand, so that they will not make crooked paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way.  The burning, consuming love of Christ for perishing souls is the life of the whole system of Christianity.

            What is the Bible interpretation of God?  "God is love."  By giving Christ to our world, God manifested His love for mankind.  "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Yes, "everlasting life."  This is the love which is the fulfilling of the law.  Only he whose heart is filled with compassion for fallen man, who loves to a purpose, showing his love by the performance of Christ like deeds, will be able to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible.  He only who loves his fellowmen to a purpose can know God.  He who loves not those for whom the Father has done so much know not God.  This is the reason there is so little genuine vitality in our churches.  Theology is valueless unless it is saturated with the love of Christ.  God is supreme.  His love in the human heart will lead to the doing of work that will bear fruit after the similitude of the character of God.  LHU 134.

            The greatest in the kingdom of God are those who know and love Him.  These are they who are chosen of Him and precious.  To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God, this is an unfailing evidence of true sanctification of heart and life.  ST  9-19-1900.

            Supreme love for God, and unselfish love for one another,--these are the two great arms on which hang all the law and the prophets.  The greatest of all gifts, all talents, is true, Christ-like love.  It is the brightest evidence of the power of religion.  By it, a daily witness for Christ is borne to the world.  The Lord calls upon His churches to manifest this love.  ST  10-2-1901.

            Sunday.  Love  The Fabric of Life.  Men and women can reach God's ideal for them if they will take Christ as their helper.  What human wisdom cannot do, His grace will accomplish for those who give themselves to Him in loving trust.  His providence can unite hearts in bonds that are of heavenly origin.  Love will not be a mere exchange of soft and flattering words.  The loom of heaven weaves with warp and woof finer, yet more firm, than can be woven by the looms of earth.  The result is not a tissue fabric, but a texture that will bear wear and test and trial.  Heart will be bound to heart in the golden bonds of a love that is enduring.  MM  362.

            Matt. 22:37-39.  IN Matthew, this question looks like a return to the attack on the part of the Pharisees; but in Mark, the atmosphere is different.  As Mark tells the story (Mark 12:28-34), the scribe did not ask Jesus this question to trip him up.  He asked it in gratitude that Jesus had proved the Sadducees to be wrong and to enable Jesus to demonstrate how well he could answer; and the passage ends with the scribe and Jesus very close to each other.  We may well say that here Jesus laid down the complete definition of religion.

            (I)  Religion consists in loving God.  The verse which Jesus quotes is Deuteronomy 6:5.  That verse was part of the Shema, the basic and essential creed of Judaism, the sentence with which every Jewish service still opens, and the first text which every Jewish child commits to memory.  It means that to God we must give a total love, a love which dominates our emotions, a love which directs our thoughts, and a love which is the dynamic of our actions.  All religion starts with the love which is total commitment of life to God.

            (2) The second commandment which Jesus quotes comes from Leviticus 19:18.  Our love for God must issue in love for others.  But it is to be noted in which order the commandments come; it is love of God first, and love of others second.  It is only when we love God that other people become lovable.  The biblical teaching about human beings is not that we are collections of chemical elements, not that we are part of the brute creation, but that men and women are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-7).  It is for that reason that human beings are lovable.  The true basis of all democracy is in fact the love of God.  Take away the love of God, and we can look at human nature and become angry at those who cannot be taught; we can become pessimistic about those who cannot make progress; we can become callous to those who are cold and calculating in their actions.  The love of humanity is firmly grounded in the love of God.  To be truly religious is to love God and to love those whom God made in his own image; and to love God and other people, not with a vague sentimentality, but with that total commitment which issues in devotion to God and practical service of others.

            1Cor. 13:1-3.  Paul's first concern in 1 Corinthians 13 is to show the transcendent value of love.  We may recall that when Jesus was asked by a Jewish expert in the law what the most important of the commandments was (the Jews had counted 613 commandments in the Law from Genesis through Deuteronomy), Jesus replied that loving God supremely and one's neighbor as oneself was the greatest of all.  The lawyer agreed and added that love must then be greater than the greatest thing done in the holiest place of all-the offering of sacrifices of atonement in the temple (Mark 12:28-33).  The lawyer had applied the supremacy of love to the most significant part of the religion of Israel.  Each of us today should make the same type of application to what we consider important.  What God wants us to be is not primarily pious communicators, seers and judges, intellectuals, miracles workers, big givers, or martyrs, but lovers-those who have experienced God's love and share it with others.

            1John 3:14.  Abel's offering showed that Cain was not giving his best to God, and Cain's jealous anger drove him to murder.  People who are morally upright expose and shame those who aren’t.  If we live for God, the world will often hate us, because we make them painfully aware of their immoral way of living.

            John echoes Jesus' words that whoever hates another person is a murderer at heart (Matthew 5.21,22).  Christianity is a religion of the heart; outward compliance alone is not enough, Bitterness against someone who has wronged you is an evil cancer within you and will eventually destroy you.  Don't let a "root of bitterness" (Hebrews 12:15) grow in you or your church.

            Real love is an action, not a feeling, It produces selfless, sacrificial giving.  The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others.  How can we lay down our lives?  By serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return.  Sometimes it is easier to say we'll die for others than to truly live for them - this involves putting others' desires first.  Jesus taught this same principle of love in John 15:13.

            Monday.  The Old Testament God  A God of Love. The Old Testament sheds light upon the New, and the New upon the Old. Each is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ.  Both present truths that will continually reveal new depths of meaning to the earnest seeker. Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in the law, and as revealed by the prophets, is the riches of the Old Testament. 

            Christ in His life, His death, and His resurrection, Christ as He is manifested by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New Testament.  Our Saviour, the outshining of the Father's glory, is both the Old and the New. . . .  The Old Testament sheds light upon the New, and the New upon the Old.  Each is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ.  Both present truths that will continually reveal new depths of meaning to the earnest seeker.  Faith I Live By 12.

            Gen. 1:26-31.  In what ways are we made in God's image?  God obviously did not create us exactly like himself, especially in a physical sense.  Instead, we are reflections of God's glory.  God is sinless, eternal, and unlimited.  Although we are given the potential to be sinless and eternal, we are also given the choice to fall short.  We will never be totally like God because he is our supreme Creator.  Our best hope is to reflect his character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness.

            Knowing that we are made in God's image and thus share many of his characteristics provides a solid basis for self-worth.  Human worth is not defined by possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness, or public acclaim.  Instead, it comes from being made in God's image.  Because we are like God we can feel positive about ourselves.  Knowing that you are a person of infinite worth gives you the freedom to love God, know him personally, and make a valuable contribution to those around you. God made both man and woman in his image. Neither man nor woman is made more in the image of God than the other. 

            God has ultimate dominion over the earth, and he exercises his authority with loving care.  When God delegated some of his authority to the human race, he expected us to lake responsibility for the environment and the other creatures that inhabit our planet.  We must not be careless as we fulfill this charge.  Like the Creator, we should care for the earth and its plants and creatures responsibly and lovingly.  God was pleased with all he created, for he saw that it was very good.  You are part of God's creation, and he is pleased with how he made you.  If at times you feel worthless, remember that God made you for a good reason. You are valuable to him.

            Gen. 2:21-25.  God forms and equips men and women for various tasks, but all these tasks lead to the same goal- honoring God.  Man gives life to woman; woman gives life to the world.  Each role carries exclusive privileges; there is no room for thinking that one sex is superior to the other.  God gave marriage as a gift to Adam and Eve.  Marriage was not just for convenience, nor was it brought about by any culture.  It was instituted by God and has three basic aspects:

(1) the man leaves his parents and, in a public act, promises himself to his wife; (2) the man and woman are joined together by taking responsibility for each other's welfare and by loving the mate above all others; (3) the two become one flesh in the intimacy and commitment of sexual union, which is reserved for marriage.  Strong marriages today include all three of these aspects.

            After Adam and Eve sinned, embarrassment, shame, and awkwardness followed, creating barriers between themselves and God.  We often experience these same barriers in marriage.  Ideally. a husband and wife have no barriers, feeling no shame in exposing themselves to each other or to God.  Like Adam and Eve (3:7), we put on fig leaves (barriers) because we have areas we don't want our spouse, or God, to know about Then we hide, Just as Adam and Eve hid from God.  In marriage, lack of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual intimacy usually precedes a breakdown of physical intimacy.  In the same way, when we fail to expose our secret thoughts to God, we break our lines of communication with him.

            Gen 3:15.             Christ's suffering and death have placed life in and through him upon an eternal basis of security.  He took human nature.  He became flesh even as we are.  He was oft hungry, thirsty, and weary.  He was sustained by food, and refreshed by sleep.  He had natural affection, for we see him weeping in sympathy with the sorrows of others, and lamenting over the retribution coming upon Jerusalem because of her impenitence. 

            While in this world, Christ lived a life of complete humanity in order that he might stand as a representative of the human family.  He was tempted in all points like as we are, that he might be able to succor them that are tempted.  As the Prince of Life in human flesh, he met the prince of darkness, and, passing over the ground where Adam fell, he endured every test that Adam failed to endure.  Every temptation that could be brought against fallen humanity, he met and overcame.

            Had he not been fully human, Christ could not have been our substitute.  He could not have worked out in humanity that perfection of character which it is the privilege of all to reach.  He was the light and the life of the world.  He came to this earth to work in behalf of men, that they might no longer be under the control of Satanic agencies.  But while bearing human nature, he was dependent upon the Omnipotent for his life.  In his humanity, he laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing.  Christ did nothing that human nature may not do if it partakes of the divine nature. 

            During Christ's life, the warfare between him and the enemy was constantly going on.  Every movement of his life was watched.  Satan strove to gain the victory; he sought to ensnare Christ, and lead him into temptation.  Satan was once an exalted, holy being, in office in the heavenly courts.  But he became disloyal, a transgressor of the law of Jehovah.  He aimed to be the highest power in the universe.  His sin is unexplainable.  If it could be explained, there would be an excuse for sin.  It is the mystery of iniquity, without any cause.  ST 6-17-1897.

            Gen. 22:8.             It was to impress Abraham's mind with the reality of the gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay his son.  The agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man's redemption.  No other test could have caused Abraham such torture of soul as did the offering of his son.  God gave His Son to a death of agony and shame.  The angels who witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God were not permitted to interpose, as in the case of Isaac.  There was no voice to cry, "It is enough."  To save the fallen race, the King of glory yielded up His life.  What stronger proof can be given of the infinite compassion and love of God?  "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32.

            The sacrifice required of Abraham was not alone for his own good, nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations; but it was also for the instruction of the sinless intelligences of heaven and of other worlds.  The field of the controversy between Christ and Satan--the field on which the plan of redemption is wrought out--is the lesson book of the universe.           

            Isa. 53.  Surely these verses are telling us that Christ's sympathy for poor suffering humanity was an intensely personal feeling.  We can imagine no stronger words to convey the closeness, the unity, the fellowship of suffering. Here is no theoretical transferal of guilt or sin-effect; there is no ritual, no ceremony about it -- it is real, as real as it can be! This man was one of us. He stood before the tomb of a friend and shed real tears. Our weaknesses were his... are his still, this high priest who was touched so deeply with the sensation of our infirmities, and who carried it with him into the most holy place.  For our griefs are his, our sorrows also. For us he was willing to die; for us, finally and conclusively, he did die.  And not just for "us" as a whole or a concept or an abstraction, but... this is the real wonder... he died for each one of us!  Had there been only one sinner, Christ would have still been willing to die.  When each of us stands before the judgment seat, he will be looking into the eyes of a man who gave his life, personally and individually, for him.

            Ex. 31:12-17.  The Sabbath had two purposes: it was a time to rest and a time to remember what God had done.  We need rest.  Without time out from the bustle, life loses its meaning,  In our day as in Moses' day, taking time out is not easy, but God reminds us that without Sabbaths we will forget the purpose for our activity and lose the balance crucial to a faithful life.  Make sure your Sabbath provides a time of both refreshment and remembrance of God.

            Amos 3:7.  Even in anger, God is merciful; he always warned his people through prophets before punishing them.  Warnings about sin and judgment apply to people today just as they did to Israel.  Because we have been warned about our sin, we have no excuse when punishment comes.  God had warned his people through his prophets, so they could not rationalize or complain when God punished them for refusing to repent Do not take lightly the warnings in God's Word about judgment His warnings are a way of showing mercy to you.

                  Tuesday.  The New Testament God  A God of Love.  John 3:16.  The entire gospel comes to a focus in this verse.  God's love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in.  Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships - if you love someone dearly, you are willing to pay dearly for that person's responsive love.  God paid dearly with the life of his Son, the highest price he could pay, Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the new life he bought for us.  When we share the gospel with others, our love must be like his.  Do we willingly give up our own comfort and security so that others might join us in receiving God's love?

            Phil. 2:5-8. Jesus Christ was humble, willing to give up his rights in order to obey God and serve people. Like Christ's, our attitude must be to serve out of love for God and for others, not out of guilt or fear. Remember you can choose your attitude. You can approach life expecting to be served or you can be willing to serve others. Without ceasing to be God, he became a human being, the man called Jesus. He did not give up his deity to become human, but he set aside the right to his glory and power. In submission to the Father's will, he limited his power and knowledge. Jesus of Nazareth was subject to place, time, and many other human limitations.  What made his humanity unique was his freedom from sin.  In his full humanity, Jesus showed us everything about God's character that can be conveyed in human terms.

            John 14:16-18.  Jesus was soon going to leave the disciples, but he would remain with them.  How could this be?  The Advocate - the Spirit of God himself - would come after Jesus was gone to care for and guide the disciples.  This happened to the disciples just before Jesus' ascension (21:22), and to all the believers at Pentecost (Acts 2), shortly afterwards.  The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within all believers, helping us live as God wants and building Christ's church on earth.  Many people are unaware of the Holy Spirit's activities, but to those who receive Christ's word and understand the Spirit's power, he gives a whole new way to look at life.

            Eph. 4:11-13.  Our oneness in Christ does not destroy our individuality.  The Holy Spirit has given each Christian special gifts for building up the church.  Now that we have these gifts, it is crucial to use them.  Are you spiritually mature, exercising the gifts God has given you?  If you know what your gifts are, look for opportunities to serve.  If you don't know, ask God to show you, perhaps with the help of your minister or Christian friends.  Then, as you begin to recognize your special area of service, use your gifts to strengthen and encourage the church.

            1John 3:1-3. As believers, our self-worth is based on the fact that God loves us and calls us his children.  We are his children now, not just sometime in the distant future.  Knowing that we are his children encourages us to live as Jesus did.  The Christian life is a process of becoming more and more like Christ (see Romans 8:29).  This process will not be complete until we see Christ face to face (1 Cor. 13:12; Phi. 3.21), but knowing that it is our ultimate goal should motivate us to purify ourselves.

            2Peter 3:13.  God's purpose for people is not destruction but re-creation (see Isaiah 66:22; Rev. 21,22).  He will purify the heavens and earth with fire, and he will then create them anew.  We can joyously look forward to the restoration of God's good world.

            Rev. 14:6-12.  The message proclaimed by the angel flying in the midst of heaven is the everlasting gospel, the same gospel that was declared in Eden when God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).  Here was the first promise of a Saviour who would stand on the field of battle to contest the power of Satan and prevail against him.  Christ came to our world to represent the character of God as it is represented in His holy law; for His law is a transcript of His character.  Christ was both the law and the gospel. 

            The angel that proclaims the everlasting gospel proclaims the law of God; for the gospel of salvation brings men to obedience of the law, whereby their characters are formed after the divine similitude.

            Wednesday.  A Response of Love.  Deut. 6:5,6.  This passage is often said to be the central theme of Deuteronomy.  It sets a pattern that helps us relate the word of God to our daily lives.  We are to love God, think constantly about his commandments, teach his commandments to our children, and live each day by the guidelines in his Word.  God emphasized the importance of parents' teaching the Bible to their children.  The church and Christian schools cannot be used to escape from this responsibility.  The Bible provides so many opportunities for object lessons and practical teaching that it would be a shame to study it only one day a week.  Eternal truths are most effectively learned in the loving environment of a God-fearing home.

            Matt. 22:37-40.  By fulfilling these two commands, a person keeps all the others.  They summarize the ten commandments and the other Old Testament moral laws.  Jesus says that if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the commandments.  This is looking at God's law positively.  Rather than worrying about all we should not do, we should concentrate on all we can do to show our love for God and others.

            Matt. 5:44.  By calling us not to retaliate, Jesus keeps us from taking the law into our own hands.  By loving and praying for our enemies, we can overcome evil with good.  Jesus says we are to love our enemies.  If you love your enemies and treat them well, you will truly show that Jesus is Lord of your life.  This is possible only for those who give themselves fully to God, because only he can deliver people from natural selfishness.  We must trust the Holy Spirit to help us show love to those for whom we may not feel love.

            Matt. 25:31.  God will separate his obedient followers from pretenders and unbelievers.  The real evidence of our belief is the way we act.  To treat all persons we encounter as if they are Jesus is no easy task.  What we do for others demonstrates what we really think about Jesus' words to us - feed the hungry, give the homeless a place to stay, visit the sick.  How well do your actions separate you from pretenders and unbelievers?

   &nbs