This posting is going to be a bit different from normal. It is a Sunday message in the series I was doing on the Psalms of the Sons of Korah. It is a prophetic Psalm, and verses 3, 4, 5 and 6 are most interesting. The psalm is a positive delight.

Psa. 87:0 A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.

Psalm 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.

Psalm 87:2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwelling places of Jacob.

Psalm 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah.

Psalm 87:4 “I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.'”

Psalm 87:5 But of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; and the Most High Himself will establish her.

Psalm 87:6 The LORD shall count when He registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah.

Psalm 87:7 Then those who sing as well as those who play the flutes shall say, “All my springs of joy are in you.”

We come to another Psalm of Korah and not an easy one to speak from. You notice right at the start this is a song, so in the Hebrew, it is a poem set to music. There is nothing unusual about that, as the sons of Korah were the singers and choir people in the Tabernacle and the Temple.

At first glance, you may have noted the emphases in the psalm on the places of birth, and we will look at that soon. Let us look at this psalm now.

ZION’S FOUNDATION

VERSE 1. “His foundation is in the holy mountains.” The opening with the pronoun “His” we usually understand by “The Lord” or by Jehovah,” and it would not be wrong to think that. The verse is speaking of Zion, as the following verses explain, and it is founded in the holy mountains.

This is what Isaiah 14:32 says – “How then will one answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it.” The foundation of Zion comes from the LORD. He founded it. It belongs to Him, and beware, all those who have taken Israel away from God.

It is correct to say Zion is God’s foundation, for God’s presence was there as many psalms would acknowledge, but that changed through Israel’s sin. We can also say the “His” of verse 1 means Zion, so it can be applied both ways. Jerusalem is the city founded among the hills that were called mountains. Rome and Constantinople are also situated in the hills.

Dr. Horne, a commentator, wrote:

“The psalmist having meditated on the strength, the beauty, and the glory of the holy city, and imagining the thoughts of his hearers or readers to have been employed on the same subject, breaks forth at once in this abrupt manner. “Is in the holy mountains” – the mountains of holiness; by which he means those mountains, or “hills of Judea, which God had chosen and separated to himself from all others, whereon to construct the highly-favoured city and temple, namely, mount Zion, mount Moriah, and other lesser hills. They are called holy mountains, or mountains of holiness, because the city and temple were, in a peculiar sense, consecrated to God, and because God in special manner dwelt therein, the ark of his presence being fixed there.”

A place is deemed holy because of what it represents. Peter used the same expression when talking about the transfiguration – 2Peter 1:18 “We ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.” The hills of Jerusalem are holy because of the presence of the Lord then and in the past.

THE GATES OF ZION

Let us move to VERSE 2. “The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwelling places of Jacob.” This verse specifies the special place of Zion. The gates meant entry and safety. When the people entered through the gates, they were entering a special city. That is especially so on the yearly pilgrimage to Zion/Jerusalem when the pilgrims were singing as they ascended the hills, and at last, before them, there were the gates of Zion. It generated a very special feeling. They were welcome. When in China, I had a lesser but expectant experience when we went through the tunnel that led to the Forbidden City.

I said the second reason was safety inside Zion. That was God’s security, and He kept the city, but when He was rejected by the people God, He removed His protection, and Nebuchadnezzar marched in through the gates. When Jesus was rejected by His people, He was taken out through the gates to Calvary. Then some 40 years later, Titus went through the gates in the overthrow of Jerusalem that resulted in over a million deaths recounted by Josephus.

Have you heard of the Golden Gate? It is said that at the Second Coming, Jesus will pass through that gate that has been sealed and unopened for 2,000 years.

The gates just mean, again, Zion and Jerusalem. They are most special places to the psalmist in his song. I appreciated a quote from Benson –

“For though the tabernacle was for a season in some other parts of the land, yet the temple, the place of God’s fixed residence, was nowhere but in this city of Zion. Concerning this, God had said, ‘This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.’ There he met his people, and conversed with them, received their homage, and showed them the tokens of his favour, from which we may infer how well he loved those gates; God indeed loved, and loves, the dwellings of Jacob. He has a gracious regard to religious families, and accepts their family worship; yet he loves the gates of Zion better; not only better than any, but better than all the dwellings of Jacob. God was worshipped in the private dwellings of Jacob; and family worship is family duty, which must by no means be neglected; yet when they come in competition, public worship is to be preferred before private.”

Moving to VERSE 3. “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.” Selah. This is a famous verse. Horne said:

“Pleasant for situation, and magnificent in its buildings, it was the delight of nations, the joy of the whole earth; there was the royal residence of the kings of Judah; there were the temple, and the ark, and the glory, and the king of heaven dwelling in the midst of her: her streets were honoured with the footsteps of the Redeemer of men; there he preached and wrought his miracles, lived, died, and rose again; thither he sent down his Spirit, and there he first laid the foundation of his church.”

Glorious things are spoken of Zion; that lies in the past, sadly, but won’t remain in the past, for when the Messiah returns and the restoration of Israel occurs, greater will be its glory then than at any time in the past. Zion/Jerusalem becomes the chief city of the earth, and something like 12 names are given to this redeemed city. Just one of them is from Jeremiah 33:16 – “In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.'”

It is lamentable that today horrible things are spoken about Jerusalem, but that will only last until the Second Coming when the Lord will rule from Jerusalem, as detailed in Zechariah 14. Then the most glorious things will be spoken. (In prophetic scripture, “mountain” is used as “kingdom,” as in this verse) Isaiah 2:2 – “Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it.”

GREAT PROPHETIC VERSES

Let us move to VERSES 4 AND 5 AND 6. Psalm 87:4 “I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ 5 But of Zion it shall be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her,’ and the Most High Himself will establish her. 6 The LORD shall count when He registers the peoples, ‘This one was born there.’ Selah.”

The word Rahab there is not the Rahab who protected the spies. It is a different word, and here it means Egypt. In Isaiah 51:9, we read – “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?”

That verse says that it was the Lord who judged Egypt. Egypt was considered the ancient enemy of Israel. The Hebrew word properly means fierceness, insolence, pride; and it may have been given to Egypt by the Hebrews on account of its haughtiness, pride, and insolence. The word also has the sense of strength.

Also mentioned in verse 4 is Babylon. Those studying Revelation know that the Babylonian system that has infiltrated the Church since the time of Constantine is a vile system and meets its end in Revelation 17 and 18. In this verse, the nation of old Babylon is referred to, the one founded by Nimrod in Genesis 11 that reached its height under Nebuchadnezzar.

These two verses in Psalm 87 are wonderfully prophetic verses that have not yet happened. Later on, I will mention a God-dishonoring doctrine known as Replacement Theology that takes all the promises for Israel in the Old Testament and the prophecies for the nation and applies them to the Church, effectively wiping out any restoration of Israel. I hate that. God hates that, for He has a glorious future for His earthly people.

Verses 4 and 5 say that Egypt and Babylon will know the Lord. Historically we know that such a thing has never happened. In fact, Iraq today, which roughly is the Old Testament Babylon, is a sworn enemy of Israel and a war-torn country under the control of terrorism. Yet we look beyond that, for the word tells us they will know the Lord. That will not happen this side of the Rapture but will happen in the reign of Christ in the Millennial Kingdom. God is going to do a work of great restoration and conversion, following the Tribulation. Isaiah speaks of this very clearly, but before we look at the relevant passage, Assyria, in its territory as it existed back then, covered the region today of Iraq and Syria, modern enemies of Israel –

Isaiah 19:23-25 “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.'”

The political situation today would make this impossible, but God is not mocked. His promises will come true, and the day is coming when the Lord is reigning that Israel, Egypt, and Assyria will be the three-part blessing in all the earth. As it is today, Russia is building a military base in Syria for their deluded aim of exterminating Israel. There is a great war coming, which I believe must be at the end of the Tribulation, the Gog/Magog war, where Russia, Syria, the nations to the north, and Iran and Libya and Ethiopia will attack Israel, but themselves, their armies, will be wiped out dramatically. You can read all about that in Ezekiel 38 and 39. You might ask, “Because Iraq/Syria is going to do that, why, why, why is God going to bless them and make Assyria great in the earth? Surely He must exterminate them as the Daleks would? God is not like us. Nor do we understand His counsels.

You will notice, too, in Psalm 87:4 that Philistia, Ethiopia and Tyre will be brought into blessing. Let us think about that. The old Philistia was the Philistines, the hated enemy of God, yet He is going to bless them? Philistia today is roughly known as the Gaza Strip, the great enemy of Israel of the PLO and Palestinian terrorists. Is that just? Tyre is just off the coast of Lebanon and, of course, Ethiopia is going to be part of the Gog/Magog war.

Those two verses of Psalm 87 are talking about citizenship, and those people, when their blessing comes, will have citizenship rights because they were born THERE. However, for Israel/Zion, their citizenship rights come from being born IN IT. The end of verse 5 means that it is not for us to work all this out, but it is the Lord who will establish it.

Verse 6 leaves the counting and registering to the Lord. He will do it all.

Let us move to VERSE 7. “Then those who sing as well as those who play the flutes shall say, ‘All my springs of joy are in you.'” The psalm ends with praise and joy. Singing and flute playing here means joy, but flutes in the Old Testament don’t always mean joy. They were also attached to the horrible blaring at pagan idolatrous festivals. Does your version have “you” at the end of the verse? It means Zion. All the springs of joy are in Zion. It was in Zion where God placed His name among His people, and from where great kings arose, and from where the Messiah would come, and to where the Messiah returns at the Second Coming. Great joy will be found there when the Lord returns to His own people and establishes His Kingdom. I won’t explore that right now.

Earlier I mentioned this devilish doctrine of replacement theology where all the great statements promised for Israel are said to be replaced by the Church and transferred to the Church, and not Israel. In some writings, all the blessings God promises for Israel are made to apply only to the Church, while all the judgments they keep for Israel. Such hypocrisy. Everything good for Israel becomes the Church; everything bad remains for Israel.

APPLICATION MADE TO THE CHURCH

What I have done so far is to look at the psalm as it was and as it will be. That is fixed and won’t change. Now I want to make parallel applications for us. No replacement! Just parallels!

In Psalm 87, we know the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than any other place. Then we have the account of enemies being brought into blessing. Then there is teaching on one’s birth. Then we have springs of joy and praise. Let’s look at another perspective, that of the Church.

There is another residence of God, a most precious one Paul describes – Ephesians 2:17-22, “He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near, for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. Therefore then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

It, too, has foundations, the most essential Cornerstone, and the work of the apostles and prophets. The foundations are finished, of course, but the building is the delight of all creation. It is the Bride of Christ, the great Pearl of greatest price. Zion was/is founded among the hills of Judea, but the Church is founded from among the nations. The Lord loves the Church more than any other thing, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh.

Do you remember from Psalm 87 that it was an honor to have been born in Zion? Well, that honor Christians too share, for we have been born into the Church, into the Bride. We have been born again into a glorious hope once we surrendered our lives to the Lord for salvation. We hold special citizenship because we were born into the Church of the living God.

Then, we had the account of enemies being brought into blessing, even the Philistines. Well, we, too, were enemies of God but were brought close by the blood of Christ and into blessing. The next thing was the praise and joy, as in springs bubbling up. In the Church, there is joy and praise.

TWO QUOTES

To close all this off, I want to use a couple of quotes. The first is from The Shepherd of Hermas, written between 70 to 100 AD –

“He says to me, ‘You know that you who are the servants of God dwell in a strange land; for your city is far away from this one. If, then,’ he continues, ‘you know your city in which you are to dwell, why do you here provide lands, and make expensive preparations, and accumulate dwellings and useless buildings? He who makes such preparations for this city cannot return again to his own. Oh foolish, and unstable, and miserable man! Don’t you understand that all these things belong to another, and are under the power of another?

“Have a care, therefore: as one living in a foreign land, make no further preparations for yourself than such merely as may be sufficient; and be ready, when the master of this city shall come to cast you out for disobeying his law [such as in coming persecution against Christians] to leave his city, and to depart to your own, and to obey your own law without being exposed to annoyance, but in great joy. Have a care, then, you who serve the Lord, and have Him in your heart, that ye work the works of God, remembering His commandments and promises which He promised, and believe that He will bring them to pass if His commandments be observed.

“Instead of lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls, according as each one is able, and visit widows and orphans, and do not overlook them; and spend your wealth and all your preparations, which ye received from the Lord, upon such lands and houses.'”

Augustine, 1,600 years ago, writing on Psalm 87, ended it this way –

“Let, us prepare ourselves to rejoice in God: to praise Him. The good works which conduct us onward, will not be needed there. I described, as far as I could, only yesterday, our condition there: works of charity there will be none, where there will be no misery: you shall not find one in want, one naked, no one will meet you tormented with thirst, there will be no stranger, no sick to visit, no dead to bury, no disputants to set at peace. What then will you find to do? Shall we plant new vines, plough, traffic, make voyages, to support the necessities of the body? Deep quiet shall be there; all toilsome work, that necessity demands, will cease: the necessity being dead, its works will perish too. What then will be our state?

“As far as possible, the tongue of a man thus told us. ‘The dwelling of all who shall be made perfect is in You because there shall be such joy there as we know not here. Blessed are they that dwell in Your house: for ever and ever they will be praising You.’ Let us praise the Lord as far as we are able, but with mingled lamentations: for while we praise, we long for Him, and as yet have Him not. When we have, all our sorrows will be taken from us, and nothing will remain but praise, unmixed and everlasting. Now let us pray.”

The Lord bless us.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au

 

Paul wrote, “And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). In the first part of this article, we looked at the importance of faith and hope in scripture, mainly when these two words refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. As followers of Christ, we place all our faith and hope in the finished work He accomplished at the cross and His subsequent resurrection three days later. We believe He died on the cross for our sins, taking upon Himself all the sins of humanity; for by His sacrifice, salvation comes to everyone who believes. “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

Our unwavering faith produces hope, made even stronger by God’s word and the Holy Spirit that indwells every “born again” believer. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

We were sealed with the Holy Spirit of God as a promise and guarantee of greater things to come. At the cross, we were redeemed from our sins, but we still have a sinful nature despite the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. One day soon, our redemption will be complete at the Rapture of the Church, and sin and death will be eradicated. Our reborn, transformed bodies and minds will not just be sealed with the Holy Spirit but will be wholly filled with His power and knowledge. We will have personal fellowship with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, angels, and fellow believers from all ages, including family members and friends. Our home will be the New Jerusalem on (or above) the New Earth, and we will explore the New Universe together. As sons of God (Jesus’ purchased possession), this is our inheritance and hope.

LOVE

But faith and hope cannot exist without love… the love of God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). John is referring to humanity as “the world” in these verses.

The ancient Greeks believed there were four different types of love. Eros stems from the Greek word eros, which translates to intimate or romantic love. Philia is defined as brotherly love. Storge is the inherent love, as in love between parents and their children. Agape is sometimes called universal love, charity, or even altruism. Essentially, it’s the love inside us that we give freely to others—regardless of our relationship with them. This article will mainly deal with agape love, God’s love for his creation and created beings.

Here are a few famous quotes regarding love:

“Where there is love, there is life.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved despite ourselves.” (Victor Hugo)

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” (Lao Tzu)

“The only thing we never get enough of is love, and the only thing we never give enough of is love.” (Henry Miller).

“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and to be loved.” (George Sand)

“Love is the whole thing. We are only pieces.” (Rumi)

“Love is like the wind; you can’t see it, but you can feel it.” (Nicholas Sparks)

There are 281 mentions of love, loved, lovely, lover, loveliness, etc., in the Old Testament. Psalm has the most with 45. Song of Solomon is second with 39. David’s psalms were most connected with agape love, while Solomon’s writings in the Song of Solomon were about eros love. “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You” (Psalm 5:11). “Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful and fully repays the proud person” (Psalm 31:23).

David said to magnify the Lord for those who loved their salvation. “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified!'” (Psalm 40:16). He also said the Lord would protect those who love Him. “You who love the Lord hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 97:10). Moses agreed with David when he wrote, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known My name” (Psalm 91:14).

Eleven times in Psalm 119, David describes how he loves God’s word (law, precept, testimonies, commandments, or statutes). Here are two of them: “My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes” (Psalm 119:48). “Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it” (Psalm 119:140).

In Deuteronomy, Moses told the Hebrews to love their creator. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus would quote this verse to his disciples and the Jews approximately 15 centuries later. Moses also told the people to not only love the Lord but to fear (reverence) Him as well. “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

I find it interesting that Deuteronomy has nine verses that contain the words “love the Lord” and six more times in the rest of the Old Testament. The New Testament has four verses that contain these three words. As you know, 19 is the biblical number that represents judgment. You are under judgment if you don’t love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. It’s as simple as that. Solomon said God loves those who love Him. “I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me” (Proverbs 8:17). An example of philia love is given by Solomon, “A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17).

Chapter 2 in the Song of Solomon speaks of eros love between a man and his beloved sweetheart. However, many prophecy students see this as a typology of the Rapture. With this in mind, read these seven verses and determine if they are correct.

“The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice. My beloved spoke to me: Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely” (Song of Solomon 2:8-14).

The New Testament mentions love and its compounds approximately 305 times. The book of John has the most, by far, with 56. Jesus added many new thoughts and sayings the Jews weren’t familiar with. For example, in Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus told his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” Also, in John, Jesus gives a new commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

One time the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets'” (Matthew 22:36-40). The Jews had heard of the first commandment, but the second one was new to them. Mark and Luke also recorded these exact words of Jesus.

After Jesus explained to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, how to be “born again” in the spirit by faith in God’s only begotten Son, He gave one of the most profound truths regarding God’s love towards humanity in the whole Bible. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:14-17).

Another great truth and love story is found in John 5. “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so, the Son gives life to whom He will” (John 5:19-21).

After teaching the multitudes about the kingdom of God (known as the beatitudes), Jesus told them about one of the reasons He was sent to them. “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). Jesus told the people to obey His commandments. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:21-23).

John 14 contains some of the greatest truths in the Bible that show God’s great love for those who have faith in Jesus and place their hope in Him. The first mention of the Rapture is given in the first few verses. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, also believe in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may also be. And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:1-4). Thomas said they did not know where he was going and had no way of knowing. Jesus responded with a new truth that had never before been revealed. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

After giving the disciples a brief mention of His’ return,’ Jesus reveals another mystery. “And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). The last words of John 14, although ambiguous, seem to me to be prophetic as Jesus tells his disciples, “Arise, let us go from here.”

Here are a few more examples of love in John, the book of love. “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). “By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Even in 1 John, the disciple whom Jesus loved spoke of God’s love. “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

Another great truth regarding faith and love is given in Romans. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:28-29).

Here are a few more nuggets of scripture in Romans regarding God’s love for us: “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35; 37-39).

Paul borrows some scripture from Isaiah regarding the blessed future for those who love Christ. “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him'” (1 Corinthians 2:9). I actually like Isaiah’s version as it goes into more detail and appears to be a reference to the Rapture as well. “For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways” (Isaiah 64:4-5).

There are many other great scriptures in the Bible regarding love. I suggest you do a word search for yourself as it is a great blessing. I will end this study with 1 Corinthians 13, subtitled “The Greatest Gift.” There are nine mentions of the word ‘love’ in this chapter. This is the same amount (nine) of “fruits of the spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. It is also the same number of times the words “Blessed are” are mentioned in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12.

God specifically chose Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He was also selected to reveal the Rapture to the Church. However, I believe he was also selected because of his great intellect and writing skills to bring the word of God to the world. His writing skill is never more on display than in 1 Corinthians 13. In this passage of the New Testament, he gives the ultimate reason why love is greater than anything, even faith and hope.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels but have no love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have no love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have no love, it profits me nothing.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part will be done away.

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com