Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

1 Timothy 1:5

And, if all of our commandments is not love, charity, out of a pure heart and of a good conscience, what is it for?  If we do not end up with a real, un-manipulated and un-faked faith, have we more than just begun?  In all of our getting, get wisdom, for it is the principle thing!

It was out of love that God killed Ananias and Sapphira.  It was out of love that He set an example for the church, just as He did with Sodom and the world.  It was out of love that He killed His only Son so that we would live, living His life.  It was out of love that He sent forth preachers, and prophets, and evangelists, teachers, and apostles, that the Earth might know the only name by which is Salvation, Jesus Christ.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

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If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11

It is God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32).  Not some day far away in some millenial reign, but right here, today, at hand, where we need it.  When we need it.

Our Father knows our needs (Matthew 6:32).  He will give them to us if we are seeking after His interests.

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When all is stripped away, and nothing else remains, you can trust in His love.  His love remains, when everything else is shaken (Romans 8:37-39), and by it, we live without fear (1 John 4:18).

Into His love we commend ourselves each day.  Further into His glory, His goodness, His mercy.

All we need is His love.  Our only true possession in this life is this place of union.

The life of the flesh doesn’t matter in the end.  What matters is Eternity.  According to Isaiah 40, all of man’s pomp and pride fall away into the dust and ashes they came from, and all that remains is faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

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Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:31

John wrote in his first epistle that perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (1 John 4:18).  John explained that it is when we abide in love that we abide in God.

Nearly all of the gospel, and hence life, revolves around fear in some way in another.  From the first time in the garden, when Adam and Eve knew they were naked, covered themselves, and hid from the presence of Almighty God.  To the first murder, when Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice, God warned him, and  slew Abel out of jealousy.

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So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:12

As someone points out, if you were fully doing love, loving God with everything and loving your neighbor as Jesus loves us, we would be fulfilling the Law and the Prophets.  Said another way, if we could do that, we would be fulfill the Old Covenant, the Mosaic law.

This really is a startling proposition, and yet, like the Jews surrounding the woman caught in the act of adultery, we all turn away as we realize we have all fallen short in love.  It remains, however, that love was the sum total of the law and prophets.

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Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

Matthew 5:1-2

When Jesus sat down on the mountain, He wasn’t just talking to them, He was talking to us.  What He was teaching was not just a good lesson, it was the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven.  What he showed was the perfect walk of faith, failures, a picture of what living the by Spirit looks like, how to communicate with God, why it is enough and we don’t need to fear, and the true nature of sons of the Kingdom.  Finally, He gave it’s guarantee.  Those who follow His instructions will stand.

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But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:14

When it comes to revival, and revival meetings, in one sense, revival is easy…  Once the flow starts, the miracles happen, the atmospheres change, the going is good…  On another side, we sometimes don’t see a great degree of change in the people that are attending revivals in the short term.

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If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

John 14:15

If you’re in it, you will live a certain way.

Most Happy are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 5:3

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A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Luke 6:40

In this life of hungering and thirsting for the Lord, when will it ever be enough?  Jesus answers this clear enough:

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.  It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

Matthew 10:24-25

It is enough to be like him.  For the slave to be like the master.

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