Let love continue

Hebrews 13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Let love of the brethren continue. ² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³ Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. ⁴ Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. ⁵ Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” ⁶ so that we confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

⁷ Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

¹⁵ Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. ¹⁶ And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

¹⁸ Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. ¹⁹ And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.

²⁰ Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, ²¹ equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. ²³ Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. ²⁴ Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵ Grace be with you all.

Today’s text begins:   Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.  Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.      Love of the brethren is love for fellow believers. Jesus Himself says:    “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)     The testimony and witness of the church today is greatly reduced because the world does not see this love of the brethren. They don’t recognize the disciples of Christ because there is tension, discord and division within the church. There is little difference between the church and any other group of people, so the witness for Christ is weakened and diminished. The church today needs desperately to: Let love of the brethren continue.  

The next part says:    Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.  Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.       Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  (Mark 12:31)   In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus speaks about the importance of treating the less fortunate hospitably.       “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”      Every person we encounter, regardless of their outward appearance, regardless of the circumstance, regardless of their condition, physical or spiritual, was created, like us, in the image and likeness of God. Every person we encounter is a “whoever” that Jesus died for on the cross. When we ignore or despise them, we ignore and despise Him.

Where is the break down? What happens that we lack love for others?  1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.    The foundational part of our ability to love is based on our recognition of God’s love for us. Our love is to be a response to and a reflection of the love of God. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus speaks about the chain of love in our lives which begins in response to God’s love for us. He says:    “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”      We cannot begin to love God until we have received God’s love for us. We cannot love others until we have first loved God with our heart, soul and mind. We are to love others as we love ourselves. To love them we must receive God’s love. Yet the full context of 1 John 4:10-21 says:     We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

There is another cause of the lack of love in the church and the world today. Today’s text says: Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have… Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace…      In Matthew 24, Jesus is speaking about the end times. In verses 10-14 He says:     ^“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.But he who endures to the end shall be saved.And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”     Certainly in our culture and society, there are many who are offended. It seems as though many feel it is their right to be offended. This offense though leads to hatred and betrayal. Of even greater consequence though, within the church, there are many false prophets and false teachings which are leading many into deception. The text says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Those who try to update Jesus to match the whims of our present culture, condoning and embracing sin are both deceived and leading others in deception. Jesus says: because lawlessness and sin abounds, the love of many will grow cold. Much of the love we see today is cold love. It is not love that is a response and a reflection of God’s love. Rather it is a self centered and self seeking love, a love that flows from deception, lawlessness and sin. Cold love is conditional love. God’s love is unconditional and everlasting. Departing from the truth of Christ, to varied and strange teachings, leads to lawlessness and cold, conditional human love.  We need to return to the love that flow from the fact that God first loved us.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. Grace be with you all.   Amen