TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR WORDS
When Charles Cowman the founder of Oriental Missionary Society won Ernest Kilbourne to Christ, Kilbourne became his closest friend. Their relationship, said Mrs. Cowman was “too beautiful for words”. When Cowman lay dying in 1924, he and Kilbourne reminisced about their long and happy relationship in the Lord with each other. “God knit our hearts together” the ailing leader sighed. Then reflecting in the silence that followed, Cowman corrected himself “no, knit is not the word. He has burned our hearts together”.
Kilbourne son, Bud summed it up in 1976, when he expressed the view that the two men were in effect one man. They always thought alike, identical disclosures of the divine will came to each more than once, regardless of the miles that separated them. The pair reminded Mrs. Cowman of David and Jonathan whom God united as “one stick” in the master’s hand. The people who looked to them and noted their close fellowship named them “cowman and Kilbourne”. The names always flowed together and will probably be connected in Jerusalem the heavenly city. Side by side they labored; side by side they now sleep in Hollywood waiting for the resurrection morning.
Paul prayed for the Philippians that their “love may abound still more and more in knowledge and discernment that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness” ( Philippians 1:9-11 ). His prayer was that their love would abound still more and more in knowledge. Love is one of the greatest themes of the Bible; we find it throughout from Genesis to Revelation. Love is a deep subject, we can never know enough about it. Paul’s prayer was that the Philippians’ would not love blindly but that they would know who they loved and why.
Paul prayed for love that had a biblical foundation.Their love was to be derived from the Scripture and expressed in a manner consistent with it. Love is found where a genuine relationship exists. As the relationship grows; love abounds more and more. The growth of a relationship involves a progressive knowledge of the other person. The more we know and understand someone, the more we trust him. As trust grows, love grows and the relationship deepens. It’s very hard to love a stranger but knowledge builds trust and love. As love grows fear is driven out “there is no fear in love, perfect love cast out fear (1 John 4:18). A Loving relationship where transparency and total acceptance exists is free of fear.
In 1John 4:12 the Apostle John wrote “if we love one another God lives in us and his love has been perfected "in us". Whereas in 1John 4:16, 17 he wrote God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. In this way God's love reaches perfection "among us". When God's love reaches perfection “in us”, the right relationship to God exists, all fear is gone. When it reaches perfection “among us”, the right relationship to other people exists, all hate is gone. When our love for God and others reaches perfection we have confidence to face God on the Day of Judgment (1John 4:17).
Paul’s prayer was that the Philippians love for God would abound more and more in knowledge. When a person is born again, he enters into a personal relationship with God. God knows each one of his children perfectly, but his children do not know him well. Perfecting love “in us” involves spending time with this God who knows us thoroughly. In order for our love for God to grow, we must seek to know him more and more. The more we know Him and understand his ways, the more we discover how good he is and this motivates us to love Him.
The psalmist invites us to “taste and see that the LORD is good (Psalm 34:8) and his goodness is continuous (Psalm 52:1). The more we study the Scripture, test it and prove that what it says is true, the more we love the God of the Bible. We move from knowing about him to knowing him. A discovery that God is real, trustworthy and faithful, results into a deep loving relationship with him. Our love for him is no longer baseless but well founded on an unshakable foundation. It will not be based on theory but something real.
God wants to be known, he says “let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let him who boasts boast in this that he understands and he knows me” (Jer. 9:23-24). A journey to discovering more about God is the best thing in life. It’s better than the pursuit of wisdom, strength and riches; it’s worth everything it takes. No wonder Paul counted everything else dung that he may know Christ and him crucified.
God's love “in us” is
perfected only when it is reproduced 'among us' in the Christian fellowship. We
must do what it takes to grow into a warm fellowship, where strong bonds of
love bind us together. We must desire to know each other better to remove any suspicion
and fear. Misunderstandings should be cleared on time before resentment sets in
and roots of bitterness grow. Resentment can spread like poison weakening the love bonds in the group. Colossians
3:13-14 tells us to “bear with one another
and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the
Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love which is the bond of perfect unity"
Jesus demonstrated love when he left the heavenly glory and took a lowly position on earth. He was contented with a humble life even though he was the creator, ruler and preserver of the universe. He came to serve and not to be served (Matt 20:28). Jesus love was practical love; it was expressed in actions not mere words. He did not turn away any needy person who came to him. He was so gentle , “he did not quarrel or cry out …a bruised reed he did not break and a smoldering wick he did not snuff out” (Matt 12:19-20).
We have so many discouraged people (bruised reeds) in our midst, some at the point of breaking off. Do we love them enough to notice their struggle and take time to nurture them back to health? We have many weak and lukewarm brethren (smoldering wicks) whose spiritual light and fire is about to go off. Are we fans in Jesus’ hand that blow their fire back to life or do we snuff out the little that is still remaining. When Lot’s son Ham saw his drunken father’s nakedness, he called his brothers attention to their father’s shame. But his brothers refused to look at their father’s nakedness and covered it instead (Gen. 9:21-23). When you face a similar situation, ask yourself what would Jesus do?
On the other hand Jesus did not compromise with sin; with a whip he cleared his temple off the filthy businessmen who were defiling it. He did not hesitate to talk about the consequences of sin. He talked about Heaven and Hell, lest the sinners underestimated the consequences of their actions and got a terrible surprise when it was too late. The Bible says “Faithful are the wounds of a friend but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:6).
A true friend is willing to wound with loving correction. The correction may hurt but it will be an expression of love and faithfulness of a friend. Painful words must be spoken to heal or restore broken relationships instead of allowing them to grow sour and dead. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation; we reconcile man to God and man to man. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Do we still have peacemakers today or is it a forgotten assignment?
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