Everlasting Gospel
First lesson John 15: 12
"This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
Second lesson :1 John 4: 20-21
"If a man say I love God, and hated his brother he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him that he who loveth God loveth his brother also."
Golden text: 1 John 4: 12
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."
Brethren, today again, we want to reveal to you something very important: Its importance is as great as revealing Brotherhood.
We told you the other day that we shall from time to time reveal to you the most important component parts that make up Brotherhood. Love which is our revelation today, is one of these important links without which there can be no Brotherhood. Infact it were better if We were called LOVE.
Love is so important in everything Brotherhood that we should wear it as a gown, wear it as a pair of shoes, put it on as a cap, and sing it as a song. This is true because the word Love is God and God is love. This again means Brotherhood.
4.1 God does everything through love
Through Love which means God, the world was created including everything in it. Some of these things are. His Son, Jesus Christ, the sky, the seas, the fishes, the land, the trees, the flowers, human beings and everything in existence. Through Love, Jesus Christ His Son agreed to come to the world to die on the Cross for our sins. Through love He called His Apostles to work with Him. Through love He gave His disciples the new commandment “love ye one another even as I have loved you” when He knew that He would soon be killed.
Jesus was first an ordinary Brother and not Brotherhood because He was alone. There is difference between an ordinary Brother and Brotherhood. The former represents the scattered children; the latter represents the coming together of all the strayed sheep into the same fold. In this fold. Love is the only guiding principle and this is Brotherhood.
Again you may be a brother just like the prodigal son. There was no love in him. He did not practise oneness or unity. He was one of those strayed sheep who wandered into another country. He was a lost brother.
Events among the disciples and Jesus Christ proved conclusively that even though Brotherhood was in existence at that time, it was not practised. Brotherhood as you have been told means love one another. “No cross no crown” is a popular statement of fact. Similarly, “no love, no Brotherhood” is also a statement of fact.
4.2 Jesus calls them his friends
Right from the day He gave them the new Commandment that they should love one another, they became one. It was from that time that He called them His friends. You cannot be a friend to Jesus if you have no love in you. They were no more His servants because of the new Commandment He gave them.
4.3 Love is image of God in us
What is the image of God in us? It is love. What is God's likeness in us, it is love. What unites Christ and His Father together? It is love. What kept Jesus Christ and His disciples together? It was love. What can unite a husband and a wife together? It is love.
Any marriage, friendship or business that has no love cannot last. Take away love nothing exists because love means God. God is Brotherhood. Without Him there is no Brotherhood.
Faith without love is nothing. Patience without love means nothing. Hope without love is dead and buried. In all things love must come first. Without love life cannot be interesting, man cannot be generous. Two people cannot be Brotherhood if love does not manifest itself between them.
There is nothing that was, that is, that will be without love. If you have wisdom, the gift of prophecy, patience, humility etc., without love you are lost. You can now know the one who is not a real Brotherhood. What brings about death, tribulations and afflictions is lack of love. Brotherhood is the only body that unites the world. Where there is love, there is no difference between a King and any ordinary person. Everybody is on the same category. Where there is love there is no disunity, no back-biting, no hatred. Love covers all evils. It makes darkness vanish and love comforts the broken hearts: it unites a disunited family and brings comforts to the sorrowful.
4.4 Love a mighty weapon
Love is a mighty weapon that we cannot do without. Knowledge, patience, hope come from love. Love is the power Divine, it is God. It is Christ. It is oneness. It is everything. And this means that God has divided His love unto water, land, trees. He calls you "my beloveth children" Which of you can call his child 'my beloveth child'. You take delight in calling him by his name, Okon or Arit. This does not show love. If you do not love your child it means you do not know what love means. If you refrain from all sinful acts on earth but lack love you are nothing.
We have to love everything and everybody, we have to love a wretched man, a thief, a murderer, a liar and also a truthful person. You cannot neglect them because they are all His hand work. Love is deeper than anything you can think of. The new commandment is the only way that can bring us together.
What do you think is the Holy Spirit. It is Love. Christ said, I used the power of the Holy Spirit to drive away evil spirit from you. You too have got this power of the Holy Spirit. What do you use as your weapon to heal the sick, raise the dead? It is Love. What is the power in Brotherhood that has confounded the world and makes people accuse us falsely? It is Love which is God. Who is doing everything in Brotherhood? What is known as real faith is love.
God has many names, He is called God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. He is also called Love, Patience, Humility, Liberality. Faith etc. They are all in Him. Take away Love none of the good virtues can exist. Life, health, joy, food etc. come from Love. If you love one you cannot see his bad side because real love covers one's mistakes. Where there is love you find patience, humility and other good virtues there. Where there is no love you have complaints, annoyance and deceit.
Wherever there is darkness, however thick that darkness may be as soon as light comes into such a place it becomes brightened. What I mean is this; in a town where there are thieves, murderers, pagans and all sorts of evil doers, as soon as you send one with real love into such a town, he changes the town from their evil practices into the way of God. That was why when Jesus was told not to go to Bethelehem for fear of being killed .He said there was nothing one with light could not do. This light is love. Love is like salt, without it you cannot enjoy your food. It is like a power house where you connect your light. It is even more powerful than a power house because the man made-power house can fail you. But the natural power house cannot fail you. God has never failed us. I want you to try this experiment.
If you feel there is anyone who hates you really, begin as from today to love him. Go to him and salute him very politely. Ask him about his family and how he is faring in life, speak good of him before and behind. Where you can lend him a helping hand do so. From the start this your present attitude may startle him. Ignore his suspecting attitude. When it is clear to him finally that it is real love that you are practising he will embrace everything you do and will love you in return. This is the fruit of love.
Love is truth. You must speak the truth to everybody always. What makes you speak the truth? It is love. It yields different kinds of fruits; faith is one of the fruits it bears, good manner. Another is humility and oneness. Love makes you speak well of a person. It makes you regard another as yourself. It gives you long patience and makes you regard another person as better than you are. It gives you the Spirit of forgiveness. Love makes you treat everybody equally.
It makes you give honour to whom it is due. It is love that makes you to be sympathetic. It is love that induces you to be generous. Love makes you to be happy with one who is happy and to mourn with one who mourns. It makes you comfort the comfortless.
I saw at the two banks of the river a tree. This tree bears its fruits monthly. Its roots and leaves are used to heal the sick. What is the name of that tree that stands at the two banks of the river whose roots and leaves are used to heal the sick. It is love. Anything that brings good result comes from love. Love is the Tree of life in the Garden of Eden. After Adam sinned, God drove Adam out of the Garden of Eden to prevent him from eating of the fruit of this tree because Adam would have lived forever if he ate of this fruit.
If you stop to fornicate, commit adultery; if you keep yourself pure and clean, you are bearing the fruit of love. If you regard everybody as one, in that you have not one thought for a thief and one thought for the other one who does not steal; if you can sit together wit, thieves and murderers and eat together with them whole-heartedly without the slightest fear in you about them you are bearing the fruit of love. If you do not kill and do not steal; if you do not bear false witness against your neighbour you are bearing the fruit of love.
If you are told that someone is plotting to kill you, without making much ado you go on your knees and ask God to forgive him for allowing himself to be used by Satan, you are bearing the fruit of love. The compelling force which is love brings everybody together. It is said that where there are carcasses you will find vultures in great numbers. Similarly where there is love you will see different kinds of people congregating together to give glory to God in all things.
4.5 The invisible God that exists
Christ reveals His Father as the Supreme Being who is not seen but yet exists, John reveals God as Love, something you do not see but yet exists. If you give any person the word God it means that you love him. If you give any person N200 and begin to back-bite him you have no reward for what you have done because there is no love in what you have done. If you buy clothes for any person and then you disgrace him you have not done anything for him because there is no love in what you have done.
Love does not disgrace anyone. If you choose to give a present to a person before people, you are not practising love for love does not want publicity. If you had put on love as your gown, you could have presented the gift to him privately. God who is love and sees in secret could have rewarded you abundantly.
By their fruits, ye shall know them. If you stay among people, you can easily know those who really love you though all of them may pretend to love you. Those who will love you for a purpose will in course of time become tired. This is carnal love. But the natural love has no limitation for God is limitless.
If you put on love as a cap you will not complain when some person does you wrong. God is mysterious. Love is also mysterious. You cannot see Him with your naked eyes but He is before and behind you, doing everything for you. God is meek and forgiving. Love does not discriminate. It is reciprocal. Love does not take any one to court, it does not revenge. Love is in every good thing, it does not envy. Love does not sin and does not mock. Love is God's expression. As you know your enemy very quickly you do not know one who loves you so quickly. It takes time before you really know him.
If you have no love you shout for help here and there when you have the slightest headache because Satan likes to cause confusion always.
But Love being humble and the greatest doctor does not shout for help. It sees far, heals quietly. It gives you your needs and does not boast of it. One without love will not give you the correct vision. But the one with love does not add and does not subtract. He or she gives you the exact information passed to him by God. This is so because Love is God and God is Love. Love can not disobey God. Every act of love is approved by God because the two are one.
One without love has no power, wisdom and knowledge. If you have no love you will always remain poor. But one with love is wealthy, one who has no love is dead. He has no Spirit, he has no power. But one with love lives a happy life and in addition lives for ever.
First lesson John 15: 12
"This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you."
It does not mean anything if we do love one another. I have no other duty but to love you always. You too should have no other duty but to love others always. This is the real work of God. All the parts of your body are the fruits of love; use them to the benefit of others. There is no other work of God, no other law, no other Christ, no other God apart from loving one another.
Love is peace and peace is God, God is power that you see in Brotherhood. If you say you love God you must love your brother. If you say you love God and hate your brother you are a liar. The Spirit of love, peace and God is not in you. If you do not love your brother that you see how can you love God you do not see.
Show me a place in the Bible where God says we should hate our brothers, the rogues, the murderers and I will show you where God says we should love them. We are used to this saying; "despise what is bad and love what is good." This means that if you commit sin you like sin. You say that you do not like evil yet you commit it; does this show that you do not like it? If you do not like it why do you commit it? You say you do not like a fornicator, a thief and those who commit other vices yet you practise them daily. Does this show dislike? You say you do not want some one who tells lies, deceives people yet you tell lies and you deceive people everyday. Does this show that you do not like those bad qualities? One who clings to what is good hates bad things and he is always with God. But one who does these evils is an enemy to God.
4.6 God loves the righteous and sinner alike
God is good. He causes rain to fall on the roof of evildoer and on the roof of the righteous. He gives food to all His children good or bad. We are created in His likeness we must as His children follow His footprint. If you are accused falsely or disgraced, continue to be good. This will prove you at last as one who has the love of God at heart. One who does not love all alike is still under the control of Satan. We are God's image. If we hate people, we hate God. Man represents God on earth. Anyone who serves other people serves God. If you back-bite people you back-bite God that created them, when you are angry with a person you are angry with God.
Any good thing you do to a person you do it to God, not to that small boy on the street or to that wretched beggar at the comer of that Street. Do what is good always at anytime at any place and leave the rest to God. No one has ever seen God and lives.
4.7 Give help at the right time
Always it is human being that you see. Do not defer doing any good thing you can do to your fellow man for you may not pass through that way again. The blessing that could have come out of that good turn may elude you. Of what use is your N10 to me as your friend when you could not pay a N10 fine that sent me to prison even though you had it; but prefer to dash me that N10 after I had served the term of my imprisonment. If you want to be of help to a man do so at the right time. Do not give me food when you know that I have eaten to satisfaction. When you refused to allow love to guide you in anything you do, you are sinning because whatever you do at that time not appropriate to the problem is unacceptable to God. Sin leads one to death. That why it is said that the wages of sin is death.
Second lesson 1 John 4 : 20-21
"If a man say I love God, and hateth his brother he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him that he who loveth God loveth his brother also.”
Any one who says that he loves God but hates his brother is a liar. You say you have fifty kobo which you want to give to your God. Your next door neighbour has not taken any food for the past three days. As a neighbour he has told you this expecting you to lend him a helping hand. You refused to help him because according to you, you want to give that fifty kobo to your God. Have you God at all? If you do not give the fifty kobo to that your neighbour you have no love. Your fifty kobo is nothing to God. After all God owns you and the fifty kobo. What we mean is that you should give the fifty kobo to the neighbour. God who sees everything has seen you giving the money to him. It also means that you gave the money to God.
You want to go to church, you have only one penny in your pocket. Here is a beggar at the comer of the street. He stretches out his hand confidently because he has seen you in your immaculate white. “This is a true Christian," he says to himself. His brain begins to work what and what he would buy with the money you will give him. Suddenly you walk past without even turning to that direction. With disappointment, he dropped his hand and stared back at you; "a Christian in deed." he said to himself.
4.8 Your action is sinful
You in turn mutter some words to yourself. "I want to give this penny to my God. I am not responsible for his sickness." To which God do you want to give your penny? In the first instance you have sinned for deceiving your Creator. If you had known that it was God that at that corner with a hand stretched you saw out to get that penny from you, you would have given it him. When you had done this you would have done it to God.
You get into your car rushing for the Church. As you cover the first corner you see a man lying, he has been involved in an accident. You look at your watch. It is 9.45 a.m. the service starts at 10 a.m. You kick off your car because you do not want to be late at the service. The man is left unattended to. You could have been of help to him and the community. What testimony would you give in the Church as a man of God you claim to be. You do not know God, you are a deceiver. You have failed to help your brother whom you see with your eyes.
4.9 Are there devoted preachers
We agree that there are so many preachers in the world today just as they are many professed Christians. But how many of them know God? How can we prove the love of God in us. Is it by killing or by stealing or fornicating? Is it by back-biting or bearing false witness against your neighbours? Is it by showing disrespect to people or accusing people falsely? God says we should love one another. Why do you take delight in doing what God does not want you to do but fail to do what He earnestly wants you to do?
The duty of Brotherhood is to make you live forever if only you can put to practice all what you are being taught. There is no other way to gain everlasting life except by doing the words of God you are given day by day. If you keep these holy instructions, you will not taste of death, poverty, want, affliction, tribulation. Brethren, never has any one seen God. One who loves his brother is in God and God is in him. Love is God, God is Love. This is Brotherhood.
Golden text 1 John 4: 12
"No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."
There is no other commandment as perfect as this. Every good thing begins and ends in love. Any one who loves God must love his brother. If you hate your brother you hate God, and you have no life in you. Love does not regret what it has done.
4.10 This man is God
What is the name of that person who loves everyone equally; He is God. If you see Him do not ask Him to tell you where God is for you have seen God. That man has every right to stand outside and proclaim, "I am your God." When he says so he speaks with authority. The Bible is always his authority. You will find love dwelling richly in such a person. Humility flows from him, liberality is his daily practice. Intact he wears love as a gown, puts it on as a cap, wears it as a pair of shoes and sings love as a song. On the other hand, one who does not posses love is called the Devil, Lucifer. He has nothing to do with God. Those born of the flesh steal and do all manners of evil things.
So if you have no love, do not say that you are the child of God even though He is your Creator. You are in the firm grip of Satan. You act according to your master's dictates. You are his child, that deceiver the Devil.
Devil is a language, the word is evil. Devil is the name of one who commits evil. If you are called an evil-doer it means that you have left the way of God and have become a devil. The devil does evil.
What is God? God means love. The word God means good. It was for the sake of brevity that the word good was shortened. When Jesus was called Master, He told them that no one is good except His Father the Creator.
Let us therefore brethren love our fellow human beings whom we see daily since we do not see God. We have nothing to lose but have everything to gain if we should do this. Love is the greatest commandment. When we do this we have done the greatest work. Every village, town, country will be hatefree. Peace will reign supreme. Man will not be wolf to man any more.
Those who have ears to hear let them hear, may the Lord bless the preaching of His holy word; Amen.
THANK YOU FATHER