LETTER FOR NOVEMBER 1990
*****

Dear Friends,

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 2 and verses one and two -- "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose".

What the Apostle is saying is this. Think of how the Lord Jesus has treated you, received you and loved you. Think of the encouragement this has been to you. Think of the comfort this love of Jesus for you has brought to your life. Think of the spiritual fellowship you have had with Jesus, and the tenderness and compassion you have felt coming from him to you.

Then Paul continues by asking them to increase his joy as he thinks about them, by letting him see and know that they are showing to others the same attitude and love Jesus has shown to them. Paul says -- have the same mind towards others as you have experienced the mind of Jesus to you. Have the same love to others as you have felt Jesus has given to you. Being one in spirit and purpose with Jesus; his spirit and purpose to you is all love and tenderness, so be loving and tender in the same way to others.

The greatest encouragement which Jesus gives is his acceptance of us and his love to us even though he knows all about our sins. I don't suppose there is any one of us who would not lose all our friends and the love of even our nearest and dearest, if they knew what we have really done in our lives, and the thoughts and desires which are in the hidden recesses of our minds and hearts. Even we are surprised sometimes about some of the evil thoughts and desires which spring up into our conscious thoughts. Yet the tender love of Jesus towards us never falters even though he knows the worst about us.

The comfort of the love of Jesus and his tenderness and compassion is such a blessing when, after continually forgiving us and seeking our improvement, we still sin and fail and fall. Whereas we would have given up after much provocation, the love of Jesus goes on loving us and that love never diminishes.

The great encouragement which Jesus gives us is to assure us that all our sins -- sins of action, sins of omission, sins of thought, sins in our motives, sins in our attitudes, big sins or little sins, sins constantly repeated, are all forgiven and forgotten and blotted out for ever. He assures us also that he has carried the guilt and penalty not only of the sins we have committed but also of all the sins we will commit. When Jesus forgives he forgets the sins for ever.

The Apostle Paul is saying to us that we must have the same forgiving, accepting, love to others as Jesus has shown to us and that we have experienced from him in our lives. We must give encouragement to others by our forgiveness of their wrongs against us, just as Jesus has given encouragement to us by his forgiveness of our wrongs against him.

Nor is it enough to say in our hearts that we forgive someone, we must be like Jesus and lavish on them our love, affection and acceptance, just as Jesus has lavished his love, affection and acceptance, on us. Jesus has caused us to experience his forgiving love, and has welcomed us into fellowship with himself again, so we must do the same to others who sin against us.

How hard this is. There is no way we can do it on our own. Our prayer must be -- Lord Jesus give me the same love for others that you have shown to me. We must meditate a great deal on the love and compassion of Jesus for us, and remind ourselves of it, and consciously thank him for it everyday. We must constantly mourn over and repent of our failure to love like Jesus does. We must actively seek to show Christ's love, specially to those to whom we find it most difficult to do so.

When there is such love what a blessing it is to us all, and how much Jesus is glorified. The most powerful testimony to the gospel is when we, who profess to know the love of Jesus, show the same love, not simply to our friends, but also to those we may feel are our enemies.

Your servant for Christ's sake,