Beloved, Let Us Love One Another — G.W. North

Let's sing it again, shall we? Yes, amen. I hope you've all got books this time.

You think that person doesn't love you? You'd better ask them.

What's the use of singing empty words? This is the finality. This is the curse of churches. What's the use of singing nice sentences? If you think there's someone here who hasn't loved you, or you're not really loving them, you'd better go and sit beside them and sing it.

Go on. And when you sing it, I hope you didn't shut yourself up in a glass case or an ice cube. Who wants icebergs? You'd better go to that person if you think there's not been love between you, and get it right now.

I don't mean mere bodily love. I'm not talking about that. And you. Go on. For if you've sort of been keeping in your little tent and somebody's been in their little digs, and you don't really love them, although you're quite prepared to, well, you'd better go to them and do it.

That's what you'd better do. If Jesus had stopped in his own home, we wouldn't be sitting here this morning. He came with his love, and he let it burn out through his blood and his agony and his pain and his self-crucifixion.

Christ’s Self-Offering and the Whole Burnt Offering

Amen. The real offering to God was not the bloody, bloody crucifixion that had to do with sin. It was Christ's self-crucifixion of himself to his Father. That he offered himself to his Father. That was the real thing.

Simplified in the Old Testament as the whole burnt offering. Nothing to do with sin. Nothing to do with that. Just the offering of himself. In fact, it had to be so free from blood, although the blood had to be shed, that it all had to be washed, washed from all blood.

Have you noticed this? If not, you ought to read the Old Testament for this reason. The first chapter of Leviticus, the first offering mentioned, the whole burnt offering, washed clean, washed from every last dripping of blood.

How about that? And then put together again and offered to God. How about that? You never thought of that before? Well, perhaps that's what conferences are for. Hallelujah. All right? Can you offer yourself in perfect love?

Hallelujah. Perfect love. Glory be to God. Amen. You know, I'm going to get up and come around and give you all a big hug. Are you ready for it, brother? Amen. See? Beloved, let's love. Well, what do you do?

Let's love. What do you do? I tell you. I tell you. I tell you. I got hold of a little girlie that was here. She's been here over the weekend. Last night. And I said, if only you'd let me give you a big hug.

Oh, she said, if you'd let me be a big dad to you and give you a big hug. We sat there for half an hour. And I offered it to her and she pushed it away. But I'm an old hand at it. I've learned it. And I offered it to her and she pushed it away.

And I offered it to her and I pushed it away. Christine brought me in a drink of hot milk. You should live in the house. And I drank it and I offered it to her again. The love. And then at last I said, well, why not?

All of a sudden she broke. Came and sat beside me and I said, come on, let me give you a big hug. Let me give you a big hug. Don't you see what it's all about and why was Jesus crucified wide open? You tell me.

Hallelujah. Let's love one another. Let's be real. Let's be pure. Let's be true. Let's be universal in our love. Let's not fasten on one particular crony or one particular this, that or the other. Let universal love flow from the universal God through our universal being.

That's it. The whole of our being. I mean everything of us. Everything within us purged. Everything cauterized in the fire. Everything crucified and dead and come alive again in a new wonderful life. Let's love like that.

Let's love staked out wide. Let's love open to the whole wide world. Let's love beloved. Let's really love when we talk about loving. Let's mean something that God means by loving so that we know that God is love.

And when they point at you say, that man, he's love.

That woman, she's love.

You can't have a caustic tongue. You can't have any sting in your words. You can't have any subtle motives. You can't have any base desires. You can't have anything that's small and little and tainted and twisted and perverted.

You can't have anything that's for self gain for love is self giving. You can't have anything. The one thing that's stated about Jesus in the prophecy of Daniel is that he was going to be cut off and have nothing.

Hallelujah. He was going to be cut off. Hallelujah. And lo, he's gained everything. Hallelujah. Bless the day of the Lord. You know, I discovered, I'm just chatting to you. I'm not preaching. I may preach to you later this time.

Some of you will have heard me say this before but if you will come to the conferences where I am then that's up to you. One of the things that you have to discover Oh, well I wanted to be chatty and sit down.

Alright. You know, this is all wrong. To be a real teacher you have to sit down. It's always the audience that stands. Stand up, speak up and shut up. Is that what it is? My wife tells me, she says I must be losing my voice but I've got so used to chatting on sort of drawing room levels where house fellowships are concerned that I sometimes forget if I get in a larger hall but we managed to fill that great big hall at Cliff the other week so it was alright.

I suppose one can rise to it. But the real tragedy, beloved, is with so many of us is that we are put into somebody described it like this to me themselves in that I was talking to this young lady she said, I feel as though I've got a suit of armour on inside.

Emotional Armor, Demonic Oppression, and the Need for Love

This is what she said. That's what she said. And she couldn't get out of this suit of armour. That's what she said. And the trouble is, is this most of you were put into a suit of armour, a straitjacket when you were about three or four years of age and now you've grown up and of course you don't fit your suit of armour.

That's your trouble. That's the trouble and so you get tighter and tighter and tighter but imagine you crack and you break down. You have nervous breakdowns. You have mental breakdowns because your parents I'm sorry but they did that they put you into an emotional straitjacket perhaps your dad was in one too and your mother and they didn't know the way out either.

That's the trouble. You're in this emotional straitjacket. Isn't that right? And you know the best way to break a suit of armour I've broken many. I must have strong arms. I've put my arms round these kids and I've loved them and hugged them and I haven't wanted any devils casted after them.

See people are trying to cast out when they shouldn't be cast out. This is one of our big troubles. We've got devil hunting. We've got big bugs all over the place. The real trouble mind you there are demons they've got to be dealt with but the real trouble with everybody is that they've been put into this case this armour casing and they've grown up glands have developed their whole minds have developed all sorts of things literature comes to them they're taught they have strange new desires and feelings in them they don't know how to cope this is it I'm not trying to excuse sin or anything like that but this is the basic reality of it all and they just can't get out of it.

So they rage they throw cushions around they chuck chairs about they do all sorts of things. Somebody says give them tranquilizers. Somebody else says give them shock treatment. Somebody else says give them a dose of psychoanalysis.

This is what they say. You see some do even worse but glory be to God beloved. That's why he came. He came to meet man in these conditions. He came to meet 20th century man. Hallelujah blessed be the name of the Lord.

Why do you young people go off on the LSD trail. Why do they seek these things. It isn't just for kicks. Why do they do that. It's because their church has failed. They can't love. I met them on the long long trail out in India and Nepal.

Our young people precious young people out there to pick the weed and smoke it seeking God seeking release. They're fed up with the cliches. They're sick to death of the things that don't even work in their own parents.

That's the truth. Somebody came to me a young man. He said I want you to tell me how to bring up my family please. I said you'll have lost your family in the next few years unless you're very careful young man.

You think your job is to go out and evangelize the world. Your field for evangelism has come out of your own wife. And you'll lose them if you don't love them. You love them and love them and love them and love them and love them and love them until there's no end to your love.

See it'll be your death and that'll do you good. You love them you love them. Doesn't matter what they do. You love them praise God. And hug them and hug them and hug them and kiss them. Oh well we don't.

How many young kids. Oh we don't do that in our family. And I've spoken. I've gone and spoken to the parents. Well you see we're not that sort that wear our heart on our sleeves. Well you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Why don't you wear your heart on your sleeve. What's wrong with it, is it so bad that you can't. What's wrong with it. God's not afraid to show his heart. Praise God. You're supposed to wear your heart on your sleeve.

It's better than having a sticker on your car. Stickers all over the car. Every motorist saved. And their own children are going to sleep. Start taking drugs if they're not careful. This is the trouble.

Hallelujah. Glory be to the name of the Lord. I came to Jesus and he loved me and he smothered me and he smothered me in his love. That's what's happened to me. I've been drowned in his love. That's right.

Look when the prodigal came back he came with his little speech. He got it all worked out and father fell on his neck and kept kissing him. Never gave him a chance to get his speech up. That's right. This is what Jesus says.

Read your new testament. I tell you if you don't see it in men and women beloved. Bless God. Pick up your bible and read it there. You know I can remember when I was a kid. I know children aren't always right.

Some people think that. You know somebody said to me the other day I like to listen to you. It's up the kids and down the parents. I said no. I might tell you it was a young person that said it. But it's right.

It's parents that bring children into the world. And you young people are going to be parents too. I can remember when I was a kid I remember you children have strange ideas. They really do. But I'll tell you this much unless they're viciously indwelt with the devil.

And some are indwelt before they leave their mothers wounds because parents temper about with spiritism whilst the kids are being formed within them. This is the tragedy of so many mothers. You see they may have a vicious devil inside but I've never discovered anything.

Even though a person's been indwelt almost to the level of legion but they're still wanting love. Why do you think legion was out in the tombs crying from the dead. What was he crying for. For an ear of love to hear him.

And that ear was Jesus. There was a raging storm on Galilee and the disciples were frightened of getting drowned. Skin savers they were. But Jesus had heard a man crying his heart out for love over there on the other side of the sea.

And he put the whole nucleus of the church at stake and at risk in order to go to him. That's how Jesus reckons it up. Church talk church talk church talk. Let's have some sinner devil possessed talk.

Shall we. Let's get after those that are wanting love in case we get so exclusive about Jesus perfecting his bride in these last days as we've only got about two seconds left. Let's get up and love those that need loving.

Shall we. And let's start to forget about ourselves. It's a new form of neurosis of being taken up with self under the guise of body. Jesus put his whole body at risk staked it out on the cross had it ripped torn near disemboweled torn to pieces nearly.

That's what he's prepared to do with you. That's that's the line on which the body is conceived and held by God. And that's a tremendous thing. I remember when I was a kid of course I suppose you still think I'm peculiar but I can remember a time when my parents corrected me.

I expect it was right. I can't remember what I did. I suppose I'd done something wrong. You never forget the wrong things. We're constituted so that we always forget the horrible things and remember the nice things.

And I suppose I played up done something wrong. Well I we had a great big ginger cat at this time I called Sandy. It was mine mind you we needed him. I lived in Bethnal Green and there were lots of vermin around.

And I remember getting up in the corner and getting hold of this cat picking up this gorgeous big cat and I loved him. And I said you're the only one that loves me Sandy. And I was wrong. Of course I was wrong and they are wrong.

But how are they going to know they're wrong unless you love them and disprove it to them. You see how are they going to know. It's no good you preaching at them. They can't hear. They don't want to hear.

They want to be loved. That's what they want. That's right isn't it. I mean I'm not clever because I know that. Oh glorious truth is that that people are just pining away dying away needing the love of God.

That's why he sent it into the world. And usually speaking very few have enough sense to understand it and few there be who have enough liberty to give it to really give it to people without being fleshy and sentimental overpowering you with a personality cult or imprint the whole blessed thing beloved is that we're to love and love and love and love and love.

Loving One Another as the Central Christian Calling

Let's read one John 4 shall we. I hope you don't think that what I've been saying is a sort of a an idea of mine. Well it is an idea of mine. But it's not original with me. It's not wrong having ideas.

It's it's watching the ideas that are original with someone. That's when you've got to watch them. Because there's nothing new under the sun. So we're told. But in this one John 4 look at verse 7. I tell you what we'll do.

We'll read the first 6 words aloud. Now read it to someone. Read it to someone. Go on. Turn to someone. And read it to them. The first 6 words in verse 7. Now turn to the other person. Turn it to someone.

Read it to someone else. Don't sit there on your own. There's someone sitting in front of you. They'd like to hear.

You read it to them. Let's love one another yeah.

Have you ever heard has that person ever called you beloved before. Well try someone else who hasn't heard you say it because this isn't special for husbands and wives or cronies. It's for all the children of God beloved.

Let's love one another. Let's love one another. And that lovely praise God glory. I said it's not original with me but it's original from God through a man who's a great favourite of mine this dear John.

Let's love one another. I do. Bless God. He doesn't. Come along and say now friend let's teach one another something. Because I'm so such a duffer so would you be if you were me so. Have pity on me. Let's love one another.

This seems to me to be the greatest understanding. This seems to me to be the basic need. This seems to me to be of heaven and of God. This seems to me to be a fire to warm my spirits. That's what it seems to me.

Let's just love one another in the pure specific love of God. Isn't it marvellous to do that. Let's love one another amen. And take everybody on one at a time as you're advised. What do we sing. Oh the love that sought.

Me oh the love that sought.

You'll bring that person to you if you love them and are gracious to them. It draws, it attracts. It repels devils. They hate it. It repels those that stubbornly cling to sin. I said stubbornly we're all born sinners.

It repels those. But hallelujah hey you love me, I'll give you everything you love me. I'll do anything for you. You love me and you'll get the best out of me. You criticize me especially if I'm tender.

I've got a bit tough now. But if I'm tender and I want to take the place of the babe, I'll shrivel up. You criticize me because I've got tough now. I was sitting in a car not so long ago and this person had only just come to sort of know me.

We'd just begun to know one and they said tell me this brother. I'd like to ask you a question, please. And I said alright, go ahead. And they found a bit of difficulty in getting it out but in the end they said why is it.

We always hear such bad reports of you. You have, haven't you. Why is it. I don't shrivel up now when I was younger I would have gone up in a corner a bit with my sandy cat. But now I stay out in the open with God's lamb.

Hallelujah. Let's love one another. Glory. Love is of God it is of God, whether all the prophecies you hear are of God, I don't know whether all the tongues and interpretations or discernment so called that you hear of are of God, I don't know but I know that love is love is of hallelujah.

Isn't that lovely. Let's read on. I'm thrilled of this. Look at the rest of verse 7. Everyone that loveth is born of God and there is God. They know God if they can love, if you can't love you don't know God.

Well that's not original with me, it's what the bible says. You always get into trouble. If you insist that the bible is true, if you can't love, you're not of God. Sorry, no apologies for that, God never apologizes for telling you the truth.

You see it isn't sufficient to believe in God. You've got to know him. You understand that don't you. You've got to come to know him. I didn't say you didn't believe in him. Neither did John, but he said if you don't love, you don't know.

When you know him you know that that's all he wants. He wants you to love. You've learned the secret. What do you want me to do. People come to me strangely enough. They come in tears sometimes dear people.

And after a while they say what's the matter. And perhaps she or he will say, generally the she's men are supposed to be too tough to cry silly things. I'll tell you what. Once when I had a church in Bradford these two people were in it, so I've got to be very careful about that.

These two here, these two old stagers you see, they were in it and I don't know whether they were there when I stood up one day and confessed to the church I said I know God's got to do something more in me, I can't cry.

I hadn't cried for years, I didn't know what it was decades, I'd never shed a tear. I couldn't. I was brought up on the dictum it's a very stupid one, that boys don't cry, it's only girls that cry. You see.

And I couldn't cry you see. So I knew God had got to do something more in me. Hallelujah can you cry, can you cry. I don't mean with temper. Lots of people cry with temper. Can you cry, I don't mean with disappointment either, lots of people cry with disappointment.

I mean ability to cry. Hallelujah, I don't mean washed away with tears. That's a defect that should be healed, if you're one of those emotional people that can't stop crying the Lord can heal you from that.

That's a personality defect. It's not sin same as you're one of these people who can't stop cracking silly stupid jokes, the Lord will heal you.

You can be.

You can be healed from that, that's that's a personality defect. And you can be healed from it. It generally shows that you're wanting to assert your mind and cleverness above somebody else. You need healing.

The Lord will do it. He loves you. So you can go through all this if you're one of these permanently miserable people and they say well you're a pessimist, the Lord will heal you. Or if you're one of these super optimists, great big gushing people the Lord will heal that too.

That's right. Jesus Christ is normal perfect. You won't find him cracking corny jokes. You won't find him weeping except about proper things to weep about. You've got to be like Jesus. You know God won't have you in heaven.

If not, you understand that. Don't you. You mustn't think God's going to fill heaven up with a lot of sinners, hell's going to be filled up with those. You've got to be like Jesus. Hope you're applying yourself seriously.

I mean to it, it's a lifetime work. And if you can't love dear beloved you something's got to happen to you. You don't know God yet. God is love. That's what he is. He's love. And once you really know him you can love.

Alright. And the great growth now in love is that you'll be able to love anybody anywhere, anytime. That'll be maturity you're going to come to. That doesn't matter what they do brother. You see they may stick thorns in you.

And they won't fester in your spirit. They might cause your blood to flow. That's grace. The whole wonder of it all is that God is doing this in us all, isn't he. God is love, amen. And when we yield to this great love of God we're not critical of others.

We make every allowance. The underdog always gets our love. We bend over backwards. Nay we crucify ourselves if necessary that the underdog should be saved. We'll seek to establish righteousness for the underdog.

Always. That's what Jesus did. It was his own it was his own goodness. But he came down to reach the underdog. The one that was accused the one that was condemned always have you noticed that. And when they were accused and condemned he would say where are your accusers.

Hasn't anybody condemned you. Oh no, no, no I don't. I don't condemn you. You see as a matter of fact he doesn't expect anything much of sinners. He doesn't. So that's why he doesn't accuse them for not being what they think or other people think they should be.

Because he doesn't expect anything of us except sin corruption all the imperfections. That's what he expects of us when he finds us like that. If we're taken in our sin. And we all have to be taken in our sin to Jesus.

No other way to go to Jesus originally. So that's why he never condemns never accuses anybody. If anybody wants to accuse he says get out get out. Hallelujah. This is lovely. Hope you never listen to accusations.

Dear I hope that your heart always seeks to establish a foundation for saving the worst the lowest. The underdog the accused the condemned the outcast. Hope you do, hallelujah. When you really when you really love and you discover you see, this is the way you really have to discover.

God’s Love as Propitiation and Self-Giving

I think John gives us little clues to it in this chapter in. Let's have a look at verse 9. No, verse 10, sorry herein is love. This is love. Love's in this. Not that we loved God. So you don't make any demands.

First of all, that the other person loves you. You don't make any demands that the other person loves you. You've got more than enough love in you to fill them. Because you're overflowing with God's love.

So you've got more than enough. You don't make any demands on them at all. All the demands are on you. Herein is love. Not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

And then if this is love then you go to verse 9 that love's got to be manifested in this was manifested the love of God because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him.

In other words, beloved. When love is manifest it manifests itself in the only way possible he had an only begotten son. If Jesus had failed he hadn't got another to sin. It was, if you like what we might call a last ditch stand it was the one and only chance God never dabbled about with lesser things.

He never tried this and said well now we haven't succeeded this way. Now we'll try that. Oh well, that wasn't quite good enough. Let's try something else now this is how God manifests this great love.

Amen. The only begotten son he'll succeed. Having one son his well beloved sent him. He said they'll reverence my son. But they didn't. Now then he's failed there. And when love seems to have failed it comes to the very place that can't fail.

For they said cast him out away with him crucify him. And love finds a way through death and resurrection. Amen. Now if you're prepared to love like that you will. And this is why it says in 1 Corinthians 13 love never fails never fails.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Isn't it lovely. He sends his only begotten son that we might live through him now. That's the great art of love. If you're living such a wondrous life then you've got one great desire.

Oh if only this precious person could live the life that I'm living Jesus by your grace. If only this person could live the life Lord that you've given me that's it. That's the secret of it. Give it because you know you're living it.

There's no boastfulness about you as a matter of fact in the end. And you don't even think about it. And giving becomes your nature. Rather than thinking for God so loved the world that he didn't think about it he gave his only begotten son.

And love is that which carries you beyond the need for thought. Love culminates in utter self giving and total self abandonment. Hallelujah. This is its nature. This is what it will always do. It therefore finds no need to hold back.

It never finds any need to pause and think never. It now knows the way hallelujah. And it becomes totally embraces all it takes in everybody every need every case everything never fails. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Well beloved. That's what God is wanting for you. And I think it's marvelous that he should ever think this thing about you and should ever lay his hand upon you so that you can come up with a blessed certainty in your heart.

My Lord I can. You've chosen me. I can. I can. And of course it's very simple. Really we go down and it says this beloved in verse 11 if God so loved us we ought also to love one another. We shouldn't find that difficult.

That should be very simple because I mean it says in verse 20. If a man say I love God and hates his brother he's a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he's seen. How can he love God whom he's not seen.

Amen. You see. That's it. And it's all very simple. This should be the simplest thing to love one another. I mean I shouldn't be needing ever to stand up and preach this as the sort of height that you will attain if you keep striving.

This is basic. This is the simple truth. This is the foundation of all. It's so strange. It's sort of preached as peak stuff for the very reason I've told you about you were born into a family where your mum and dad probably were very very sort of straight laced and they couldn't love and could never demonstrate it.

So you've sort of grown up with the idea that this is something you want to achieve. And you want to find a nice young lady or you want to find a nice young man. I mean this very seriously. I'm not at all fooling.

And you want to set up a home and you want it to be a little nest of love. Think you're going to achieve something marvellous because of the total failure. This should be basic. You should have been born into this fundamental.

Everything's got turned upside down. So the gospel is an amazingly startling message whereas it's the place from whence God started originally even to think about having a family of sons like Jesus. Sins twisted it all.

And it's terrible. Look at verse 12. No man's seen God at any time. If we love one another God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he's given us of his spirit.

Amen. That's right isn't it. This is how you know you'll never know if he hasn't done this he's given us of his spirit and it's opened your eyes the gift of his spirit. He so loved the world that he gave his son.

But on top of that don't know what you would have done if you'd have had a son and you'd have sent him to Rora for instance and they'd murdered your son. It's a terrible place. Rora have bees that sting you behind the ear in the morning meeting when you're wanting to pray have cows that break out sometimes.

And we have to stop the meeting and go and find them. Terrible place. Rora. And they killed your son. Come on. You parents I've got to ask you a question. Would you say within 50 days that you'd send your daughter there.

Would you. You'd say what I'd rather see you in Australia. But you see after they'd murdered his son he sent the Holy Spirit in 50 days. What do you think of that. I tell you that's love when you've received of that spirit.

That's how you know God's love so that we're not worshipping an act in history that we can read about in history books or the mystery books the bible the mystery of God's love and of redemption. You see he's given us of his spirit the Holy Ghost's come.

We've received his spirit. He's given us of his spirit beloved. Oh and we see we see the secret. We all know we can see it. What love you know. I send my son. I reverence him, no we don't kick him out, worse than that treat him like a swine lower than the lowest.

That's what we'll do, I'll send my spirit. What do you think of it. What do you think of that. What do you. It amazes me, I come near to tears when I think of this. I've got three daughters. I wouldn't send a second one if they'd murdered the first.

What would you do. And begin to understand this love that you talk about and begin to let your soul get saturated in God and begin to let the mind of God work in you and let the transformation come beloved.

That'll even change the look of your face and the sound of your voice. It'll change all your ambitions. It'll melt you, it'll tender you. You'll never be the same person again. You might lose thinking of it now.

Even respect for yourself now that you're not in it. And thinking of that, it might be terrible. But when you're in it you'll have lived really lived for the first time. Loved so that the spirit can pour out through gaping wounds so that you can pour out love upon being insulted treated unjustly where you ought to have been treated justly.

Loved, loved, loved. It's incomprehensible. It can be believed only for a start. And then you come and experience it afterwards. Immeasurable men can't talk about it. If they do they should do it from a heart of tears and with bated breath.

The love of God. He's given us of his spirit. And we've seen it all. Father, would you really crucify a son to give us the spirit. Would you really crucify away. Would you really do this. Yes, oh father.

How you love me. How you love me. Yeah, that's it. He sent the son. Verse 14. We see and you testify that the father sent the son to be a saviour of the world. Now we know it. Glory. You see, let's go back to John's gospel.

The Woman at the Well and the Living Water

You know that his epistle, you needn't turn back, I mean in your thinking you know that his epistle is the commentary and the amplification upon his gospel. Go back in your thinking to the fourth chapter of his gospel.

There you have the story of the woman at the well Jesus sitting on the well. When she comes you know the story. And thus she runs home forgetting her water bottle deliberately leaving it behind because the age of getting your cups full is past.

That was alright for David. It's the age of springing rivers and flowing rivers. Now, so you leave your water pot behind. Why stick to a little water pot when you can have a spring and a river. You see, so she left that behind, that age is all finished and she runs home and she she finds her friends the men and they come rushing out to Jesus and they see Jesus.

And they say now we believe, not because of what this woman says but we believe. You see that you're the saviour of the world. That's the time he's first mentioned in the gospels in John 4. But this is different.