Gaining the Crown of Life: Loving God Through Trials

James 1:12 – Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who LOVE Him.

James 2:5 – Listen, my beloved brethren. Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith? Did God not choose the poor of this world to become heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who LOVE Him?

What does one rich in faith do? Praise the Lord. If he’s rich in faith, he believes. He loves the Lord. What does an heir to the kingdom do? He loves the Lord. Through close reading of Scripture, I think we can see that those in the kingdom have a lavish love for the Lord. I was really tempted this morning to move on, but I don’t think I want to yet, because I’d like to impress you again with what was said yesterday morning (message: At the Cross is the Love of God).

When I started back on these messages again, the last thing we had seen was the Lord’s resurrection, Mary Magdalene’s love for the Lord, and the Lord’s jealousy for His people, for His bride. The Lord’s demand for love from His children. He said to Simon Peter, “Do you love Me?” And He said again, Simon Peter, “Do you love Me?” And He said again, Simon Peter, “Do you love Me?

His bride loves Him. She has an incredible task to perform. She stands in the lineage of an incredible love. For preceding her love is an eternal unexpressed love, pent up. Following that love is the Father’s love for the Son. And following that love is a dual love. It’s almost a trilogy, a triumphant love. I mean by that a three-part love. It is the Lord Jesus’ own love for His Father in return to the Father. It’s the Lord’s divine love for His wife, and it’s the Lord’s human love for his wife.

All of that preceded the resurrection and the day of Pentecost. Wow. Man carries an inferiority complex. His religious nature wants to love the Lord, and at the same time, while it pushes us to be good and meet all the Lord’s demands, it also pushes us and says, “We’re unworthy; we can’t do it.” That religious nature has got to be denied. A concept of your divinity has got to come into you, and this complex has got to drop. I had a wonderful privilege one day; it happened to me in Tyler, Texas. Beyond my selfishness, my soulishness, and my sinfulness, I also discovered one day that I loved Jesus Christ.

Have you ever been overwhelmed by the fact that you actually do love your Lord? Sometimes I hear some saints say, “I just don’t love the Lord like I ought to,” or “I just don’t love the Lord.” That’s just the biggest lie. Your soul may not always love Him, but you didn’t get up this morning at 4 a.m. because you were an atheist. Something motivated you, and it wasn’t religion either. I promise you that even religion has its limits.

This is the first, and most startling, thing about the church of Jesus Christ: she was born in love with the Lord. I want you to know that it was on Sunday (Pentecost) that 3,000 people were converted. They’re just ordinary folk. They had never laid eyes on Jesus Christ, but on Monday morning, they gave up everything they had on earth. They were 24 hours old in Jesus Christ when they dropped everything. She matched His love; maybe she didn’t match it perfectly, but she matched his love. She honored Him with love, but that love had to grow in its expression.

Now, praise the Lord for this. Here is the church’s testimony after Pentecost, but we praise the Lord that, along the way, individuals raised a standard for the church to see. The whole church always needs to see standards of individuals to bring the church corporately on. We need Barnabas’s. We need Peter’s. We need Stephen’s to raise the whole church up. I’m no longer speaking of sacrifices.

Simon Peter had won the right on Monday morning to ask everybody to leave everything, because he had done it, but boy, the fall of Simon Peter’s life is just beautiful to see that love for him grow. If you get a chance anytime soon, would you read 1 Peter and 2 Peter? And know that the brother who stood there with a burning heart for Jesus Christ and called all those people to give up everything they had, that same brother wrote a letter in his last years of life…and that love was still burning. Read 1 Peter and 2 Peter and look for an old man’s love for Jesus Christ. I’m going to promise you something according to the Old Testament. My Lord, your Lord, His loving kindness endures forever. Simon Peter had seen much, but love was still alive in him.

Okay, now the church takes off under the example of individuals who have abandoned for the Lord in love. Brothers, I want you to distinguish between the love that you think of as love for the Lord and love for the Lord. I am not talking now about a man who gives up everything and gives away everything because he loves the Lord. That’s good, but that’s primarily negative. I believe that’s what every man ought to do, or it’ll become a stumbling block somewhere down the line. I’m impressed with the need for every man to drop everything to go with the Lord, but that’s primarily negative.