Prayer Meeting 17/9/2024

Living Like A Christian Is To Love Like God - Part 2

(Hugh Binning)

Watch the full sermon HERE.

Tonight, want to bring a teaching, as we did last time, from not a puritan, but by Scottish covenanter: Hugh Binning, who wrote a treatise on ‘Christian Love’.

Hugh Binning was born in 1627 in Dalveen, Ayrshire. He was ordained in 1650, and became minster of Govan church. Sadly, Binning died at the age of a mere 26 years old, of tuberculosis. His writing was prolific, but not one was published until he had died.

Tonight, as I said, I want to again delve into his treatise on ‘Christian Love’. Firstly, our Puritan prayer is the same as our last prayer meeting - from ‘The Valley Of Vision’ page 250 on the leather version and page 137 of the paperback, entitled ‘Christian Love’. I’m not saying Binning wrote this, but he could have.

O Lover of the loveless, It is thy will that I should love thee with heart, soul, mind, strength and my neighbour as myself. But I am not sufficient for these things. There is by nature no pure love in my soul; Every affection in me is turned from thee; I am bound, as slave to lust, I cannot love thee, lovely as thou art, until thou dost set me free. By grace I am thy freeman and would serve thee, for I believe thou art my God in Jesus, and that through him I am redeemed and my sins are forgiven. With this freedom I would always obey thee, but I cannot walk in liberty, any more than I could first attain it, of myself. May thy Spirit draw me nearer to thee and thy ways. Thou art the end of all means, for if they lead me not to thee, I go away empty. Order all my ways by thy holy Word and make thy commandments the joy of my heart, that by them I may have happy converse with thee. May I grow in thy love and manifest it to mankind. Spirit of love, make me like the loving Jesus; give me his benevolent temper, his beneficent actions that I may shine before men to thy glory. The more thou doest in love in me and by me, humble me the more; keep me meek, lowly, and always ready to give thee honour. 

Binning draws from many verses in his treatise. But the anchor verses are:

Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)

And he said to him, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

And John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Last time I shared from the first two chapters of Binning’s writings on the subject of Christian love. I won’t go into any of it, as I know you are avid readers of the notes we make available. Hence why so many of you imitate Paul and Christ so well. Yes that is sarcasm, to make my point.

Okay, tonight I will be drawing only from chapter three, where Binning shares on loving our brothers and sisters. Right at the start in the first paragraph Binning writes:

If we (us) give ourselves to the search of God’s love, I will give myself the strongest and most effectual medium to persuade my mind and constrain my heart to Christian affection.

In other words, it’s in the knowing and the remembering of God’s love for us, that brings us into a place of love for others.

Why did the Corinthians not love? Because they took communion without first remembering Christ’s suffering, and Christ’s sacrificial love.

If a perfect Jesus, One who has never sinned, One who was truly spotless and blameless, can love such awful sinners as we all are….Binning says:

O how much should I, a poor wretched creature, love my fellow creature, often who is better than ourselves, or at least not much worse.

Isn’t it truly a loss of memory to not love others when we have one who loved us when we were still dead in our sins and trespasses? Who are we to not love others?

Hence the verse:

John 13:34

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Binning then writes something profound for me:

If all that was in me did not alienate his love (Christ’s ) for me, how should anything in others estrange our love for them?

Never mind anything in others, but let’s face it - such trivial things.

Surely if Christ, who was perfect, could love us, is it unreasonable to be less than loving to fellow sinners? (not at all).

This puts me in mind of the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:

Matthew 18:23-33

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. (around 3 million pounds in today’s money) But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. “but that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; (worth around £5.00) and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘pay me what you owe!’ so his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ and he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘you wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?”

Think of what you have been forgiven for, all our past, present and future debt of sin, yet we hold onto bitterness and resentments towards people for things that are truly at times pathetic.

How quick are we to hate and lack forgiveness to those who are no worse than we are? It’s amazing though isn’t it, that other people’s sins are so much worse than ours. When in fact they are only just, at worst, different sins.

As Binning moves through the chapter he pens this:

The light of Jesus Christ cannot shine into the heart, but it begets love.

He adds:

Oh how suitable it is for a child of light to walk in love… when the light and knowledge of Jesus Christ possesses the heart, there is no stumbling block.

The truth is, even if you haven’t thought of it this way. Isn’t it true that we stumble due mostly to the darkness we have in our hearts as a by-product of not walking in the light of Christ? And when I say stumble, in the context I mean walk not in love, but instead in anger, or hate, or bitterness, or in retaliation.

Why? Because it’s the light of Christ that allows us to walk in grace and in mercy.

Of course we won’t be convicted of that bitterness, anger, hate, self-seeking, unless we allow the light of Christ in.

Look at Ephesians 4 ‘Having their understanding darkened….due to the ignorance in their hearts.’ If you walk in ignorance as a believer, you will not be convicted of your sin. Yet ignorance is not what believers have, so we need to deliberately put off Christ; manufacture ignorance.

Ephesians 4:17-24

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

We need the light to bring conviction. Sadly too many believers let the light go out for too long. Anger, rage, bitterness, self-seeking, is all a loss of light. But as a believer, it’s not that we don’t have light, it’s that we chose to not walk in it.

Binning says:

If Christ’s light enters, then the love of Christ will come with it.

You cannot as a believer, focus on Christ and be ignorant and in the dark at the same time.

So we have to stop putting on, that’s what happens to believers who continue to not love and be resentful, and angry. They just won’t put on Christ. And when we don’t put on Christ, we put our issues onto others.

Binning writes:

A divine birth carries with it a divine nature, a change in principal from worst to best. From darkness to light, from death to life.

So for us to not walk in that, is either due to us not being born again, children of God - or that we continue to not put on the new man.

I close with this from Binning as he closes the chapter:

Are we ashamed of our birth, shall we not love them as brethren whom he hath not been ashamed to adopt as sons, and whom Christ is not ashamed to call brethren.

Have you ever considered how you treat people whom God has given His Son for? Have you ever truly considered how much Jesus accepts those that Jesus calls friends, that Jesus carried all their shame and sin, because of His love for them?

Surely, and I say again surely, we ought to be able to love them, as fellow sinners saved by grace. Instead of judging them, criticising them, belittling them, judging them.

Our Lord loves them, and our Lord loved us when we were wretched; should we be the same?

I will close from the words of Apostle Peter, one who truly knew darkness, but one who knew, maybe more than any, true love and forgiveness.

1 Peter 4:7-10

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Amen.