GWEA Monthly Messages
REVEREND GORDON WILLIAMS
St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world and represents the "Feast of Saint Valentine", a Christian event observed on February 14th each year. "St. Valentine" was a Christian priest who ignored the Roman law that prohibited Christian clergy to marry people, even Christians. But as Jesus said,
”Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' (Matt.19:5-6)
St. Valentine intentionally disregarded the Roman law because marriage was established by God. Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the Second.
In most of the two thousand weddings I have officiated, most couples have chosen Paul’s definition of "agape" love. The bible tells us:
"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it keeps no record of wrongs, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends..." (1 Cor.13:4-8)
Recently I met with a couple that was preparing for marriage and they told me, "Yes we want that kind of love!” I explained to them that the love Paul was talking about was not a "natural love". That this was an "agape love” which can only be received through what Jesus calls the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit":
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
The bible talks about three other kinds of natural love: sexual (eros), friendship (philos) and family and marriage love (storge). These three types of love are "conditional" loves and are limited to the number of times a person experiences "hurt" from others. God’s love (agape) transforms the other kinds of love from "conditional" to "permanent" allowing love to increase instead of decreasing. The obstacle is "unforgiveness" and with God's special agape love, there is no longer a limit to how many times we are able to forgive.
For instance, Peter asked Jesus, "Lord how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say seven times, but seventy times seven" (Matt.18:21-22). That's 490 times a day! God’s "agape" love makes it possible for us to forgive and forget our hurts making our sexual, friendship and family loves "permanent" and able to grow yearly.
Christians who share God's "agape" love can live in a "honey moon relationship" for the rest of their lives. The couple both exclaimed, "How do we get this kind of love?” I prayed with them for the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" and God’s love was poured into their hearts through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was given to them (Rom. 5: 5) and proven as they both spoke in their new tongues-languages they received (Mk. 16:17; Acts 2:4). Both agreed, "Wow! This is amazing!”
God’s "agape" love acts as a "catalyst” changing the other kinds of love from being conditional and temporary to permanent and wonderful for a lifetime. If you have never received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the life-changing agape love of Jesus, I invite you to one of our house meetings or contact me! You will not be disappointed!
Yours in Jesus,
Rev. Gordon Williams
Copyright © 2015. The Gordon Williams Evangelistic Association. All rights reserved