Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship
Route 66 in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Burton is the lead pastor.
We're glad you're here.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.
It is great to have you with us as always, and if this is your first time joining us,
let me just take a moment to say welcome.
Now the past few times we've gotten together, we've been looking at our egos and how we
fall into that trap of loving ourselves, right?
Putting ourselves before God.
This time around, this week, we're going to expound on it a little bit more as we're looking
at God's love.
Now as we get started, we're going to first set a foundation, and then we're going to
get into the meat of our message.
So let's open up our Bibles or apps, whatever it is that you use, to 1 John chapter 4.
First John chapter 4.
And the word says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether
they are of God.
Because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
By this, you know the spirit of God.
Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every
spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now
already in the world.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them.
Because He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world.
They are of the world.
Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
We are of God.
He who knows God hears us.
He who is not of God does not hear us.
By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
The problem with a lot of places and a lot of people and the key reason why prosperity
preaching are false is because they don't fall within the character of God.
They actually go against it, which is why the word warns us not to just blindly take
things at face value.
Nobody should just take a man's word.
It should be examined, even mine.
I encourage everyone, please pick up your Bible and be like the Bereans and study and
compare and contrast to see what is truth and what is not.
Don't be led astray.
I'm not talking about honest mistakes here because people do make honest mistakes.
So everybody needs to pick up their Bible and see these things for themselves.
Everybody needs to read for themselves and not just blindly take someone's word.
If we look at Acts 17 verse 11, the word says, they received the word with all readiness
and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
This is talking about the Bereans.
This is what we should all be doing.
As Christians, we should all be fact checkers.
Not like the illegitimate puppets on social media that censor everything that doesn't
agree with them.
We need to be biblical fact checkers.
Instead, we should follow the example of the Bereans, eager to listen, eager to learn,
yet doing our research and praying, reading the Bible and praying to ensure that what
we're being told is legitimate or not.
We have to spend time in prayer and time in the word in order to be able to properly discern
whether or not we're getting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
So help me God.
It's like taking an oath of court or even kind of like dragnet.
Facts, nothing but the facts.
Because let me remind you, if we're not getting the full truth, then we're getting a lie.
Remember even the temptation of Christ, Satan took the truth and twisted it and omitted
parts of it.
We can read more about that in Luke 4 and Matthew 4.
He does the same thing with people.
He likes to use people who are disguised as Christians.
And they take the word and they twist it, just as he did.
You know, and they omit things, just like he did, to get us to give in to our own selfish
desires.
Now with that said, and I mentioned earlier, do not confuse this with honest mistakes or
misunderstandings that come from poor theology and poor teaching.
We all make mistakes.
Mistakes happen.
However, even in prosperity preaching, if people are honest with themselves, they like
what they're hearing because what they're being told.
You're a good person.
God loves you and he wants to reward you now.
He wants to reward you now.
But only if you're going to do this and you're only going to do that.
You have to do this, that, and the other.
It's being very legalistic.
But there's also a part in them, right in the back of their head, saying something's
not right.
Something's off.
Just a little off kilter, right?
Unfortunately, they're convinced.
People get convinced and they buy into these lies because they don't actually read their
Bibles and pray like they should.
Sitting in a seat once or twice a week, only reading a little bit that's being touched
on and then taking the person in the pulpit as if they are a perfected human without blemish
is a recipe for disaster and the road to damnation.
So make sure you are putting forth your due diligence and not being blindly led into eternity
separated from God.
Keep your ego in check and check the words being spoken to you.
Remember, when we pray and we spend time in the Word, our relationship with Christ grows
and our ability to discern fact from fiction grows with it.
Just because someone's telling you what you want to hear does not mean you're telling
them the truth.
Remember the Bible talks about this, tickling their ears is the term that's used.
I'm going to give you another one, another term that we've all heard.
Truth hurts.
And it's because sometimes we need to be told those hard things that we don't want to hear.
However, when you love someone, you need to tell them the truth.
You're going to tell them the truth.
Truth hurts.
Why does it hurt?
Because it convicts us.
That's why.
Going back into our reading, 1 John chapter 4 verses 7 through 11, the Word says, beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God.
And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In this, the love of God was manifested towards us, that God has sent His only begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
That's deep, isn't it?
Jesus came to dissolve the walls of division between us, the Father and one another.
And He summed up our commandments as what?
Love God and love others as yourself.
Now, I know you've heard me say this a lot, and I'm going to keep on saying it, but
love is an action.
It's a choice.
Love is not just a momentary feeling or words.
Matter of fact, if you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 4 through 7, the Word explains
to us what love is.
We've all heard God is love.
It's His character.
It's all the things He's done.
It's all the things He's doing, and it's all the things He's going to do for us, even
when it hurts Him, such as when Jesus went to the cross for us.
Ego, idolatry, our rebellious nature that says, I'm right and I know what's best for
me, is a huge part of what separates us from the Father.
The selfish sin that's in our hearts that we let out into the world.
What happens is it gets out there and it controls us, and we don't even realize it.
When we let it loose on the world and it impacts, it influences others who look to us, it's
our love of ourself.
We love ourselves, and it's just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
It's that love of self that tells us that we're better than others, and that we're
up on that pedestal, that place, where it's okay for us to look down on others as if we're
better than them.
It's that love of self that lets us treat others as if they're lesser than.
It's that love of self that tells us it's okay to withhold love and blessings because
other people don't deserve it just like we do.
It's just like you go to these places, they're filled with love of self, and they say, hey,
we're reaching out in love, but they try to keep certain demographics out the door.
Or maybe they'll allow them in, but only let them sit in certain places, like you sit here,
don't go over there, you leave those fine people alone.
And they keep them there under a watchful eye.
I served at a place like that a long time ago.
In fact, I remember one year, it was Thanksgiving time.
I shared this in service just last weekend.
It was Thanksgiving time, they're asking for donations saying, hey, we're taking up a collection,
we have baskets here, or if you bring frozen goods, if you get it to us right away, we
get in the freezer, but we want to be able to provide meals for our families who are
financially strapped.
There are a lot of people who brought in a lot of goods, trying to do a lot of good.
And what ended up happening, there was a family that lives in apartments just across the way.
And their manager, the complex, had told them, hey, you know what, I've been told they're
taking donations across the street for just this type of thing.
If you go over there, you should be able to get some food.
So the guy comes over and he's like, yeah, hey, me and my family, we live over here.
Our complex manager said that you guys were giving out food for the holiday.
Is that true?
He's like, I'm not looking for a lot, I'm trying to look for something so I can make
sure my family has something decent for Thanksgiving.
And unfortunately, what happened is the man said, well, yes and no, we are taking donations,
however, the food that we give out is for church members only.
You have to be a member of this church.
And he was sent away empty handed.
Later on that day, later on that same day, they gave not one, not two, three turkeys
and all the fix, and we're talking pies, plural, pies, all sorts of food, just a ton of stuff
to a family that not only was not financially strapped, one of the family members is actually
a paid staff member who worked directly for the lead pastor and his wife.
And the reason when I asked, what's up here?
Was they didn't want the food to go to waste.
Yet there's people directly across the street who are deemed unworthy.
Really the right answer would have been like, hey, you know what, we have more leftover
than we thought, we should go over and get up with the manager and see if they can steer
us towards this family and we can give it to them after all.
That would have been the right answer.
That would have been reaching out and love.
That would have been taking care of the community and people as we're commanded to.
But because they weren't members, they weren't monetarily giving members, they didn't meet
that certain criteria.
Where's the love?
Where's the community?
Where's the reflection of God or at least the introduction to Christ?
It was nowhere to be found.
Nowhere.
Hence if we turn to Matthew chapter 7 verse 5, the word says, hypocrite!
First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the
speck from your brother's eye.
Here's the thing, we need to stop condemning others or thinking that they're less than
when we haven't even taken a moment to be honest with ourselves and address a sin in
our own lives.
We're called to love.
No ifs, ands, or buts about it, no exceptions to be made, no requirements to be met, just
love on people.
You don't have to like them, but you still have to love them.
And to refuse to love all others is to reject God.
I've heard it put like this, people aren't valuable just because they're saved, we save
all people because they're all valuable to God.
If it wasn't so, God wouldn't have commissioned us to go out to all nations, yet we have these
false teachers and others that are rebelling against God with an attitude that says people
are only valuable if they have something that benefits them directly.
They like to ask that question, what's in it for me?
And they're afraid of the cost, because they have become greedy.
And I'm here to tell you, this stinking thinking, it is wrong.
If Jesus can love them, why can't you?
Going back to 1 John chapter 4.
I felt my blood pressure go up a little bit on that one.
1 John chapter 4 verses 12-16 the word says, No one has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
And we have seen and testified that the Father has set the Son as Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and He in God.
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
That is love.
And He who abides in love abides in God and God in Him.
My friends, when we love others, God makes Himself known to us.
And God makes Himself known through us.
Now we're told to love everyone, however, it's not like there's a quota you have to
meet.
You don't have to keep tabs, you don't have to keep score, you don't have to go out of
your way to run up to people, you know, and be like, hey, guess what?
I need to love you.
No, no, no, none of that.
What you need to do is just love those that you come into contact with.
Now we all know that person.
They walk into a new place and it seems like they just instantly have friends everywhere.
They don't have a stranger anywhere, right?
And that's great.
You get some people who are very extroverted and that's wonderful.
I know some of you, you know, kind of get like, no pastor, that's not me.
I'm not like that.
I'm an introvert.
You know, and that's okay.
Some of us are introverts.
Some of us have small circles.
That's fine too.
You just love on those people that you're in front of.
Those people that you do come into contact with.
You don't get to wall yourself up and keep love from them.
That's the bottom line.
Love on others.
You see, when we love others, we use that love that God's placed inside of us.
Because it's a gift that He's given us.
We share the gift He's given us.
And in doing so, we don't even realize it, but we gain another gift from God.
Confidence.
Because when we learn to love more and more and more, it becomes easier and easier.
When we begin to take on more of Christ's character and others can see Him more easily
in us and they begin wanting to know more and more about Him.
We're able to confidently share more and more about Him.
And not just what's in the Bible, but what He's done for us and through us.
Who He is.
What He's done for us individually.
What He's done for us as the church and what He's going to do for us in the future.
His promises.
And we get to share all this with people who are coming to meet Him for just the first
time.
And it's exciting.
It's exciting.
You can downright say passionate.
Picking back up in 1 John 4 verses 17 through 19, the word says, love has been perfected
among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is,
so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
Because fear involves torment.
But He who fears has not been made in perfect love.
We love Him because He loved us first.
The day of judgment comes to us all.
There is going to be a day when each and every one of us has to stand before God.
However, for those of us who have His love in us as the Holy Spirit, for those of us
who are covered by the blood of Jesus.
Let me tell you, yes, we're going to have to answer for our transgressions.
However, we'll be able to do so confidently, with our chin up, knowing that we are loved,
forgiven and saved from punishment.
Knowing that we're going to spend eternity worshipping our Lord and in fellowship with
Him.
He made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
The least we can do is swallow our pride, stuff down our ego and learn to love others
just like Him.
Let me tell you, love starts with God and it started with our creation.
And it continued as He sacrificed for us and it's continued on as He fills us with the
Holy Spirit.
His love fills our hearts.
That gift, it fills our hearts.
It's on us to exercise it so that it grows within us, so it grows within our hearts and
pushes sin out so that sin no longer comes from our hearts, but only His love.
It takes time, it takes work, but it's there, it can be done.
It's not to say that we're going to be perfect, that we're going to be without sin.
Until the day we're called home, we're going to have it.
But you know what?
Here's a goal right here.
And some of us get a lot closer to it than others, I'll tell you what.
So going into our final verses in this chapter, 1 John 4 verses 20 through 21, the word says,
If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.
For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has
not seen?
And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also.
It's easy to say you love when it doesn't cost you anything, when things fall into your
lap.
It's another when you know you have to work for it.
People want the knight in that white armor, right?
That shining prince.
Let me tell you, they're dead wrong.
They are 100% wrong.
They're looking for the wrong person.
Because we're looking at their ego, they're looking at what, you know, oh, perfect, this
perfect image.
This is what people are going to love and oh, think of the things they're going to say.
They're wrong.
Keanu Reeves, and some of you may have seen the clips from this.
He was on the Drew Barrymore show some time ago.
And during the interview, and of course I'm paraphrasing here, you know, Drew Barrymore,
she made a comment basically saying, I'm a lover, not a fighter.
And Keanu, he responds.
He goes, no, no, no, you got it all wrong.
No.
You're a lover, you've got to be a fighter because if you don't fight for your love,
what kind of love do you have?
People should be looking to the knight, you know, excuse me, people should be looking
for the other knight.
They should be looking for the dirty one with the banged up armor, with the chinks taken
out of it.
The cap's taken off or even the whole chunk's taken off, just dangling, right?
That one who's been out there and he's put in the work, he's put in the time.
This is the guy who knows what true love is.
This is the one that's going to stand up to protect the people he loves.
This is the person who's going to stand up and say something when things are wrong.
Socrates is credited with saying, the unexamined life is not worth living.
Well, I say to you, so is unexamined faith, so is unexamined love.
Ask the Lord to open the eyes of your heart and take a long, hard look and ask yourself,
is it about you or is it about him?
Are you living a life that speaks to his sacrifice and his love or are you living a life that
speaks to yourself?
Are you loving others or are you loving yourself?
Because if it's all about you, you've made a mistake.
It shouldn't be.
It never should be.
It was never supposed to be.
It's supposed to be about Jesus who took on your sin, died for you, rose again, ascended,
and is going to return because of his love for you.
Because his life is the ultimate meaning.
His life is the one that brings hope to each and every single one of us.
And it's eternity with him, the life that we should all be striving for.
So as you leave here today, remember you are loved and you are blessed.
So go and be the church.
Thank you for joining us at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
If this message spoke to you or if you would like to help us reach more people, please
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You can learn more about our ministry or how you can support us at www.thecross66.org.
Until next time, take care and God bless.