WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.700 1 John chapter 4 and verse 7. I'm going to read 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:07.559 from verse 7 to verse 11. I'll go ahead and begin. 00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:13.679 It says, Beloved, let us love one another. For 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.079 love is of God. And everyone who loves is born 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:21.280 of God and knows God. He who does not love does 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:26.839 not know God. For God is love. In this, the love 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:31.500 of God was made manifested toward us, that God 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:34.060 sent his only begotten son into the world that 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:38.840 we might live through him. In this is love, not 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.979 that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent 00:00:41.979 --> 00:00:45.700 his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:51.439 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:57.450 love one another. Amen. Somebody say amen. I 00:00:57.450 --> 00:00:59.590 have an interesting title for my message today. 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:03.189 Amen. I want to answer this question, what's 00:01:03.189 --> 00:01:07.290 love got to do with it? Amen. No, we're not going 00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:11.530 to sing that song. But I believe that this verse 00:01:11.530 --> 00:01:13.750 today answers that question. Amen. You may be 00:01:13.750 --> 00:01:17.049 seated in God's presence. You know, when I think 00:01:17.049 --> 00:01:23.069 about that word love, it's such a broad term. 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:26.019 Think of all the ways that we use that word, 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:31.219 love, right? All the different settings, different 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:33.980 contexts that we use it in daily conversation, 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:40.200 love. Somebody say love. And that word in our 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.900 day and age has come to mean whatever you want 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:46.739 it to mean when we say love. We say we love a 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:50.739 lot of things, don't we? How many of you love 00:01:50.739 --> 00:01:57.420 tacos? Come on, amen. I love tacos, amen. I love, 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.640 and I have said that many times, or even things 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.659 like pizza. I love any pizza lovers out there. 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:07.319 Now I'm getting you hungry. Okay, I know. I got 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.560 to be careful here. We love these things. And 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.419 on a day like today, we also realize that there 00:02:14.419 --> 00:02:17.620 is a very, people are very passionate, and they 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:21.419 love their sports teams, right. They love their 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:25.180 favorite player. But there's all sorts of things 00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:30.020 we love. I love that song. Those are my favorite 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:33.879 pair of shoes. I love those things. At the same 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:38.960 token, we also love people. We tell people, I 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:42.379 love you. You tell your spouse. You tell your 00:02:42.379 --> 00:02:46.259 loved one or relative or a friend, I love you. 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:50.699 So all of these loves obviously are not the same. 00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:55.069 Amen. They're not the same. You can't possibly, 00:02:55.289 --> 00:02:58.830 as much as you love tacos, can't say I love tacos 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:02.650 in the same way that you maybe love your mother 00:03:02.650 --> 00:03:04.629 or your father or a friend. They're just different 00:03:04.629 --> 00:03:09.430 types of love. And I think what I read in our 00:03:09.430 --> 00:03:15.590 text today is the Apostle John bringing us back 00:03:15.590 --> 00:03:18.169 to the true meaning of what love is. In the New 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:23.289 Testament. We find two prominent words for love. 00:03:23.750 --> 00:03:27.530 They are the word phileo and agape. And now both 00:03:27.530 --> 00:03:30.590 of these appear in Scripture and they don't mean 00:03:30.590 --> 00:03:33.189 the same thing. Now what I really like about 00:03:33.189 --> 00:03:36.330 the language, the original language of Scripture 00:03:36.330 --> 00:03:39.750 is its nuance, its complexity. There are different 00:03:39.750 --> 00:03:43.330 words to describe different things that gets 00:03:43.330 --> 00:03:46.889 lost in translation, gets lost in our modern 00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:49.539 vernacular. We're going to look at these two 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:51.860 words just very briefly to set the tone. Filio 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:56.319 is a word that describes emotional love. It involves 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.139 feelings of warmth and affection towards someone. 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:04.780 It's brotherly love. This is where the city of 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.560 Philadelphia gets its original meaning, the city 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:13.099 of brotherly love, filio. Agape is the other 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:17.850 form of love. In the New Testament, and it means 00:04:17.850 --> 00:04:21.509 sacrificial love. This is very different from 00:04:21.509 --> 00:04:24.810 philio. This is an intentional, unconditional 00:04:24.810 --> 00:04:28.490 love. It's more than a feeling, agape, but it's 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:32.610 an act of the will. Now, it's important to understand 00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:35.410 that both of these terms are perfectly acceptable. 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:38.810 Nothing wrong with philio love. We're not here 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:42.230 to throw philio under the bus. We need some philio, 00:04:42.389 --> 00:04:44.269 amen. In fact, I think we can use a little more 00:04:44.269 --> 00:04:47.920 of that. Amen. Sometimes we don't feel enough 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.259 of the love. Amen. Both are good. Both are gifts 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:57.779 from God. And perfectly acceptable in human life. 00:04:57.860 --> 00:05:00.980 And they serve their purpose. But the word that 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:03.920 we're focusing on today is agape. Because this 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.899 is the word that John uses when he writes love 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:13.939 one another. He does not say filial one another. 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:21.129 agape one another. So he is telling us, commanding, 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:25.370 instructing us not just to feel something. He's 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:28.350 not telling us how to feel. He's telling us how 00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:33.589 to act. How to conduct ourselves. How to behave. 00:05:33.990 --> 00:05:38.129 The manner in which we love. And this is important 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:41.189 to John because if you Look at the whole context, 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:43.750 which is always good, always important when you 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:47.110 read a verse to look at the surrounding text 00:05:47.110 --> 00:05:50.589 in order to discover what the writer is essentially 00:05:50.589 --> 00:05:53.649 trying to say. And in the time of John's writing, 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:55.569 there were false teachers that were troubling 00:05:55.569 --> 00:05:58.250 the church, that were causing division and causing 00:05:58.250 --> 00:06:01.430 chaos and stirring up strife and trouble. And 00:06:01.430 --> 00:06:06.290 it was just a turbulent time in the new church, 00:06:06.350 --> 00:06:09.480 in the early church. As John is writing, and 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:12.439 so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:15.860 he attacks the problem, perhaps not in the way 00:06:15.860 --> 00:06:18.899 that we might, not in argumentative form, not 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:22.639 in debate form, but it gets down to the heart 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.800 of the matter. Because his interest is not in 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:28.079 winning an argument. Amen. And that ought not 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.500 to be our interest either, is not to win an argument. 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:33.480 Because how many of you know that you could sometimes 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:39.379 win an argument and lose the relationship? You 00:06:39.379 --> 00:06:43.000 could be right and wrong at the same time. I 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.300 was right, or I really proved my point, but then 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:49.339 you lost the person as a result. John's not interested 00:06:49.339 --> 00:06:51.420 in doing that. He probably could have. He could 00:06:51.420 --> 00:06:55.819 have laid out a very detailed and robust theological 00:06:55.819 --> 00:07:00.100 argument for how the church can correct itself, 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:04.319 but he got down to what it's all about. And in 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.160 his estimation, under the inspiration of God, 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:11.480 He protects the church by telling the church 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:14.639 to examine their hearts and to see if they're 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.740 truly living as God intended them to live as 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:20.939 a community of faith, as brothers and sisters 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:24.160 in the body. John's not concerned with how much 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.399 scripture they know, how much verses they can 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:30.639 quote. He's not concerned with how loud their 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.000 worship is and how properly they are presenting 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.459 themselves. He wants to know. Where's the love? 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:42.379 He wants to know what's love got to do with it 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:46.839 in the church. And he is obviously picking up 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:51.259 where Jesus left off when he summarized all the 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:55.259 commandments into two. All of the laws into two 00:07:55.259 --> 00:07:59.000 when he says, in response to which is the greatest 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.480 of the commandments, the Lord says that you should 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.939 love the Lord your God. With all of your heart, 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:08.000 your soul, your mind and strength. Can somebody 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.759 say amen for that? And the second was to love 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:15.759 your neighbor as yourself. And on all these, 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:20.000 all the commands, all the law hangs on these 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:23.300 two commands. I want to tell you that you can 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:25.339 do a lot of things right, dear friend. You can 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:27.959 do a lot of things right. You can get a lot of 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:32.519 it right. Doctrinally, theologically, biblically. 00:08:33.660 --> 00:08:36.059 spiritually even. You can do a lot of things 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:39.600 right, but if you get these two commands wrong, 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:44.059 everything else is out of order. Everything else. 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.740 You say, well, I keep all of the other 900 laws, 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:50.940 or however many there are, and I do them perfectly 00:08:50.940 --> 00:08:54.620 and to the T. But if you don't love God and if 00:08:54.620 --> 00:08:57.080 you don't love your neighbor, your life is out 00:08:57.080 --> 00:08:59.299 of order. And so John is trying to bring order 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:02.809 back by getting to the heart of the matter. And 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:05.529 he answers this question about love by giving 00:09:05.529 --> 00:09:07.370 us three reasons. So I'm going to point these 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:09.990 out for us today very succinctly. The first reason 00:09:09.990 --> 00:09:14.429 is that God is the source of love. I said he's 00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:19.769 the source of love. He's the source. Verse 7, 00:09:19.870 --> 00:09:24.529 beloved, let us love one another. For love is 00:09:24.529 --> 00:09:29.870 of God. We need to know that love is not a product 00:09:29.870 --> 00:09:33.019 of human invention. Love is not the product of 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:35.500 the world. It's not a product of culture. It's 00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:38.419 not a product of what man says that it is. Love 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:42.340 originates with God. It flows from His nature. 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:47.220 It's who He is. So much so that John says in 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:53.460 verse 8, God is love. Someone say, He is love. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.779 Now notice what he didn't say. He didn't say 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:07.710 that love is God. But God is love. You need to 00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:09.149 know that there's a big difference between the 00:10:09.149 --> 00:10:14.389 two. He didn't say love is God. He said God is 00:10:14.389 --> 00:10:21.889 love. The world has a concept of love, even through 00:10:21.889 --> 00:10:25.950 their own foggy lens of Scripture, that would 00:10:25.950 --> 00:10:29.350 suggest that love is God. The world says that 00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:35.659 love is God. But the Bible says that God is love. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:41.220 I want you to see this contrast. The world says 00:10:41.220 --> 00:10:45.259 love is God, which that sounds good to a certain 00:10:45.259 --> 00:10:48.019 degree that, hey, love is everything is what 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:51.100 they're saying. But the Bible doesn't teach us 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:53.919 that God is love. Now, this is a clear distinction 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.149 that we... Christians, we believers, must make, 00:10:57.250 --> 00:11:00.389 not only in our own mind, but as we go out into 00:11:00.389 --> 00:11:02.710 this world, we must make that clear distinction 00:11:02.710 --> 00:11:04.629 because we are living in a world, we're living 00:11:04.629 --> 00:11:07.730 in a day and an age where love is constantly 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:11.470 being redefined and reshaped to fit people's 00:11:11.470 --> 00:11:16.769 personal views and desires. Our society preaches 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:18.309 a message of love. In fact, you hear it everywhere 00:11:18.309 --> 00:11:21.169 you go. Love. Can't we just love each other? 00:11:22.509 --> 00:11:25.840 And on the surface, The Christian is presented 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.639 with somewhat of a dilemma because it's like, 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:30.820 well, of course we ought to love, right? I mean, 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:34.779 love is the answer in many ways, but beneath 00:11:34.779 --> 00:11:39.639 that message oftentimes is another agenda, perhaps. 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:46.840 Sounds harmless, even noble, but it falsely makes 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:52.539 human desire the source and the standard of love. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:57.559 And this can be a problem. And I don't have the 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:01.639 time today to get into and unpack all the ways 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:05.799 in which this mentality can actually become idolatrous 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:12.500 so that love becomes God instead of God himself. 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:15.509 There are many ways that we are seeing this, 00:12:15.570 --> 00:12:17.889 not only in the world, but we can see this even 00:12:17.889 --> 00:12:20.070 in our own lives, in our own relationships, where 00:12:20.070 --> 00:12:24.409 human emotions are justified in the name of whatever 00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:28.889 definition of love one has for themselves. We 00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:32.129 live in a world, hear me today, friend, hear 00:12:32.129 --> 00:12:35.289 me today, church, we live in a world where love 00:12:35.289 --> 00:12:39.649 is their God, where they kneel at the altar of 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:44.840 love. It's their religion. It's their religion. 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:51.120 Love is their holy ground. Which is why, if you 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.720 ever dare question the validity or the substance 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.000 of that love, it's as though you're committing 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:03.460 blasphemy. And it's why you'll be hated and despised 00:13:03.460 --> 00:13:07.639 if you ever contradict someone's version, someone's 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.529 form, someone's self -definition of love. Whew, 00:13:11.649 --> 00:13:13.230 there's so many contexts for what I'm saying 00:13:13.230 --> 00:13:16.629 here today. And you'll be hated for that. You'll 00:13:16.629 --> 00:13:21.230 be despised for that on every level. If love 00:13:21.230 --> 00:13:24.429 is God, then we'll define it by our own standard. 00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:29.110 And we'll seek it in places and from people rather 00:13:29.110 --> 00:13:31.570 than Christ. And so part of my message today 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:35.379 for somebody who's been... With competing, there's 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.879 a conflict in your heart today between love is 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:43.779 God and God is love. And you see those elements 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:46.080 or those competing emotions, those competing 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:48.539 ideas within yourself. And you're struggling 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:51.559 to want to do the will of God, want to do what 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.559 the sayeth the Lord, want to do what his word 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.740 commands us to do and how he commands us to live 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:00.539 versus what you feel in our heart. And we live 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:02.700 in a world where people say, well, if it feels 00:14:02.700 --> 00:14:05.029 right. Just go with it. We live in a world that 00:14:05.029 --> 00:14:09.149 says listen to your heart. But the Bible teaches 00:14:09.149 --> 00:14:13.610 that the heart is deceitful and wicked above 00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:16.389 all things. Who can try? I didn't come today 00:14:16.389 --> 00:14:19.610 preaching a message of listen to your heart and 00:14:19.610 --> 00:14:22.230 what your heart tells you is true. No, the devil 00:14:22.230 --> 00:14:25.809 is a liar. Your heart can lie to you and tell 00:14:25.809 --> 00:14:28.289 you something that is not God's will. I came 00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:36.370 to say that God is love. And so if you're in 00:14:36.370 --> 00:14:39.490 conflict today with what love you ought to give 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:42.789 yourself to, let's get back to biblical, true, 00:14:43.049 --> 00:14:46.669 genuine, pure, godly love that he has placed 00:14:46.669 --> 00:14:51.179 in our hearts. Amen, somebody. That's a conflict 00:14:51.179 --> 00:14:53.200 for many people and it's why they struggle and 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.340 why they're at odds even to serve the Lord in 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:57.559 which they want to or come back to church or 00:14:57.559 --> 00:14:59.320 somebody's going to watch this message, going 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:01.299 to hear this message that's conflicted between 00:15:01.299 --> 00:15:03.740 what your heart is telling you to do and what 00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:06.600 this preacher is saying you ought to do or what 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:09.299 you hear the word saying you ought to do. But 00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:12.440 if you will simply put your definition, your 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.860 feelings aside and say, what does God have for 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:19.019 me? Because God is the source and the standard 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:22.419 of love. and you can't go wrong when you do it 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:28.000 God's way. Since God is love, he alone is a source 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.120 and standard that we must follow. Reason number 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:34.360 two as to why we ought to love and love one another, 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:38.240 which is, I'll tell you in preview over the next 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:40.720 few weeks, we'll get into more of how it is we 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:43.460 can love when there are different scenarios that 00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:47.440 Scripture navigates us through. But the second 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:52.409 reason is... Why to love is new life ought to 00:15:52.409 --> 00:15:55.750 look like love. In verse 7, he continues, everyone 00:15:55.750 --> 00:16:02.669 who loves is born of God and knows God. Someone 00:16:02.669 --> 00:16:10.450 say new life. Say it looks like love. If you 00:16:10.450 --> 00:16:15.909 want to test the authenticity, the validity of 00:16:15.909 --> 00:16:21.830 someone's claimed new life look no further than 00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:27.210 the way they love. Born of God, he says. Born 00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:29.230 of God. Anyone who is born of God, what does 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:31.649 that mean? Well, the New Testament teaches what 00:16:31.649 --> 00:16:33.870 being born of God is. It's a new birth experience. 00:16:34.490 --> 00:16:37.679 It's a spiritual regeneration. It's a... becoming 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.419 a new creation through being baptized in Jesus' 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:43.399 name in water, being filled with the gift of 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.659 the Holy Spirit, right, where we become citizens 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:48.659 of his kingdom. We are born again into the family 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:52.000 of God. This is talking about being born of God. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:57.399 Anyone who loves is born of God, and they know 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:01.960 God. Amen. They know God. Now, as apostolics, 00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:05.910 we, as... Apostolic, one God, Pentecostal people, 00:17:06.109 --> 00:17:10.150 we rightly emphasize that speaking in tongues 00:17:10.150 --> 00:17:13.650 is the initial sign of receiving the Holy Ghost. 00:17:13.769 --> 00:17:19.549 Amen, somebody. We rightly emphasize that. But 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:25.329 the ongoing sign, after one has spoken with new 00:17:25.329 --> 00:17:29.470 tongues, the ongoing sign of the Spirit is love. 00:17:30.569 --> 00:17:36.299 Not tongues. That's the initial. That's the first 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:41.079 evidence, the first sign, I should say. But ongoing 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:44.259 from that point on, what is the sign that the 00:17:44.259 --> 00:17:47.599 Spirit of God, that His Word is building me, 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:51.960 developing me, growing me into that person that 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:54.519 He wants me to be? It's love. Someone say love. 00:17:56.539 --> 00:18:00.660 It's not the gifts that you have. You can grow 00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:03.440 in gifts. You can grow in spiritual activity. 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:05.700 You can grow in your knowledge. You can become 00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:09.019 so knowledgeable of not just the Word of God, 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:12.480 but knowledgeable of all sorts of studies and 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.400 disciplines in this life. You can become a walking 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:19.819 encyclopedia, a walking, talking Bible. Amen. 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:25.789 And still fall short of where God calls us. If 00:18:25.789 --> 00:18:29.390 you fail to grow in love. So the test for us 00:18:29.390 --> 00:18:31.930 today as believers is that as I'm growing in 00:18:31.930 --> 00:18:34.009 my gifts, as I'm growing in activity, growing 00:18:34.009 --> 00:18:36.329 in knowledge of the kingdom, growing in my understanding 00:18:36.329 --> 00:18:39.609 of biblical things, growing in my spiritual vocabulary. 00:18:39.970 --> 00:18:41.730 Man, I know more words than I did yesterday. 00:18:41.869 --> 00:18:43.910 That's wonderful. I'm growing. And all these 00:18:43.910 --> 00:18:46.430 are growing in my talents, growing in my abilities. 00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:53.089 But are we growing in love? Hear me today. You 00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:57.390 can be spiritually active. And not be spirit 00:18:57.390 --> 00:19:01.450 -led. I'm going to say it again. You can be spiritually 00:19:01.450 --> 00:19:05.430 active and not be spirit -led. In other words, 00:19:05.450 --> 00:19:10.789 you can pray and not love. I've known some people 00:19:10.789 --> 00:19:13.789 that are just, you know, they pray more than 00:19:13.789 --> 00:19:20.509 Jesus, I guess, and they don't love. You know, 00:19:20.509 --> 00:19:25.420 you can serve and not love. You can serve out 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:27.740 of your giftedness. You can serve out of just 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:32.859 religious obligation. You can serve out of duty, 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:38.039 sacred duty, and not love. You can serve somebody 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:43.240 and not love the person you're serving. You can 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.839 do a lot of things, that's my point today, and 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.759 not love. And the danger is, for us, is equating, 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.960 which I think perhaps... Maybe not so, but in 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:56.680 my estimation, perhaps in the apostolic or in 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:58.720 the spirit -filled church, I should say, that 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:02.759 there's a tendency to equate spiritual activity 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:07.220 with spiritual maturity. Don't mistake spiritual 00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:10.180 activity for spiritual maturity because the two 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:13.180 are not the same. We can speak in the tongues 00:20:13.180 --> 00:20:16.700 of angels. We can prophesy. We can quote scripture. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:20.759 You can hover around this place on a cloud of 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.000 anointing. And all those things doesn't mean 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.380 that we're growing in the most essential parts 00:20:25.380 --> 00:20:27.519 of our life and our spirit, which is love. And 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.819 we have to be careful that we're not equating 00:20:29.819 --> 00:20:34.539 spiritual activity or gifts with growth. Following 00:20:34.539 --> 00:20:39.059 rules with following peace with all men. Paul 00:20:39.059 --> 00:20:40.779 had to correct this issue in Corinth. Are you 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:43.160 hearing me today? Amen. Just give me a couple 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:44.660 more minutes. Amen. I know some of you are looking 00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.599 at your clocks. Don't worry. God's got something 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:50.559 to say today. Can I preach this for her? Can 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.099 I preach this? Amen. Paul had to correct this 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:57.220 issue in Corinth because they had tongues, prophecy, 00:20:57.500 --> 00:21:00.640 and knowledge. They had all that working. Man, 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:04.380 Corinth was like a well -oiled machine spiritually 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:10.579 with the gifts, with prophecy. Huh? And biblical. 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:16.279 but they also had pride and strife and division. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:20.619 So this is what Paul writes. He says, in 1 Corinthians 00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:23.980 13, if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels 00:21:23.980 --> 00:21:27.880 but do not have love, I am only a resounding 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:32.619 gong or a clanging cymbal. He said, if I do all 00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:36.920 these things, if I talk in tongues all day long, 00:21:37.019 --> 00:21:39.309 you know, just... Talking in tongues, right? 00:21:39.430 --> 00:21:43.369 And I speak in angelic tones. But if I don't 00:21:43.369 --> 00:21:46.670 have love, you know all I am? All I am is a crashing 00:21:46.670 --> 00:21:49.650 cymbal. Like one of these cymbals here on this 00:21:49.650 --> 00:21:53.420 drum set. That's what I am. I am just making 00:21:53.420 --> 00:21:55.880 a bunch of noise. I'm making a bunch of racket. 00:21:56.099 --> 00:21:58.720 I'm making a bunch of, I'm just, you know, I'm 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:01.079 loud and I'm proud. But that doesn't mean that 00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:04.220 I actually love. And the Spirit of God, when 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:07.339 it's truly moving, growing, nourishing, developing 00:22:07.339 --> 00:22:09.779 within you, that relationship with the Lord, 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:12.619 when love is really moving in your life, you 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:15.039 do more than just produce a lot of noise. Are 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:16.940 you hearing what I'm saying? The Spirit does 00:22:16.940 --> 00:22:20.680 produce more than just noise. It produces brotherly 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:24.539 love. It produces character. It produces righteousness. 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:28.289 Hallelujah. It produces love. for each other 00:22:28.289 --> 00:22:31.710 and so today church as we think about what love 00:22:31.710 --> 00:22:34.509 means and how it matters for us as a church last 00:22:34.509 --> 00:22:37.410 Sunday we prayed a special prayer today I believe 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:41.150 prophetically a culture we spoke into this church 00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:46.650 a culture of love and acceptance and care and 00:22:46.650 --> 00:22:50.130 mercy and forgiveness with one another and if 00:22:50.130 --> 00:22:53.309 this is going to become an ongoing reality for 00:22:53.309 --> 00:22:56.970 us then we have got to let the spirit lead us 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:00.980 us not just be spiritually active but to be spiritually 00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:05.380 led of God and let love rule and reign in our 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:07.779 hearts. Amen somebody. Why don't we give God 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:15.140 a hand praise today. The clearest sign that the 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:17.700 Spirit is leading you is not so much how you 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:19.599 worship, not even how you dress and all those 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:21.140 things. I'm not downplaying those things but 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:25.980 it's how you love. Because you can have all those 00:23:25.980 --> 00:23:30.160 other things right. You know, your picture could 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:32.599 be the picture that you find in the dictionary 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:35.319 when you look up apostolic. Oh, wow, that's an 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:38.539 apostolic right there. Some people think they 00:23:38.539 --> 00:23:41.000 are the definition of it. Praise God. God have 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:47.359 mercy. You can have all the externals right. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.140 But how many of you know God looks at the heart? 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:55.839 Isn't that what? Isn't that what the Lord said 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:57.819 to Samuel when he was getting ready to anoint 00:23:57.819 --> 00:24:00.279 the next king over Israel? He said, don't look 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:02.859 on the outside. Man looks on the outward, but 00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:06.940 God looks at the heart. And that's what God is 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.720 looking at. Jesus said this, by this all will 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.440 know that you are my disciples if you have love 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:19.539 for one another. That's how they're going to 00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:21.940 know. They're not going to know that we are his 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:23.880 disciples. They're not going to measure. The 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:26.380 world is not going to measure our discipleship 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:31.599 by our doctrinal points. All 19 of them or 20. 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:35.799 Maybe grown a little bit. But they're not going 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:37.660 to know. The world is not going to measure our 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:40.220 discipleship by our doctrinal points. They're 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:43.240 going to measure it by our love. The way that 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:46.160 we love one another. Because people are smart. 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:51.970 People are smart. They will see. what is being 00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:54.890 presented, what is the image that's being presented 00:24:54.890 --> 00:24:58.970 to them as one thing. And then when they see 00:24:58.970 --> 00:25:01.930 the behavior and the way that the people of God, 00:25:02.089 --> 00:25:05.990 quote unquote, treat one another, they'll say 00:25:05.990 --> 00:25:11.210 that's false advertisement. Come on. You're saying 00:25:11.210 --> 00:25:14.849 one thing. You're saying one thing, but you're 00:25:14.849 --> 00:25:18.829 treating people another thing. You're doing another 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:23.019 thing. I don't want to be a church known just 00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:27.380 for talking big about how we love and how we 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:29.339 treat each other. Anybody can talk, but how many 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:32.240 of you know talk is cheap? Come on, I said talk 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.759 is cheap. I don't want to just say love. Oh yeah, 00:25:36.819 --> 00:25:40.000 we all love each other. We're going to sing kumbaya 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.480 and hold hands together and just love each other. 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:45.579 And then start talking about each other the moment 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:51.359 that we leave. Woo, somebody say woo. Say, I 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:57.000 love you, brother. I love you. And then behind 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:59.720 closed doors, we're not praying for them. We're 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.099 not looking them up. We're mistreating. We're 00:26:02.099 --> 00:26:06.019 gossiping. Amen. That's not love. That's not 00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:08.059 what the church is supposed to look like. And 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:10.180 so how many of you know we have a witness that 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:12.640 we have to, we got to be a witness to the world. 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:15.579 Amen. We've got to be a witness to them. Now, 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:17.460 the witness is not just in the words that we 00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:19.960 speak. It's in the conduct of our life. It's 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:21.839 in our mannerism. It's in the content of our 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:24.460 character, how we treat one another. And that's 00:26:24.460 --> 00:26:26.920 why Jesus says that they're going to know you're 00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:30.740 my disciples by the way you love. one another. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.539 So, hear me today, church, friends, City Light, 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:36.700 that as we march forward into the things of God, 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:38.920 into a blessed hope, into a greater year, into 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:41.359 harvest and revival, which God is going to do, 00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:44.980 the greatest test that we must pass among us, 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.920 the greatest test that we must achieve is whether 00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:51.319 we will love each other through the thick and 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:54.599 thin. We're going to love each other in the good 00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:58.049 and the bad. God is going to The Holy Ghost is 00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:03.089 going to test our love for one another. Do you 00:27:03.089 --> 00:27:09.829 really love that person? Amen. And my love, just 00:27:09.829 --> 00:27:12.410 a couple more minutes, but as I talk about love, 00:27:12.450 --> 00:27:14.910 I don't just mean just, you know, well, you know, 00:27:14.930 --> 00:27:18.769 love. We can't say anything offensive, you know, 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:23.069 because we're just like loving. No, sometimes 00:27:23.069 --> 00:27:33.109 you have to speak the truth. Love is not a pushover. 00:27:33.849 --> 00:27:38.430 Amen. Amen. Love is not weak. Love is strong. 00:27:38.470 --> 00:27:41.849 Someone say it's strong. There is a way to be 00:27:41.849 --> 00:27:46.269 firm, to be strong, to preach the truth unapologetically 00:27:46.269 --> 00:27:49.750 and stand firm on the word of God and be loving 00:27:49.750 --> 00:27:52.730 and accepting and gracious and welcoming and 00:27:52.730 --> 00:27:56.569 forgiving and merciful and gracious at the same 00:27:56.569 --> 00:27:59.420 time. It doesn't have to be one or the other. 00:27:59.460 --> 00:28:03.059 It can be both. Turn to somebody and say, both 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:09.079 can be true. Both can be true. This is what God 00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:11.319 is asking us. He said, I want you to be firm 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:13.119 in this hour. No one's telling you to become 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:15.839 a wishy -washy Christian and say, oh, we love 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:17.839 it. We just, you know, we accept everything. 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:20.440 Everything flies. Everything goes. That's not 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:22.299 what we preach. Amen, somebody. That's not what 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:26.180 we're about. No, no wishy -washy dog. We're not 00:28:26.180 --> 00:28:30.259 watering down the message. But I think some of 00:28:30.259 --> 00:28:31.960 our attitudes need to water down a little bit. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:38.660 Oh, man, Lord, hallelujah. We're not watering 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:41.119 down the message, but I think some of our, I 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:44.720 think we need to have a softer, a soft answer. 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:50.140 Isn't this what Scripture teaches us? To turn 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:56.579 the other cheek? Just go on social media. There's 00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:58.819 not a lot of turning the other cheek happening 00:28:58.819 --> 00:29:03.279 on there right now. Everybody's got an opinion. 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:05.759 Everybody's got something to say. And you know, 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:13.920 yes. It's not easy. It's not easy when you're 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:15.960 persecuted. It's not easy when you stand for 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:18.099 God. But this is how you are to love. Reason 00:29:18.099 --> 00:29:20.960 number three, because God's love already paid 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:29.440 the price. Woo, Jesus. His love paid the price. 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:34.619 The word of God tells us, if God so loved us, 00:29:34.700 --> 00:29:37.900 we also ought to love one another. What is my 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:41.640 source and my standard for loving one another, 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:43.660 for loving you, brother and sister? Though you 00:29:43.660 --> 00:29:45.960 might do me wrong at some point, I still got 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:49.839 to love you. I still got to love you. Brother, 00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:51.420 you're probably going to do me wrong at some 00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:53.539 point, but I still got to love you. He's all 00:29:53.539 --> 00:29:57.849 shaking his head. Not me, pastor. Okay, I might 00:29:57.849 --> 00:29:59.750 do you wrong at some point, but you still got 00:29:59.750 --> 00:30:02.390 to love me. Brother David, you still got to love 00:30:02.390 --> 00:30:05.470 me. Brother Rinko, I still got to love you, brother. 00:30:06.329 --> 00:30:11.609 Huh? Still got to love you. We can't just walk 00:30:11.609 --> 00:30:15.430 away when things get tough. Someone stepped on 00:30:15.430 --> 00:30:17.589 my shoe, okay, buy a new pair of shoes or shine 00:30:17.589 --> 00:30:24.079 them up. How can we do this? We can only do this 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:28.000 and do it correctly when we remember how God 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:33.680 loved us in our most unlovable state. God didn't 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:35.980 say, I'm going to wait for you to be lovable 00:30:35.980 --> 00:30:38.500 for me to love you. God didn't say, I'm going 00:30:38.500 --> 00:30:41.500 to wait for you to get your act together. I'm 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:43.000 going to wait for you to get it right. I'm going 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:47.180 to wait. No. While we were yet sinners, Christ 00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:52.640 died. Oh, I wish I had a witness today. Wow, 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:56.880 we were yet sinners. Christ, he died for the 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:01.380 ungodly. He died for the unrighteous. He died 00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:04.579 for us. Would you stand up on your feet today 00:31:04.579 --> 00:31:11.099 and give God some praise? I didn't do anything 00:31:11.099 --> 00:31:15.579 to deserve it. I didn't do anything to earn it. 00:31:17.240 --> 00:31:29.670 I didn't do anything to make money. Everlasting 00:31:29.670 --> 00:31:33.450 love. He loved me for God so loved the world 00:31:33.450 --> 00:31:39.390 that he gave his only begotten son. And whosoever, 00:31:39.430 --> 00:31:43.210 somebody say whosoever, whosoever would believe 00:31:43.210 --> 00:31:47.190 in him will not perish but have everlasting life. 00:31:47.289 --> 00:31:52.170 If God is our source of love, then the life of 00:31:52.170 --> 00:31:56.549 Jesus is our standard for how to love each other. 00:31:58.509 --> 00:32:01.130 And I can love people and disagree with their 00:32:01.130 --> 00:32:04.940 lifestyle. And I can love people. and disagree 00:32:04.940 --> 00:32:07.759 with their choices, and I can love people and 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:10.859 tell them if there's an area that is wrong, I 00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:13.740 can tell them that's wrong, and I can still love 00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:18.460 them. Let us dispel this false gospel that is 00:32:18.460 --> 00:32:21.319 being perpetuated in our world that we can't 00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:24.299 call those things or speak truth because it's 00:32:24.299 --> 00:32:29.180 unloving. No, we both can be true. We can love 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:31.799 people and still say, but you got to get right. 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:35.680 Hallelujah. I love you, but you still got to 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:38.200 get to church. I love you, but you still got 00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:40.579 to forgive. I love you, but you still got to 00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:45.000 submit to God. I love you. God loved us so much, 00:32:45.019 --> 00:32:48.900 and he sent his son to be a propitiation for 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:51.799 our sins. How many of you are thankful for agape 00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:55.220 love? Jesus loved us with agape love.