1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,760 Welcome to the Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly. 2 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:17,600 We pray that what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life. 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:18,600 Enjoy the message. 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,260 Praise the Lord, thank you very much. 5 00:00:23,260 --> 00:00:24,260 It's a really good mission. 6 00:00:24,260 --> 00:00:30,520 On Sunday you come to church to praise and worship the Lord and get an aerobics class 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:36,120 in the middle of it there somewhere, which is really good. 8 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:41,200 As I said before, it's so wonderful to be back and we truly have missed you guys. 9 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:42,200 It's four weeks. 10 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:43,480 We're away four weeks. 11 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:44,480 Did you know that? 12 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:45,480 You did? 13 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:49,600 Yeah, it's a long time. 14 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:55,800 But we travelled quite a bit around Australia, well not around Australia, but throughout 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,960 Australia and we had a really good time. 16 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:00,960 So God is good. 17 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:02,360 He is so good. 18 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:09,280 And again, thank you for allowing us to go and just for me and Chantelle just to be able 19 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,480 to catch up and find out who we are again. 20 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:18,720 Sometimes in ministry you can get that busy that you kind of like ships in the night and 21 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,000 it was really, really good. 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,920 It was excellent actually. 23 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:27,820 And so we just are so refreshed and rejoicing. 24 00:01:27,820 --> 00:01:37,440 You know, it's always when you have time off and you're out of the zone for a bit, I'm 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,160 not talking about Christianity, I'm speaking about the church. 26 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:49,000 Oh by the way, Mr. and Mrs. Preston, we want to congratulate you. 27 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,440 You were married yesterday. 28 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,040 That's Dallas and Skye Preston. 29 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,480 Congratulations. 30 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,280 God bless you guys. 31 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,480 God bless you guys. 32 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:09,000 So when you step out of it for a while, you get to see things that buzz around in your 33 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,800 head but you get the time to analyze a few things. 34 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:18,240 And how many of us know, it's no great surprise or secret, I don't think, that we're seeing 35 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:25,840 this world decline morally at such a phenomenal rate. 36 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:36,600 And one could accept it if it was just in the secular sense, you know, in the unsaved 37 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:46,760 sector but I think we're seeing that the devil is trying extremely hard in these last days 38 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:57,640 to draw people out from their walk with God and to find and promote an in the middle sort 39 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:07,920 of gospel that tries to proclaim that you can have Jesus and you can have the world, 40 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:16,480 you can have everything and it's all done under this banner of love and acceptance and 41 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,440 tolerance and all this sort of thing. 42 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:33,400 When we traveled around, I got to see some things, different churches that found that 43 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:41,920 it was necessary to paint the front of their buildings with rainbow colors and, you know, 44 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,720 this sort of thing and if that's what they're going to do, that's what they're going to 45 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:45,720 do. 46 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:51,960 That's their business and they will talk to God about that one day but I've noticed that 47 00:03:51,960 --> 00:04:00,360 over the last 12 months, this has been an increasing trend and I want to make it clear 48 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:07,820 that this church doesn't stand against anybody but there are certain things in Scripture 49 00:04:07,820 --> 00:04:11,640 that we need to stand for. 50 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:19,440 And so, there is a fine line between that and yes, God does love everybody. 51 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:25,080 He does and He loved me before I came to Christ. 52 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:31,640 There are times that when I was so far away from God that I knew that He was after me 53 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:37,440 because like He is everybody because when you're, you know, you're in the pub and you're 54 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:46,720 with your mates, always there was somebody speaking to me about Christ, always. 55 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:51,920 And it seemed no matter, let me tell you, if you've got a mum or somebody or a dad praying 56 00:04:51,920 --> 00:05:02,200 for you and you've run off and you're doing your thing, you don't realize you're hedged 57 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:03,200 in. 58 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:04,200 Amen. 59 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:13,160 And mums and dads and grandparents, you've got children that are away from the Lord, 60 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:20,600 don't underestimate the power of prayer, don't underestimate it, it's incredibly powerful. 61 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,040 And when we pray, God hears. 62 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:29,320 And so, it's very important as we do pray that we understand that we don't have it, 63 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:39,440 God does have it and we can continue doing what we do without the burden of worry. 64 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:46,800 So I've noticed that things are changing very quickly. 65 00:05:46,800 --> 00:06:01,880 This anti-Semitic fervour that's sweeping across this planet is really disgusting because 66 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:09,240 if Israel had nothing to do with God, it wouldn't be having the problem, let's face it. 67 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:15,960 And it's the same like today, myself and others I know in this church and other pastors I 68 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:26,720 know, I hope you don't mind me just sharing openly like this, are experiencing from outside 69 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:34,480 such incredible persecution that we didn't know existed. 70 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,500 And so, we can say, well Lord, we pray that you will remove that from us and let us keep 71 00:06:39,500 --> 00:06:46,680 doing what we've got to do, but we find ourselves in the same position as Apostle Paul that 72 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:51,640 he prayed three times and the Lord didn't listen to the way the Lord heard him but wasn't 73 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:58,520 going to answer his prayer, he just said to him, Paul, I've given you a grace, I've given 74 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:08,920 you a strength to continue and to power through whatever obstacles come your way. 75 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,280 And I'm often reminded about that. 76 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:17,440 You know, the testing of our faith sounds great when we read it from the book of James 77 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:23,440 chapter 1, my brethren consider it all joy when you fall into various tests and trials 78 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:29,560 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, they'll let patience have its perfect 79 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:34,540 work that you may be perfect and complete lacking no thing. 80 00:07:34,540 --> 00:07:38,260 And we go, yeah, that just sounds so good. 81 00:07:38,260 --> 00:07:45,280 And then when the test comes, we go, Lord, I was happier before the test. 82 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:52,480 But when a test comes your way, my way, know this, that God knows that you're up to it. 83 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,360 God knows that He wants to grow us and expand us. 84 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:04,400 So the other side of a test, God is already looking at the champion that's coming out 85 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,400 of it, which is you. 86 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,560 And so count it all joy. 87 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,560 Yippee, hooray. 88 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:22,480 Because I don't know, Mama Carrie's having a giggle there, she's going through some 89 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,240 incredible challenges, but you know, the devil's trying to stop the work that she's doing, 90 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,440 there's no chance of that happening. 91 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:36,100 She's come too far, done too much, and it's too close to the Lord for that to happen. 92 00:08:36,100 --> 00:08:43,000 And this is what I want to speak on today, is that no matter what comes our way, whatever 93 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:49,660 circumstances may lay at our feet, there is an answer. 94 00:08:49,660 --> 00:08:56,000 But there is something that I believe that if I can use the term the modern church needs 95 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:57,620 to be aware of. 96 00:08:57,620 --> 00:09:08,060 And there's a reason why I use the term the modern church is because some of it is being 97 00:09:08,060 --> 00:09:13,840 established and run like a corporation or something like that. 98 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:19,080 But the church is not a corporation, it's nothing like that. 99 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,580 The church is the body of Christ. 100 00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:25,520 It's not a business. 101 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:33,520 It's a body of believers who come together because of Jesus and believe in the call that 102 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:42,520 we have to go out and to spread this marvelous gospel throughout this world. 103 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,600 But things can get tough. 104 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:53,680 Let me read, I'm going to read Revelation chapter 2 from verse 1 to verse 7. 105 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,840 And then I'm going to come back to verse 4 and 5 and we're going to work on that this 106 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,480 morning. 107 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:05,500 Revelation chapter 2 from verse 1, to the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these 108 00:10:05,500 --> 00:10:11,280 things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of 109 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,760 the seven golden lampstands. 110 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:15,760 This is Jesus. 111 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:24,560 He said, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who 112 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:26,840 are evil. 113 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:33,120 And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars. 114 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:39,480 And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have 115 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,000 not become weary. 116 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,280 Now you would think, man, these guys are doing great. 117 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,760 And they were doing great. 118 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:55,400 But sometimes Jesus can speak into our lives and reveal things to us that we don't see, 119 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,720 although we may not be aware of. 120 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:03,720 And listen in verse 4 what he says to this church that was doing a portion of the ministry 121 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:05,440 perfectly. 122 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:13,880 He says, nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 123 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:23,280 Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will 124 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:30,600 come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. 125 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:36,800 But this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 126 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:46,040 Nicolaitans was a sect, a move of people that claimed to be some form of Christianity that 127 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:53,000 the assignment was to conquer the laity, to conquer leaders, to conquer and to water down 128 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:58,560 and to lead different doctrines and something close to what the truth is, but just not quite 129 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:03,760 there hoping to lead them astray because you lead a shepherd astray, you take a flock with 130 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:05,840 him. 131 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,340 And this is what the danger is. 132 00:12:09,340 --> 00:12:14,520 And so Jesus said, hey, you've caught onto the Nicolaitans, you've got that one worked 133 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,200 out, good on you. 134 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:21,200 He said, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 135 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:26,440 To him overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the 136 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,300 paradise of God. 137 00:12:28,300 --> 00:12:31,640 Now let's go back to verse 4 and verse 5. 138 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:36,240 Nevertheless, I have this against you that you have left your first love. 139 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:45,040 That word left, it actually means by neglect a person has abandoned their first love. 140 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:52,000 And the sad thing is, is that they hadn't realized they had done it until Jesus revealed 141 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,100 it to them. 142 00:12:55,100 --> 00:13:04,360 We can be so busy in life, hold a position in leadership, pastor a church, be a worship 143 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,400 leader, run home groups. 144 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:10,920 We can do so many things for the Lord. 145 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:18,920 But I tell you church, especially the hour that we live in today, we need to be careful 146 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:25,640 that we don't allow the works to be the thing that tries in ourselves to please God. 147 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:27,420 It's our love for Him. 148 00:13:27,420 --> 00:13:29,080 It's our connection with Christ. 149 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,660 It is everything that we have in Him. 150 00:13:32,660 --> 00:13:40,280 That we've got to be careful that we don't neglect our first love, and that is Jesus. 151 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:46,320 That often it's important, I believe, that each and every one of us relive that day that 152 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:52,200 we came to Christ, the day that you surrendered your life to Jesus. 153 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,080 And you said, yes Lord, I'll give you my life. 154 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:56,320 I'll live for you. 155 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,960 And a great joy came into your life. 156 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,060 The weight of sin was lifted off you. 157 00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:07,060 You were given a new life, a new hope. 158 00:14:07,060 --> 00:14:08,760 Everything had become new. 159 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,480 You remember the day that you were saved? 160 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:11,480 Does anybody remember? 161 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:17,600 And do you remember a great joy and a peace, and that everything you knew was just going 162 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,820 to be fine, that God has got this? 163 00:14:21,820 --> 00:14:23,160 It's inexplainable. 164 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:29,440 The natural man can't explain it because it's spiritual. 165 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:38,000 And so we can go on in life so zealous for the Lord and forget about the one who called 166 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:39,040 us. 167 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:47,840 So Jesus said in verse 5, He said, remember therefore from where you have fallen. 168 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:53,440 So Jesus is actually saying to the church, He's saying, guys, if you've left or abandoned, 169 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:58,280 neglected your first love, you have fallen from that place. 170 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,920 You're not where you should be. 171 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,840 He said, you've fallen. 172 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:12,240 Like if I fell from this platform here, it would hurt, but I would be on the floor. 173 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:13,240 I wouldn't be up here. 174 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,040 I'm not in the position that I'm in now. 175 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:23,600 And Jesus is saying, unless you repent, unless you have a change of mind and get back to 176 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:29,440 where you were, He said something is going to happen. 177 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:35,280 He said, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works 178 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:41,240 or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. 179 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:47,960 Now Jesus was speaking to the church, but the church of the people. 180 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:53,040 The thing that needs to be known here, I believe, is simply this. 181 00:15:53,040 --> 00:16:00,520 Not long after, the church of Ephesus was completely in ruins. 182 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:05,600 The whole region of Ephesus now, if you were to look at it online, it's a total ruin. 183 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,680 The place was absolutely just destroyed. 184 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:18,440 So the reason I bring that up is that many theologians agree on this one thing, that 185 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:25,240 it's very unlikely that the church of Ephesus repented. 186 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:27,120 And here's the thing. 187 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:34,960 Jesus said, if you don't, I'm going to remove the lampstand. 188 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:44,320 The lampstand was the golden lampstand that had the oil that was put in and then the light, 189 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,020 you light it up and it gave light. 190 00:16:48,020 --> 00:16:54,360 What Jesus is actually saying, you know, the gold that will be removed, we all know that 191 00:16:54,360 --> 00:17:02,400 the gold represents God's glory and the oil, the oil representing the presence of the Holy 192 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,800 Spirit in the midst of the church. 193 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,960 And when those two things are gone, the church no longer has a light in the world. 194 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:18,360 It's lost its power and therefore it needs to be structured by man and engineered by 195 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:25,360 some kind of clever scheme to try and run the church without the power and the presence 196 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:26,840 of God. 197 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:33,760 And that's where I believe different things come in and strange doctrines come in, things 198 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,480 that want to continue to tickle the ears of people. 199 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:44,080 But saints of God, I want to let you know when you and I maintain our first love, as 200 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:50,720 soon as we hear of some strange thing coming in, the Spirit of God, because you are so 201 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:57,880 alive in Him, will witness in your spirit and let you know that this is deception. 202 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,480 It's not real. 203 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:08,640 And when you and I, we work on maintaining that first love, that relationship with Jesus 204 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:15,960 in our lives, that every day, no matter what happens, no matter how good or how hard life 205 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:24,160 gets, that we have developed a habit of spending time with Jesus because without Him, we are 206 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,460 not going to make it. 207 00:18:26,460 --> 00:18:30,460 This world is getting darker day by day. 208 00:18:30,460 --> 00:18:36,760 The pressures upon families is getting heavier day by day. 209 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:43,200 The society just seems to be crumbling, imploding day by day. 210 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:49,360 And one would naturally be in a state of stress or grief just watching these things happen. 211 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:57,520 But let me say, folks, that when we have maintained our first love, our first love in Jesus, that 212 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,800 that strength that flows from heaven will flow into you. 213 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,280 There will be an encouragement from God. 214 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,960 There will be a strength from heaven that will flow into you. 215 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:14,120 When we maintain that first love, there will be that wisdom from heaven that just comes 216 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:17,880 to you without even really knowing. 217 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:24,800 And so when times when we feel that all is lost and it's all over, and you feel that 218 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,060 life's getting too hard. 219 00:19:26,060 --> 00:19:33,120 And I ask you a question, if that's you today, where are you with Jesus today? 220 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:36,400 Is your first love intact? 221 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,840 Is it strong? 222 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:40,380 Is it mediocre? 223 00:19:40,380 --> 00:19:42,260 Is it weak? 224 00:19:42,260 --> 00:19:44,560 Or has it been neglected? 225 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:49,980 And I can say to you for sure, because I've been in all of those stages, and I know what 226 00:19:49,980 --> 00:19:57,920 I'm speaking about, that when I neglect my time with the Lord, simple things that normally 227 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:03,040 I would just push through bail me out. 228 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,520 How many of us can equate with that this morning? 229 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,080 It's a truth. 230 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:15,920 And so the devil wants to make us feel that we're okay, you know, you don't have to be 231 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:21,640 so super spiritual that you need to speak with Jesus every day. 232 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,600 Yes, we do. 233 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:32,720 Because there is a source from heaven that comes through that relationship with God. 234 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,520 Can I share something here today? 235 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:42,000 I was asked a number of years ago, a person said to me, they said, and it was a good question, 236 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,480 I love questions. 237 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:54,240 They said, how will I know if my love for Christ has fallen, that I've neglected my 238 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,360 first love? 239 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:00,560 I said, I don't know. 240 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,960 But I'll think about it, I'll pray about it. 241 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:09,720 And within the period of about six months, God opened my eyes to something that I will 242 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:17,520 never forget, and what I'm about to share with you, please receive it in the right spirit. 243 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:28,400 Because it may be difficult for some to hear today, but nonetheless, it's a reality. 244 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:35,320 And it is a gauge that we can gauge ourselves where our first love is, our priority, where 245 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,440 Jesus is in our life today. 246 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:48,640 Okay, here's number one. 247 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:57,320 If a Christian, and I'm speaking of a true born again Christian, finds themselves gossiping 248 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:05,640 about somebody and can go to sleep at night and think nothing of it, I would say that 249 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:23,320 your first love is probably not quite there. 250 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:38,920 You see, our first love is so important to our spiritual walk as a believer. 251 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:46,620 Out of our first love springs a love for people. 252 00:22:46,620 --> 00:22:52,280 The Bible says, you can't say that you love God and you hate your brother. 253 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:58,440 In one John, it says that if you think that, you're not in the truth. 254 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:05,400 So if our first love is intact with Jesus, now I'm not saying that we're perfect and 255 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,800 we've nailed it and that, but we're working on this sort of thing. 256 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:20,040 When we are doing that, when our focus is there, our relationships are stronger. 257 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:27,360 Because the life that flows through Christ into you is stronger than the works of the 258 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,480 flesh. 259 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:42,280 When our love for Christ wanes and we neglect it, it's nothing for a person to mistreat 260 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,640 somebody. 261 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:52,360 And we see in Christianity today some of the figures that we read, the statistics that 262 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,880 divorce is not much different in the Christian church to the world. 263 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:05,400 Now I'm not saying that this all stems back, all of it, to one's love not being intact 264 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,360 with Jesus, but I am saying it has a lot to do with it. 265 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:17,380 It has so much to do with it. 266 00:24:17,380 --> 00:24:28,760 My behavior, our behavior as a Christian in a marriage is a reflection of where my relationship 267 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:37,040 is with Jesus. 268 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:48,520 The way that I behave as a husband is a direct connection in proportion to where my heart 269 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,920 is with Jesus. 270 00:24:50,920 --> 00:25:06,640 Because there is no way that a husband, a man of God, could mistreat their wife and 271 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:13,880 think nothing of it, or vice versa, a wife with the husband. 272 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:23,680 I think what I'm saying today is simply this and it's very clear. 273 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:39,760 If that happens, we need to check if we've left our first love. 274 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,320 This is not easy for me to talk about today. 275 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,600 It's really not. 276 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:50,440 I was in the office earlier before saying, Lord, is there something else I can preach 277 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:51,440 on? 278 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,360 This is my first day back after four weeks, please. 279 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:58,400 Maybe next week, but not today. 280 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,880 But I sensed in my spirit that the Lord is saying the reason why I've given you this 281 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:08,920 message to share today is because it's needed. 282 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,600 And I need to hear it. 283 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:21,160 You know, this thing, this trend happening in Christianity today, that it's nothing to 284 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,880 slander somebody. 285 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:24,880 Nothing. 286 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:30,600 But do you know what the word in Greek for slander is? 287 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,760 Diablo, devil. 288 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:40,440 And slander is actually, you know, God is love. 289 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,400 The devil is slander. 290 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:50,720 And so here's the crunch that the Lord was speaking to me over this trip. 291 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:59,480 He said, he's sharing with me, he said, the reason why the body of Christ experiences 292 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:05,960 such difficulties is because many have left their first love. 293 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,420 We may go to church every Sunday. 294 00:27:08,420 --> 00:27:10,280 We could sing in the choir. 295 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:11,560 We could preach. 296 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,800 We could serve as leaders in the church. 297 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:20,920 But that doesn't mean that our love for Jesus is intact 100% like that. 298 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:27,200 Our love, our first love in Christ is so important. 299 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:35,600 And when our love for Christ, our first love is waning, that's when the ears start to become 300 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:37,080 fleshy again. 301 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:42,280 And when we hear things, we don't pull it up like we used to. 302 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:49,520 I remember a good friend of mine who's a leader in a big church, he said to me, he said, Rob, 303 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,960 I got caught out big time years ago. 304 00:27:52,960 --> 00:28:00,240 He said I was neglecting his walk with God. 305 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:01,680 And he started listening to gospel. 306 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:06,920 Now this man, if you'd have known him like I know him, he never entertained it. 307 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,080 He was the one that taught me. 308 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:15,060 He said if ever there's strife or gospel, someone comes to you and says to you, did 309 00:28:15,060 --> 00:28:17,240 you hear about so and so? 310 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:22,200 I know I haven't, but come with me and I'm going to bring you straight to that person 311 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,840 and you can talk to them yourself. 312 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:31,360 Amen. 313 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:45,160 And he said I found myself getting involved with murmuring, gossiping against the minister, 314 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,120 against this, against that. 315 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:51,540 And then one night he had a dream. 316 00:28:51,540 --> 00:28:58,520 And in this dream, he was falling down a mine shaft and he was hanging on to anything he 317 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,840 could and he hits the bottom. 318 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:10,200 And in this dream, the Lord appears to him in the bottom of the mine shaft and the Lord, 319 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,560 he said to the Lord, what am I doing down here? 320 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,160 And the Lord said to him, the Lord didn't answer his question. 321 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,800 He said, you'll fall all the way down. 322 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,240 Never once did you call out to me to help you. 323 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:31,520 And the Lord revealed to him, your heart has wandered so far from me that you don't even 324 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:37,020 realize it. 325 00:29:37,020 --> 00:29:40,280 And that snapped him out of it. 326 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:47,160 I tell you church, one of the things that the devil wants to do is get hold of human 327 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:48,320 flesh. 328 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:56,240 God works through regenerated human beings that are spirit born again. 329 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:03,280 So I'm saying that one of the gauges that we can see for sure, if we ever question where 330 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:12,960 is my first love, how are our relationships, what comes from our mouth, what do we tolerate 331 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:23,320 and what do we agree with and what do we bail out and say, hey, look, no, that's not right. 332 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,120 What do we condone? 333 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:31,160 You see, there's, when it comes to morality and the hour that we're living in today, so 334 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,680 many are just saying, it's all right, just let them go. 335 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:36,120 It's all right. 336 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:37,120 Just let them go. 337 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:43,520 There's only people that a year before would stand against it. 338 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:50,400 Could we turn to John, and I see this is really gripping you, really, really. 339 00:30:50,400 --> 00:31:00,840 John chapter 4, I'll finish on this scripture. 340 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:08,020 John chapter 4, and this is the good side. 341 00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:14,680 There's a John chapter 4 in this Bible somewhere, and I'm committed to find it. 342 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,240 Here it is. 343 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:25,120 Now, please listen to what I have to say, because this is going to bring it all together 344 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,480 and encourage us. 345 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:36,920 You know, sometimes we need to hear some things that we don't like to hear. 346 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:47,480 See, I heard this first from the Lord and I had to check my own heart. 347 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,960 Where is your first love right now? 348 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,480 Is it good? 349 00:31:54,480 --> 00:32:01,920 John chapter 4, this Samaritan woman, she goes to draw water from this well, and Jesus 350 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:09,360 is there, and Jesus has a talk with her, and He tells her about her life, and she's just 351 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:15,560 saying, sir, I think you must be a prophet, and it's just like, really? 352 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,680 But I want to pick up from verse, let's say verse 19, the woman said to him, sir, I perceive 353 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,040 you are a prophet, verse 20. 354 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:27,920 She says, our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place 355 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,520 where one ought to worship. 356 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:37,760 And Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on 357 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:42,640 this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. 358 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,620 You worship what you do not know. 359 00:32:45,620 --> 00:32:50,180 We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. 360 00:32:50,180 --> 00:32:58,280 But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit 361 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:04,360 and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 362 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:11,240 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. 363 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:16,320 And the woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, He was called Christ, and 364 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,080 when He comes, He will tell us all things. 365 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:24,280 And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. 366 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,200 Okay. 367 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:33,040 You might be thinking, what has that scripture got to do with the previous one that you read? 368 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:34,320 Everything. 369 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,600 Absolutely everything. 370 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:41,920 The debate here in the end is about worship. 371 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:46,580 And the lady is making such an issue about where to worship. 372 00:33:46,580 --> 00:33:55,520 And Jesus says, well, you worship on that mountain, I hear you, but in Jerusalem, we 373 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,300 worship in the temple. 374 00:33:58,300 --> 00:34:06,360 But Jesus is saying that this coming day, that neither of them are really going to matter 375 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:12,440 anymore, because there's a big change coming, a massive change coming. 376 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:17,120 And Jesus says, but the hour is coming, and now is that when true worshipers will worship 377 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:23,000 the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 378 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:27,840 So what is it to worship God in spirit and in truth? 379 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:36,000 Well, if we take the word spirit, and in the context, if you reverse it, it would be flesh. 380 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,380 We cannot worship God in the flesh. 381 00:34:40,380 --> 00:34:48,800 And so Jesus is saying those who worship God in spirit, He's speaking about the regenerated 382 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:57,120 spirit, the man, the woman that has given their life to Christ, that used to yield to 383 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:03,660 ungodly desires and yield to the things of the world and how things seem so appetizing 384 00:35:03,660 --> 00:35:04,660 to the eyes. 385 00:35:04,660 --> 00:35:11,800 But when you and I receive Christ, when we receive that holy conviction in our lives, 386 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:18,480 those things never meant anything to us anymore, because we had a change of heart. 387 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:19,840 We're a new being. 388 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:21,520 We're a new creation. 389 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:31,200 Our spirit man has been made alive to God, and that spirit man worships God in spirit. 390 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:40,520 Just like when I read how it said, Jesus to the church of Ephesus, if you've left your 391 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:46,080 first love, we need to fix it. 392 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:54,760 That first love falls into two categories, worship in spirit and in truth. 393 00:35:54,760 --> 00:36:01,560 Both spirit and truth form relationally. 394 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:08,800 Everything in our Christian walk comes back to relationships. 395 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:10,560 Everything. 396 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:20,480 So when our relationship is good with God, our relationships are good with people. 397 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:27,960 But when our relationship with God is lagging, is lacking, there we're not worshiping God 398 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:32,280 in spirit, it's the flesh that wants to come out. 399 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,180 So here is the question. 400 00:36:35,180 --> 00:36:46,060 If somebody decides to slander you or rile you or whatever, what's the first reaction 401 00:36:46,060 --> 00:36:48,280 that wants to come out? 402 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:50,840 We want to defend ourself. 403 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:55,760 We want to stand up and shake our fist and give them what for, maybe even a bunch of 404 00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:01,800 fives and how dare you talk to me like that? 405 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:09,700 Has anybody here not thought of that once? 406 00:37:09,700 --> 00:37:15,760 And that's what will happen if that person has been neglecting their relationship with 407 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,480 God. 408 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:27,720 If our love in Christ is intact, the way we respond with people is different to how we 409 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:29,880 would in the flesh. 410 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:35,080 Are you with me? 411 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:43,880 And I believe this is one of the main reasons why we see so much pain and heartache in Christian 412 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:49,640 relationships and Christian families. 413 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:55,520 And what can make it worse at times that one, say a husband or a wife will go full on for 414 00:37:55,520 --> 00:38:01,760 God and the other one will draw back and suddenly you've got a person that's employing spiritual 415 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:07,480 principles and the other one wants to combat it with fleshy principles. 416 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:08,480 And there's a conflict. 417 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:14,280 There's a war. 418 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:25,280 So to worship in spirit, it's to worship truly from the heart of God that flows through us 419 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:31,880 as a newly created being, a child of God. 420 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:43,520 And when we worship God in spirit, everything begins to change around us. 421 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:52,760 If you or anyone watching online are experiencing issues in any kind of relationship and you 422 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,760 might be saying, I've prayed and I've prayed and I've got into the Word and I've confessed 423 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:02,720 and I've done this and I've done that, well, just check this one. 424 00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:07,200 How's your relationship with Jesus? 425 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:08,200 How is it? 426 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:09,200 How's our response? 427 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,880 Let's do a little bit of stocktake. 428 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:19,800 What's the last words that we said in that situation that was it good, was it bad or 429 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:20,800 why did I say that? 430 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,760 Have you ever said, lady, you regret what you said? 431 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,960 If I could have just kept my mouth shut, how many of us have said that? 432 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:27,960 Come on. 433 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:36,080 Oh, there are a lot of saints here today. 434 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:37,080 I have. 435 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:42,360 I've said that many, Lord, if I had to just keep my mouth shut, it would have saved all 436 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,360 this trouble. 437 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,920 Yeah. 438 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:55,920 And there are times that God gives us the wisdom as it speaks about in Ecclesiastes 439 00:39:55,920 --> 00:40:02,360 3, there's a time to speak and some interpret it and there's a time to speak. 440 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:13,060 No, there's a time to speak and there's a time to stay silent. 441 00:40:13,060 --> 00:40:20,240 Sometimes your silence needs to be heard. 442 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:26,360 That is a godly attribute. 443 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:32,520 You know, sometimes people may want to try and control you and the only way they can 444 00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:41,520 control you is if you give a response. 445 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:53,680 So if you give no response because you choose not to, you've just defused the situation. 446 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:58,080 See this is the thing about slander. 447 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:04,200 People will want to try and control you but when they can't control you, they'll change 448 00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:10,120 the way people see you and they do this through slander. 449 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:14,440 But how do you respond to slander? 450 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:18,960 The same way that we respond to everything else. 451 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:29,120 Hold your peace, hold your tongue, keep believing God and work on our relationship with Christ. 452 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:39,140 There is nothing you can do for them but pray but there's everything you can do for you 453 00:41:39,140 --> 00:41:42,840 to remain strong. 454 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:49,240 I know that, how many of us know in the schoolyard, the bullying, the fighting and the... how 455 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:52,240 many of you guys got into a scrap at school? 456 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:55,680 Ah, ladies too, look at that, ladies putting their hands up. 457 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,360 You are brave ladies. 458 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:02,040 Praise the Lord. 459 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:08,120 You know how many times did the bully provoke you and you snapped and you got involved and 460 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:11,120 you got into it, right? 461 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:18,380 But if you didn't respond, you wouldn't have been in the scrap and nothing would have happened. 462 00:42:18,380 --> 00:42:28,060 But how hard is it at times to suppress the flesh of humanity when someone prods you looking 463 00:42:28,060 --> 00:42:33,280 for a response? 464 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:38,800 And it's our choice whether we give them a response or we don't. 465 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,240 See Jesus did this. 466 00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:49,640 He left a great example for us just before He went to the cross. 467 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:59,960 They ridiculed Him, they mocked Him, they made fun of Him and He refused to say a word 468 00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:06,880 and He kept His mouth quiet, silent. 469 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:14,200 You see you do not... 470 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:29,640 How many troubles are cemented because we fight back? 471 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:34,440 We can be avoided. 472 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:41,800 And when our walk with Jesus, I'm not saying that you'll be walking with a halo around 473 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:47,480 your head and you're gliding four inches off the ground just so wholly. 474 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:49,480 You know what I mean? 475 00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:55,400 If our first love is intact, we have a greater strength and a greater chance of managing 476 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,400 things like this. 477 00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:02,400 Because it's all about relationships. 478 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:07,400 Our relationship with God and our relationship with people. 479 00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:11,880 We want to have a good relationship with people. 480 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:22,880 Have a good relationship with God. 481 00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:28,600 Have in spirit and truth that we live in the truth, that we don't shun from truth. 482 00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:32,720 We don't compromise when it comes to truth. 483 00:44:32,720 --> 00:44:36,200 See folks that is worship. 484 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:42,520 That's the worship God's looking for when He sees His children going through difficult 485 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:49,320 times and they respond very similarly to how Jesus responded. 486 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:58,760 I wonder how different some of us our lives could be if we were taught this when we were 487 00:44:58,760 --> 00:44:59,760 little. 488 00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:06,880 I know my dad, he taught my brother and I, he said, son, when you're at school or anywhere, 489 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:14,600 you get the first one in and you look after number one and that's how the world is. 490 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:20,160 I mean my dad taught my brother and I very well and a lot of things. 491 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:26,320 When I came to Christianity, I realized I had to undo that. 492 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:34,360 Because that can get you into more strife than Ned Kelly. 493 00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:38,320 The Lord vindicates us. 494 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:49,520 The Lord said in His word that His Son, the Son, rises on the just and the unjust. 495 00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:53,040 The rain falls on the just and the unjust. 496 00:45:53,040 --> 00:46:02,860 Jesus said that if you desire to live righteously, you're going to suffer persecution. 497 00:46:02,860 --> 00:46:11,440 So when persecution comes, we don't step out of righteous choices to be fleshly. 498 00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:13,360 We remain in them. 499 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:23,280 Is this making sense? 500 00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:28,400 Have we left our first love or is it intact? 501 00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:31,400 Only you're going to know that with the Lord. 502 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:38,680 I want to encourage you as I close today. 503 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,520 Be strong in God. 504 00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:45,600 The way we're seeing this world going. 505 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:49,160 Be strong in God. 506 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,680 Keep your first love intact. 507 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:56,880 From that flows more than we will ever realize. 508 00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:04,360 The devil's always setting a trap to cause you to fall, to cause me to fall. 509 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:09,320 How easy it is to fall for the bait. 510 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:13,080 We need to be aware. 511 00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:18,360 You know a person said to me one day, he said, I heard a quote from a famous preacher. 512 00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:26,400 He's that famous, I can't even remember his name. 513 00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:29,160 He's really famous. 514 00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:34,960 And he said this. 515 00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:43,400 You know how close a person is to the Lord. 516 00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:49,040 By how long it takes them to repent when they do something wrong. 517 00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:52,380 And that stuck with me. 518 00:47:52,380 --> 00:47:55,280 So I applied it to me. 519 00:47:55,280 --> 00:48:02,320 And I realized there were certain areas in my life that I took my time. 520 00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:08,360 Has any of us ever dealt with a stubborn streak? 521 00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:14,600 And again, there's still a lot of holy people in this congregation this morning. 522 00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:16,780 I'm just being honest with you. 523 00:48:16,780 --> 00:48:22,800 These things, if we know about them, work on them. 524 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:25,800 Is that fair enough? 525 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,520 Work on our relationship with Jesus. 526 00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:35,760 Now you're not going to be any more saved, but you're going to walk in a power. 527 00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:39,560 You're going to walk in a strength. 528 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:43,680 And there'll be a grace that will flow in your life. 529 00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:50,520 When people mistreat you, let's say, it's not going to affect you. 530 00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:53,840 And you can get on with your life. 531 00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:58,120 And in a relationship at home, wherever it might be, you're not going to react like how 532 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:02,720 maybe we used to react. 533 00:49:02,720 --> 00:49:05,000 Somebody has to make a change somewhere. 534 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:11,240 It may as well be us. 535 00:49:11,240 --> 00:49:16,280 Work on our love walk in Christ. 536 00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:18,480 Amen. 537 00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:22,080 So important. 538 00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:23,880 This world's only going to get worse. 539 00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:26,300 It's not going to get any better. 540 00:49:26,300 --> 00:49:29,560 We need to know that. 541 00:49:29,560 --> 00:49:34,080 We can't change a lot of things, but we can change us. 542 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:39,760 I can change me with the help of God. 543 00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:42,760 You can change you with the help of God. 544 00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:51,680 But we're not going to do it if our love walk with Christ is in trouble. 545 00:49:51,680 --> 00:50:03,280 As I close, work on the love walk and you see what else gets fixed in the process. 546 00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:06,320 Our first love. 547 00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,560 When we get it right, it's good. 548 00:50:09,560 --> 00:50:13,000 When we get it wrong, it's not so good. 549 00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:16,360 I want to encourage you today. 550 00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:19,320 Get it right. 551 00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:22,720 Walk strong in God, courageously in God. 552 00:50:22,720 --> 00:50:25,600 You're a child of God. 553 00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:28,760 You have all the promises available to you. 554 00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:35,240 You're blessed, strong, you're anointed. 555 00:50:35,240 --> 00:50:42,680 You've got potential to just build and destroy the kingdom of darkness around your life. 556 00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:49,640 You've got all of this, but we need to look at our love walk. 557 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:50,640 Amen. 558 00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:51,640 Amen. 559 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:55,800 Father, I just thank you, Lord. 560 00:50:55,800 --> 00:51:02,440 Father, that everyone here today and those watching online, that if this has ministered 561 00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:09,200 to any of us, I don't think there's a lot that anyone else can do but ourself. 562 00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:12,520 It's to make a decision. 563 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:15,040 I'm not going to neglect the first love. 564 00:51:15,040 --> 00:51:19,680 I'm going to work on this and strengthen it. 565 00:51:19,680 --> 00:51:25,480 I'm just going to get back to that place where I used to be. 566 00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:26,480 And that's my point. 567 00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:31,840 And Father, I pray for this congregation, those watching online, for great grace to 568 00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:34,760 be upon each and every one in Jesus' mighty name. 569 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:36,960 And we all say, amen. 570 00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:37,960 Amen. 571 00:51:37,960 --> 00:51:38,960 God bless you guys. 572 00:51:38,960 --> 00:51:46,840 Thank you for joining us. 573 00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:49,520 We pray God's richest blessing on your life. 574 00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:54,160 If you haven't already, make sure to join us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 575 00:51:54,160 --> 00:51:58,200 You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch.com. 576 00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:02,360 See you next week.