John 13:34-35
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
There are deficits in the churches today – all the seven churches in the book of Revelation had their own deficits. Laodicea is the 7th Church mentioned in Revelation; it is representative of our age which is the final stage. If we are to have faith and be able to walk in it this end times, we have to identify and master our deficits.
Laodicea: means lukewarm, indifferent, freedom, rights of the people, justice of the people, judgment of the people.
This is the age of what the people want, not of what they need, but of what they want. What do the people want?
Less worship, less Word, a timeframe for God!
People want God only at their convenience!
When a pastor gives what the people want, the anointing of worship will lift, and the spirit of entertainment will descend! Though these are times of hardships, I believe that in these last days, there will be an explosion of growth in the church, but it can never become the church that God designed it to be without pruning.
God prunes His works – and when God prunes, He removes, He replaces, and He cleanses:
John 15:1-3
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
The pruning happens because most of the time we start with what is convenient until God sends what was promised. For the natural church (not SN), people get easily discouraged and lose focus when the pruning takes place – every church is pruned. When the pruning happens, the pace is set – every church has a pace (set speed), your personal life has a pace, everybody’s pace is not the same.
Our pace may be faster than yours and some of you may not keep up, but it doesn’t mean that if you don’t keep up, you are less than us. Criticisms, accusations, even rebellion, are the most common way of pruning that God allows to a church. In a church like ours who believe in the Supernatural, you won’t hear people criticizing or accusing us that ‘we don’t have faith’… But they will always say this ‘your church has no love’! This is true because the people who don’t grow with you do not fully understand many of what we believe and practice, like seeking God’s will and asking for a word;
If they are rebuked with regard to their choices and actions, then that’s what they will say, ‘there is no love’.
Whether that is true or not is very important – not because we can receive a word from God means we have love; you can receive a revelation without loving.
Let me say this to you:
It is possible to reject the love of God!
When a person has been wounded, the strongest tendency is for that person not to open, be content to be an introvert. If a person has been abused at age 10, you may grow chronologically to become 30, but emotionally you are still 10.
That means that the boy/girl in you never became an adult – you did not mature.
That’s why today, there are people who don’t know how to love… If you don’t know how to receive love, then you wouldn’t know how to give love. Love is very important – people hide their lack of love behind spirituality.
When people do that, they are not real… They are very- very dangerous!
The immature will always accuse the mature of not loving, but they themselves are lacking in that area. The mature are the people who know what they were called to be, they know their position in Christ, and they know that they stand with God no matter what the issue may be.
But the immature will see that as a lack of love and understanding. That’s the deficit we need to watch if we are to walk by faith these end times.
What then should our goal be?
We must Imitate JESUS!
The love of God will never let you judge somebody because love will never give-up on a person. Every character in the Bible except for Jesus, all had their flaws in their attitudes and character…Moses, David, Peter, Paul…
But we study them and preach them as examples of our faith!
1 John 2:3-4
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:5-6
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
The commandment is to love one another!
Did you notice that the word faith was not mentioned in the verses we read. And did you also notice that ‘to love’ was a commandment but faith is not.
Faith is not a commandment, it is a choice – that’s why in the Bible it says ‘when you believe’ and ‘if you believe’…
‘When’ is a word that is used for timing, but it also used for a condition. But to a commandment, there is no condition, because once you are commanded, your only option is to obey. We were commanded to walk as Jesus walked; we must heed the command.
Q? How did Jesus walk? By faith?
You must understand: Jesus did not die on the cross because of faith, He did not heal, or brought the dead back to life because of faith. Jesus gave His life because of love (John 3:16).
He came in love, He died in love, He gave His life because He loved.
He came to restore God’s original intent because He loves us so, and He was willing to die for that love, for that reason – we are the reason.
So, how did Jesus walk?
In love!
When faith is not from the eyes of love, your faith will lack reality!
James 2:26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Faith is faith, but the work is the love – faith without the love is not real, it’s dead!
Many people preach faith, but have no compassion, you see the mechanics of faith, but you see no love.
Often, because of what they call faith they blame you for what you are going thru –
But love never blames, love is not critical, love is not judgmental. The first attribute of God that He introduced to man was His love – a love that was willing to sacrifice. Outside of Judaism, there is no other legal religion on the earth that teaches the introduction to God in the aspect of love.
God gave the sacrifice for the atonement of sin because of His love, even the greatest sacrifice, Jesus Christ our Lord. You don’t know God because you believe, we know Him because He loves us and chose to reveal Himself to us!
Before we were formed He saw us; when He put us in time He saw our past, present, future. Yet, despite all the sins and failures He knew we were going to do, still He loved us – He never gave up on you.
If He did, that would mean He gave up on His love – God is love.
1 John 3:10-11
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
The message from the very beginning was love, it was not faith. If there was love, all other messages would not be important, because if you love God, you will obey His commandments.
That means I don’t have to preach to you about tithing and offerings, about sharing the Word to the lost – bring one soul to the church. There will be no gossiping, factions, criticizing, nor divisions. If there is a lack of love, then there is no desire to obey the commandments.
Deut 28:1-2
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:
Deut 28:15
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.
Often we wonder why our faith struggles, whether we would obey or not, whether we would submit or not to the authorities. You often get the thought that you are not loved and that there is favoritism, that the messages always seem to hit you.
When there is a deficit of love, there will always be the lack of will to obey the commandments of God.
Amos 7:8a
And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied.
A plumbline is used to measure defects in the structure… the Lord God found defects in His bride, the church!
All God’s charges against His bride is about her love and her righteousness!
God now is dealing with the church!
1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.
Make your choices out of your love for the Lord.