15 Minutes With Jesus / Robert Haymes
Love Is Hard
Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.
Thank you Heavenly Father! We thank you for this program. We bless your Holy Name! Father I pray that you would bless this program; I pray you would bless every one of us to hear what your Holy Spirit is saying, in Jesus’ name, thank you Lord, Amen. Today’s program is called, Love Is Hard. Let’s turn to Mat 18:1, At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Verse 15, Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of' two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Verse 21, Then Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe! So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My Heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.
Jesus said that unless we humble ourselves and be converted and become as little children, we will not enter into the Kingdom of God. Whoever shall humble himself as a little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of God. In Gal 6 the scripture says, If a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. The apostle Paul said that he was nothing. If he was nothing, who are we to think we are anything? Jesus said, Whosoever will humble himself shall be exalted. Even at the Last Supper, the disciples were striving about which one of them was the greatest. Let’s go to Luke 22:14, When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing. Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. John 13:1, Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, Lord, are You washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to Him, You shall never wash my feet! Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head! Jesus said to him, He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you. For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, You are not all clean. So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. We will be blessed if we will follow Jesus’ example to wash one another’s feet. The One who is the greatest has loved us and washed us in His own Blood; He has humbled Himself to the death of the Cross. He said, Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. He said, You are My friends if you do whatsoever I command you, and He said, This is My commandment: that you love one another. The Apostle John said, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Let’s turn to 1 John 1:1, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. You can’t have fellowship, light with darkness. The light is shining on our sin, but if we refuse to acknowledge it, we are deceiving ourselves and continuing in darkness. If we will humble ourselves as a little child, and confess our faults, one to another, and forgive one another, then we are walking in the light, and the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, and our fellowship is restored. It is the same with our relationship with Jesus and the Father: they will not, and cannot fellowship with sin. If we allow sin in our life and in our relationships, one with another, then our fellowship with God is broken. Jesus said, If you bring your gift to the altar; when you come to worship God, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave there your gift before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. God will not receive your worship if your brother has something against you: if you did your brother wrong, and you haven’t repented. So what do you do? You humble yourself, like that little child, and go to them and say, Brother, I was wrong. Please forgive me. If he forgives you, then your fellowship with your brother is restored, and you can come back and worship God and fellowship with Him. If your brother won’t forgive you, then you go on loving him and praying for him, but you have done your part. You can go back and worship God freely. If your brother won’t forgive you, then he will not be forgiven by God, and his fellowship is broken with Him. This is not easy! Love is hard! It was very hard for Jesus to go to the Cross and suffer for us. He has commanded us to deny ourselves; humble ourselves, take up our own cross, and follow Him. If we are going to follow Him to walk in love, it will be hard. We will suffer, but we will be changed, more and more, to be like Him. Jesus said that He is the Stone which the builders rejected, and whoever falls on that Stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomsoever it falls, it will grind him to powder. It is painful to be broken to pieces, but the Lord’s correction; His dealings with us, if we will stay with Him, will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness in us. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (the atonement for our sins). Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.