SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi, my name is Michelle Steele. Pastor Phillip and I want to thank you for listening to this message from Life of Faith First. We have more resources available to help you build your faith and bring your world by the Word of God. From our website, lifeofffaith.net, you can connect to our YouTube channel. Watch the live stream feed from our church services. Access books and downloads in our web store. And discover more about Life of Faith Church, producing life city, state, nation, and world. Visit lifeoffaith.net today.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Let's go over to First Corinthians 12, and we're going to continue with this that we've been on for uh a few weeks now. Um the core values of the believer. And uh I went over the the the way that the Lord gave those to me. And he said uh they're these are the core values of the believer, and he gave us seven core values and I'll go over them real quick if you've been with us Sunday morning last Wednesday. Uh you probably wrote them down, but we'll go over them real quick. Number one is put the word first place. Put the word first place. Number two, determined to walk by faith. The third is refuse to be critical. Number four is determined to be thankful. Number five, determined to walk in love. Number six is determined to be led by the spirit through the inner man. And number seven is refuse to be double-minded. So put the word first place, determined to walk by faith, refuse to be critical, determined to be thankful, determined to walk in love, determined to be led by the spirit through the inner man, and the seventh is refuse to be double-minded. And we made the statement that all of these require the walk of love. A life of faith requires a life of love. I have to understand that. You know, when when when you start teaching and and and preaching on love, you know, there's there's different uh ideas of of what it means and such as that, you know, and we've talked about it, you know, not being offended, walking in forgiveness, and and uh, you know, not getting mad at the person in the drive-thru or the person in front of you in the in the traffic. And that certainly is applicable. I mean, it's it's part of it, but we've been centering up on this walk of love, and we dealt uh really in depth with it on Sunday morning and then last Wednesday as well about our nature and how our nature is that of God. You know, throughout the Word of God, and this sounds simple and elementary, but you know, God never called Himself faith, and he never called Himself power. He said, I'm love. God is love. Everything that I receive from God stems from God's love. It stems from the nature of love that God possesses. Love is the higher standard in every area. All right? Now, if if a person is focused on their flesh and how their flesh is made to feel by certain things, then walking in love is more difficult. But that's because the flesh has the preeminence. And I've said before, you know, that the flesh having the preeminence over a person's life is like the handbag that you came in here with running your life. The flesh is just a carrying case, it just holds the real me. Everything that I am is on the inside. And the Lord said to me, He said, Never look in the mirror and make the mistake of thinking that's the real you. Because it's not the real you. All right? Understand this. This is so important. So when we're talking about things like, you know, temper, and we're talking about things that like that are character traits that run in families, that is not your temper. That is not your short temper. That is not your Irish that always gets up. Well, you know how you fill in the blank family is. Well, but isn't it good news that you've been translated into the family of God? And that that's no longer you. You might be physically in that family, but that's no longer you. Amen. Why? What's ruling? Love is ruling. I say love is ruling. So all of these things require the walk of love. Amen. So God is love, so the nature of the believer is that of love. I can walk in love because my nature is love. Now, in 1 Corinthians 12 and 31, notice it says, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way. We'll read this in another translation in a moment. But he says, I want you to covet the best gifts. That's what's going on in the church in Corinth. They're coveting the best gifts. They want to operate in the gifts of the Spirit, and they are operating in the gifts of the Spirit, to the point that Paul had to give them directives. Paul had to write a full letter to them explaining, here's the errors, here's the oversight that is not occurring in the church. And he said, I need you to, I need to explain something to you. You've got all these miracles going on, you've got all these gifts of the Spirit going on, and you should desire them, he says, but I'm going to show you a more excellent way. I'm going to show you a super excellent way. The Amplified Bible says, earnestly desire and cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces, the higher gifts and the choicest graces, and yet I will show you a still more excellent way. One that is far, that is better by far and the highest of them all. Love. Now that's pretty high praise. Super excellent, better by far. So while you're cultivating the best gifts, walk in the more excellent way of love. I keep asking myself, I talk to my wife about this. What can God do through a church that loves each other unconditionally and loves their city unconditionally? I'm not talking when I talk about unconditional love, I don't mean love that overlooks everything and overlooks failures and overlooks these things. You know, love can be confrontive. Love can say this is wrong and not be being ugly about it. Right? So I'm not, when I say unconditional love, I mean we're gonna love each other regardless of what each of us may be going through. If it requires correction, correct me. I love you enough to trust you to correct me, right? Or whatever the case may be. But here's the thing: what can God do through a body that is just totally committed to the love of God? Hallelujah. Pastor Carlwell said this to me personally before, but he wrote it in his book as well. He said, the Lord told him, he said, you know, if you can build a ministry debt-free, and if you can keep a church free of strife and splits, then you will qualify for your next assignment. I felt that was interesting. That he said, if you can keep the church free from strife and splits. Well, what's that mean? Love's reigning. Love's reigning. Does that mean that people never got upset in that church? By all means no. You know they did. They're people. There are people that got mad at him and left. There were people that he's told me the stories. That it doesn't mean that it's a perfect group of people. It means it's a people that's pursuing the highest, more excellent way. Hallelujah. Spirituality is not measured by gifts. Spirituality is not measured by gifts, it's not measured by prophecy, it's not measured by the word of wisdom or the word of knowledge. Those should be prevalent in the church. The gifts of the spirit should be in operation. But the atmosphere, the best atmosphere for the gifts of the spirit is an atmosphere of love. It's an atmosphere of love. Paul states that the more excellent way, the one that is better by far in the highest way, is love. Now there's got to be a reason that he said that. There's got to be a reason why. If he makes that statement, this is the best way, the highest way, the super excellent way, then there has to be a reason why. Let's go over to Romans 13. And one thing I want to really get across in this teaching, I don't, and we're going to teach on all seven of these. Oh dear God, you mean I have to love so and so? Well, no, you don't have to. But you'll be missing the most excellent way. Hallelujah. You know, it's hard. It's hard out there when you're when you're constantly avoiding people because you don't want to deal with them. It's hard when you're holding things against people, and they're holding things against you, and nobody will just come together and say, look, we've got to fix this. I was talking to a person one time, uh, and and they were talking to me about the state of their marriage. It was falling apart, and sure enough, it was. And finally things were coming to an end. And they let me know, he let me know what was going on. And and I I just I just said to them, I said, Look, it's God's perfect will that marriages make it that they succeed. But here's the problem: there's been issues going on that none of y'all would deal with. Nobody would just come in love and say, we need to fix this. That's the most excellent way. So when you get spouses walking in love, and each person is vying to take the road of humility and what people call the low road, it's really the high road. Anytime you take what people call the low road, you're really taking the high road. Amen. There's absolutely nothing in a believer's marriage that cannot be reconciled if they'll walk in love. Because the Bible says love covers a multitude of sin, an innumerable amount. Amen. Now, I understand, again, please don't misunderstand me. I understand there are situations that people need to get out of a marriage. I get it. But here's what I want you to understand is that if we look at it as hard, if we look at it as something that, you mean I gotta take the low road when they were the one that was wrong? Love. You know, love doesn't care who gets the credit, and love doesn't care who was wrong. Love just wants God's highest and best. Hallelujah. Well, if she wouldn't answer me that way, no, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Now, now I don't want to get ahead of myself, but there's a reason I want the highest and the most excellent way. Amen. You know, I envy those people that that will get up and testify that they've never had a squabble in their marriage. Boy, I envy them. I do. I I don't I don't know how true that is. If so, they were a lot farther along when they got married in love than I was. Amen. Hallelujah. You know, every now and then I think I I really got this love thing figured out, and then something happens, and I'm like, well, I'm still working on it. But glory to God. Romans 13, verse 8. It says, O no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another has fulfilled the law. For this you shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying. Watch the saying. Namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is the fulfilling of the law. The Amplified Bible says that he that loves his neighbor, who practices loving others, has fulfilled the law, relating to one's fellow men, meeting all of its requirements. Hallelujah. So Paul says that all the commandments are summed up in one statement Love your neighbor as yourself. Why is love the highest, super excellent way? Because love is the fulfilling of the law. Amen. You know, you got New Testament believers that are still trying to keep the Ten Commandments? I mean, they got to work at it. They got to work not to lie, they got to work not to covet. The Ten Commandments govern spiritually dead people. Not spiritually alive people. The commandment we were given is the commandment of love. Now I'm not gonna take the time to get into this, but I need you to see how simple this is. If I love you, I'm not gonna lie to you. If I love you, I'm not gonna steal from you. I'm not gonna steal from anybody because I'm walking in love. Amen. You know, I come under a lot of fire one time when I was, I said to uh uh the church, and and one lady really didn't like it, and her husband started taking out newspaper ads about me because I made the statement. I said, I said, I made two statements. I said, first of all, when Jesus came to the earth, he did not, he came, he was the perfect spotless Son of God, but he laid aside all of his divinity and became man, became man, not looked like a man, not was formed as a man, he became a man. The Bible says he laid aside all of that divinity, all of that, all of that power and authority, and he came into the earth as a man. And the another statement that I made was this it's impossible to live a successful Christian life out of the four gospels. You can't do it. Because nobody was born again. Jesus was teaching spiritually dead people. Now, are there things that we are the is it the truth? Of course it's the truth. It came from the lips of Jesus. But take, for instance, the Lord's prayer Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Where's the name of Jesus in that prayer? It's not there. He was teaching spiritually dead men how to pray. What did he say right before he left? He said, I'm gonna go back to the Father and I'm gonna send back the Holy Spirit, and he said, and then in that day, in the day that I send the Holy Spirit back, you will ask the Father in my name. And he'll give you whatever you ask. Isn't it interesting? He didn't promise them from the Lord's Prayer whatever they ask. But he did promise whatever we ask in the name of Jesus. And there are people that get upset and they'll say, you know, he believes that, you know, just the epistles are are the important thing and we don't need to go into the four gospels. Listen, especially if you come to healing school, you know how much I preach out of the four gospels. Almost every healing school. I live in the four gospels, but here's the thing I can't live out of them. Because they were living under, they were living under a time that they were governed by a law that was for spiritually dead people. Amen. Love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the law. So the effort is to walk in love, not to try to measure up to a commandment. You remember what Jesus said? And we won't take the time to, you can write it down in Luke chapter 10, around verse 25, down through verse 35, 37. And he told the story of what we call the Good Samaritan. Well, you remember how that started? A religious leader came to him and said, Uh, uh, what's the greatest commandment? And Jesus said, Well, you tell me. And he said, Well, love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, strength, and your neighbor is yourself. Jesus said, You judge rightly. And the man, you know, wanted to catch Jesus or or justify himself. He said, Well, who's my neighbor? Who's my neighbor? And remember the story that Jesus went through. That that a man, evidently a Jewish man, went down, fell among thieves, and and they beat him and robbed him and left him half dead. And he's laying there in the road on the ditch, whatever it is, and the the uh the priest came by, or the Levite came by and walked on the other side of the road. The priest came by and did the same thing. And then the Samaritan, that nobody wanted a Samaritan for a neighbor. He comes along and he binds up the wound, puts him on his donkey, takes him and pays for two, three days in a room for him. And Jesus said, Who then was neighbor to this guy? And he said, What did he say? The one that showed compassion to him. And Jesus said, What? Go and do likewise. Is that right? Love is the fulfilling of the law. In other words, he says, love does not look at what the guy did to get himself in the mess that he was in. Love doesn't do that. Love doesn't look and say, well, if they don't listen to me, well, maybe and maybe not, they might have gotten more trouble. Right? Love doesn't look and say, well, they made their bed hard, let them lie in it. I understand there's there's there's times to deal with things like that. But Jesus is saying, this man didn't say that. Here's a man that nobody likes, nobody cares, nobody cares about him. And yet he comes along and shows compassion. Hallelujah. Love is the fulfilling of the law. When we walk in love, we fulfill the law. When I make the decision to walk in love with my fellow believer, I'm making the decision not to walk in these other things. Whatever they may be. I'm making the decision not to do that. When you make a decision to walk in love, you have made the decision not to be offended. You've made the decision not to be unforgiving. You've made the decision to forgive. Get what was done. Amen. Hallelujah. Do you see this? Love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is the answer to the commandments. We said earlier, because they govern spiritually dead people. The commandment given to the born-again spiritually alive believer is the commandment of love. So if I walk in love, I don't need any other commandment. I don't need any other commandment. Amen. People come and and sometimes people ask, Well, do you keep the Ten Commandments? By default. By default. Why? Because I'm going to walk in love. I don't have to stop and think, do I want to lie here? Right? Love doesn't lie. Amen. Yeah, I've had people, people call me, people text me, people talk to me. You know, what's going on in certain segments of the ministry, and you see preachers falling over here, and you see preachers falling over here, and they're into all kinds of ungodly things. I'll tell you number one, I'll tell you number one, is because for the last 25, 35, almost 40 years now, we've forsaken any character teaching in the church. It's all about seeker friendliness, it's all about making people feel comfortable. And if you delve into people's character, they're not going to feel comfortable. Amen. But if we're going to reach a city, it's got to be reached through character. Right? So character. And so a lot of the people you see in the pulpit today came up during that time when character was not being emphasized. Secondly, and not less important, but secondly, they've forsaken the law of love. You don't lead a double life when you're walking in love. You're not pulling shenanigans behind the scenes when you're walking in love. Amen. A pastor that's walking in love cares about his flock too much to live a life that's ungodly. Because there's love is the rule. Oh, hallelujah. Do you see this? That's the issue. When you forsake the higher standard, when you forsake the higher standard of love, now you're left to those what Paul called weak and beggarly elements of the world that cannot provide any power. He said, if you've been delivered from this, why are you living like you haven't been? And you're still saying, touch not, taste not all these different things, just like you're unregenerate people. Listen, there's things that I do not have to be told not to partake of. I'm walking in love. There are things that I don't have to be told not to watch, not to look at, not to hear. I'm walking in love. Nobody has to remind me not to listen to gossip. I'm walking in love. I won't listen to it. The quickest way to get blocked in my life is to try to talk about somebody to me. Because that's deadly. It's detrimental to your Christian growth. And so let me just be very public online and here too. If you don't have anything good to say about everybody, don't talk to me about them. Because my ears are not garbage cans. Your ears are not garbage cans. You cannot spiritually weather the storm that will come if you're allowing things to erode your love walk. You just cannot. Amen. And that goes into opinions, and I'm not going to get into all that because I could, but that goes into opinions, and it goes you listen, you cannot afford to be opinionated. Well, you know me, I'm just opinionated. That's called judgmental. That's called critical. And Jesus said, don't do that. Well, I have a right to my opinion. But you also, by your right, stepped out of love. Hallelujah. Do you see this? So love will sacrifice its right to an opinion to stay in love. Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Listen, I I learned so much about walking in love through the pandemic. I learned so much. Right? Because you got to pray for your leaders. And you can't fake it. You can't just go to the Lord and say, now I'm doing this because I have to. That won't work. So if I'm going to pray effectively for them, I've got to be walking in love towards them. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Right? But you'll hear Christians. Somebody will be in office that's that's not of their political persuasion. Well, you know, our president. Don't call him my president. He's not my president. Well, sure enough, he is. Your side just lost the election, but he's still your president. Well, I didn't vote for him. That means nothing. It doesn't give me the right to violate the super excellent way. Glory to God. I'm going to move away from that. Right? Because here's the thing. When you start talking about opinions, it's like nobody wants to talk about any of the wrong things that their favorite is doing. It's just the other side. Amen. Back when Twitter was Twitter, I used to tell people all the time, they need to take President Trump's Twitter away. They just need, they need to, they need to ground him. Oh, he's just he's just speaking his mind. No, it wasn't right. It wasn't right. Yeah, but you know, he's our president. Yeah, but then when the other guy got in, that same person would run him down, beat him up. Where was that? This is my president now. This is important. Because that's the highest law. That's the highest. See, I cannot walk out, walk out of love in any area and expect that step outside of love not to affect me. Well, you know, but that's not important. It's important because love is the highest way. Brother Hagin used to say, a step out of love is a step out of the will of God. Amen. Now I know people will say, well, you know, but there's a time to stand up for yourself and don't be a doormat. You're right, and we'll get into that as we go on in this series. But here's the thing don't project that so much that you fail to walk in love because you're determined you're not going to be a doormat. Well, who's trying to make you a doormat? I mean, who's trying to be that ugly all the time? I mean, if they're that ugly all the time, then truly love them from across the street. But love them from across the street. Don't just go across the street and act ugly. Love them. People say I'm going to love them from across the street. Well, you need to be loving them then. If I'm loving them, I'm going to be praying for them, I'm going to be wanting the best for them. Hallelujah. I have a relative right now that if they were to text me or call me, I wouldn't answer their call. Well, Pastor, that's mean. No, that's not mean. There's been no change in their life. I know what they want. They've hit the end of their current finances and they need some more money. And I'm just not handing it out. You understand? But I love them. Would do anything for them. If they came and said, can you buy me a sandwich? I'll buy you a sandwich. I love them. See, I'm loving them from across the street, but I'm loving them. That's the highest way. The damage that's done to a person by not walking in love is greater than the victory they think they're getting by stepping out of love. Amen. Glory to God. Look at James 2.8. Am I helping you at all? I was driving home the other day, and Lord help me say this right. You know, everybody's got that one house in the neighborhood. I don't know if you got that house. And man, I was driving by the house, and it's right at the corner, and I'm looking, and I'll just say this. There's stuff always out. It's like there's a perpetual yard sale. But it's not a yard sale. It's just junk. And I and I rounded the corner and I was looking, and I was I started to say something, and I said it out loud. I said, I'm not saying it. I don't care what they do. And you know, and then the holy one over here in the seat beside me. She said, Yeah, that love walk's working, isn't it? Yes, it is. Glory to God. James 2 and 8. Notice what he said. If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, what is that law, James? You shall love your neighbor as yourself. You do well. He calls that the royal law, the preeminent, the principle, the chief law is love your neighbor as yourself. So this chief preeminent law, the chief commandment is love. Love encompasses every other aspect of the moral law. And he calls it the royal law. You know, we call that the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself. Well, think about that statement. If we say, you know, we'll teach our kids you want to treat people like you want to be treated. Well, now, what do we mean by that? I mean, how do we want to be treated? That's how we want to treat other people. I want people to not be offended at me, so I choose not to be offended at them. I want people to forgive me, so I choose to forgive them. People will come to me this day and they'll say, I need you to forgive me for something. I go, Done. They go, but you don't know what it was. Doesn't matter. Does it matter? Doesn't matter. You're coming asking me for forgiveness. Here it is. And I had one guy say, but yeah, you if you if you know what I did, you may not forgive me. No. I may not be able to fellowship with you, but that doesn't mean I can't forgive you. Am I helping you? I I had a guy come to the church and he got saved in our prison ministry. And um, and the prison that he got saved in, the the predominant population were people that had committed crimes against children and drug addicts. Now, Jesus loves people that have committed crimes against children. He loves them. All right? Bottom line, he does. Right? There's nothing he won't forgive. But here's the issue. Then when you come to church and you have that background, I can't let you just do whatever you want. I can't let you be near the kids. When you come to church, I got to have you meet a member of the staff, and they've got to escort you to a seat, and they have to sit with you throughout the service. Yeah, but that's not fair. Oh, yes, it is. And so I had to text this brother, had to call him, had to talk to him. And I said, This is what I'm gonna need you to do. Well, I knew that was coming. Oh, yeah, I'm not trying to be ugly. Right? I I I love you, but this is this is what has to happen. You understand? Because love is not, love is not just I I do whatever I want. No, the re the reason I went through that was, you know, his his idea was, you know, but I'm forgiven. Well, he was forgiven. I forgave him immediately. But just because I forgave him does not mean there's no accountability. Right? Amen. I've counseled marriages before, and and people come in and and you're counseling the marriage, and and one of the two parties, and I won't say who it is generally, but one of the two parties just wants everything to be forgotten. Well, that's over with. Brother, ma'am, it was just last week. Yes, it's in the past, but it was just last week. We're still dealing with the repercussions of this. Right? So we have forgiven, but now there's got to be this walking out of forgiveness. Oh, hallelujah. So I said all that to say, so when somebody says, Pastor, forgive me, done. Now let's talk about how we never get back here again. Amen. Yeah, but you know, if you've forgiven me, you're not gonna hold me, you know, you're not gonna put any, you're not gonna put any requirements on me. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. How wrong you are. Why? Because putting requirements on a person is love. It is love. Well, you know, I don't want to be hard on my child. I don't want to push him too much. If you love them, you will. If you love them, you will. Don't, don't, don't let what happened to you growing up or whatever it is stop you from doing right with your child. Amen. I have a child right now that that will swear up and down that I ruined him growing up because I spanked him. And he can't even count on one hand the times I spanked him. I can't even count on one hand the times I spanked him. Now, you understand? See, there are requirements. And James says this is the chief law. We read in Romans 13, 8. Owe no man anything but to love him. That's the only debt. One translation says that is to remain outstanding. So the obligation every believer will always have is the obligation of walking in love. I will always have that obligation. But we don't walk in love from an obligation standpoint or just because we must. We walk in love because love is our nature. That's my nature is love. Love is the great quest of the believer. One translation, the BER translation says, make love your great quest. The Moffat translation says, make love your aim. 1 Corinthians 14 1 says to make love your aim. So while I'm walking in love, I'm cultivating the gifts of the Spirit. We read that in 1 Corinthians 14 1, where he said, desire the spiritual gifts. But the greatest way is love. 1 Corinthians 14.1, he said, follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. So as we walk in love, we cultivate the gifts of the Spirit. Hallelujah. We cultivate the gifts of the Spirit as we walk in love. You know, there are ministers that I know personally that operate effortlessly in the gifts of the Spirit. And talk about everybody. There are ministers that I know that operate in the gifts of the Spirit and will lie to your face. But they that to see them in operation in the Spirit, you think, my Lord, that person's got to be close to God. No, they're operating in a gift that's for the edification of the body. Hallelujah. Walking in love helps me cultivate those gifts. Hallelujah. See, the highest aim is that you're walking in love with the person next to you. Not that I can prophesy, not that I can operate in the word of wisdom, not that I get to do XYZ, but can I walk in love? That's the spiritual litmus test. That's the maturity test for the believer. Can I walk in love? Hallelujah. Brother Hagin said that the Lord told him to go talk to a certain minister, and he said he told me to tell him that he needed to deal with himself in three areas. And the first area was his diet because of the way he ate. The second was money, that he had an undue affinity for money. And the third was his love walk towards his fellow believers, his fellow ministers. I found that interesting. And he talked about uh this man had started a church in Dallas, was starting a church in Dallas. They called them revival centers back then. And he was starting a revival center, and uh uh a couple pastors uh was talking to him and they said, Well, where are you gonna get your people? He said, Oh, that's simple. I'm gonna take 200 from you and 200 from you. And he did. He robbed those churches. Hallelujah. Well, that's powerful to me. Wasn't walking in love. God said, That's a problem. Amen. I've seen videos of this man stripping cancers off people's faces. I mean, Orl Roberts and Brother Hagin said he had the most outstanding miracles in his ministry that they had ever seen. And we're talking about people that saw miracles, right? Yeah. One person came up, came up, bent over, bent over, couldn't bend, couldn't, their back was so bad they were bent over. And this man weighed well over 200 pounds, 275, 280 pounds. And he jumped on their back and said, Be healed in Jesus' name. And they got healed. But he wouldn't walk in love. And because he wouldn't walk in love, he died at 39. That's that's so important. I I told one person one time, I said, walking in love is a matter of life and death. You gotta understand that. Because when you refuse to walk in love, you put yourself over here on the devil's territory. Because I'm not walking in love. That's the greatest commandment. That's the royal commandment. When someone says, forgive me, I cannot afford not to. From the heart. Why? Not just because of what I'm believing for, but because I don't want to open any doors to the enemy. Hallelujah. Do you see that? Spiritual gifts, we've said a couple times, are not the measure of maturity. For the believer, love is the measure of maturity. Now let's look at James 3. I think this will take us to the end tonight. You know, uh uh Cheryl Salem that was here a few Wednesdays ago, her and Harry, and uh she lived with the Hagens for um about a year, maybe a little over, maybe, maybe close to two, about a year. But she said uh one time she said uh her and Miss Aretha were talking about Cheryl would travel, was traveling then. Uh they still travel, but she was traveling by herself then in her ministry. And Miss Aretha was asking her questions about certain people and and the churches that she'd been into, and she said she noticed that every time they'd start talking about something like that, Brother Hagin would get up and leave the room. And then in a little while he'd come back, they'd finish, he'd come back, and they'd start again, he'd get up and leave the room. And she said, Finally, I said, they they called her mom. She said, Mom, am I doing something wrong? And she said, No, no. She said, he just has a code that he lives by that if he thinks that we're talking about somebody, he won't sit and listen to it. And that's how he lived. This is important. It's a step out of love for you to listen to somebody talk about your brother or sister. It's a step out of love. Well, what do I do? Just tell them you don't want to hear it. Well, what if they just want me to pray? Listen, if they just want you to pray, they'll say, We need to pray for so-and-so. They won't tell you everything so-and-so is doing. And how and how much it rubs them the wrong way. I I have a I have a surefire solution to that, and I I live by it. Somebody will come and they'll say, I need to talk to you about so-and-so. I say, Hang on, go get so-and-so. This person wants to say something about them. I had a lady come to me one time and she said, I got a problem with so-and-so in the church. It was our youth pastor. I got a problem with so-and-so, and I need to talk to you about it. I said, Hang on one second. I got the usher. I said, Go get Pastor So-and-so. No, I don't want to, I don't want them in here. I said, Well, you got something to say about them. Might as well say it to their face. When we when we started the ministry, uh, and I've told this story somewhat, when we started the ministry, the the church in DeSoto, it was not faith builders, now it's life of faith, but it was not faith builders in, it was uh a denominational church. And uh I I took over the pastorate, and uh every year they voted on the pastor. And every year they wanted the pastor to leave so they could talk about the pastor and then vote on him. I remember the night that they were having the the voting after church. They they didn't usually have church on Wednesday nights, but I said, Well, we're gonna have the word. We're not gonna get into something so important without some word foundation. And and so uh I uh before I handed it over to the the head of the board, I said, now I know that you know you you vote on the pastor first, and I said, I know that usually the pastor leaves. I said, I'm not leaving. So if you got anything to say about me, you can say it to my face. It's amazing how little they had to say. Because it's easy to be very uh uh uh uh bold and very brusque when you're not in front of the person. So the best thing is just don't listen to it. And then when you get to church, you have exercised yourself to have a conscience void of offense towards anybody. Unless you tell me what's going on in your life, I don't know what's going on in your life because I don't ask and I don't listen to anybody tell me. And I like it that way. Amen. I'm helping you. See, this is so important because the the Lord said that we were a house of miracles, a house of healing, and a house of love. Hallelujah. Now, James 3 and uh verse 2, for in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same as a perfect or a mature man and able to bridle the whole body. Oh my goodness. That's powerful to me. Why is that? Because when we talk about bridling the tongue, very often, especially in our circles, it's just, you know, we don't talk negative and we did it's talking about love. If I cannot offend you, I can bridle my whole body. Hallelujah. Why? Because one of the strongest urges is just to say my peace. How many times have you heard this? Now I know you're not gonna like this. Then why are you gonna say it? Amen. I have a family member, that's their favorite thing. Now, look, I'm just gonna say it, and and you're not gonna like it. Okay? You're right. But why are you gonna say it? You know, I try to help people. I had a person come in one time and they just got upset with me. For whatever reason, they were upset with me, and they let me have it. And I just looked at them very kindly and I said, Look, I cannot receive that in the manner you just spoke it to me. Would you like to rephrase it in a way that I can receive it? Because that was ugly, and I can't receive that. I love you. But you know, I'm and you know they got this look on their faces, well, okay, and they repeated what they were had an issue with, and it wasn't that big of a thing. This this is important. We don't want to think that way. If I know that what I'm about to say may bother you, if it's not a matter of spiritual success, if it's not important, if it's just my opinion, why do I have to say it? Let me let me share one last story with you. I'll be done. I had a guy that came to the church, and and uh when he came, uh he wanted to get involved in our overcomers outreach. We had overcomers addiction recovery service, and and he wanted to get involved because he had been involved in it, so I said, okay, and and uh, you know, uh let him I had leaders in there and I let him help. Well, this guy, what he started doing was uh he started getting involved with people uh that were believing wrong, and he started wanting to pull new converts. We had a lot of new converts coming through that overcomers group, and and he started taking them to places that were teaching wrong. Well, I found out about it, and I got him and the lady that were doing it, and I said, I want this to stop. I don't want any more of this, all right? And uh, you know, just let's not have it. Well, they understood what I said, but then about two weeks later, I found out they were still doing it. And so I called her and I said, You don't need to come back because you're you're trying to destroy these new believers and you won't listen to me. Right? I can't trust you in that role, so you don't need to come back. And as a Tuesday evening was our overcomers, and I saw him pull up in the parking lot, and I went out the front door real quick and uh went over to his car, and he was gonna open the door, and I put my leg up against the door. I said, Nope, don't even get out. Don't even get out. I said, Now look, I've tried I've tried to walk you through this, I've tried to get you to stop this, but you just need to find somewhere else to go to church. Well, where am I gonna go? I said, Well, I I don't know, but you you won't do what's right here. Well, here's my point in saying this. So about, and I did the overcomers meeting that night, and about two hours later he called me and he said, Uh, Pastor, I need you to forgive me. I sure wouldn't offend you. I said, number one, done, I forgive you. Number two, you can't offend me. I'm unoffendable. I was not offended when I told you just to not get out of your car. I wasn't offended. I'm looking out for the sheep. You know, in all my years of pastoring, almost 30 years of pastoring, I've only had to ask three people to leave the church. And you know why? Because they would not quit harming people's lives through their wrong talk and their gossip. This is important. I say, this is important. So love is what bridles the tongue. There are things love will not allow me to say. If I yield to love, there are things that love will not allow me to say. No natural man can tame the tongue. Scripture says right here, it what does it require? A supernatural man living from the nature of God within him. Love. Hallelujah. Do you see that? Say it out loud. I am a love child of a love God. My nature is love. Oh, hallelujah. See, this this is this is important. One of the greatest things that any of us, any of us can do is to make love our quest, our aim. I'm gonna walk in love. And and I'm not gonna make it this huge effort. I'm just gonna do it because I can. I can I can just do it. I was talking to a couple guys one time. We were we were on a run, they were guys that uh were on my staff, youth pastor and associate minister, and they were always talking amongst themselves while we were running about how they they wanted to be men of God and they wanted to be better husbands, and they wanted this and that and the other. And finally, one day we were running, I just stopped them. I said, When are you guys just gonna do it? Quit talking about it and just do it. Just be a better husband. Just be it. I've never understood that. I I I just never have. I'm just the kind of person that I look at something. If if I get on the scale and I'm heavier than I want to be, I just say, I gotta lose weight. And then whatever it takes. Now people will say, but that's you, Pastor, and you know you're different. No, no, no. Everything in the kingdom of God begins with the decision by yourself to make it happen and to do it. You look in the mirror and you say, Look, you're gonna walk in love. You're not gonna do this, you're not gonna do that, you're not gonna do the other, whatever it is, you're gonna walk in love. You're telling you what to do. Amen. David, even David under the old covenant, he said, Look, so why are you disquieted within me? Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna hope in God and you're gonna rejoice because he's the hope of our life. We're gonna walk in love. Don't make it hard, just do it. Amen. You know, God coined that phrase, not Nike. Glory to God. Let's stand up tonight, shall we? I hope you received from the Word of God. I know you did. Glory to God. God is so good to us. Amen. Hallelujah. I just I really want to thank all of our children's workers. We've got some of them are in here tonight, and uh, Miss Sarah's there in the foyer, and and uh Loretta's been helping, and Miss Gloria's back there. Miss Gloria even has battle wounds. Amen. Hallelujah. Playing volleyball, and next thing I look at Gloria down, Gloria down, glory to God. Amen. Then I asked her if she was all right, and she looked at me like, well, of course. Hallelujah. But uh God's good to us. And Rachel, of course, Rachel's over there behind the camera. She's been helping, and and uh, they've been having a good time. We've had kids that don't go to our church that have been coming, and uh, so we're excited about what God's doing. Amen. Amen. Of course, Sunday morning we'll be here uh uh ministering the word of God. Pastor Ron Schwager will be ministering Sunday morning, and so you definitely want to be here for uh the word of God, amen. And uh bring your family, bring your friends, bring uh bring your dog if you want to. Amen. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Well, amen. God's so good to us, and we're a full service church, praise the Lord. Amen. Glory to God, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, hallelujah, hallelujah. There's there's a season of crossing over that we have entered into, and there's a season, the Lord says, of crossing over that you have entered into. Understand and comprehend that the seventh month, the month that you're going to enter into, the month of July, the seventh month, is a month of crossing over. A month of crossing over. And it's a month of crossing over into many of those things that have been promised. And recognize and understand that even as Israel crossed over the Jordan River in the book of Joshua, they crossed over and they entered into the promises that I had made them. And at that same time, what they had been living in and what they had been getting by on ceased. So that tightness, those elements that seem like it's just this thing that's dragging on, that shall cease beginning in the seventh month. And remember that when Elisha said to Elijah, I want a double portion of your spirit to come upon me, as they crossed over the Jordan River, that's when that double portion of the anointing came upon him. So recognize that in the seventh month, there are things that are going to change naturally, and there are things that are going to increase spiritually. And know that the abundance and the more that you enter into in the seventh month, it shall not be something that will die off or something that will go away. You shall enter into more in the seventh month, and it shall increase, says the Lord God. Thank you, Father. Oh, hallelujah. Thank you, Heavenly Father.

unknown 59:34

Thank you, Lord.

SPEAKER_01 59:34

I receive that, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. And those things that seem to have been just out of your reach and out of your grasp, you shall attain them. You shall receive them. Hallelujah. So make plans. Don't, don't, don't, don't look for it to continue down the same pathway. Look for it to be better. Look for it to be yes, Lord, I'll say it that way. Look for it to be fatter and more abundance in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. For the seventh month is a month of crossing over and a month of crossing into. Says the Lord God. Father, thank you in Jesus' name. Lord, we just received that in Jesus' name. Now bless your people, Lord. I thank you that you keep them as they're going home. In their pathway is life, and there is no death. The redeemed of the Lord, according to your word, shall return. Father, they have come to church, so they shall return, and they shall return safely. Father, I plead the blood over their families. I plead the blood over their marriages. I plead the blood over their finances, over their jobs. I declare that there shall not be decrease in their life. There shall not be lack or want of supply. Father, I thank you that they are fully supplied, completely filled, and they are rich, rich, rich in the name of Jesus. And Father, we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah. Well, let's say our vision tonight and we'll let you go. Hallelujah. The vision of this church is to build people's faith and frame their world by the word of God, raising up a spiritual production center, producing life, city, state, nation, and world. And you and I will always be world changers. God bless you.