WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.399 --> 00:00:04.679 To our lives and to our time together. We thank 2 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.519 you for your word that teaches that your word is 3 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:15.800 your God breathed expression that teachers, trains, correct and rebukes. 4 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.600 We thank you for it. We welcome this interaction with 5 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:29.120 you today in Jesus name. Everybody said, Amen, Amen, Amen. Well, 6 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:30.440 I want to talk to you a little bit more 7 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:35.039 about love. We've named this series Becoming Love. This is 8 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:36.960 going to be my little as far as I know, 9 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:41.000 this is going to be my last in this series 10 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:48.000 on becoming Love. And as I've told you every week, No. 11 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:51.439 Part four, the truth can kill. Oh look at that. 12 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:58.719 That's beautiful. So as I told you every week, Really, 13 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:02.600 what we're trying to do is come into alignment with 14 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:08.599 who we are. Is that all right? Because we already 15 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.879 we already have become love, Believe it or not. We've 16 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:20.159 already become love by becoming born of the spirit. So 17 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:24.480 when you were born of God, you became one with love, 18 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.040 and the testimony of love dwells in you. And so 19 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.840 a lot of what we're trying to do in church 20 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:36.599 and as a community together is we're trying to renew 21 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:43.239 our mind. We're trying to bring ourselves into understanding knowledge, understanding, 22 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:47.959 and then alignment and agreement with who He's made us 23 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:54.239 to be in Christ Jesus. Yes, so, and that's you know, 24 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:59.799 that's a lot of Ephesians Ephesians. The first three chapters 25 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:06.079 of Ephesians are telling us who we are. The first 26 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:10.560 three chapters are all about identity. You are now seated 27 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.879 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You've been raised up, 28 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:18.520 you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing, for instance. That's 29 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:22.400 chapter one. So we've got three chapters telling us a 30 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:29.360 lot about the new identity, the new reality, the transformative power, 31 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.680 and the things that have happened to us in Christ 32 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:36.199 and through the new birth. The last three chapters of 33 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:44.199 Ephesians is Paul speaking to them about their behavior, and 34 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.680 part of what he's speaking to them about is what 35 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:53.599 they already heard as they were told about the new creation. 36 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.879 He's reminding them so in chapter four is one of 37 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:02.120 the big ones. We're going to focus in on a 38 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:04.439 bunch of that today, on a bunch of chapter four. 39 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:09.360 But the idea is that we truly have become love, 40 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:15.039 and that the witness of love, the ministry of love, 41 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.159 the word of love, the compelling of love and the 42 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:22.080 grace of love already dwells in you that are born 43 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:28.400 of the spirit, and the love that dwells in you 44 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:31.479 and me who are born of the spirit. That love 45 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:41.120 is agape, and agape is sacrificial. A word that we 46 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.599 had last week that I thought was totally of the 47 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:51.439 Lord is that agape. Love is one way love. Everybody 48 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.759 say one way love, meaning I don't need you to 49 00:03:55.879 --> 00:04:02.080 love me back for me to manifest this love. I 50 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:04.719 don't need you to love me back. And even if 51 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:08.439 you don't love me back, I will not stop in 52 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:14.240 loving you. So this is the spirit of God dwelling 53 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:19.240 in you. You've received a spirit of love, power and 54 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.560 soundness of mind, and the spirit of God dwelling in 55 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:30.560 you and me. Is this miniSTR and ministry of love. 56 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:36.959 And it's one way love. So is that cool? And 57 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.519 this love will compel us, This love, if we'll listen, 58 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:42.920 this love will compel us. This love will be speaking 59 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:49.879 to us and adjusting our heart. And the purpose of 60 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:54.680 this love that we are we are so connected with 61 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.079 you know what that is? What do you think that is? 62 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.879 That is one of our famous baptismal tanks. You should 63 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.839 have known immediately as soon as you saw that this 64 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.759 is the famous baptismal tank. The purpose of this love 65 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:13.759 is that as we are raised up out of the 66 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:20.399 baptismal tank, that we no longer live like we once lived, 67 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:25.839 that we no longer live in the darkness of our 68 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:30.920 heart and our minds. First John form, so that I 69 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.639 can convince you you want to be convinced we don't 70 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:36.240 have this one on the scripture. Somebody wants to be convinced. 71 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:39.439 That was enough. I just needed one. If anyone acknowledges 72 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.959 this is First John four fifteen. If anyone acknowledges that 73 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:46.040 Jesus is the son of God, God lives in them, 74 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:50.879 and they in God. And so we know and rely 75 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:55.519 upon the love God has for us. God is love. 76 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:00.600 Whoever lives in Love lives in God and God in them. 77 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.639 This is a gope. This is not falleo, this is 78 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.519 not aros. This is a gope. One way love, selfless love, 79 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:15.079 sacrificial love, initiating love, lay down my life love. And 80 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.000 this is how verse seventeen. And this is how love 81 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:22.079 is made complete among us, so that we will have 82 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:27.160 confidence in the day of judgment, For in this world 83 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:34.560 we are like Jesus that's the NIV. The NIV is 84 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:38.879 really soft. The King James says, as he is, so 85 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:43.120 are we in this world. This is John telling us 86 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:49.199 that this born again experience that we have embraced is 87 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:53.360 so powerful that it's transformed who we are, and that 88 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:56.040 we now are like him in this world, that we 89 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:02.920 are the manifestation of love. In this world. There is 90 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.879 no fear in love in a goape love, but perfect 91 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:10.720 love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. 92 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:15.519 The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 93 00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:17.560 I mean of you think people around you ought to 94 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.120 be made perfect, that you know that you actually are 95 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:28.759 a You actually are a weapon. You actually are a tool. 96 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:33.480 You actually are you're actually useful to the Lord to 97 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:37.399 bring others into perfection as you partner with him and 98 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:43.439 love others in a gape. Now, if you only love 99 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:47.279 in fileo, if we only love in fialleo love, then 100 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:51.720 we are being used fully of the Lord to bring 101 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:58.279 others into liberty and into freedom because we are partnering 102 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:04.759 with something else. We're partnering with something less than a cape, 103 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.480 and that means we're partnering with deception or falsehood or 104 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.480 punishment or something. We'll get into that, all right, Is 105 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:14.399 that all right? We love because He first loved us. 106 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:18.720 Why do we love? We love because He first love us. 107 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.519 So this is why, this is why we can operate 108 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.000 in one way love, why we can manifest one way 109 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:29.439 love and we can love fully and sacrificially and not 110 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:35.639 need love to back because that's the way He loves us. Now, 111 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:38.200 one of the things that we've been talking about is 112 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:40.759 how important it is that we get deliverance, that we 113 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:47.399 get freedom, because my feeling and my experience is that 114 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:51.440 many times we don't need more of God, we need 115 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:58.200 less of the devil. Now you're gonna hear you need 116 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.600 more of God. You're gonna be you're gonna be swooned 117 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:04.120 by that, and you're going to be drawn by that. 118 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:08.759 You're gonna feel like that's your problem. But even getting 119 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:11.840 more of God might actually happen as you get less 120 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:17.080 of the devil. What if your revival is not so 121 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:21.480 much related to getting more of God? What if your 122 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:30.679 revival is related to getting less of the devil. Did 123 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:35.000 you know that most sickness and disease the Christians are 124 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:38.639 afflicted with has nothing to do with God not wanting 125 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:41.799 to heal them. It has everything to do with oppression 126 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:45.759 from the demonic realm. That's why in almost every single 127 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:49.279 case where it says Jesus healed, or when philippent to 128 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.720 Samaria and it says that the people were healed, it's 129 00:09:52.919 --> 00:10:03.120 always in conjunction with deliverance. So when it comes to healing, 130 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:05.200 even we're trying to talk God into healing us all 131 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.519 the time instead of trying to talk devils into leaving 132 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:15.399 our body. Well, I'll let you meditate on that in 133 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.000 a minute, but anyway, it's true, and I think the 134 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:26.159 same thing is true for us manifesting love better. For 135 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:29.320 us to manifest love better, you don't need a new 136 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:31.799 Holy Spirit. You don't need a double Holy Spirit. You 137 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.000 don't need a triple Holy Spirit. You don't need a 138 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:38.159 Holy Spirit with chocolate sauce on top. What you need 139 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.240 is to decide that you are no longer going to 140 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.240 partner with who you were, and you need to kick 141 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:53.720 who you were out of you. If all what I'm saying, 142 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.519 you'll follow better as I go. But today, as we 143 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.639 go through this, I want you to I want you 144 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.039 to part partner with some deliverance as we go through 145 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:07.360 this today, a little bit, recognizing that some of what 146 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:13.440 you've held onto that is antithical to love, untithical to 147 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:25.120 and opposed to a gape, is actually demonic. So let's 148 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.320 read a little bit about our calling to love. A 149 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:31.200 little bit more about our calling to love Romans, Chapter thirteen, 150 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.399 eight through ten. Let no debt remain outstanding except the 151 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:42.080 continuing debt to love one another. Let no debt remain 152 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:47.879 outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. For 153 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:55.639 whoever loves others has fulfilled the law the commandments you 154 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.600 shall not commit an ultry, you shall not murder, you 155 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:02.240 shall not steal, you shall not of it, and whatever 156 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:07.120 other commandment there may be, And we know in the Torah, 157 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:08.559 in the first five books of the Bible, there are 158 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:13.320 six hundred and thirteen commandments. Whatever other commandment they might 159 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.320 there may be, are summed up in this one command. 160 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:23.080 Love your neighbor as yourself loves. Love does no harm 161 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:29.240 to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. 162 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:35.799 So this is like the supreme commandment that we are 163 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:39.919 called to interreact and inter relate to. And what we've 164 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.200 been understanding is that we are anointed with that enablement already. 165 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:47.759 So if we're anointed with that enablement already, the problem 166 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:54.240 is not a lack of ability. The problem is somewhere 167 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:59.279 between our head and our heart. Now, one of the 168 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:02.559 ways that we love each other is to tell each 169 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:09.840 other the truth. And this is my emphasis today, is 170 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:16.039 that truth. Truth is intricate to love, and love exists 171 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:18.879 within the boundaries of truth, and truth exists within the 172 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:24.120 boundaries of love. That the truth that the two are inseparable, 173 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:28.799 that they are woven together, that you can't have one 174 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:32.000 without the other. When we have a God of love, 175 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:33.600 we have a god of truth. When we have a 176 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.279 God of truth, we have a God of love. And 177 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.120 anything less than the fullness of truth is the absence 178 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.919 of love. And so Jesus was the embodiment of that. 179 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:47.679 We're told in the Word that he's the embodiment of 180 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.600 grace and truth. Instead of the embodiment of the law, 181 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:54.399 the law of Moses, he was the embodiment of grace 182 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:59.120 and truth, love and truth all combined into one being. 183 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:03.519 Truth is central to love, Truth is central to Jesus. 184 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:08.519 Truth is perfect theology. Jesus is perfect theology. Now Satan 185 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:14.000 is the opposite of that. So our former partnership in 186 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:20.039 life was a partnership with satanic methodology. And we have 187 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:23.720 to realize that before Christ came, this was common. Before 188 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:28.879 Christ came, and there came liberty to our hearts and 189 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:31.960 liberty from the demonic realm. We partnered with de seit, 190 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:40.000 That deception de sit was how we fulfilled our desires. Now, 191 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:45.919 whether those desires were unclean desires or clean desires that 192 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:51.399 we before Jesus we built. We climbed our ladder, our 193 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:56.159 corporate ladder, our government ladder, our family ladder, our sexual ladder, 194 00:14:56.200 --> 00:15:01.320 our romantic ladder, our educational ladder, whatever ladder it was, 195 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.440 we climbed. We climbed it on the backs of de seat, 196 00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:11.799 on the shoulders of deception, on exaggeration and falsehood and 197 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:16.960 impurity and uncleanness. So this is how we fulfilled our desires. 198 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:21.440 But when Christ came and we received forgiveness of sin 199 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:27.759 and liberty from that first atom's influence, and we came 200 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:31.519 into Christ, who is the second atom, the fountain head 201 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:35.240 of a new creation, we were liberated from the law 202 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.919 of sin and death, and we were liberated to love. 203 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:46.440 You've been liberated to love now. You can love now 204 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:50.840 because You don't need to climb your ladder on the 205 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:55.000 backs of deception, on the backs of harm, on the 206 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:59.200 backs of theft, on the backs of anything. I don't 207 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:05.039 need to harm you to have my desires fulfilled. Christ 208 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:07.919 is my source. I don't need a cheat from you. 209 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:10.080 I don't need to lie, I don't need to connib 210 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:13.279 I don't need to deceive. I don't need to use exaggeration. 211 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.879 I don't need to use sleight of hand. I don't 212 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:21.279 need to bear any falsehood with regard to my desires, 213 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:25.919 because I've been liberated from all of those methods through 214 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.240 the waters of baptism, and I've come up new in 215 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.679 Christ and in my resurrected life. Christ is my fullness. 216 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:38.840 He's my fulfillment. He's my overcomer. He's my victor. He 217 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.320 is my prosperity and my help. He's my defender and 218 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:46.360 my hope. He's my avenger and my redeemer. He's my restore. 219 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:50.360 He is the builder of my life. He is everything. 220 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:59.159 He's everything wherever we wherever we falter in understanding the 221 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:03.559 fullness of what has become for us. Wherever we falter, 222 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:10.480 then we lapse back into deception. You ever had a 223 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:18.720 temporary lapse. No, and we said no. But then they 224 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:22.480 said it was alive with a temporary lapse right there. 225 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.559 If you know the truth and you fail to tell 226 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:33.079 the truth or expose the truth, you're failing in love. 227 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:40.480 Because love liberates. I'm sorry, you're failing in love because 228 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:49.359 truth liberates. Truth heals, truth delivers, truth perseveres, Truth saves heartache. 229 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:54.079 Truth is a compass. Truth is God's heart, Truth is 230 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:58.839 God's word. The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth, 231 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:07.000 and there's no deception in God. Ephesians chapter four. We 232 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:12.720 jump into these three chapters in Ephesians. Chapter one, two, 233 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.200 and three tell us about our identity, who we've become. 234 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:19.200 Chapter four, five, and six tell us about the behavior 235 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.839 we're called to. Chapter four, I want to read this 236 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:26.079 to you Chapter four, verse seventeen. Are you still okay? 237 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.000 Verse seventeen. So I tell you this and insist on 238 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:32.000 it in the Lord, that you must no longer live 239 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:35.119 as the gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. 240 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:39.680 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the 241 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:42.359 life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, 242 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:47.000 due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity. 243 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:51.200 They have given themselves over to sensuality so as to 244 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:54.519 indulge in every kind of impurity, and they're full of greed. 245 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:59.839 These are gentiles. He's talking about the non Jewish nace 246 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:07.400 of whom now the Church of Ephesies, and those coming 247 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:12.720 to the Lord in ephess were gentile people. So yes, 248 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:17.839 there were Jewish people being saved, even in Ephesis. They 249 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:21.000 were preaching at the synagogue, and Jewish people were coming 250 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.759 to know the Lord. But the majority of the people 251 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:27.440 coming to the Lord in Ephesus as they were sent out, 252 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:31.640 were gentile people who didn't know the Lord. And they 253 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.759 were darkened in their understanding, and they were foolish, and 254 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:38.960 they were blind, and they had hard hearts. And God 255 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:43.519 was fulfilling the prophetic word of Jeremiah. He was reaching 256 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:46.799 into that hard heart, pulling it out through Christ and 257 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:54.839 giving them soft hearts of flesh, new hearts. They've given 258 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:57.400 themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every 259 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:02.359 kind of impurity, and they're full of greed. That, however, 260 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.759 is not the way of life that you learned when 261 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.599 you heard about Christ and were taught in him, in 262 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.680 accordance to the truth that is in Jesus you were 263 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:17.519 taught with regard to your former way of life, that 264 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.079 old person who was put into the water of baptism, 265 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:26.519 to put off the old self, which is being corrupted 266 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:31.279 by its deceitful desires. So the old self was corrupted 267 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:40.279 by deceitful desires and fulfilled through deceitful desires. Put off 268 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:45.359 that old self, and everybody say, put off, and to 269 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.000 be made missus verse fienty three. And to be made 270 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:50.920 new in the attitude of your mind, or to renew 271 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.799 your mind, or to be made in the new in 272 00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:55.680 the spirit of your mind, and to put on the 273 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:58.839 new self, created to be like God in true righteousness 274 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.039 and holiness. Therefore, so we put on the new self, 275 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:10.279 made like God in righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of 276 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:16.480 you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, 277 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:27.799 for we are all members of one body. Falsehood falsehood 278 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:34.000 in any measure, opens the door for injury. When we 279 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:40.799 withhold the truth, we bring injury to one another. Inasmuch 280 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:45.839 as we would never injure ourselves to love one another 281 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:50.119 as we love ourselves, then we put off falsehoods so 282 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:54.880 that we bring no injury to others around us. This 283 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:57.720 is our calling. This is our calling. And so and 284 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:01.319 this way you can see that truth and love that 285 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:06.160 they go together. You cannot separate truth from love. And 286 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:12.039 wherever we walk in any measure of falsehood, then to 287 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:17.039 that degree we are not loving our neighbor as ourselves. 288 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.480 And as we fail to love our neighbor as ourselves, 289 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:28.039 then we also fail to meet the calling, the anointing, 290 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:33.000 the enablement of the grace that dwells in us. We're 291 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:37.079 no longer partnering with that grace that dwells in us, 292 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:57.440 because deception is one of the characteristics of the old nature. Amen, 293 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:03.720 Astra Dwayne, that is so good. I'm absolutely floored by this. 294 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:11.359 Thank you, God, bless you. I appreciate that. Proverb six sixteen. 295 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:15.640 Listen to this one. You doing okay? There are six 296 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:21.319 things the Lord hates. Seven that are an abomination to 297 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:31.720 the Lord. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed 298 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:38.759 innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that 299 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:44.799 make haste to run to evil, a false witness that 300 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:51.519 breathes out lies, and one whose swords says discord among brothers. 301 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:57.559 God hates these things, but because they're not of him. 302 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:04.119 These are of the enemy. Satan is the author of lies. 303 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:09.599 The truth is not in him. He is the fountain 304 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:18.079 head of hatred, disdain, animosity, warfare, enmity, jealousy, every unclean 305 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:23.720 faction that comes between people. Satan is the fountain head 306 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.880 of that. And we are called out of that life 307 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:31.680 completely and called into the liberty of love. I can 308 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.240 love you. It's called the perfect law of liberty. The 309 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.039 law of Christ is called the perfect law of liberty. 310 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:44.119 And I can love you perfectly because I am perfectly 311 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:51.240 love psal I'm fifteen one through five. Lord, who may 312 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.240 dwell in your sacred tent, who may live on your 313 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:57.960 holy mountain, The one whose walk is blameless, who does 314 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:02.880 what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart, 315 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:08.039 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to 316 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:16.640 a neighbor, and cast no slur on another, This is 317 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:21.440 who can dwell in the habitation of the Lord. And 318 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:23.920 the end of that verse five, the end of that 319 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:25.440 I wish I would have kept it, but it didn't. 320 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:28.599 But the end of that it says that he who 321 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:33.119 does these things, they cannot slip like. They cannot slip, 322 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:40.319 they cannot falter. They cannot slip like your life. Your 323 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:44.079 life is built on a warranty better than Kia and 324 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:50.440 Hyundai ten years, undred thousand miles. I don't know, we 325 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:54.799 know whereever they got none. So truth must be married 326 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:58.000 to love. So truth must be married to love for 327 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:01.680 it to bear fruit. Truth must be married to love 328 00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:04.720 for it to bear fruits. So we're called to love. 329 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.799 We're called the truth. But then the next thing I 330 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.559 want you to see is that the truth we're called to. 331 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.759 Everybody said the truth we're called to. The truth we're 332 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:25.279 called to must be married to love. And let's talk 333 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:28.440 about that a little bit. Because I have like a 334 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:31.720 doctorate degree in some of this other stuff, and you 335 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.279 didn't know that, but I have, like this one over here, 336 00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:42.200 speaking the truth with harm. I don't know if you've 337 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:44.640 some of you others in the room might have a 338 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:50.440 doctorate degree. Mine was conferred upon me by the University 339 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:59.319 of Stupid, and so I have a doctorate degree in 340 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:04.079 this one over here. But I'm I've got like a 341 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:07.880 probably a bachelor's. I've earned a bachelor's maybe a master's 342 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:11.559 in this one here over here. Withholding truth? Anybody a 343 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:16.440 master's or withholding truth? You know what I mean, Like, 344 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:20.240 sometimes it's just inconvenient, Like sometimes you don't want to 345 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:23.200 take the time. Sometimes you don't want to bear up 346 00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:28.839 under the situation, Like what if they don't like this? Right? 347 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:33.039 Do I really want to invest in them this way? 348 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:37.880 Do I really want to face the rejection that might come? 349 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:46.200 This is extremely inconvenient? Do I really like confrontation that much? 350 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:53.400 Over here? So what happens is is we withhold the truth. 351 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:59.799 Sometimes we withhold the truth. So the Bible is calling 352 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.759 to and you heard my scriptures already. This is not 353 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:06.319 the preaching of Duwayne. This is the preaching of the Bible. 354 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:13.440 The Bible is calling us to truth and in relationships. 355 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:16.960 The Bible is trying to show us that when we 356 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:22.720 withhold the truth, that we're walking in something less than 357 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:28.039 a gope love. We're walking in We're walking in a 358 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:35.839 degree of disdain, a degree of hatred, a degree of contempt. 359 00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:42.720 So sometimes we withhold the truth. And withholding the truth, 360 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.720 now I've got this line here because what I'm trying 361 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:48.559 to show you is I'm trying to show you that 362 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:51.920 this is this is a zero balance in the bank account. 363 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:57.119 This is a zero balance in the bank account. Here 364 00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:02.920 and so, and all three of these methods right here, 365 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:12.359 these are demonic methods of communicating with one another. Back as, 366 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.440 somebody came up to me after the service this morning 367 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:17.920 and they said, oh, now I know what's going on 368 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:22.720 in my relationship. I said, what is it? Well, when 369 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:25.759 they leave the house, you know they've got conflict in 370 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:28.559 the relationship. And they said, when they leave the house, 371 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:33.119 they say they're going here, but they actually go over here. 372 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:36.880 But they tell me that they were going here. They 373 00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:39.359 just don't tell me the whole thing about going over 374 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:44.759 here too. So they think that they're speaking the truth. 375 00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:49.519 They're in a deception that they're giving me some truth, 376 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:53.559 but they're not giving me the whole truth. So therefore 377 00:29:53.640 --> 00:30:06.200 they're partnering with the unclean realm. If we withhold truth 378 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:10.480 because of our own convenience or our own selfish motive, 379 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:18.240 or because of something unclean, if we withhold truth, then 380 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:23.160 we're partnering with the unclean realm, because we are going 381 00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:29.480 back in our pre baptism state. We're going back in 382 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:34.839 our pre baptism state, and we are resurrecting first atom 383 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:41.559 sinful adom, and we are pursuing the fulfillment of evil 384 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:51.559 desires with deception. Okay, so then sometimes we speak falsely 385 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:54.359 and we have to be careful about that. Sometimes we 386 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:56.720 speak falsely. None we know that the truth is a 387 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.799 very powerful thing. The truth can be hard. The truth 388 00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:04.599 can be offensive. The truth can be injurious. The truth 389 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:08.400 can also be flattering. The truth can build up. The 390 00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:12.920 truth can strengthen. The truth can edify. The truth can 391 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:17.559 give grace. The truth can establish a thing. The truth 392 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:19.839 can be a compass. The truth has a lot of 393 00:31:19.960 --> 00:31:23.319 wonderful attributes. But we also know that the truth can 394 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.640 be harmful. Right, so you try it out for the 395 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:31.000 singing team, and after you were done, we let you 396 00:31:31.079 --> 00:31:33.279 know that you couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, 397 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:41.319 and so you were wounded by that. Maybe you were 398 00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:45.200 wounded by that. But the truth sometimes we have an expression, 399 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:50.079 even in America, the truth hurts. Have you heard that expression? 400 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:53.880 We have that expression, the truth hurts. But the problem 401 00:31:54.039 --> 00:31:58.000