The Ephesians Prayer part 3

Ah Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, la la la la la la la la la Hallelujah. God ruler of the universe, you are. There is There's no one like you, God giver of the deepest dreams you are. There is no one like you.

God think of what tremendous thoughts you are Thinking for God Royal, holy, true you are. And there is no one like you. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Welcome to Love Never Fails. In these last days, revival will come.

but begins with our individual walk and personal relationship with Jesus. Let's join Brother John now. Angels proclaim. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is Brother John.

We're so glad you are listening to us.

Now, it may not be morning where you're listening, but somewhere in the world it is.

So, good morning. I hope that today is a day that you run with everything that God has given you and blessed you with today.

So thankful to be alive and in this world and living, breathing, and having my moving and being in Him. And it's just exciting.

So we have. Been doing some episodes. on the Ephesians prayers. And there's two different prayers. That Paul prayed in the book of Ephesians, one over in chapter one and one here in verse, or in chapter.

Sorry, excuse me, I need to put my glasses on. Yeah, CHAPTER three And His You know, it's one of these things that, listen, if Paul can pray this prayer. Then can we not pray it for ourselves? Can we, if pray, Paul says, I bow my knees before the Lord Jesus Christ, he goes, In heaven and whom earth is named, he goes, remembering you in my prayers.

Well If Paul is praying for the church and praying for us, can we not really just follow this great example of prayer? and pray these prayers over ourselves. And so I wanna pick up With the Ephesians prayer in chapter three and share this with you. He says, Uh Verse 13, wherefore I desire that you faint not in my tribulation, for which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant to you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love, and may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, and the depth, and the height, and to know this love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled to the fullness of God.

Now, unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages and the world without end. Amen.

So today I want to look at this prayer. Because it's such a good Indication of where we should be going. A good, if Paul's praying this prayer, could we not say, hey, this is the end, this is the purpose, this is where we should be going, this is why. You know, why else would he just pray some meaningless prayer? He's praying a prayer.

He's saying, listen, this is it. This is where we want to go. This is what we want to do.

So. He says Out of whom the whole family on heaven and earth is named.

Well, we're part of that family that he would grant unto us, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might. By his spirit in the inner man.

Now I love that. Because we have spoken at length about the inner man. How do we strengthen the inner man? How do we grow the real you and I? Because you see You might be able to touch your flesh, And We are flesh.

We are a soul, but we are also a spirit. And the inner man is what he's referring to. That's the spirit man. That's the you and I that's going to live forever.

So how do we strengthen That inner man. How do we come to a place where Paul goes on here in a little bit to say that you be rooted and grounded in love? And he keeps that thought process. He goes, so that for the perfecting of saints to attaining to the fullest measure of God, no longer children swayed back and forth by the cunning teachings of men. How do we come to that place where we're no longer swayed back and forth by the cutting teachings of men and doctrines?

And it says, tossed to and fro like a ship on the angry or the rough waves.

So. Paul is praying that we would be rooted and grounded in love, and that we would be able to strengthen our inner man. Why? Because that's who you truly are. that who you are, your spirit, Everything's born out of that person, that being.

If you're full of hate and anger and cruelty, that's what you let out into the physical world. If you're full of love and kindness and mercy, that's what comes out into this world.

So, How do we strengthen? I believe we've spoken about it in a number of episodes, but I'm going to assume that this is the first time you've ever listened to us.

Well Romans says that when we're born again, that God sheds or deposits within us a portion of His love. That seed portion, we have to take that and begin to fertilize it, grow it, cultivate it. And how do we do that? Through the Word and the Spirit. Do worship in truth.

When we study the word We are feeding on that. We are consuming that. And We learn from that, we get revelation from that. And because the Bible is not just a physical book. With good stories, history, and all that.

It is a spiritual book. There are things in it that awaken the spirit man. It's spirit food. And then at the same time, when we pray and we spend time with the Spirit of God and we begin to develop. A relationship with him, we're worshiping in spirit, and we're feeding that spirit.

I could say it to you like this. We can When you want to teach somebody something, You have to practice it. And so, a kid that's wanting to learn how to walk. Most of the time they don't just get up and start walking around. They are seeing it with their eyes.

They're hearing it. Their mommy and daddy's encouraging them and trying to stand them up and help them. In Christianity, it's much the same way. We are born again. We don't know this new life.

We don't know the love walk. We don't know what we're really supposed to be acting like. Because even though we came out of the world, we came out of this fallen world. There are kind people in the fallen world. There are nice people in the fallen world.

People use that word love as if it's the end-all-be-all, but yet the phileo kind of love, the man kind of love is nothing like the kind of love that Paul's talking about. When he says that you'd be rooted and grounded in love, he's talking about rooted and grounded in agape, rooted and grounded in the nature of who God is. just in kindness and and pity and compassion. Those can be parts and attributes and attributes and ingredients of God's love. But you don't have to be born again.

To Be kind. And peaceful. Other religions teach that. The difference is that those religions aren't rooted and grounded in agape. There may be rooted and grounded in kindness and brotherly love.

But they're not rooted and grounded in agape. Gape is the nature of who God is.

So therefore, when Paul says that you be rooted and grounded, That you might know the length and the breadth and the depth and the height of that love.

Now, the amazing thing about that. The length The breadth. The depth and the height Wait well, God is eternal.

So exactly how far do you have to go deep? Or how high do you have to go high? to reach the end of that. You know, I I love The scripture that says that he takes our sins and removes them as far as the east is from the west. You know, what's amazing now is that the east never meets the west.

Because no matter where you are, East is always one way, and West is always another. It's eternal. You're never gonna meet East and west, It's always the perspective of where you are. Other people will always be. To the east and the west of you, and your sin, when God's love comes in, it drives.

The length and the breadth of that love drives sin as far as the east is from the west. Why? Because it keeps moving it and moving it and moving it. Why? Because his love never.

Ends. There is no end to his love.

So as he comes in and he You allow him to begin to move through you and and live through you. the love takes those things and carries them as far away and just keeps goin' and goin' and goin'. As far as the East is from the West, as far as the length and the breadth, as far as the height and the depth. His love knows no end. And and When we participate and or As Paul says, we're co-heirs, which means we're join together with him in that.

When we choose To walk as he walks, to live as he lived. We are beginning to access that love, that relationship, that. Lifestyle. We're actually and the best way to say is The New Man. See, when man was created, he was created in the image of God.

When he was created in the image of God, the image of God was not five fingers, five toes, blonde hair, blue eyes, brown skin, black skin, yellow skin, black hair, whatever. Those may all be attributes of God's body, and He may manifest Himself in those ways, but God is a spirit. He is a person, a being, but he is also a spirit. When he first created us in his image, he created us, first of all, spirit, then soul, then body. When man ate up the apple, there was a reversal.

And so the the the nature of the physical body took over. And the whole thing of being born again is that you have to get be born again into the Spirit. And that's what that whole conversation with Jesus and Who was it that he had that conversation with? I want to say Nicodemus, but I know it wasn't Nicodemus, so let's turn there. And Jesus has that conversation with him in the garden.

And the man, the priest is saying, but how can a man be born? Again, he can't crawl back up in his mother's womb. And Jesus says, No, no, no. He must be born of the water. Oh, yeah, it is Nicodemus.

The new birth is still a mystery.

So, listen to Jesus said: Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter. Into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel. not that I said unto you, you must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it liveth, and hearest the sound thereof, and it cannot tell whence it come, whether it goes, and that is every one born of the Spirit. And Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? And because he's questioning, going, how on earth can you know can a man enter back into his mother's womb? And Jesus says, Thou art a master of Israel, and knowest not these things. Verily, verily, I say unto you, We speak of what we do know, and testify what we have seen, and you receive not our own witness.

As I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe them, how then shall I tell you of heavenly things? The amazing thing is, when we become born again, there's a veil that comes off. And now we go from just seeing earthly things to understanding spiritual things. And Nicodemus was confounded because he said, how can I A man cannot enter into his mother's womb again. And Jesus said, that's not what it's about.

It's of the Word, the water, and the Spirit. And what he's speaking of is baptism and the Spirit. And so a man, when he is born again, it's a spiritual thing. And you become born again and your spirit becomes alive to Christ. God deposits a portion of his nature, a new blueprint in you, a new plan.

That's agape. When he deposits that's in you, then it's up to you and I to become rooted and grounded in that, to begin to pursue that. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 1: Therefore, make this your greatest quest in life. There's another verse he says, make this the greatest, your life's adventure to follow after love. Let's turn there.

Let's turn to 1 Corinthians real quick and let me read that to you. And He says My pages are sticking together here.

So he says Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts. but rather that you may prophesy. And what he says when he's saying, follow after love. What he really says Follow after divine love. Make it your greatest quest.

You want to desire this spiritual gift. You want to.

So he's saying follow after love. Make it your greatest quest in life. The adventure in life really truly begins The supernatural. adventure in life. truly begins when you and I begin to follow after love.

You see Maybe. You're interested in being mature. Maybe you're interested in growing and becoming all that God. has said that he wants you to be, but you don't know how. You don't know why.

Maybe you understand that people think you're a little strange, you're a little off. It's not just that you don't dance to a different tune, but people just. You know, ah, yeah, they they don't give you a chance. What I would say to you is one you don't quit. You keep going, you keep moving forward, you follow after this love.

Because what's important is not that others approve of you, not that others think highly of you, not that others even give you a chance. What's important is that you believe what God has said, and you've got to come to a place where you say, I believe the word, I believe what the spirit, the word, and the spirit say more than I believe what people have said about me. People's opinion don't matter to me. What matters is God's opinion of me. You are not ever going to know what God's opinion of you is if you're not in His Word and you're not fellowshipping with His Spirit.

You need to endeavor to become a word and a spirit person. How can you live and move and have your being and grow in this world? And in the things of God. If you don't feed on the Word and the Spirit. You know, there's a there's a uh VISION IN EZECHIAL forty seven and it's a vision of the temple.

And It's an amazing thing. If you go study that, he says there are basically two rivers that come out from under the temple.

Now, in reality, in the in a. In the real, well let's do this. Those two temples proceed out of from under the throne, the temple of God, those two rivers. And those rivers go downstream and become one river. Where the two rivers become one, first they start out at ankle deep.

Then it's knee deep, then it's waist deep, and then it's a river that no man can cross. And many people went around and preached this. 20 years ago is a very popular sermon. And I always thought, well, why don't, wait a second, why don't you guys explain it? Why don't you break it down?

And what they do is they talk about, oh, it's ankle deep in this church, it's waist deep in this church. I was at a church last week, it was knee deep. But in reality, if you understood that scripture, you wouldn't be saying those things because in the day that Ezekiel lived, it was ankle-deep. In the days that Jesus lived, it was knee-deep. In the years from 1000 to 2000, it was.

Waist deep. In the years 2000 on, in the third day, the fourth day from Ezekiel, it's a river that no man can cross. The other thing that I never heard anybody explain that always caught my Attention. In the natural, a river that runs downstream. Gets oftentimes it spreads out and gets shallo shallower.

This river got deeper and deeper and deeper. And but then when you you Think about what Jesus said. He said, Will you not see greater works? And so in Ezekiel's day, it was a Ankle Deep River. Why?

Go do the research yourself. But Ezekiel basically lived four days ago, a little over 3,000 years ago, which would have been four days ago. And so he's looking forward, he's seeing a picture of things to come. And one of the things that happens is in that fourth day from Ezekiel's life, which is sometime after the year 2000, he sees that this river, these two rivers that come together, what are they? They're the word and the spirit.

They come together and they form this one great river that keeps getting deeper and deeper and flows into the ocean. As it flows into the ocean, It says it brings life to everyone it encounters.

Now, it does say that there will be some places left for Marsh. Why? Because even the Bible says not everybody's going to accept Jesus, and not everybody's going to choose to be saved. But it says an interesting thing: it says, and. There would be places for spreading nets, meaning places for like, for instance, my family and I, we go do crusades overseas and we're very cautious and Careful about where we go do that, but we go do crusades overseas.

Why? Because it says that there will be places for spreading nets.

Now it goes on to say that it flows into the sea, into humanity, and everywhere the fish.

Well, we know that Jesus said, I'll make you fishers of men. That's a little insight into these prophetic scriptures. But one of the things it says that whenever the fishermen Bring their catch to the banks of the river.

Now I find that interesting because Jesus himself said, I will make you fishers of men. And what do they do? They preach the gospel.

So anywhere somebody preaches the gospel, they bring their catch to the banks of the river. Which I thought is interesting because it says, On the banks of the river there are trees. And these trees, they bring their catch, their fish, their harvest to the trees. And it says of the trees That their leaves will be for healing and their fruit for life.

Now, if you study out what the fruit is, there's only one spiritual fruit. I know, I know, I know. You're already going to 1 Corinthians 13, the fruit of the Spirit. The uh the or Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is Now, if we go to Galatians and let's run this rabbit trail and let's use a little common sense. Galatians, it tells us first, before it ever starts telling you what the fruit of the Spirit is, love, joy, patience, patience, kindness, all that, it also says the fruit or the result of the fallen nature or the sinful man.

And it describes to you a number of things dealing with the nature of a sinful man, the fruit of a sinful man. The Fallen Man So it's listed pl singularly. Then we get into the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is. Notice that all of that is singularly that way in the original text, too.

So then, why do people start quoting the fruits of the Spirit as if they're all different things? They're not. They're all ingredients of the one thing, which is what? Love. If I were to eat an apple, I would eat an apple.

I would taste its joy. I would feel its patience. I would come upon its seed. But the skin is the self-control. The smell is maybe the whatever.

But the point is: that apple is the apple, that's the fruit. If I were to invite you to my house, say, bring desserts. I'll make a cake, but you guys all bring desserts. We're gonna have coffee and desserts. And you show up at my house.

And you think that I'm going to make a cake, but when you walk through the door, you get a cup of coffee, you come to the table expecting cake, but instead of cake, I have a bowl of sugar, a bowl of eggs, a bowl of baking soda, some bowl of spices, and a bowl of frosting. And there's spoons in each one, and I hand you a plate. Here you go. Would you eat? That raw, uncooked flour, and egg, and sugar, and baking soda.

No, you would look at me like I was a nut. And you would say, Why are you serving me all the ingredients of a cake? Where's the cake? I would rather have a slice of cake, not a bunch of ingredients that I have to mix in my belly.

Well, oftentimes that's how we teach the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. There then should be a grammatical change right there, a semicolon, explaining to you and letting you know, made up of these things, or these are all parts of things, these are all byproducts of love. You are not going to learn to walk in love by studying joy. You're not going to learn how to be patient by or walk in love by studying patience.

But yet, if you study love, every one of those things. will be part of the love walk. If I were to build a house Said, I'm going to build you a house. Come see it in nine months. And you show up, and in nine months, I had a stack of two by fours, a box of nails, all the materials laying around the yard, but there was not a house.

You would fire me and tell me that I'm an idiot. Yeah. And yet that's how we teach love. That's how we teach the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love.

Made up of Or, and within love, you will find patience, joy, kindness, self-control, against which there is no. Why? Why? How could there? He goes on to say that against which there is no law.

Why? Because the law. is love. I mean, see, think about this. We've been teaching all these little topics and ignoring the big love in the room.

Agape. Oops. That's what it's all about. And Paul is telling us here in Ephesians, he's not saying. Paul's pursuit right here is is is not Oh, and I'm in Corinthians now, wouldn't I be?

So let me go back to Ephesians. Give me a second, friends. Ephesians, Paul's pursuit here Is not just that you be patient or joyful or have self-control. You may be able to come, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you being rooted and grounded in agape. May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length, the breadth, and the depth, and the height of his love, and to know the love of God which passes knowledge, that you may be filled to the fullness of God.

Listen. Yeah. If you're driving down a road and you want to get somewhere, and I say, well, you know, go here, go there, and I give you a bunch of bad instructions, you're going to arrive there, not unless you ask for help from somebody else. And what happens is, Paul's saying, listen, I want you to know the fullness of God. How on earth can you know the fullness of God?

If you're not walking in what God is. Ugh. What do you mean, John? Listen. We cannot be God.

We cannot become God. We are servants of God. We are His, as Paul said, His little love slaves, if we pursue love. But God Himself said, Be imitators of me, act like me, treat others the way I treat people. God gives all these instructions, and then we act like that.

The only thing that matters is whether we're wealthy, or whether we have faith, or whether we have self-control, or we have all these different things. Let me say to you, friends, is if you want to keep studying the minors, keep studying the minors. But the major thing that you should be majoring on as a Christian is walking in love. That you would be rooted and grounded in love, and to know the length, and the breadth, and the height, and the depth of this love that surpasses knowledge, so that you, you, that's you out there listening, that you may be filled to the fullest measure of God. If you are filled to the fullest measure of God, that means you're full of agape.

Agape. Hmm. That's what it's all about. I'm not knocking. anybody else.

But what I am saying is that I know because I meet them all the time, and maybe you're out there listening, you're going, Why, God? What about this? There's got to be more. What's wrong? Why haven't I?

Why, why, why, God? Because you've been tossed back and forth. You've followed the fads and the doctrines of the popular culture, church. You wear the cloaks of Christianity, but are you truly pursuing what Christianity is all about. Are you on the way?

There was a point in time where the church was known for its love walk. And I'm saying to you, my friends, that the day is coming quickly when we will be known again. By our love walk. The revival that's coming to this land and to this earth is not coming through the pulpits. It's coming through those who have been rooted and grounded in love and are walking it out.

Brother John, I've never missed a tithe. I've never missed a church service. I've never missed a pastor's sermon. That's fine. Congratulations.

I don't think they'll give you a certificate when you cross the line in heaven, but hey, you will hear.

Well, At least you're done. But see, to hear the reward, well done, thy good and faithful servant, you're going to have to change. You're going to have to become. It's not about whether you didn't miss services, or your name is on the brick on the corner of the building, or your church is the biggest church, or you're able to wear nice clothes to church. It's not about that.

Some of the most incredible saints that I've ever met, some people Who I love to pray with and worship with, don't even own shoes. In other countries, I've eaten things in other countries that in America we wouldn't even want to throw it down in our yard. We would use words like disgusting and gross. And yet this is what people eat. in other countries.

I I've worshipped with people so sick and and wrought with hepatitis and AIDS and all these different things. And man, when they worship God, it convicts me I remember a guy came to our Bible school. And I was so thankful When somebody gave him a pair of shoes I couldn't afford to give him shoes.

Somebody donated a pair of shoes to him. Do you know why I was so thankful? Because every day he would come to class, he'd go get a cup of sugar with a little bit of coffee in it. and he would squeeze in, no matter who was sitting next to me, he would squeeze his chair in. between right next to me, always on my left side.

And I'd sit there the rest of the day teaching, smelling him, and seeing his ugly, nasty. Gate. Because he'd lived on the street so long, his feet were swollen and scaly, he needed Man, I don't think he could have gone into a manicure shop anywhere in the world and they would have been able to do anything for him. And the day he got shoes, I was so thankful. And I'm just being raw.

I'm just being honest. I love him. He's passed. He's gone to heaven. He got saved.

He cried out to God about three months before he passed. But I was so thankful. And the thing is, that's where society had led him. He graduated his high school. In that country, the top of his class.

He was smart.

Well, He got caught up in a cult. One of these Christian cults. Then he got caught up into Islam. Then he went from those two to becoming a witch doctor. They called him Obies.

And then once the devil was done with them, he threw them out on the street, and this guy was sick, dying.

Okay. But he got saved. Praise God But I have to admit, it hurt. It struggled. I struggled.

With His feet. He was so disgusting. hygiene wise, that his gums had turned white, that the day I met him I thought he had a piece of plastic in his mouth. But that's just what lack of hygiene had done to him. But you know what?

Before he passed, He was writing psalms and singing. And even today, as I tell you this story, and I'm just being honest with you, he's a wonderful person. I know he's with Jesus. I look forward to seeing him again. But I even sharing this with you, I hear his song in my head.

He wanted one thing. He wanted love. And he's with love now. Mm. And and I say to you, my friends, that The gospel is not about whether we look the part, whether we dress the part.

Whether We have a good haircut, or we're able to get a haircut every 14 days, or whatever it is. None of that's the gospel. That's just life. The gospel is The good news. that what was stolen from us can be restored to us, And we can grow.

and become the children of God. imitators of God. Religion wants you to believe. That only the five-fold ministry can do those things, that only the anointed few can do those things. But I would say to you.

Where were you excluded in the scriptures from that? Where were you excluded? from knowing God, in that manner. Where were you excluded? Show it to me in writing.

Where were you excluded? From being rooted and grounded in love and being filled to the fullness of God. You can't do it. The only way you could do it is by twisting and corrupting the scripture. When he wrote this prayer, when he prayed this prayer, he was praying over us.

And God is saying. To you and to the church and those around you, he's desiring. How much so do you know he's desiring?

Well, he wrote it in scripture. Paul said it in Romans. that all of creation waits with eager eager. excitement and expectation. That who we are would be revealed.

It says that the sons of God who are the sons of God, the sons of God are the children of love. The sons of love, the sons and daughters of love. That we would be rooted and grounded, love, that we may know the hope to which He has called us. What has He called you to? As he is, and as he is, so are we in this.

No way. He's called you. to become love. Not for Lejo. not brotherly.

Not even a gap of But agape. Jesus said, Have I not said you are little gods? That's what He's referring to. You have the potential within you. To fulfill destiny, to fulfill the desires of God's heart.

If you and I You know, I don't know about anyone else, but I kind of try to live, and I'm maybe not as good at it as I should be, but I try. To live in a manner pleasing to God that causes others to praise God. That's my that's one of my f Johnisms. That's one of the things that I do. I remember the day I said it, I said, you know what, God?

I'm tired of living to everyone else's expectations.

So what I'm going to do is live in a way that you are pleased and people praise you because of me. I will do everything within my power to make right any situation in which I believe God. Is not being glorified. I will do everything in my power to bring peace and love to a situation. I will not walk away unless I absolutely am told to or have to.

I want God to be glorified in my business, in our ministry, in our preaching, in my life as a husband and as a father. And I'm not perfect. But if I can live in a manner that brings glory and honor and praise to him. Then My life will mean something at least to him. One of my favorite stories and one of my heroes of our faith.

is found in the book of Acts. Cornelius. Cornelius Was not a Jew. He was not a Christian. Says that he was an Italian of the Italian band.

And He was just a Gentile. Not born again, none of that. He probably had bad religion. Bad theology. He didn't go to Bible school.

He was obviously not going to church every Sunday. He probably had never heard about tithing. He'd never heard about church membership. He had no idea that cars would ever be invented. That big houses would ever exist.

But Obviously he had some money because An angel came to him, Why would an angel come to Cornelius, an unsaved Man. With bad theology, bad religion, who knows what else. The angel said this he says, Cornelius, Your alms and your giving to the poor has come up as a memorial offering before God.

Well, that right there tells you. Why God sent an angel. Cornelius. And you may know the rest of the story: that Cornelius went on, Peter came to him, and he became the first Gentile. Family is recorded in Scripture.

You and I, as Gentiles, We are Jews. By faith, but the Gentiles, we owe our roots to him, you could say. But what was it that got God's attention? As a memorial offering. Your alms and your giving to the poor.

And I studied that, I studied that, I studied that. I said, what?

Well, 2 Corinthians says that whenever. It says, Paul's talking to the Corinthian church, he goes, your obedience that accompanies your confession of faith. Your obedience that accompanies your confession to faith. What's he talking about? He's talking about giving.

He says it comes up before God. And if you picture the throne, there's a scripture, and I believe it's Isaiah talks about that in front of the throne of God that there are these giant bowls, vials, golden vials, just full. Of what's called worship, praise and worship. It's an incense, and it comes into the nostril of God. And Corinthians, Paul's painting that picture says, whatever we give out of.

Out of obedience to accompany our own confession. The only thing we're really being obedient to is our own confession. And so when we give, it causes others to praise God. And that praise and that worship goes up to God. And comes into those giant vials, bowls, and they're like a sweet aroma in God's nostrils.

It catches his attention and he goes, Who sent that mail to me today? Who sent me that praise to day? Oh, well, that saw th this little boy named Chris.

Well, why did Chris say that?

Well, because Brother So and So did this and this and this. God says, you know what? Get down there and give brother so and so and so and so whatever he Ask for. Whatever he's been desiring. Why?

Because you caught God's attention. How? by causing others to praise him through your giving. That's it. And if you need another scripture, it's all about the giving.

Why? Cornelius was giving alms to the poor Your alms and you're giving to the poor.

So Really, we can say this because if he's given to the poor, he's giving. He's not loaning, he's not keeping track of, but he's giving a no strings attached giving. Giving is one of the first evidences. of love. In your heart.

You want another scripture for that? For God so loved the world he Cave. When we give It causes people to praise him. But when we give It also causes God to notice us, but also we are demonstrating. What we say we are.

A child of God, a Christian, a love. And so when you begin to walk in that way, as Jesus was a member of the way, Paul was a member of the way, most of Jeremiah and the prophets of those days were members of the way, a sect that they, it was a way, it was a sect of Jews that was looking for the Messiah. And they're the ones who hid the temple artifacts and all that. But it's an interesting study. You should go study it.

But Jeremiah said something. That is so key. He was begging. The religious leaders and the authorities of that day to get right with God. Begging them.

And they're like. Jeremiah. You dummy. We're Jews. We go to church, we obey all the rules, we go to every fast, we go to every ceremony, we kill exactly what we're supposed to kill and we offer exactly what sacrifice we offer.

Jeremiah, we're doing everything right. And how who are you to come condemn us and tell us to get right with God? I mean, that's basically what they did. They mocked him. And he kept saying, I tell you what, you better get right with God.

You better repent. You better get back in love. Go back to the ancient path. That's what he said in 616. Choose you this day which path you will choose.

and he implored them he said, Follow the ancient path.

Now, think about this. The Jews Had several hundred years at this point. Of The Jewish law, the traditions and everything from Moses. And yet, here's a prophet of God saying to the people. You need to get right with God.

You're missing it. And they're like, you're an idiot. They they eventually threw him in a well. But Isn't it interesting that Jeremiah used the word, he called it an ancient path? If it was ancient in Jeremiah's day, how ancient is it now?

Because you see, he was arguing with the preachers and the pastors and the shepherds who were claiming that they were doing everything right. But, and they were crying, peace, peace, peace. And Jeremiah said, No, no, no, no. captivity. captivity destruction But he was right.

And it's interesting because Jeremiah is saying the path. The ancient path. The Ancient Path John 13:34, Jesus said, Today I renew with you. the old command. The original command Jeremiah's begging him get on the ancient path.

Well, if if the religion that they were following, Judaism, Was in his eyes causing all these problems, and it wasn't the way, it wasn't the right path. Where was he asking him to go?

Well, you have to go back before Moses. What was it? What was it at Enoch and Abraham? And Noah walked in that caused God to talk to them and cut covenant with them and to Walk with them. And yet this is what Paul is saying, that we would come to that place in revelation insight to know the length and breadth and depth and the height of God's love for us, that He would walk with us.

If it was ancient in Jeremiah's day, How ancient is it now? It is not though I write you a new command, a new way of life. But one we've had from the beginning. The beginning, the beginning. That's an eternal word that doesn't mean the beginning of Christianity, the beginning of Judaism.

It means it's the Greek word arch, which has an eternity associated with it. You can never go back and find that beginning. Why? Because it's a length and a breadth and a depth and a height of God's love. It's that far away.

It's always never you'll never reach it. And yet John said, it's not as though I write you a new command. But one we've had from The beginning.

Some of you out there You have controversy within yourself, within your heart, within your soul, within your homes, because you're doing everything religion and the cloaks of Christianity says to do. But you're not walking in the way. You're not on the ancient path. Your doctrines and the doctrines of your church mean more to you. Then your own spirit, man.

your own growth. Your own.

Well? Obedience. Because Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey me.

So, maybe outwardly you're doing everything right. You've got your act together. But do you really? How do you test the spirit? First John tells us, Therefore test the spirits.

And the first thing it says, and a lot of people stop with this, is anyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord.

Okay, that's step one. But he goes on with four more steps. And every one of them is about love. Do you love the brethren? Do you love those?

who despitefully use you. Can you forgive and forget? I don't go in there. I'm going to find it and I'll read it to you, and we'll close this episode out. Kind of been a subdued episode.

For we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous him. For whoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. I love the fact that he ties love and knowing God with being born again. And and but let me back up.

We love him because he first loved us. If a man say I love God, but hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this is his commandment that we have for him, that we love, that we love it as God loved as well. But listen to these.

Let me read these.

So what it says is in verse 4: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they are from God, because there are many false prophets gone out in the world. Hereby we know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus is Lord, that's one.

Okay, that's one. Two, they are of the world, therefore they speak of the world, and the world heareth them. Do people you deal with speak of the world? Are they always talking? World Talk What's coming out of their mouth?

Is it righteousness and holiness? Or is it. Foul, corrupt language? Are they gossipers? Do they revel in all that kind of stuff?

And he says, We are of God, and he that knoweth God heareth us, and he that is not of God has not this. For hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

So he's still talking about testing the spirits. Here's the next one. This is the uh And that was the third one. Hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

So that is the other one, because we know anyone that heareth not God is not going to hear what we have to say. But he says this: He goes, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loves is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. Here's another verse.

Hereby we know that we dwell in Him, He in us, because He has given us His Spirit, and we have seen and testified that God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

So here it is. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to also love one another. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is made perfect in us.

So he ties twice in testing the spirits in chapter. This is just if you want to go read it for yourself, is 1 John chapter 2. Chapter 4.

Sorry, didn't have my glasses. I knew it wasn't 6. I was like, wait a second, it doesn't go that far. But so, how do we know? See, God ties.

Salvation in the born-again experience with love. And I'm not talking about unconditional mercy, God, love. I'm talking about the transformation of love. Because see, Christianity is not just get saved, get an insurance policy, move on.

Well That might be Christianity as a lot of people know it. But being a child of God has nothing, it starts there. With getting saved, acknowledging that he is the Savior of the world and he is sent of God, born of a virgin, all of that. He identifies that twice in that chapter. But he also ties salvation with the transformation of walking in love.

How can you call yourself a child of God if you don't love others? That's the way, that's the commandment, that's the path. That Jeremiah spoke of. Doesn't matter how many times you've been to church, how many sermons you can recite, or how many big crusades and events you go to, who you chase down. You will wear yourself out and expend all you've got chasing after people when all you really need to do is begin to practice, be rooted and grounded in love, to begin to affectionately and fervently begin to walk in love.

As Paul said, to make it your greatest quest. When you begin to walk and follow after love, things in your life will begin to change. Many of you are in stalemate. In your life. That's the best way.

I'm stuck. I'm in a rut.

Okay. You won't admit it to your pastor. But you're stuck. Your life has reached a stalemate. Why?

Because you won't choose sides. Mm. And you've got to choose a side. And if you're going to choose the side that God is on, that means you're going to have to choose love. You're going to have to walk in love.

You're going to have to pursue love. You're going to have to become love. And the way you become love is by beginning to practice love. You've got to begin to pursue and follow after love with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your being. There's no way around it, my friend.

Well, Brother John, the revival's coming and it'll change everything. Yeah, you're right. Because the revival that's coming is going to draw people out in love. Yeah. I'm telling you, the revival that's coming is not coming, and it's not starting in the pulpits of America.

And it's not going to. But it will begin and end with love. It is the major. It is how you get your PhD in Christianity. By becoming love.

You follow after and become love. Paul said, Make this your greatest adventure, your greatest quest. Therefore, follow after love. He said in Ephesians 5.1, Be imitators of God and walk in love, agapeo, the practice and daily pursuit of loving others. My friends, I'm trying to encourage you, I'm trying to wake you up, I'm trying to jar you a little bit, I'm trying to say to you, you stand at a crossroads, and today is your day.

Choose the path. Will you choose the ancient path, or will you choose the current path? Mm. You will know soon enough. You can't stay in the middle.

You've got to choose one. And you will know soon enough. And so will everybody else, if you didn't make a choice. It will be revealed. Mm-hmm.

So, listen, we love you, we appreciate you, we thank you for listening to Love Never Fails. I hope that you will always, as you go out tomorrow this week, remember these two things: Jesus loves people. And love never fails. Thank you for listening to Love Never Fails as We Pursue Revival. Remember, Jesus loves people and love never fails.

For more information on Love Never Fails and ministry events, please email us at love neverfails with brojohn at gmail.com. That's love neverfails with B-R-O-J-O-H-N at gmail.com. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah