Tonight I want to talk to you about reality within Kingdom
love. Reality within Kingdom love.
If you have your hard copy Bible or your digital instrument, go
ahead and turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1.
But it's important that you follow along.
I'm going to help you tonight with some Bible reading.
We're going to read a whole chapter so you can almost maybe
check off something on your on your Bible reading plane.
We're going to read Ephesians 1 the whole chapter and I'm going
to give you a focal point as we read.
So before I take off in this, I want to go and define one word.
And I want you to see this word as we read through Ephesians
chapter 1. So we're going to be looking for
the word in in. All right, Everybody say in so
we know what word, what word we're looking for.
OK, I'm reading from the New King James Version.
I do want to define this. The word in means this.
It denotes a fixed position, a fixed position in place, time or
state. It also means of those with whom
someone is in near connection, an intimate union, one not
oneness in mind, heart and purpose.
So when we are in something there, that means there's an
intimate connection, intimate union, there's oneness in heart,
mind and purpose and we're in a fixed position when you're in
something, say in. So let's launch out from
Ephesians chapter 1. It says Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ. By the will of God to the Saints
who are in Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed, blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just
as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the
beloved. In Him we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of His grace, which He has made a bound toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the
mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He
purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of
times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on the earth in Him.
In Him we also have obtained inheritance, being predestined
according to the purpose of Him who works out all things
according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted
in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
In Him You also, after you trusted her, the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession to the praise of His glory.
Therefore I also after heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ and your love for all the Saints.
I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you
in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation,
and the knowledge of Him. The odds of our understanding
being enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of His
calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in
the Saints, and what is exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty
power, which He worked in Christ, when He raised him from
the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places, far above, far above all principality and power, and
might and dominion, in every name that is named, not only
this age, but also in the one to come.
He's put all things under His feet and gave Him to behead over
all thanks to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him
who fills All in all. I want to key in on to launch
out on Ephesians chapter one verse #7 it's one of the verses
that we read within that chapter.
It says in whom? In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to
the riches of his, of his grace. Thank God we are redeemed.
Thank God for the blood that's on the Mercy sea.
Redemption is deliverance from the penalty of sin and
transgression. Redemption is the recalling of
captives and sinners from captivity.
Through the payment of the ransom, the death of Christ.
Was the ransom what Christ paid to release us from slavery of
sin? There's deliverance and
redemption. There's freedom and and
redemption. Jesus paid the ransom for us.
A ransom is money or the price that is paid to redeem a
prisoner or slave for goods captured by an enemy.
And he can. Restore us to liberty and to the
original owner. Amen.
We are redeemed. Say I'm redeemed.
Redeem means you've been bought
back. What Adam lost through
disobedience in the fall and death passed to all men.
There had to be a payment made, and on our own merit, on our own
works, on our own effort, we could not match that payment for
eternal life or relationship. With the Lord Jesus Christ,
there's only one person. Who could have paid that price
and who did pay that price to liberate us?
Listen, we were in shackles because the Bible says whatever
you has dominion over you is what you're slave to.
If you go to Romans chapter 6 and when you're in
unrighteousness, you're a slave to unrighteousness because you
don't have the nature. It hasn't been released or
regenerated or born again to serve the Christ.
And so a payment had to be made and that payment was made
through Jesus Christ. And so I'm going to give you a
few scriptures just to back this up.
In first Peter chapter 1 verses verses 18 and 19, it says
knowing that you were not redeemed with the corruptible
things like silver or gold, doesn't matter how much money
you have in the earth or how much means you have in the
earth, you cannot with that means buy your way out of
slavery and sin. You are not redeemed with
corruptible things, but we are redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Galatians chapter 3 verse #13 Galatians chapter 3 verse #13
says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having
became a curse for us. For it is written cursed as
everyone who hangs on a tree. He took on the curse for us and
now we're blessed. Say I'm blessed because of
Jesus. Say I'm blessed because of
Jesus, because of his payment, the curse has been released.
He freed us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin.
I'll say it again, He, he released us from the penalty of
sin, and his blood also released us from the power of sin.
As a new creation believer, you don't have to be dominated by
sin. You can live a holy life set
apart to God. Let me say you should, you
should, you should. You should be grateful every day
when you wake up that his blood is on the mercy seat.
If Cain's blood speaks from the ground, how much more does Jesus
blood still speak today? It says free, delivered, healed,
whole. We were guilty, we were guilty,
death passed on to all men and we had the sentence upon us.
It's just like in the natural somebody committed murder, there
is a penalty according to our laws within this country,
correct? And you go before a judge and
that judge determines a sentence.
It could be life, it could be the death penalty.
But whoever committed that crime, they found them guilty
because of the verdict, right? The facts, the circumstances
actually took place and the only way they're going to get out
though, naturally speaking, if somebody could take their place.
And that's what Jesus did. It was like we were in prison
for life. We're on death row and Jesus
said, listen, I'm going to come into the prison for you.
I'm going to open the gate because the price had to be
paid. God just didn't wink at it, just
didn't let excuse it, just didn't let it go.
He sent his son and said I'm going to satisfy justice 'cause
nobody deserved to die. Somebody died.
Now that there's got to be the penalty's got to be passed on to
somebody. So every morning when you wake
up, you can think, man, he set me free.
I was in prison, so to speak, in slavery.
But he opened up the door and I can come out and I can live for
him. So legally we've been redeemed.
Colossians chapter 1 verses #14 says in whom Jesus, this is from
the Amplified Bible in whom we have redemption because of his
sacrifice resulting in the forgiveness of sins and the
cancellation of sins penalty. He forgave sin but also
cancelled the penalty of sin. So because of the redemption,
the blood of Christ will redeem from the power and penalty of
sin. And now we can live before Him
in a holy, righteous, pleasing, obedient way that glorifies His
name. In Galatians chapter 4 verse #5
the word says this. Jesus redeemed those who were
under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons.
He redeemed those that were under the law that we may be
adopted as sons, not only to redeem us from the penalty of
sin, the power of the sin. Not only did he justify us and
impute his nature to us, but He also positioned us to be a son
and daughter of the King. Oh, if we could get a hold of
this as a church body. Some think it's it's good enough
that he just paid for the penalty of sin.
Others understand that He's released me from the power of
sin, but He's also positioned me because of His redemption, to be
a son or a daughter of the King. I think our prayer needs to be,
Father, help me to think like the son or daughter of a king.
Get Me Out of stinking, thinking, slavery mentality.
I'm not a victim. I'm not a victim, Hallelujah.
I'm not from the wrong side of the tracks.
I have the DNA of the Lord Jesus Christ on the inside of me.
I have the genealogy of a thoroughbred, a champion of all
champions. I'm in the bloodline of Christ.
Whatever MyHeritage was before, it ceased, and now I'm in his
line, in his genealogy, and I can take his name.
I'm in Christ, I'm positioned, I'm in intimate union with him.
I'm near to Him. I'm in oneness of mine heart and
purpose. That's the legal side of being
in Him. Legally speaking, you've been
redeemed. Legally speaking, the penalty's
been paid. Legally speaking, the power of
sin has been broken over your life.
Legally speaking, you've been positioned and destined to be
adopted as a child of the King. But are you living it out
vitally, 'cause there is a legal side and there's a vital side,
there's a legal side and there's a vital side, and the vital side
means there's actually life. You're actually experiencing the
truth of the Word of God. Let me give you this example.
In a marriage covenant, legally you could be wed legally.
You could be married legally if you're a man in the Kingdom,
Hallelujah. In the Kingdom, if you're born a
man, you marry a woman that was born a woman, Hallelujah.
And Lee, that's legal in the Kingdom of God, right?
And she could take your name. So legally you've been wed, but
vitally, is their life in that relationship?
I'll put it this way, you can have a relationship, but
vitally, you may not be having some fellowship.
Let me put it this way. Legally you could have a house,
but vitally you don't have a home because you're not in the
Word and vitally applying it to your life.
I'll say it this way, you're not experiencing God's best because
you're not actually staying in. Don't vacillate.
Don't straddle the fence at a men's meeting.
I'd say if you straddle the fence and you fall, that would
hurt. Hallelujah.
In Revelation, he said don't be lukewarm.
Be all in be hot for Christ, right on a on a team, a sports
team or even on a work team, you could be legally employed.
You could be legally on a team, right, but you may not have all
the buy in vitally. Some of the best teams that have
gone on sports teams to accomplish the most in the year
have a thing called chemistry or buy in.
And some of the worst teams, even though they're legally on
the team, they're not all in vitally and they're more about
themselves than they are about the team.
And therefore they're not experiencing the success that
they should be having. So my goal tonight is to bring
the legal side and the vital side and have us walk this thing
out all in because this is in Christ realities, in Christ
realities. There are so many in Christ
realities. I'm just going to hone in on one
tonight that's going to be staying in love.
But I could talk about being in confession, in forgiveness,
right in meditation, in giving. I could talk about all these
different in Christ realities. Are you doing them vitally, even
though the legal side's already there because he came to give
you life and to give it to you more abundantly legally, that's
done now vitally, if you want to experience it, you better learn
how to walk it out, elbow your neighbor and say walk it out,
elbow the one on the other side. What say walk it out?
So these are in Christ realities and truth and reality are
synonymous. Reality means the state of
things as they actually exist. You know, reality shows are not
reality. I'll say it again, reality TV
shows are not reality. Something happens when they turn
on that camera. It's not reality.
It's called a show put on. Amen.
So reality's a state of things as they actually exist, or what
actually happened, or what the actual situation is.
It means real. So truth and reality are
synonymous. Real means it's true, it's
genuine. It's not artificial.
It's not genetically modified. I'll go to Romans 1, which my
wife has quoted this several times.
It's talking about, you know, the reprobate mind and they gave
themselves over, they serve the creature more than the creator.
They didn't really serve reality.
They didn't serve the genuine. They serve the art of they say
were serving the artificial. They were serving the
genetically modified. And God said he gave them over
to reprobate mind. And it says that the women left
the natural use and we're with other women.
Men did the same thing. One translation of this in
Romans 125 says for they exchanged the reality of God for
the unreal. So John 14, six, we know this
one. It says I am the way, the truth
and the life. I could say this way.
He's the way, the reality and
the life. Because truth and reality are
synonymous. It's genuine, it's authentic,
it's real. John 1613 says when he the
spirit of truth, I could say the spirit of reality has come.
He will guide us into all reality or all truth.
He wants you to be in Christ and have that reality of who you
are. In that truth, in that reality,
are you with me? The human heart cannot find no
reality outside of the man Jesus Christ.
The new creation is real. Our fellowship with the Father
is real. Now I'm going to give you a
couple examples from the word of two different people and then
we're going to get in the Kingdom love.
But I want to kind of set the context to get you to buy all in
because my prayer is when you leave tonight, we just don't
have a good message, but we actually apply this to our lives
and any adjustments. Anything's we anything we need
to correct anything we need to be in more.
Let's get there. You need to make the choice.
Your friend can't do it for you. Your spouse can't do it for you.
You need to choose to be in Christ, not just legally, but
vitally, and walk this thing out to experience God's best in his
plan and his pathway for your life.
So let's look at the life of Peter first in Pete, Peter in
Matthew chapter 16. Verses 13 through 19 it says
this. When Jesus came into the region
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, Who do men
say that I, the Son of Man AM? So they said some say John the
Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, one of the prophets.
He said to them, but who do you say that I am?
Simon Peter answering, said, You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Jesus answered and said to him,
Blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven, and I
say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.
Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Now in this encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter had the
revelation that he was the Messiah.
And notice his name was Simon Barjona.
But look what Jesus said after he had the revelation that he is
the Christ. He said and your name is Peter.
So he changed his name. You know God is in the business
of changing your name and your identity.
God is in the business of changing your name and your
identity. All of us had a BC life.
Jacob in the Old Testament had a
name change. His name meant con artist or
trickster. But when he had an encounter
with God Almighty on the way to Laban's house, God changed his
name. He said your name should no
longer be called. Jacob said he should called
Israel. For you have prevailed with God
and man. And we don't need to see
ourselves as we used to be. We need to see ourselves as God
created us to be. I know if I was able to have
conversation of people I went to high school with, they would be
blown away at me right now because I am not the same
person. And my name among this body is
way different than my name and my reputation in high school.
And that's a good thing. Glory to God, and yours should
be too. Amen.
And he gave Peter this revelation and said, you're not
going to be called that anymore. Your name is Peter, which means
it's a piece of a large rock. You shouldn't be shaking
anymore. You shouldn't vacillate anymore.
You should be all in with me, united in harmony and concord
with me and oneness of mind, purpose and heart.
Peter, I'm calling you who you are because you know who I am.
And you're only going to find out who you are when you know
who he is, because our true identity in reality is found in
him. Your job doesn't identify who
you are. Your bank account doesn't
identify who you are. Even your last name doesn't
identify who you are. What identifies who you are is
in the Kingdom of God with the Lord Jesus Christ.
So Peter in Luke chapter 22. Though it's interesting when
trials, tests, and temptations hit, I find it fascinating that
Peter has this revelation in Matthew 16.
Jesus tells him who he is and you would think once we heard it
the first time you would just be in that.
You realize you don't always get everything the first time you
hear it right or apply it every time that you get that you heard
it for the first time, second time, third time it.
Repetition is important in the learning process.
So at the end of Jesus ministry before he's going to the cross,
he says this he the Lord said to Peter, he said Simon, Simon.
I find it interesting that he he called him back to the name that
he had before the revelation that he was Christ the Messiah.
He said Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as
we, but I have prayed for you that your faith failed not and
when you are converted, strengthen the brethren.
When I read this I thought why didn't Peter say Lord, that's
not my name. You said it's not Simon.
You said it's Peter a large rock.
So he forgot what the Lord said he was supposed to be in Legally
he's always Peter, but vitally he reverted back to Simon.
Simon and a man without a vision for the future will always
return to the past. And we know this from John,
because how is the devil going to tempt Peter?
We read on. He says that Satan's going to
come. He's asked to sift you as wheat.
And he said you're going to deny me three times.
Before the rooster crows. And we find over in John 21 that
Peter went back to fishing cause a man without a vision for the
future always returns to the past.
But Jesus prayed for me said I pray that your faith fail not
there is consequential actions for of sin is guilt.
When you miss the mark you going to shame and hiding.
We need to have a soft conscience to the word of God,
the truth and reality of the word.
Don't ever let your conscience get seared.
A seared conscience is an an act of conscience, which means you
don't feel any regret for wicked behavior or immoral conduct.
And we always want to be soft before the Lord, meaning I
always have a heart to repent and get things right.
When King David was confronted by the prophet Nathan, he said I
am that man. He didn't pass the block buck.
He didn't pass the responsibility.
He said I am that man's soft conscience before God.
And I like what Jesus said. He said when you're converted,
strengthen the brethren. So Jesus knew this is going to
happen. He was praying for his faith not
to fail. You are not out of God's reach
even if you've missed it. But I'm telling you that
tonight, you don't have to miss it if you stay in him.
The same way that Jesus is praying for Peter.
He's interceding on our behalf right now and he's what he's
saying is staying in the truth. Stay in the reality of who you
are. Don't deviate, don't vacillate,
don't compromise to who I've called you to be in Mark chapter
16 verse #7 Think about how bad Peter felt when he heard that
rooster crow the third time. He he put his head down in
shame, 'cause he knew he missed it.
He knew he blew it correct? And he went, he went to hide and
he went back to fishing. But look what Jesus said.
Mark 16 after Mark 16-7 after the resurrection.
Actually, this is an Angel. When they went to look in the
tomb and Jesus wasn't there, there was an Angel there and
they said, but go tell his disciples and Peter, he's going
ahead of you in the galley there.
There you will see him just as he told you.
That was a place where he welcomed Peter back into
fellowship with him. Peter probably loved the fact
that Jesus singled him out by name to get him because he
probably didn't know his standing with him.
He's thinking I've blown, I've gone too far, I've missed it.
Jesus doesn't want me around. But Jesus said, no, I want you
back in me, so get back up. The Bible says a just man falls
down, but he rises back up. The problem is, is when we miss
it, we tend to throw off the wrong things.
We throw off prayer, we throw off going to church, we throw
off goat reading the word. The legal side of forgiveness is
it's done by the blood of Christ.
The vital side is first. John 19 if you confess your sin,
he is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you
from all unrighteousness. And so Peter was able to repent,
you're able to repent, and you're able to get back in
fellowship with God Almighty. So that's the good news.
The vital side says this, of our relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. James chapter 4 verse #8 says
draw near to me, and I will draw near to you.
God's waiting on some of you tonight.
Legally, it's been paid vitally, you need to make your move and
say I'm coming after you. God.
Some people say, where's God? He's never moved.
You're the one that got out of position.
Get back in position. Just like the parable of the
prodigal, we think God's going to hit us with a giant fly
swatter and smash us. No, when the Dick in the in the
parable of the prodigal, when the son was in the pig slop, his
attitude changed from give me my inheritance to make me.
And when you have that attitude, Lord, just make me.
Just make me guess what? The father's arms are wide open,
just like in that parable. They're saying, come on home.
He was waiting for him. Draw near to God and he will
draw near to you. So don't forget who you are.
Turn to your neighbor and say don't forget who you are.
Tell them stay in Christ. Now, this isn't gospel, but this
is Coach Boone from Remember the Titans.
They're getting ready to get on the bus.
And Coach Boone looks at Gary said take a good look at her.
Because what you get on that bus, you ain't got no Mama no
more. You got your brothers and you
got this team and you got your daddy.
Now who's your daddy? If you want to play on this
team, you answer me when I ask you who's your daddy?
Whose team? Is this your team or your
daddy's team? And God saying this is my team,
this ain't your team. No selfish ambition, no lost
identity, no selfishness, no fake Trinity.
Me, myself and I, we're all in on the real Trinity, the
genuine, the real God Almighty. El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh,
Jehovah Makidish. Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Tiskanu,
Jehovah Nisi. My victory.
Hallelujah, Jehovah, Shalom. God, my peace.
I'm in him. He's Adonai, the total majesty,
total authority in my life. He is Jehovah Rohy, the one who
leads me and guides me and protects me.
He is Elohim, the Creator and the governor of this universe,
and I'm in him and it's his team.
I know who my daddy is. I know who my name is.
So Banaya and the Old Testament knew who he was in Second Samuel
23 verses 20 through 22. Second Samuel 23 verses 20
through 22, it says Banaya, this is one of the mighty men of
David, was the son of Jodiah, the son of a valiant man from
Cabazeel who had done many deeds.
He had killed 2 lion like heroes of Moab.
He had also gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on
a snowy day, and he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man.
The Egyptian had a spear in his hand.
So he went down in with a staff, wrestled the staff, the spear
out of the Egyptian's hand, and he killed him with his own
spear. These things Banaya, the son of
Joe Idai did and won a name or a reputation among the three
mighty men. Although he wasn't part of the
three of the chief mighty men, he still had a reputation of the
three. And I bring up Banaya 'cause he
never forgot who he was. He was in position.
I like what the Scripture says about him.
It says he was the son of a valiant man and he knew who he
was. He knew whose lineage he was in
and he never lost that position. And so the story should
encourage you don't ever lose the position.
Once he began a good work in you, he'll complete it.
The thing I like about Daniel is he started right, he stayed
right, and he ended right. The thing I like about Banaz, he
started right, he stayed right, and he ended right because he
knows he was a son of a valiant man.
And listen, we've been adopted into the family of God, and we
are the sons and daughters of a valiant king.
Valiant means I have strength, I have force.
I am a force to be reckoned with.
No matter where I go, I have a presence about me.
I have an atmosphere. It's not me.
It's no longer I that live, it's Christ that's in me.
When I walk into Walmart, when I'm at the gas station, when I
go to Bailey's gym, wherever I am, there I am.
I bring all that's within me. The hope of glory.
Christ and Bonilla stayed right. Listen, there's going to be
challenges in life. There's going to be tests.
There's going to be circumstances you're not going
to tip through. Tiptoe through the tulips on a
flowery bed of ease. In this walk with Christ.
There's going to be some mountaintop experiences and
there's going to be some valley experiences.
And thank God for the mountaintop.
But things grow in the valley and Banaya.
His name means Jehovah has built me.
His name is Bill, me or he's built me up.
And you need to be built in Christ.
And if you haven't been built in Christ, start now.
Preparation is the evidence you believe something's coming.
There was a sign at a store, a flower store one time that a
person saw it said the best time to plant a seed was 25 years
ago. The second best time is to plant
it today. And preparation is the evidence
that you believe something's coming.
So get built up. You don't wait for trouble to
hit and then say, let me try to get built.
You're reactive, not proactive. You get in the Word, you stay in
the Word. The Bible says meditate in the
Word day in night. Why?
So you could be built up when something comes.
Matthew Chapter 7 The winds and waves come to all of us.
One was not prepared. One was because they started the
building project on the rock and they stayed on the rock and in
the rock. I like benign though, because he
was all in. That's what I want you to get is
to be all in tonight. All in, all in on Christ's
realities, all in on truth, all in on his team, all in on who
your daddy is, all in on who your identity is in him.
And Banaya, this one thing that he did, this one thing, he had
many different feats, but I like this this part of the story
where it said he went into a pit on a snowy day and he killed a
lion. I just see Banaya walking by and
I'm thinking, dude, it's a challenge on a snowy day to get
in a pit without a lion and try to get Buck out of the pit.
But you went in a pit with a lion.
That's a bad dude. I mean, you're all in at that
point because if you don't win, you die.
And I just, he just wanted to pick a fight.
I think some of us just need to pick a spiritual fight.
He wasn't scared, He was not scared.
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but power loving, a
sound mind. And ain't no devil in hell going
to Take Me Out, tell me who I am.
I'm going to put him where he belongs, under my feet.
So but now I went down there and just annihilated the line and
got out of the pit. That's a bad dude.
And I like the other story too,
because what the enemy went for bad.
No weapon form to get yourself prospered.
Just like King David took Goliath's sword, right?
Benaiah in one of his fights took the other guy's spear, took
it out of his hand and just killed him because he knew who
he was in Christ. Now turn with me to Romans
chapter 5 verses one through 5. Romans chapter 5 verses one
through 5. This is training for reigning
and schooling for ruling. Get built up right now, stay in
Christ. So before we read these few
verses, I want to give you Ephesians chapter one verse #4
because this is my main take away of what I want you to leave
with tonight, of what to be in for this message.
We're going to be in love, intimately acquainted with love,
oneness and mind, purpose and heart.
We're going to be in a fixed position of love.
If you want to excel and succeed as a believer and a son or
daughter of God, you need to be in that position of love.
There's a legal side you're going to see, but there's also a
vital side of love that we have to walk out.
Ephesians chapter one verse 4 says according as he has chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holding without blame before him in love.
Now I'm going to read Romans chapter 5, these several verses
and I'm going to go ahead and explain some of these things.
It says, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
also have access by faith into this grace.
In which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
And not only that, but we also glory and tribulations, knowing
that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance,
character and character. Hope.
Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been
poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Now legally, when we first start reading this verse, it says
we've been justified by faith and we have peace with God.
That means we have harmony and concord between God and us
because of what Jesus did in redemption legally.
So there's peace. I'll put it this way, the war is
over. You just surrender and stay in
the position of what he's provided legally and you live
that out vitally and stay in peace.
It says that we have peace and we have grace in which we can
stand. So trials and tribulations are
to come. Tests are going to come just
like they came to Banaya, just like they came to Peter.
But if you're going to overcome, you got to understand who you
have access to and who you belong to.
And because of this grace that was poured out in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have access, which means we have approach or we can
come near the throne of God and have a relationship with Him.
How many people talk to other people about their problems and
not to God about their problems? We have access to the throne of
heaven. Hebrews 4 says let us come
boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to
help in our time of need. If we could just get quiet, bow
down, listen and come to God Almighty and understand the
access we have. We don't have to Google
something, right? You don't have to put on out on
Facebook for advice. You have a Father in heaven.
Matter of fact, there's a big difference between godly counsel
and good advice and the distances between heaven and
hell. Good advice could send you
straight to hell. Godly counsel is going to bring
heaven to earth. But we have access by grace, and
it says in which we stand. That means it's a fixed position
we're in. What He's telling us to do.
He makes us firm. He makes us established.
You can come before his throne. He can give you a word of
wisdom, a word of knowledge. He can give you godly counsel
for any situation you're going through.
And in that you can stand. And having done all the stand,
stand there for don't grow weary and well doing, for in due
season you shall reap when you go before the throne.
And you can listen to Daddy and get as counsel.
There's no greater result that you can have in your life if you
just follow through with that and listen to that.
I think back to my life. I had to go before the throne in
1997 when I legally got born again, found out about the
redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I was asking God access to the throne.
What do you want me to do with my life now?
And I just knew on the inside I needed to go to school to get
trained. That was access.
And I had to stand in that word. And you know what?
It seemed right to go to Rhema Bible Training Center.
I'm in Columbus, OH, going to move to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Why haven't they fixed it yet? So I move way across country,
right? But that's the access I had.
That's the word I had and I was it always easy?
Did I feel like quitting at times?
Did I miss Ohio, one of the greatest states with force real
seasons? Hallelujah, IO.
Thank you. Did I feel like quitting
sometimes again, I'm sure, but I had to stand on that word and
then staying on that word. I finished my course and
standing in that word, I got a godly wife and standing in that
word, I met Pastor Owen Marcy and standing in that word, we
formed a relationship and standing in that word, they
decide they were going to come start a church.
We went back to the throne of grace.
Now that I'm married to Angie at the time and said, Lord, what do
you want us to do now? When they first told us they're
coming to Florida, we prayed. You know what the Lord said
don't go. He said you did the first year
of marriage, you just need to enjoy it, settle in.
It's the merge. You know, you get to learn each
other the first year of marriage, right?
Hallelujah. Which way to put the toilet
paper over or under? Don't leave the toilet seat up
right. Don't leave dirty underwear and
dirty stuff all over the floor. Be a blessing, not a curse.
So the first Sherry said, just get to know each other, invest
in the mirror. That was the word we got.
Now, Pastor Aaron Marcy actually came to Florida.
They stayed for a little bit. Then they ain't going back and
being youth pastors in Sand Springs for several years.
Then they told us the second time we that they were going.
We prayed about again. We went to the throne.
We got access and the Holy Spirit said what he released and
said go with him and that's where we've been ever since 2004
when we moved to Florida. But we have anybody can have
access to the throne. Are you run into your Father in
heaven? He cares about you.
He has the best plans for you. He's always working for your
highest benefit. Love agape love is always
working for the highest benefit of the one loved and you can
always go to the throne. David, I like rated some of the
Psalms a day. He said, why is my soul
downcast? Why am I going through it?
But there's always resolve that he found in his relationship
with God. And those Psalms change if you
read them. All of a sudden he gets to
rejoice in where he was sad just a few minutes ago 'cause he got
in access with God and he got a word in due season.
So you want to have access so you can stand to overcome
anything that or any obstacle that comes your way.
And it reads, it reads on like this.
It says rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
And not only that, but we also glory and tribulations.
I'm going to read that again. We glory and tribulations.
The word glory means we rejoice, we boast about it.
We say bring it on. Is that all you got?
It's kind of like Banaya walking by the lion and he's like, dude,
I'll take you out. I got a great God.
I've killed some men, but now I'm going to go after something
more intimidating 'cause I want to be a giant Slayer.
I heard about King David doing it, so let me do a great
exploit. Daniel 1132 says those that know
their God shall be strong and do great exploits.
So we, we glory or we boast in tribulation.
Tribulation means this. It's a a pressing together, It's
a pressure, it's an affliction, it's a distress.
I've learned this in lifting weights.
There is no progress without resistance.
Matter of fact, they call it a progressive resistant training
because you can develop when pressure comes.
You know, Paul over in Second Corinthians, he was praying one
time. He said Lord remove this thing
from me. He said I sought the Lord three
times on that. God said, ain't going to do it.
He said my strength is made perfect in your weakness.
And Paul said I'd rather glory in tribulation that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Now you need to know what you
need to know what to take authority on and put down now
and what you're just going to walk through by the grace of
God, sickness, you take authority over now, but there
could be somebody at your work that's really pestering you,
bugging you, giving you a hard time, making you just want to
slap him upside the head. And God said, my grace is
sufficient for you. Just stay in love.
Stay in a position of love and you'll overcome.
So we glory in tribulation because when we go through it
right and stay in him, tribulation is going to work.
Patience. This translation says
perseverance. That means we're going to learn
how to be steadfast and we're going to learn how to how to
have endurance. This life is not a Sprint, it's
a marathon. So you have to have endurance
built in there. Sometimes you walk, sometimes
you run, sometimes you may feel like you're crawling, but you're
always moving forward. And we need to learn how to have
patience or perseverance. And what happens with when you
learn to have patience or perseverance, it means that
you're going to go ahead and get character or experience, and
that means that you're approved. You're a specimen of worth.
I want to be around somebody who's overcome something.
I'm not going to get advice to somebody whose marriage is
failing and been divorced five times.
I want to go to some, to somebody that's walked through
some things and overcame them because they stayed in Christ
and now they have heaven on earth, right?
I want to say, what did you do so I could reproduce that?
But they went through some pressure, some affliction, but
they learned how to be steadfast.
They learned how to be committed.
They learned how to be bound, a course of action.
And because of that, their character started to shine
forth. And God puts no unproven
character on his market. He wants to see the church rise
up and see men and women be men and women of godly character in
Christ's likeness, flow in the gifts of the Spirit, but also
walk in the fruits of the Spirit.
And out of that experience or out of that character comes hope
because you learn that God's always going to come through the
legal side. You've heard about it, but the
vital side is when you're actually walking it out and you
start to get, go through a test, what becomes a testimony.
And you, you do, you're just like Siri.
You could look back on the faith when it's a God and say, God did
it for me before he's going to do it for me again.
I just need to stay in him. And you know what Paul says at
the end of this these 5 verses, he said hope makes not a shame.
That means I'll never be dishonored or disgraced if I
stay in Christ because the love of God's been shatter brought in
my heart. The agape love of God is in our
heart. Legally it's there, but vitally
you need to walk it out every day.
So I want to go to 1st Corinthians chapter 13.
First Corinthians chapter 13, verses 4 through 8.
This is the great love chapter. I'm going to read these 4 verses
from three different translations and I just want
this to settle in on you because the love of God's been poured
out in our heart by the Holy Ghost, we can always overcome if
we stay in that love, not just legally but vitally, exercising
it every day. So the New King James Version
reads First Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4 through 8 is this
love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy.
Love does not pray to itself. It is not puffed up.
It does not behave rudely. It does not seek its own.
It is not provoked. Love thinks no evil.
Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the
truth that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things. It endures all things.
Love never fails. The message Bible says it like
this. Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than it does for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
A child will throw a temper tantrum if they don't get what
they want right then. Love doesn't want what it
doesn't have. Love doesn't strut.
It doesn't have a swelled head. Love doesn't force itself on
others. Love isn't always me first.
Love does not fly off the handle.
Love doesn't keep the score of sins of others.
Love doesn't revel when others grovel.
Love takes pleasure in the flowering of truth.
Love puts up with anything. Glory to God. 11 translation
says love passes the breaking point without breaking.
So when it says love could put up with anything in your flesh,
you can't do it. Church, but in his love you
could both say I'm going to come through this glory to God.
This is just strengthen my love muscle right now just flex baby.
I'm getting stronger. Maybe we need a rocky thing
getting stronger in love as we exercise it vitally right, so
it'll put up with anything. It trusts God always.
Love always looks for the best and never looks back, but keeps
going to the end. The JB Phillips translation says
it like this. The love of which I speak is
slow to lose patience. It looks for a way of being
constructive. It's not possessive.
It is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated
ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and does
not pursue selfish advantage. Love is not touchy.
It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of
other people. On the contrary, it is glad with
all good men when truth prevails.
Love knows no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust,
no fading of its hope. It can outlast anything.
It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else
has fallen. And I'm going to close with this
worship team. You can come.
Love never fails. Nobody sets out to be a loser.
Let me say it again, your goal in life.
Nobody says I'm going to be a loser.
The one thing that'll guarantee your success church is staying
in love.