Aug. 28, 2024

How Do You Know If You Love God?

How Do You Know If You Love God?

A discussion about Revelation 2:4

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A discussion about Revelation 2:4

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

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This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon, everyone,

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I guess I could say good early evening to everyone.

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It is Tuesday, August the twenty seventh, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently five forty two pm Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Well, if you

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do a broadcast and it's not great, you're not really

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happy with it, what do you do? How do you

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handle those emotions? How do you handle that? Do you

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just stay frustrated, do you stay irritated? Or do you

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turn on the microphone and try again. Well, I'm turning

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on the microphone to try again because I wasn't super

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happy with the last broadcast. For a numer I think

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it was more in my head. I think it use

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when I go back and listen to some of it,

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it doesn't sound quite as bad as it felt. But

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you know, how do you process those emotions? Which is

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kind of ironic because the program was a lot about

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well Christianity and emotions. Okay, so maybe there was a

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reason I had those feelings.

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I don't know.

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So here's what we're going to do. I'm gonna turn well,

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the microphone's on, we're live, all right, So I'm going

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to use this broadcast to We're gonna look at two scriptures,

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and then i'm gonna pose basically one major question. There'll

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probably be a lot of smaller questions, but two scriptures,

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one really big question, and then we're gonna review some audio.

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All right, So it's kind of a combination of things.

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Let's start with the scriptures. Both of these scriptures you

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know so very well, you probably have them memorized. The

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first one is Matthew Chapter twenty two. Matthew chapter twenty two,

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verse three seven. Matthew twenty two, verse thirty seven. And

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I want you to hear this carefully. Jesus said unto him,

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thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,

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with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is

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the first and great commandment. Let me read it to

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you one more time. Matthew twenty two, thirty seven. Jesus

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said to him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God

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with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with

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all thy mind. Verse thirty eight. This is the first

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and great commandment. The first and great commandment is for

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you and I to love God with all of our heart,

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with all of our soul, and with all of our mind.

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That is the great commandment. Now go to Revelation chapter two.

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Revelation chapter two, verse four. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against

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thee because thou hast left thy first love. We are

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commanded to love God with all of our heart, mind, body,

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and soul. And yet we have a warning Jesus gives

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to the Church of Ephesus and Revelation chapter two. Hey,

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he had a problem with that church. You have left

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your first love. So we have a command to love

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God with all, with all of our being. At the

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same time we have a warning not to depart from

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our first love. Well, that's somewhat concerning one. I don't

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even know if I can ever truly love God with

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all my heart, my body, soul. I will say. I'm

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going to say, because it's my theology, it's not possible.

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That is law.

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It condemns us. We are constantly, we are constantly faced

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with the reality that we do not love God with

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all of our heart, mind, body, and soul. And as

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a result, we have to flee to Christ, who did

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love God with all that he was. And it is

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one God three distinct persons, the Father, the Son. The

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son loved the Father. Okay, we can get into that.

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But his love was perfect. And then by placing my

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faith in him his love, his obedience to that command

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is imputed to my account. So I can stand before

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God and say in Christ, I love God with all

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my heart, mind, body and soul, and practice I do

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not so with the command. I know that I can

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never do so, But then it makes it even worse,

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even if I believe that I could do it. Well,

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now I have the possibility of nevertheless, have something against you.

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You have left you have departed from your first love. Well,

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that means I could actually leave it. Well, then that's

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that is concerning. But now so those are the two scriptures. Right,

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love God with all your heart, mind, body and soul. Nevertheless,

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have some somewhat against you you have departed from your

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first love. Those are the two scriptures. I want you

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to write those two scriptures down, put them, put like

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one on one side of the refrigerator and the one

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on the other side of the refrigerator, and just be

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confronted with them. Every single day because I think that like, WHOA,

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what do I do here? What do I do here?

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But here is a question. Are you ready? Here's the question?

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Those are the two scriptures. Here's the question. How do

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you know if you truly love God? How do you

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know if you truly love God? I want you, right now,

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go ahead, grab a piece of paper. Write down all

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the ways you think these are proofs that you love God.

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I want you to write down the proofs that you

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think prove that you love God. I want you to

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write them down. Write down five five proofs. These are

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the proofs that show me I love God. All right,

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you have those down now. I'm asking this question because

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I told everyone that I've been paying close attention to

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the Stay by the Stuff camp meeting of twenty twenty four.

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Stay by the Stuff twenty twenty four camp meeting. Right, Stay,

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I would call it a conference, but they call it

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a camp meeting. Stay by the Stuff twenty twenty four

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camp meeting. All right. I think there's ten messages, eleven messages.

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Far as I know, the camp meeting is over, but

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I'm still working my way through the messages. And there's

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a message entitled you've left your first love. So the

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name of the message You've Left your first Love. It

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was a part of the Stay by the Stuff twenty

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twenty four camp meeting, and I told everyone to listen

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to all of these. Well, when I was listening to

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the message You've Left your First Love, the question that

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came to my mind was, well, then, how do I

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know if I truly love God?

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How do I know?

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And there's a reason that question came to my mind?

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So we're gonna review some of this. I don't know

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if that question will come to your mind, but it

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comes to mind because love God. Love God. Hey, don't

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depart from your first love. Okay, Well, minute, how do

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I know if I truly love God? How do I

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measure that? Measure that, how do I quantify that? How

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do I qualify that? How do I know? And I

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know all the tests that have been given? Right, I know,

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I've heard I've preached the test for years and my Christianity,

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this is how you know love God? If you do this,

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if you do this, if you do this, if you

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do this, and a lot of times, if you go well,

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does anyone actually love God? Then? But there's a reason

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I asked the question, and listening to this message. So

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let's listen to a little bit of this. The audio

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was a little low. I've amplified it. I may have

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amplified it too much because it starts off really low

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and then the volume increases, then it gets really loud.

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So the volume won't be perfect. But you know, all

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I can do is work with the original. So here

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we go, let's find out. And we began right now.

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Hey, O, praise the Lord. Good to be here, denied, Amen,

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I tell you we I didn't come to set soaking sour. Amen.

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Came to get in, not get out. Amen. Well, we

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need we need revival in our day. Amen. I'm glad tonight,

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thank God. This world is not my home.

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And I'm just curious. I'm just curious, I really am.

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I have been listening to sermons for my entire Christian life,

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my entire Christian life. Became a Christian as a teenager.

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I don't know it was it in nineteen eighty five,

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eighty six, somewhere around that time, eighty five eighty six,

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I think. And I've been a Christian ever since. And

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from day one I started listening to sermons, so just

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in my lifetime, from eighty five eighty six to twenty

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twenty four. It's been a never ending We need revival.

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The world is falling apart. It's all coming.

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To an end.

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Jesus is about to come back. It's over. The world

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is falling apart. The country's falling apart. We're going to

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Hell in a handbasket.

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It's the end.

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We need revival. Satanists are gonna kill us. All Satan

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is destroying us. To the world, it's over.

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It's over.

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Oh my goodness, what are we gonna do?

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What are we gonna do? We need revival.

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I've only been Okay, maybe that's that's not much of

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a hyperbole, but I've been hearing it NonStop since then.

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It's twenty twenty four. So does revival ever happen? Does

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it ever fix anything? I don't understand? And then what

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shocked me is when I started reading then older sermon

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sort of the Lord. They publish old sermons, I'll read them,

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and I'm like, when was that preached? I was like,

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nineteen forty, we need revival. You're reading sermons from the

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eighteen hundred. We need revival. You're reading sermons from the

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sixteen hundreds. We need revival. Fifteen hundreds, we need revival

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the twelve hundreds. Wait, it's like everyone's constantly saying that. Now, Typically,

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though it's weird, is that we need revival? Typically is

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they look at the condition of the world and say

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we need revival. But isn't revival not about the condition

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of the world. Isn't revival about the condition of the church.

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So is the church and a perpetual state of needing revival?

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And if the church is in a perpetual state of

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needing revival, why Because on one hand, Christians are saying,

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when you become a Christian, you're a new creature. In Christ,

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whole things have passed away, all things that become new.

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You have the power to say noticing and yes to God.

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The Holy Spirit gives you power. You can do this,

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you can do that. But we're in a perpetual state

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of needing revival. What's wrong? If everyone's a new creature,

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the old is gone, then we don't need revival because

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everyone's a new creature and the old is gone and

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everything is new. So which is it?

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Do we need.

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Revival or is everyone a new creature? The old is

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gone and everything is new. I can't figure it out.

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And if the revival is we need revival in the world,

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that's not revival. That's what they need the Gospel and salvation.

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Revival is what the church needs. Revival is what Christians need.

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And why do we constantly need to be revived if

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we're a new creature and the old is gone and

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everything is new? Christians says such contradictory things, But I've

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just heard it for so long. Everybody says we need revival,

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but almost inevitably they point to the world. I would say,

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don't point to the world, point to the church. If

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you point to the church, I would say we need revival.

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But at the same time, then I would call your

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theology into question because you say that if anyone becomes

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a Christian, that there are a new creature, old things

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that passed away, all things have become new. So then

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nobody should need to be revived because there's nothing to revived.

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Since we're all new and the oldest completely gone, we

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should be walking around pretty much close to perfection. Now

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that's not the question. That's not the question I'm asking.

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The question I'm going to be asking is how do

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you know you love God?

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All?

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Right, that's the question, But we'll get to that. So

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let's go back through this. All right. He's kind of

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got that down to earth, you know, every man kind

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of a presentation. All right, that's good. But all right,

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so he says we need revive. I was gonna back

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it up, but let's just move forward. All right, Let's

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just move forward.

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I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere

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beyond the blue. I believe with all my heart we're

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closer tonight to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

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than we ever have been in all the history of mankind.

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Y'all believe that you don't have to know any of

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the signs of the time to know that. You don't

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have to be a rocket signist. You can just be

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a dummy, amen, and realize that this whole thing's about

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winding down. Amen. Okay.

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I hate to say this. I've been hearing that since

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before I became a Christian. This whole thing is winding down.

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Son of the Times. I remember a book I was young.

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I don't even know how I came across. It was

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like Signs of the Times or something like that, and

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it was a book about the anti Christ and the

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end is near, and I remembered I didn't understand it.

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I have any religious background or theological background, and I

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was I don't know, it was probably I wasn't even

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a teenager yet, maybe even before them, but I was

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reading any book I could ever get my hands on,

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and I was like, wait, so the end is near?

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Like we're all, well, what's going to happen? Like I

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was a little worried, a little concerned. Well, the seventies

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turned into the eighties, and I heard it in the

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eighties the end is near? Were closed. Then all throughout

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the nineties, I heard it over and over and over.

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And then I was a student at the Family Radio

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School of the Bible Herald Camping.

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I was.

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I was a student of the school when all of

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a sudden we were informed that the world was coming

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to an end in nineteen ninety four, and we're like, wait,

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what is going down? What is happening? This is like

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a reformed kind of theology, all millennial, and next thing,

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you know, the world's coming to the end of nineteen

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ninety four. And then well that didn't happen. Then the

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church age ended and we needed to leave our local

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assemblies because they had if you stayed in your church,

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You've taken the mark of the beast. Everything got bizarre.

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Then he moved the prediction to what two thousand something,

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I can't remember what it was. Was it twenty fourteen?

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I think it was twenty fourteen. Well, then that didn't happen.

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He ended up having a stroke. He did kind of

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repent and apologize to some level. So I went all

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through that. Then I remember there was a book out,

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like you know, eighty six Reasons Jesus Will Return in

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nineteen eighty six, ninety three Reasons Jesus Will Return in

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nineteen ninety three. Book after book. It's over, it's all

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coming down, it's wrapping up. We're about to go home.

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It's all happening. They're right, the Rapture is coming, the

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Second Coming. It's all and well. In twenty twenty four,

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we're still here. I've heard it so many times. I've

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heard that we need revival and Jesus is coming back

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in fifteen minutes a thousand times. I don't know what

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you do with that, But what I want to know

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is we're going to talk about loving God with all

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our heart, mind, body, and soul. And nevertheless, I have

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somewhat against you. You've left your first love, Well, how

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do you know you love God's? And you'll see why

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I'm asking this question.

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It's about getting up and going home time. I remember

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preachers talking about a funeral while ago, and my mind

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drifted back to the time I preached both my mama

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and my daddy's funeral and raised in a Christian home,

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raised in church. That has never been a time in

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my life. I don't ever remember not going to church,

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not going to Sunday school and visitation bus visitation revival meetings,

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And there never been a time that in my life.

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I'm sixty five years old and be sixty six this year,

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but all that time, I never remember a time that

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we weren't involved. Mom and Daddy weren't involved in church

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and took us kids to church. I thank God for that.

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But I raised up in church, but I wasn't saved

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until I was about twenty one years old. You can,

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I suppose the worst thing that could ever happen anybody

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is to die and go to Hell from a church pew.

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Amen not know the Lord as your personal savior. If

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I wasn't saved tonight, I'd get saved before anything else happened. Amen,

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I wouldn't go to hell for nobody for no reason. Boy,

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we need revival, and we need revival preachings. We need

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revival singing. Amen. Singing prepares the heart for the word

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of God. That kind of singing you heard the night

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will speak to your heart. Uh, it's I know, I

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know it. May it make you tap your foot, you know,

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and and enjoy yourself. But them old songs like that,

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they'll they'll draw you to Calvary. They'll draw you to

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the Lord Jesus Christ. It'll draw you into a state

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of meditation thinking about where you are with the Lord.

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I appreciate that message tonight, Amen, I appreciate what God's doing.

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I was sitting there thinking about what I'm going to

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preach and everything, and it's interesting how the Lord works.

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A few years, a few years, a few weeks ago. Uh,

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I preach what I'm going to preach in my church

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on a Sunday evening. And we had a good time.

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I enjoyed myself. But after the service was over, I knew,

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beyond a shadow of a doubt, I'd been praying about

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this meet and been looking forward to it, and and uh,

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it's exciting to be here. Oh, by the way, thank

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you for letting me come. Man. I appreciate that this

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is my first second time to be in this part

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of the country, and I enjoyed it the first time,

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and I'm gonna get all I can the second time.

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But I preached this message there and I knew, be

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on a shadow of a doubt, that that's what I

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needed to preach on the first night of this meeting.

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I've never had that happen. I've never experienced anything like that.

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You preachers know what I'm talking about. You sometimes struggle,

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and you you bounce back and forth and ping pong

328
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back and forth, and you got this and this and

329
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that and thathn't and you know, and you just go

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through everything of God. You hope it's the right thing,

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you know. And it's kind of odd how that that

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thing worked out. I knew, I knew, and then after

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Brother Coley preached what he preached, I thought, wow, Uh,

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what what a what a blessing? Uh? He told about revival,

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and he talked about wanting revival and getting revival. You

336
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know what The sad thing about it is a lot

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of churches are having meetings, but they're not having revival now.

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I do like that you can have a meeting, it

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doesn't mean it's a revival. Okay, I agree with that.

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I agree with that, right, Okay. So, and it sounds

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like in this particular case, he understands revivals for the church.

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Because so we may be in complete agreement on all

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of this. We may be in complete agreement, but I'm

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just saying I've heard we need revival for so long,

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like it's almost like it's never ending ever constantly we

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need revival, we need revival now. And I also find

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it interesting that so many times the we need revival

348
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mantra that that constant refrain it's USO. I know, I can't.

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I know this is going to show that may be cynical.

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It also seems to come from people who then will

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go to these conferences or camp meetings for a so

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called revival meeting or a camp meeting or right like,

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if you're getting paid to go there, well, you need

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to constantly keep saying we need revival so that churches

355
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will bring in people who will quote unquote do the

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revival preaching. Isn't that kind of like you got to

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continue to convince everyone you need this and then I'm

358
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the one who will provide what you need. So hire

359
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me to come to your church or pay me to

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come to your church to preach the revival. Like I

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know that sounds cynical, but it's kind of like, do

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you need to bring in someone to have a revival

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service to have revival? Or can revival just happen with

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your normal preacher? I don't know, just a thought.

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Having preaching, but they're not having a meeting with God.

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That's what's mission. Amen. I pray that this week it's

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not just a preaching, it's not just a meeting, but

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there'll be something happening in your life, in my life.

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And when we go our separate ways, when the time comes,

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we will leave different than when we came. And I

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believe God has the makings for all that to take place.

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He's got the right singers and and and he's got

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I believe the right book. Amen, and Uh, I pray

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tonight that He'll use and unctionize the preachers and use

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them for His honor and glory. Take your bible to

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the Book of Revelation, the Book of Revelation, chapter number one,

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Chapter number two. Tonight Revelation, chapter number two I realize

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it's getting late, and so I'll try to hurry and

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and uh, kind of cut the fat out here and

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give you what's on my heart.

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One of the things I've noticed is every preacher at

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this camp meeting has to say, Hey, I know the time.

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I gotta hurry. I know the time I gotta hurry.

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Wouldn't it be great you can have a meeting and

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nobody has to worry about the time. Would it be

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great if you could just say, preach when you're done.

387
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You're done.

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Now. I understand that there's obviously you can go too long.

389
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I'm the king of going too long, right I do.

390
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I go too long sometime for my podcast episodes. I

391
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go too long sometimes for my sermons. It's just been

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a disease forever. If I'm in a different situation where

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I do have a time, I always follow the time

394
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given to me if you give me like this is

395
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the time. In other situations, I like the more the

396
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having the freedom. Right. Look, if it's about revival, if

397
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it's about not just having a meeting, if it's not

398
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about just having preaching, then for crying out loud, someone

399
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smashed the clock into oblivion and just preach and let

400
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what happens happens. It's like, hey, some churches just have meetings,

401
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.279
they don't have revival. Some churches just have preaching, but

402
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that's it. Well, well then if it's about revival, then

403
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forget about the time. Just who cares, right, I mean,

404
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if I don't know, I don't, I don't know. I

405
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know there's a there's a balance there, So I'm not saying,

406
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but it's just it's just interesting that I think everyone

407
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in this camp meeting has mentioned the clock. I think

408
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every single time I've listened to it, every single one's

409
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mentioned the clock, the clock, the clock, the clock, the clock,

410
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the clock, the time, the time, the time, the time.

411
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I gotta hurry, I gotta cut something out because well,

412
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wait a minute, does people are people there for the

413
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word of God or they like I don't. I think

414
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I would just say, look, you need to leave.

415
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Leave.

416
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But I'm gonna keep preaching until I'm done. And if

417
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there's no one left, I'm gonna keep preaching. The live

418
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stream will be going, okay, So I'm just gonna keep

419
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live streaming. You can listen on the way back to

420
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the hotel or your house. I don't know, I don't know.

421
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All right, well, let's continue.

422
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And Uh, I'm excited about it. Amen, I'm excited about

423
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what the Lord's doing. I appreciate the opportunity to come

424
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and and uh, but I'll wait for another time to

425
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uh mention more about that. I believe we need to

426
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get in the book, amen, and and and do what

427
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the Lord wants us to do, and and try to

428
00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:23.680
get this thing going for for God tonight. Uh. Chapter two.

429
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Unto the Angel of the Church at Ephesu's right, these

430
00:24:30.039 --> 00:24:35.359
things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his

431
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right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven

432
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golden candlesticks.

433
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I will say that all the people who preach at

434
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.160
this conference are very good at the public reading of scripture.

435
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Just the pacing. The pacing. I like, that's one thing

436
00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:59.279
I have been you know. I'm like, man, I'm no

437
00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:02.960
good at that. Like my public reading. I read. I

438
00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.680
read horribly, even when even on the podcast my reading

439
00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:09.559
I was either I'm skipping a word, I'm reading too fat.

440
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I need to learn to slow down enunciate. I've had

441
00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:17.759
preaching classes about that. When I when it's reading, I'm

442
00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:22.839
not ugh. Ah, Yeah, they all are very they pace,

443
00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:26.960
they enunciate, there's a pause, there's a They're really good

444
00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.319
at it, all of them so far that I've heard.

445
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I know thy words and thy labor and thy patience,

446
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And how thou canst not bear them which you're evil?

447
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And thou hast tried them which say they are apostles

448
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and are not, and hast found them liars, and has

449
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borne and has patience, and for my name sake, has

450
00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:05.759
labored and has not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee.

451
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And here's what he had against them, because thou hast

452
00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:18.039
left thy first love. Remember our Father, Lord God, Tonight,

453
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we thank you for what our ears have heard, and Lord,

454
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.559
I thank you for what my heart has felt. Those

455
00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:31.880
songs have ministered again to my soul this evening. What

456
00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:36.079
a blessing it is to meet these dear men that

457
00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.920
have given their lives and their talents to use for

458
00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:41.799
the Lord. And it's not just a show. It's not

459
00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:47.640
just a time of matching wit and talent and ability,

460
00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:52.200
but it's an opportunity to minister and Lord, that's what

461
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:56.319
we need tonight. We've got way too much entertainment, but

462
00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:59.359
we sure need the kind of songs that draw us

463
00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:02.720
to the Lord. It sure makes preaching.

464
00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:11.880
Ease again, I don't look the prayers before preaching. You know,

465
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.839
my never ending struggle immediately right there, it just sounds

466
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:17.599
like now he's starting to preach, and the people are

467
00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:21.279
even like amening it, and it's like, are you asking God?

468
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:22.279
Are you telling God?

469
00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:23.079
Well?

470
00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:24.319
Like, who are you telling?

471
00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:25.599
Like?

472
00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:29.400
I don't like that so much, so much. Many times,

473
00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:32.799
the opening prayer is simply an opportunity for the preacher

474
00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:37.039
to to basically start preaching, and the closing prayers just

475
00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.000
for him to do another summary of what he just preached.

476
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:45.319
I struggle with that. Oh. I was like, what is

477
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.839
that sound? Rain? Rain has a right, Rain has come

478
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:53.359
to the desert of West Texas, Ladies and gentlemen. I

479
00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:56.400
haven't heard that sound in thirty years. Okay, all right,

480
00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:58.119
all right. I was like, what's going on? All right,

481
00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:03.160
so let's go back. It's just a look. I understand,

482
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:07.240
it's the tradition. It's the template. Pray before you preach,

483
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:10.759
pray at the conclusion, and if you don't immediately, people

484
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:14.079
think something is wrong. But just I know, as a preacher,

485
00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:17.160
it's so hard to actually talk to God because you're

486
00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:19.160
standing there ready to talk to the people. So in

487
00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:21.759
your prayer it becomes this convoluted thing. Am I really

488
00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:23.920
talking to God? Or am I talking to the people?

489
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:26.519
Who am I really talking to? Does God need to

490
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:29.799
hear me summarize my sermon? Like? What does God need?

491
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:32.279
It need me to go ahead and start preaching my sermon?

492
00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:35.079
God doesn't need any of that. So what am I

493
00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:38.240
really talking to God about?

494
00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:44.519
Makes preaching a blessing and makes preaching simple. And I pray,

495
00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:48.720
Lord God tonight that you will Lord, take up where

496
00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:52.319
the message left off, and God, that you'll give us

497
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:56.039
what we need. It'd be a terrible thing, Lord, to

498
00:28:56.440 --> 00:29:00.480
travel the miles that many folks have traveled, and made

499
00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:06.079
sacrifices that many folks have made, given money and preparation,

500
00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:09.599
and took off work or whatever the case might be,

501
00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:13.759
to make a meeting like this work. It would be

502
00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:18.119
a shame not to get something from you. It'd be

503
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:23.960
a sad occasion to go away and give of ourselves

504
00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:28.680
and do what we can and still be the same. Lord.

505
00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:31.160
I pray tonight, God that you do for us what

506
00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:34.440
we can't do for ourselves, and God that you had

507
00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:37.200
blessed the preaching of the word of God. You'd bless

508
00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:40.960
the word of God as it's red, and every word

509
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:46.000
of God would become precious in our sight. And I

510
00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:49.119
pray Lord tonight that you had blessed this dear pastor

511
00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:53.160
and his wife and family. Lord, you'd blessed this dear church.

512
00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.359
And I pray God that you'd help us tonight speak

513
00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:00.720
to our hearts. And I pray Lord that you would Lord,

514
00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:04.720
just not just stir us, but God stirs to the

515
00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:08.559
point of a change, that there be some changes made

516
00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:12.119
in our lives. And God will thank you and praise

517
00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:15.799
you for everything you do. In Jesus' name, I pray

518
00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:17.839
and for his sake, Amen.

519
00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:23.039
Again. This is one of those struggles I have within Christendom.

520
00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:27.799
Are sae contradictory things. I hear prayers all the time.

521
00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.240
Changes change us, change us, change us, transform us, change us,

522
00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:35.039
changes change us. And then I hear sermon after sermon

523
00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:37.519
after sermon that says, if anyone is in Christ, he

524
00:30:37.640 --> 00:30:40.000
is a new creature. Whole things are passed away, whole

525
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:43.440
things have become new. Well, then there's nothing to change.

526
00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:48.359
So so I don't understand. So are you willing to

527
00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:51.519
acknowledge that when if anyone is in Christ, he's a

528
00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:53.680
new creature. All things have passed, the old things have

529
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:55.880
passed away, all things have become new. Is a reference

530
00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:59.319
to our position in Christ, and not our practice, not

531
00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:03.319
our practice living. That's only true positionally. Positionally in Christ,

532
00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:07.920
I'm new. Practically I'm still I'm still the old man

533
00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:11.519
the flesh. I'm still a sinner, and I'm constantly in

534
00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:14.240
need of change. And then if God just do we

535
00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:17.599
pray God changes, well, does God just change us? And

536
00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:19.559
if he changes us, how come he doesn't change us

537
00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:24.279
to perfection? God changes I mean, I know you're not

538
00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:26.440
going to change us to perfection, So then does he

539
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.359
just change me a little? I mean, these are questions

540
00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:33.039
I think every Christian, anyone who just thinks about the

541
00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:35.480
Bible and theology even just a little bit. You don't

542
00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:37.759
have to have a degree in theology, you don't have

543
00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:40.160
to go to seminary. If you just think about things

544
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:42.240
from a logical, rational point. It's like, wait a minute.

545
00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:44.680
I keep being told that the minute I got saved,

546
00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:47.440
everything changed, the old is gone, and everything is new.

547
00:31:47.640 --> 00:31:49.480
But at the same time, it's like, well, you've got

548
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:50.880
to be changed, you got to be changed you got

549
00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.799
to be changed. Okay, Well, and God's going to be

550
00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:54.240
the one to change you. Well, if God's going to

551
00:31:54.279 --> 00:31:55.920
be the one to change me, the one does any

552
00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.200
just change me and I'm perfect. Well, you're never going

553
00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:01.279
to be perfect, So then the change? How did then

554
00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:04.839
do I quantify or qualify the change? Which is kind

555
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:06.559
of how we're going to talk about how do I

556
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:10.960
quantify or qualify do I love God? But you'll see

557
00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:13.920
why I'm asking that question in a minute.

558
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:17.720
Uh. This church at ipsis uh. Uh, there's a whole

559
00:32:17.720 --> 00:32:22.440
lot that that probably could be said that that you

560
00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:25.960
all know more about, probably than I do. But the

561
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:30.400
Lord here is talking about this church and commending this church,

562
00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:34.599
and and he says, I know thy works and and uh.

563
00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:38.599
He he begins to commend them for some things that

564
00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:43.200
they had done, and he recognized that they had accomplished

565
00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:46.839
and uh. And then he gets down to verse number four.

566
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:51.039
And now this is where in the sermon when I

567
00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:52.759
was listening to immediately it hit me, I'm like, wait

568
00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:55.799
a minute, he's commending them for all these things that

569
00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:59.400
they've done. But but he says, nevertheless, you've departed from

570
00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:02.279
your first love, meaning you can do all of these

571
00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:05.319
things and it doesn't mean you love God. So then

572
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:07.519
that led me to ask, well, then how do I

573
00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:11.039
know if I love God? Because almost inevitably, when you

574
00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:13.839
hear sermons about do you love God, it will be well,

575
00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:15.599
do you do this, do you do this, do you

576
00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:18.039
do this? Do you do this? But is that actually

577
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:21.160
proof of loving God? Because the church at Ephesus did

578
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:23.240
this and did this and did this, but they had

579
00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:25.759
left the departed from their first love. So then how

580
00:33:25.799 --> 00:33:29.119
do you actually quantify or qualify if you love God?

581
00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:32.960
That's why I asked that question. He'll articulate this a

582
00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:35.279
little bit more, but that's the moment and the sermon.

583
00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:38.519
I went, well, then how do we know? That's immediately

584
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:42.279
what I said to myself. I think as he says more,

585
00:33:42.359 --> 00:33:45.039
maybe it will become more abundant to you. Maybe you

586
00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:46.559
don't have the same question, but I.

587
00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:53.640
Did begins to critique this church. He begins to hey,

588
00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:55.960
I like the way the Lord does it. He kind

589
00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:59.279
of builds you up and then he puts you down. Amen.

590
00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.519
He he kind of lets you feel good about what

591
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:05.160
you're doing, and then he and then all of a

592
00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:08.159
sudden he lets you know in the smack dab in

593
00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:11.920
to face what you're doing wrong? Amen? Uh? He said, uh,

594
00:34:11.960 --> 00:34:14.800
you know, I I'm glad that you're you're the kind

595
00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:17.679
of church you being. And and but he begins to

596
00:34:17.880 --> 00:34:22.760
when he begins to critique them, he says, nevertheless, I

597
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:28.280
have somewhat against them. Uh. The criticism of this church

598
00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:34.519
was not because uh, they were unsound in their doctrine. Uh.

599
00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:37.880
They had their doctrine right, they had they had their

600
00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:41.280
theology right, they had their Uh, they had the right

601
00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:44.519
to teaching. They Uh that you didn't say, listen, I

602
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:49.599
wanna I have somewhat against thee not because you're unsound

603
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:53.840
in the faith or or unsound in your doctrine.

604
00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:58.760
All right, So immediately we know we can have sound theology,

605
00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:06.519
sound and still not love God. So orthodoxy and theology,

606
00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:10.880
orthodoxy and doctrine does not mean you love God. So

607
00:35:11.159 --> 00:35:14.480
if someone doesn't have right theology or right doctrine, you

608
00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:17.639
cannot accuse them of not loving God. Because a church

609
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:20.199
can have right doctrine and right theology and the people

610
00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:22.559
there may have departed from the first love. So you

611
00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:25.079
can mark that off the list. So I remember I

612
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:27.159
told you to write down about five ways how you

613
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:30.079
know if you truly love God, well, if you put

614
00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:32.840
right doctrine, right theology, or anything on that line, well

615
00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:34.400
you can just go ahead and remove that.

616
00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:42.679
He didn't critique them because that they'd become lazy and indifferent,

617
00:35:42.760 --> 00:35:43.519
he says, And.

618
00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:51.599
All right, so yeah, you just because you're busy and

619
00:35:51.639 --> 00:35:54.360
not lazy, that doesn't mean you love God. Just because

620
00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:57.559
you're not indifferent doesn't mean you love God. So you

621
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:01.960
can have right doctrine, you can have right theology, you

622
00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:05.639
can have right work ethic, you can have the right passion,

623
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:08.199
and none of that proves you love God, because he

624
00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:11.679
just said, Hey, they were not blamed for being lazy

625
00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:14.079
or indifferent, or for wrong doctor and wrong the all.

626
00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:17.000
So none of that is proof of loving God.

627
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:23.920
First too, you've labored for me, and you've been persecuted

628
00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:28.119
for me. You've been through the fires for me. He

629
00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:32.519
didn't critique them because they had gotten discouraged along the

630
00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:35.360
way and thought, all.

631
00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:38.840
Right, so he's giving you all these reasons that they

632
00:36:38.840 --> 00:36:40.559
did all these good things, but it did not mean

633
00:36:40.599 --> 00:36:42.719
they love God. Let me go through them again, Revelation too.

634
00:36:42.760 --> 00:36:44.800
I'm just gonna read from the actual text Revelation too too.

635
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:45.920
I know that works.

636
00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:50.920
So doing good works, doing right works does not mean

637
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:55.559
you love God. And thy labor. Doing good works and

638
00:36:55.639 --> 00:36:59.280
working hard does not mean you love God and thy patience.

639
00:37:00.679 --> 00:37:03.719
And how thou canst not bear them which are evil?

640
00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:07.840
Your hatred and not liking evil does not mean you

641
00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:11.280
love God. And thou hast tried them which say they

642
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:13.880
were apostles and are not, and has found them liars,

643
00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:23.840
fighting against false doctrine, hating that which is evil, working, laboring, patient, enduring, suffering,

644
00:37:24.760 --> 00:37:27.280
none of that right doctrine right here. None of that

645
00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:30.280
proves you love God. None of that proves you love God.

646
00:37:31.079 --> 00:37:34.119
So then how do you know if you truly love God?

647
00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:40.480
Thought about giving up? He said, you ain't fainted. Thank

648
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:44.000
God for folks that ain't fainted tonight. Thank God for

649
00:37:44.119 --> 00:37:48.159
preachers that ain't give up tonight. Thank God for churches

650
00:37:48.440 --> 00:37:52.400
that still have revival tonight and still want to touch

651
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:55.679
to God and still want a power of God, that

652
00:37:55.800 --> 00:38:00.239
want God to stir in the meet and nayn and

653
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:04.280
critique them because of their lack of separation both. Thank

654
00:38:04.360 --> 00:38:07.960
God for separation. We need to get back to tod Amen.

655
00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:12.679
Folks get all upset when you preach about separation about

656
00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:16.840
doing right, about looking right and and living right. That

657
00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:19.159
seems to be a thing of the past. But friend,

658
00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:24.480
it's still needed today. It's still proper today. It's still

659
00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:27.760
right today. If we're gonna make a difference in the

660
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:31.840
world tonight, if we're gonna touch people's lives, if we're

661
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:34.719
gonna have a witness, we got to be different.

662
00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:40.639
Okay, now everyone's going crazy and amening. Everybody should start

663
00:38:40.679 --> 00:38:43.559
getting quiet at this point, because I wouldn't be like

664
00:38:44.119 --> 00:38:45.559
I'm sitting there gonna win him and win them and

665
00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:49.199
win them and win him and women. Nevertheless, nevertheless, I

666
00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:51.880
have someone against THEE because Thou has left that first love.

667
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:54.360
He's going through all these Thingsbody's like, yello. You can

668
00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:57.639
be separated. Doesn't mean you love God. You can have

669
00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:00.719
right doctrine doesn't mean you love God. You can theology

670
00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:02.960
doesn't mean you love God. You can be working hard

671
00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:05.079
doesn't mean you love God. You can be doing good works.

672
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:07.559
It doesn't mean love God. You can be patient, you

673
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:11.320
can be enduring persecution, you can hate that which is evil,

674
00:39:11.559 --> 00:39:15.440
you can be testing false teachers. None of it means.

675
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:16.880
You love God.

676
00:39:17.239 --> 00:39:19.719
You can do all of that and not love God.

677
00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:22.039
And I guarantee you the way we think. I don't

678
00:39:22.079 --> 00:39:24.280
know what you wrote on your list, but I guarantee

679
00:39:24.280 --> 00:39:27.000
you some of these things. You probably have something similar

680
00:39:27.079 --> 00:39:29.519
as how you know you love God. You could walk

681
00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:31.679
into a church doing all these things. You're like, this

682
00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:35.239
church loves God. This church has a passion for God.

683
00:39:35.440 --> 00:39:39.840
They hate evil, they're testing false teachers. They're patient, they're

684
00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:43.840
enduring suffering, they're working, they're laboring, they're doing good works.

685
00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:48.119
They have right doctrine, write theology. This church loves God.

686
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:50.199
No.

687
00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:55.679
Well, that leaves me totally baffled. So when I was

688
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.679
listening to the sermon, I was like, oh, man, man, no, no, no, no, no,

689
00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:01.960
no stop. What am I gonna have left to cling

690
00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:05.039
to that I may love God? What am I gonna

691
00:40:05.079 --> 00:40:05.840
have left?

692
00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:13.800
He didn't critique them because of their separation. He didn't

693
00:40:13.840 --> 00:40:18.360
critique them because of their compromise. They'd kept the faith,

694
00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:21.840
they were true to the faith, they were true to God.

695
00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:27.199
And the Lord was not critiquing them because of their intolerance.

696
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:30.480
He said down yonder and verse six, he said you,

697
00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:35.880
I hate the deeds of Nicolote. He called them a

698
00:40:36.280 --> 00:40:40.679
nicola tens. And he said I appreciate y'all feeling that

699
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:43.960
way about it too. Amen. He didn't critique him for that,

700
00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:48.639
but you know what he critiqued them for, they'd left

701
00:40:48.639 --> 00:40:49.440
the first love.

702
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:54.639
At that point, I wouldn't be saying amen, I'd be going,

703
00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:57.920
oh no, wait a minute. So you can hate false teachers.

704
00:40:58.519 --> 00:41:02.199
The Nicolaytons there were a heretical group that troubled the

705
00:41:02.280 --> 00:41:06.559
churches at Ephesus and Pergamus. Okay, Apparently their teaching and

706
00:41:06.599 --> 00:41:10.039
practice were immoral, perhaps even idolatrous. I'm reading from a

707
00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:12.559
new study Bible that I have. It's in the notes

708
00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:14.880
right there. It just happened to be right there. And

709
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:16.920
I felt bad for him trying to get the word

710
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:18.679
right right, because I probably would have done the same

711
00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:21.119
thing right and then my whole sermon, I would only

712
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:24.199
be worried about that. But just go through all those things.

713
00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:29.639
They kept the faith, they had write doctrine, they endured persecution,

714
00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:32.239
they were doing good works, all of those says, and

715
00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:34.760
none of it proved that they loved God. None of

716
00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:39.519
that was proved. They did all of that without loving God.

717
00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:43.039
They had departed from their first love. Can you imagine

718
00:41:43.159 --> 00:41:46.639
you can do all of that and have departed your

719
00:41:46.679 --> 00:41:50.280
first love. So then what does it mean to have

720
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:53.719
departed your first love? What does that look like? Well, wouitn't.

721
00:41:53.760 --> 00:41:56.239
It doesn't change it. You can depart from your first

722
00:41:56.280 --> 00:41:59.559
love and still be separated, still keeping the faith, still

723
00:41:59.559 --> 00:42:06.199
hating doctrine, still hating evil, testing false doctrine, and enduring persecution, laboring,

724
00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:09.719
doing good works, having right doctrine, having right theology. You

725
00:42:09.719 --> 00:42:12.239
can you can do all of that and not be

726
00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:16.039
truly in love with God because you've departed from it.

727
00:42:19.239 --> 00:42:26.119
That's gotta we gotta come up with an answer. Then

728
00:42:26.159 --> 00:42:29.119
then how do you know if you love God?

729
00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:39.199
They'd left the first love? And for tonight I want

730
00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:43.119
to deal with that subject a little bit on how

731
00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:47.480
to get back that first love. You know, the church

732
00:42:47.559 --> 00:42:53.199
tonight is I've eva and in many of our independent

733
00:42:53.280 --> 00:43:02.280
fundamental King James Bible preaching churches, our doctrines they mean,

734
00:43:02.360 --> 00:43:08.440
our theology is right, our methods are right. We're still

735
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:13.639
trying to hand out tracks. We're still trying to support missionaries.

736
00:43:14.079 --> 00:43:17.119
We're still trying to run a van or a bus route.

737
00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:20.480
We're still trying to go to the nursing homes. We're

738
00:43:20.519 --> 00:43:23.880
still trying to hand out a few tracks and tell

739
00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:28.719
somebody about the Lord. We've got all those methods right,

740
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:32.079
and we have had him for years. But you know

741
00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:35.920
what's happened to us. We've got we've we've got, we've

742
00:43:35.960 --> 00:43:40.840
got filled with traditions. We've got to the place where

743
00:43:41.320 --> 00:43:45.119
we're just going through the motions. We got our eyes

744
00:43:45.360 --> 00:43:50.519
dotted and our tea's crossed. But you know what's happening tonight,

745
00:43:50.760 --> 00:43:54.400
and Preacher hit on it in a different way. It's

746
00:43:54.440 --> 00:43:59.199
amazing to me how God can work to me and

747
00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:03.159
that don't know what they're doing and use them for

748
00:44:03.239 --> 00:44:08.639
His honor and glory. He talked about we don't get

749
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:11.159
what we need because we don't want what we want

750
00:44:11.199 --> 00:44:15.280
to get. If you go over there and eat tomorrow

751
00:44:15.360 --> 00:44:18.960
night and you don't get enough, it's your own fault.

752
00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:23.000
That's what he said. I have never not got enough

753
00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:29.119
of what I want, Bless God. I go to wherever

754
00:44:29.199 --> 00:44:31.960
I go, it's to all be Patty special sauce, lad

755
00:44:32.039 --> 00:44:35.119
his cheese, pickles, angers on a setting me set bun,

756
00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:42.199
and then anothering on top of that. That's what he

757
00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:46.719
was saying. Most of us are satisfied with a little

758
00:44:46.719 --> 00:44:50.960
bit of preaching. We're satisfied with a little bit of singing.

759
00:44:51.599 --> 00:44:55.920
We're satisfied with a little bit of doctrine. We're satisfied

760
00:44:56.000 --> 00:45:00.039
with a little bit of a visitation, We're satisfied with

761
00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:03.519
a little bit of prayer. We're satisfied with all that

762
00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:08.679
everybody's doing. But we have lost our first love.

763
00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:14.519
Now this is interesting because now he's saying, Hey, the

764
00:45:14.559 --> 00:45:17.559
way you know you've lost your first love is you

765
00:45:17.599 --> 00:45:19.920
just want a little bit of everything. But that doesn't

766
00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:23.079
sound like the church at ephesis. I know your works,

767
00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:26.440
I know your labor, your patience. How you cannot bear

768
00:45:26.519 --> 00:45:29.000
them with your evil? Thou hast tried them, what say

769
00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:32.639
they are apostles and are not? And has found them liars,

770
00:45:32.719 --> 00:45:35.559
and has born and has patience, and for my namesake

771
00:45:35.800 --> 00:45:42.880
has labored and has not fainted. That doesn't sound like

772
00:45:42.960 --> 00:45:46.840
that they were just happy with a little bit. He's

773
00:45:46.920 --> 00:45:49.840
now trying to give a way you know you don't

774
00:45:49.880 --> 00:45:52.400
truly love God? Is well, you just want a little

775
00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:54.239
bit of preaching. You just want a little bit of this.

776
00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:56.599
You just want to all right, So then what's the

777
00:45:56.760 --> 00:45:59.440
correct amount to know? If I truly love God? He's

778
00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:01.960
not letting you I don't even know. Look, there's no

779
00:46:01.960 --> 00:46:04.519
way to quantify this qualified. There's no way. This is

780
00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:07.800
just like well, if well, you gotta want more preaching,

781
00:46:07.840 --> 00:46:11.159
well if you're if they want more preaching, then don't

782
00:46:11.159 --> 00:46:13.480
worry about the time, right. If they want more preaching,

783
00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:16.920
then how the extra services? Like? Is that? Is that

784
00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:19.760
the key? If you come to more services, if you

785
00:46:19.800 --> 00:46:22.440
listen to more preaching than you love God. Well, it

786
00:46:22.519 --> 00:46:25.880
sounds like Church of Emphasis didn't have a problem with preaching, teaching,

787
00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:29.400
doctor in theology or work, and yet they did not

788
00:46:29.519 --> 00:46:30.039
love God.

789
00:46:33.159 --> 00:46:36.440
Somewhere in our life we fell out of love with

790
00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:39.960
the Lord. You remember when you first got married? Man?

791
00:46:40.079 --> 00:46:43.519
I tell you if my wife and I just was

792
00:46:43.880 --> 00:46:52.280
we see when did we marry? Is this recorded? I'm

793
00:46:52.280 --> 00:46:54.719
glad to be at the first and night at Pentecostal

794
00:46:54.840 --> 00:47:03.320
Church tonight and chat and nougat Tennessee. We made forty

795
00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:07.199
six years last July, just this past July twenty nine.

796
00:47:08.599 --> 00:47:12.760
You remember when you first got married, man, I mean you,

797
00:47:13.079 --> 00:47:15.840
she'd write that letter, and she'd seal that letter and

798
00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:18.840
spray a little bit of that midnight musk on it. Amen,

799
00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:23.920
and you'd take that letter out and you'd unfold that letter,

800
00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:29.000
and you'd put it back together and seal it back

801
00:47:29.119 --> 00:47:31.840
up and put it in your pocket. You'd take a

802
00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:34.599
few steps and pull that thing back out and pull

803
00:47:34.679 --> 00:47:39.079
that that that old midnight muskuld just feel you up, man,

804
00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:41.639
you love man. You'd take her on a date and

805
00:47:41.679 --> 00:47:44.519
you'd go out and get an ice cream cone, and

806
00:47:44.599 --> 00:47:46.719
a little puddle would be there, and you'd take you

807
00:47:46.920 --> 00:47:50.480
jacket off, you throw it across that puddle. You'd got

808
00:47:50.519 --> 00:47:52.960
her by the hand and lead her across that little

809
00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:55.960
puddle of water. You'd open the door for her and

810
00:47:56.079 --> 00:47:58.840
let her get in, shut the dorm, run around to

811
00:47:58.920 --> 00:48:00.760
the other's tide. Do you remember that?

812
00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:09.119
Forty Now, I've heard lots of sermons like this. Okay,

813
00:48:09.559 --> 00:48:14.880
now here's my question. So if you don't keep doing

814
00:48:14.960 --> 00:48:19.079
that fifteen years after marriage, twenty years in the marriage,

815
00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:23.760
did you depart from your first love? Is love measured

816
00:48:23.960 --> 00:48:27.760
by those feelings that I think typically we would classify

817
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:31.480
them as infactuation? Almost right? Is it love deeper than that?

818
00:48:31.880 --> 00:48:34.360
Are you saying that? The way the way you know

819
00:48:34.480 --> 00:48:37.679
you love Jesus is you open up his word and

820
00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:41.440
you're like, oh, oh, yes, and I'm going to read

821
00:48:41.519 --> 00:48:44.599
more of this, and oh the page is and I'm

822
00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:47.800
just gonna read it and read it and read it

823
00:48:48.039 --> 00:48:50.320
and read it and read it and read it. And

824
00:48:50.360 --> 00:48:52.400
I can't. I can't make it a couple I can't

825
00:48:52.440 --> 00:48:54.639
make it a couple of steps without opening it again.

826
00:48:54.840 --> 00:48:56.519
And I'm going to read more of it, and I'm

827
00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:58.679
going to read more of it. So is it measured?

828
00:48:58.960 --> 00:49:03.199
Is your love for God measured by feelings of infatuation?

829
00:49:03.400 --> 00:49:05.320
In other words, you have to have a certain feeling.

830
00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:08.920
Is love for God measured in feeling? Is love of

831
00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:10.559
God measured in action?

832
00:49:11.079 --> 00:49:11.280
Well?

833
00:49:11.320 --> 00:49:15.280
If it's measured in action, well, because he talked about

834
00:49:15.400 --> 00:49:18.119
laying down your coat and opening the door and doing all. Well,

835
00:49:18.159 --> 00:49:20.519
if it's measured in action, well, then the church of

836
00:49:20.559 --> 00:49:23.800
emphasis they seemed, and even their emotion everything here in

837
00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:28.199
Revelation too, that describes them. These things would seem to

838
00:49:28.440 --> 00:49:31.719
other than the emotions because it doesn't it necessarily express

839
00:49:31.760 --> 00:49:37.000
their emotions. So is it is it an emotional feeling?

840
00:49:37.519 --> 00:49:43.320
If you love God, you measure it by emotion because

841
00:49:43.480 --> 00:49:48.039
action does not determine whether you love God. So it's

842
00:49:48.079 --> 00:49:52.400
your emotion. Now this is gonna get complicated, right, because

843
00:49:52.559 --> 00:49:55.400
I don't know if you know this, human beings are

844
00:49:55.719 --> 00:50:00.559
very unique. I joke a lot of times someone in

845
00:50:00.679 --> 00:50:02.800
our church by the name of Bobby. I make the

846
00:50:02.880 --> 00:50:06.360
joke all the time. He could find out tomorrow that

847
00:50:06.480 --> 00:50:10.639
he won the lottery fifty million dollars. He'd be like, Okay,

848
00:50:10.679 --> 00:50:15.000
well that's great, that's great, awesome, all right, what are

849
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:16.880
we gonna do next? Like, I don't know if there

850
00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:19.079
would be an emotion. He's the one that when when

851
00:50:19.119 --> 00:50:22.159
the tornado hit our church building and the roof was gone, right,

852
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:25.760
I walked in and I was like, I almost wanted

853
00:50:25.760 --> 00:50:27.280
to go, what are.

854
00:50:27.199 --> 00:50:27.840
We going to do?

855
00:50:28.039 --> 00:50:30.480
We have no roof, the inside of the building is destroyed.

856
00:50:30.559 --> 00:50:33.280
It's over. Ministry has finished. What are we going to do?

857
00:50:33.679 --> 00:50:34.760
Is the end of the world?

858
00:50:34.840 --> 00:50:38.679
And he just kind of looked at it and like, well,

859
00:50:38.760 --> 00:50:41.000
probably about two or three years before we get this

860
00:50:41.079 --> 00:50:43.880
all fixed, just like very matter of fact, and I'm like,

861
00:50:43.920 --> 00:50:48.960
what in the world, and just like even just very

862
00:50:49.280 --> 00:50:52.440
and then I'm the opposite. I'm much more emotional. So

863
00:50:52.800 --> 00:50:55.880
if you measure loving for God in emotion, well then

864
00:50:55.920 --> 00:50:57.239
some people are going to be like, well I don't

865
00:50:57.320 --> 00:51:00.480
have those emotions. I don't get that excited. I don't, Well,

866
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:01.679
you don't love God.

867
00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:03.360
Brother, you're not showing it.

868
00:51:03.440 --> 00:51:06.880
You're not showing it. So I I how do you

869
00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:10.199
measure this? Like? It's got to feel like if you

870
00:51:10.239 --> 00:51:12.039
love God, it's gonna feel like it did when you

871
00:51:12.079 --> 00:51:14.760
went on you know, your first couple of dates with

872
00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:17.639
the woman you married. Like that, that's the way you

873
00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:18.320
measure it.

874
00:51:21.239 --> 00:51:27.119
Twenty five years later, you're slimming the door, her skirts

875
00:51:27.159 --> 00:51:31.000
hanging out the door. Amen, you're going down the highway

876
00:51:31.079 --> 00:51:37.719
fifty five mile pull up to the church house to

877
00:51:37.840 --> 00:51:41.400
say good morning pastor. We're ready for God to do

878
00:51:41.559 --> 00:51:44.840
something today. We've been up praying for you all the

879
00:51:44.880 --> 00:51:52.159
way to church. What happened? What happened? Lost at first love?

880
00:51:53.679 --> 00:52:00.559
Something's missing, something's not there. I'm saying tonight, we don't

881
00:52:00.719 --> 00:52:03.519
get all week and get. We don't want no more

882
00:52:03.719 --> 00:52:10.920
what we've already got because we've lost that love that

883
00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:15.599
we once had for the Lord Again.

884
00:52:17.119 --> 00:52:20.239
You've given me, You've given me the text, which is

885
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:23.920
Revelation to and according to everything the Church of Ephesus

886
00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:27.440
is doing. That's almost how we measure if you love God.

887
00:52:30.119 --> 00:52:32.320
So how do you know he's just.

888
00:52:32.360 --> 00:52:35.599
Now introduced none of this says anything about he's introduced

889
00:52:35.599 --> 00:52:37.840
this concept, it's got to feel like basically it did

890
00:52:37.880 --> 00:52:42.719
when you first started dating. Is that even accurate?

891
00:52:47.159 --> 00:52:54.039
Long before Navid seeing against God, the Sweet Salmist of Israel,

892
00:52:55.079 --> 00:52:58.920
as he stood and watched the sheep at night and

893
00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:04.079
played this hard and wrote those psalms fellowshipping with God

894
00:53:04.239 --> 00:53:11.039
and walking with God, long before he looked upon that woman,

895
00:53:11.159 --> 00:53:14.320
Long before he took the steps of the aught, not

896
00:53:14.440 --> 00:53:19.360
a took. He got cold on the Lord. Something began

897
00:53:19.519 --> 00:53:24.280
to cool down, long before Peter ever denied the Lord,

898
00:53:24.400 --> 00:53:29.079
long before he'd ever even thought about telling folks he

899
00:53:29.159 --> 00:53:34.920
didn't know him. The Bible said he fought now.

900
00:53:36.320 --> 00:53:40.159
I don't think I was just looking something up. Is

901
00:53:40.199 --> 00:53:43.519
it entirely fair? Is it fair to say that David

902
00:53:43.639 --> 00:53:47.400
sinned because he had lost his love for God? David sins,

903
00:53:47.719 --> 00:53:52.320
particularly the incident involving Bathsheba and Uriah, were more complex.

904
00:53:53.920 --> 00:53:57.960
They reflected a moment of weakness, moral failure, and a

905
00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:00.519
yielding to temptation, rather than a complete life of love

906
00:54:00.559 --> 00:54:03.400
for God. In fact, David's subsequent repentance and his heart

907
00:54:03.440 --> 00:54:07.199
felt prayer demonstrates that he still loved God and deeply

908
00:54:07.239 --> 00:54:09.440
regretted his actions. His sin was more of a failure

909
00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:12.480
to align his actions with faith and love for God

910
00:54:12.559 --> 00:54:15.559
at the moment, rather than an outright abandonment of love.

911
00:54:16.039 --> 00:54:18.679
Now that's just one source. I look that up in

912
00:54:18.800 --> 00:54:21.320
just a couple of seconds. I know it's the easy

913
00:54:21.320 --> 00:54:25.159
wa David committed. He before David ever committed his sin,

914
00:54:25.280 --> 00:54:28.039
he grew cold. It wasn't David a man after God's

915
00:54:28.039 --> 00:54:33.679
own heart. Peter Peter denied Jesus three times because something

916
00:54:33.679 --> 00:54:36.400
had happened. Then something happened because Peter was the one like,

917
00:54:36.519 --> 00:54:39.760
hey Lord, wherever you go, I will follow you. I

918
00:54:39.840 --> 00:54:42.679
will not deny you. Was it more about Peter's pride

919
00:54:42.719 --> 00:54:46.159
than his love for God? Because when when the cock

920
00:54:46.280 --> 00:54:49.880
crows right, doesn't Peter go out and weak, bitterly demonstrating

921
00:54:49.920 --> 00:54:52.320
he still loved God. Is it fair to say Peter

922
00:54:52.639 --> 00:54:55.719
denied Jesus three times and David sin because they fell

923
00:54:55.920 --> 00:54:59.159
because they had grown departed from their first love. I

924
00:54:59.159 --> 00:55:03.039
think that's unfair. I don't think that's scriptural at all.

925
00:55:03.280 --> 00:55:07.199
I'm sorry, I don't agree with that. You can commit

926
00:55:07.320 --> 00:55:10.679
great sin and still love God because you sin every

927
00:55:10.719 --> 00:55:13.719
single day, you're in a perpetual state of sin in

928
00:55:13.760 --> 00:55:16.639
some way, shape or form. Your sin does not mean

929
00:55:16.679 --> 00:55:21.840
you don't love God. And then how do I know this?

930
00:55:21.880 --> 00:55:24.239
Because you can love God and never be perfect, meaning

931
00:55:24.280 --> 00:55:25.960
you're always going to be sinning.

932
00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:36.199
All of at a distance, something happened. He got a

933
00:55:36.199 --> 00:55:39.000
little cool, and.

934
00:55:39.039 --> 00:55:41.880
I know preachers love that. It said, Peter followed at

935
00:55:41.960 --> 00:55:45.119
a distance. Oh, this is a spiritual picture. No, it's

936
00:55:45.280 --> 00:55:48.639
he followed at a distance because he knew that that. Well,

937
00:55:48.679 --> 00:55:53.280
there's persecution happening. They've arrested Jesus and he could obviously

938
00:55:53.360 --> 00:55:58.559
be demonstrated. Now his bravado was God. He now has worry, No,

939
00:55:58.639 --> 00:56:00.960
he has concern. It's easy to talk a big game

940
00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:02.920
when you're sitting in the upper room and there's no

941
00:56:02.920 --> 00:56:03.719
one around.

942
00:56:03.719 --> 00:56:05.000
I will never deny you.

943
00:56:05.239 --> 00:56:09.079
I'll die for you until until the time everyone talks

944
00:56:09.119 --> 00:56:12.320
a big game, until you're confronted with the reality. And

945
00:56:12.679 --> 00:56:15.119
he followed from a distance. I've heard so many sermons

946
00:56:15.119 --> 00:56:18.119
on that. Who shows his spiritual condition? Oh, come on

947
00:56:18.440 --> 00:56:22.400
for crying out loud, let's not spiritualize the text.

948
00:56:24.920 --> 00:56:30.280
He got a little cold on God long before John Mark, however,

949
00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:35.599
left that mission field, and the persecution that came. Something

950
00:56:35.639 --> 00:56:38.519
happened in is hard. He got cold about what he

951
00:56:38.679 --> 00:56:43.280
was doing long before demons ever forsook Paul and went

952
00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:46.039
back to the world, and it's love of the world.

953
00:56:46.599 --> 00:56:50.920
Something happened. He got cold on God. I'm saying tonight,

954
00:56:51.480 --> 00:56:56.000
there's folks sitting here tonight. There's people sitting here tonight.

955
00:56:56.360 --> 00:57:00.519
You're still trying to serve God. You still read the Bible,

956
00:57:00.760 --> 00:57:04.280
you still high prayer, you still come to church, but

957
00:57:04.599 --> 00:57:07.880
somewhere down the road, you've got a little cold.

958
00:57:10.440 --> 00:57:13.039
Okay, now, first, let me just state it again. I

959
00:57:13.079 --> 00:57:15.760
don't think it's fair to say someone sin because they've

960
00:57:15.800 --> 00:57:18.440
grown cold and they've departed from their first love, because

961
00:57:18.440 --> 00:57:23.599
then the argument, the opposite logical, you know, conclusion, would be, well,

962
00:57:23.599 --> 00:57:27.760
if you love God, you'll never sin. You can't say

963
00:57:27.920 --> 00:57:30.880
sin is mean because you've grown cold to God, because well,

964
00:57:30.920 --> 00:57:33.320
then if you're, if you're on fire, if you're if

965
00:57:33.320 --> 00:57:36.280
you're love God, then you'll never sin. That's just ridiculous.

966
00:57:36.320 --> 00:57:38.400
We know that's not the case. And immediately right there,

967
00:57:38.519 --> 00:57:41.440
you still read your Bible, you still come to church,

968
00:57:41.639 --> 00:57:44.480
you still serve God, but you've departed from your love,

969
00:57:44.639 --> 00:57:46.360
from your first love. Well, then how do I know

970
00:57:46.440 --> 00:57:49.840
if I love God? The best He's given us to

971
00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:52.000
know if you love God is it's got to feel

972
00:57:52.039 --> 00:57:57.400
like it did when you first started dating. That's just ridiculous,

973
00:57:57.960 --> 00:58:00.840
especially in many cases when you first started dating. Look

974
00:58:00.880 --> 00:58:02.960
at your age and what was going on in your

975
00:58:03.039 --> 00:58:06.840
body chemically, all the hormones and things that were happy.

976
00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:13.159
Then that's just that's just not You're creating an expectation.

977
00:58:13.559 --> 00:58:15.920
And but guess what, you can make everyone in church

978
00:58:15.920 --> 00:58:18.119
feel guilty on this because everyone's like, well, I don't

979
00:58:18.119 --> 00:58:22.280
feel those feelings like I did way back then. Well okay,

980
00:58:22.480 --> 00:58:25.039
well then everyone's gonna I gotta get those feelings back.

981
00:58:25.079 --> 00:58:27.840
I gotta get those feelings back. So you get convicted,

982
00:58:28.000 --> 00:58:30.800
you go to the altar, you cry, I'm gonna love

983
00:58:30.840 --> 00:58:33.159
God more, and almost inevitably, what do you How do

984
00:58:33.199 --> 00:58:35.159
you measure it? How much I'm gonna go to church,

985
00:58:35.199 --> 00:58:37.039
how much I'm gonna read my Bible, how much I'm

986
00:58:37.039 --> 00:58:39.280
gonna memorize scripture, how much I'm gonna go to church,

987
00:58:39.920 --> 00:58:42.079
And then it's all measured by your actions. But your

988
00:58:42.119 --> 00:58:44.840
actions don't prove if you love God, because the church

989
00:58:44.880 --> 00:58:48.840
at Ephesis and Revelation Chapter two demonstrates they did all

990
00:58:48.880 --> 00:58:51.119
the right things, but they departed from their first love.

991
00:58:51.239 --> 00:58:52.920
So we still have not been given an answer to

992
00:58:52.960 --> 00:58:55.519
the question, how do you know if you love God?

993
00:58:57.639 --> 00:59:01.800
Oh God, you're not in love with him like you

994
00:59:01.880 --> 00:59:06.760
once was. I'm saying tonight that there are a lot

995
00:59:06.800 --> 00:59:10.880
of Christians at one time or another, and it's gonna happen.

996
00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:15.480
It's something you gotta work at, it's something you gotta

997
00:59:15.559 --> 00:59:20.199
labor with. But there's nobody here tonight that can stand

998
00:59:20.239 --> 00:59:22.320
up and say I love God as much as I

999
00:59:22.400 --> 00:59:27.239
ever have. We all go through spells with the love

1000
00:59:27.320 --> 00:59:29.360
that we once had is not where it needs to

1001
00:59:29.400 --> 00:59:33.199
be or not what it once was. Amen, we cool

1002
00:59:33.320 --> 00:59:36.320
down in our walk with God, We cool down in

1003
00:59:36.400 --> 00:59:40.000
our fellowship with God. We cool down in our Bible

1004
00:59:40.039 --> 00:59:44.639
reading that prayer life. What happened, I say tonight, Problems happened.

1005
00:59:45.480 --> 00:59:49.280
Problems came along and had those problems. You felt like

1006
00:59:49.400 --> 00:59:52.199
God forsook your Our God didn't meet in to the

1007
00:59:52.239 --> 00:59:55.119
requirements that you thought he ought to meet, and you

1008
00:59:55.239 --> 00:59:58.679
thought that that maybe the Christian life was all ease

1009
00:59:58.800 --> 01:00:02.920
and simple. You didn't realize that God grows your faith

1010
01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:07.920
through trial and tribulation and problems got you out. Problems

1011
01:00:07.960 --> 01:00:11.239
put a chill in your spirit. People put him chill

1012
01:00:11.320 --> 01:00:14.920
in your spirit. Somebody said something, the front is mad

1013
01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:17.320
at the back, and the back is mad at the front,

1014
01:00:17.599 --> 01:00:20.199
and the side is mad at the other side. And

1015
01:00:20.239 --> 01:00:23.440
you come to church and you fold your hands. You'll

1016
01:00:23.480 --> 01:00:26.920
go to the ballgame and shout like how wild commands

1017
01:00:26.920 --> 01:00:29.440
you on a war path. And you'll come to church

1018
01:00:29.519 --> 01:00:33.239
and sit like Elijah, the wooden endian. The preacher preaching

1019
01:00:33.320 --> 01:00:36.119
us hard out. He's giving it the best. He's God.

1020
01:00:36.480 --> 01:00:39.880
He's prayed about it, he's sought down about it, he's

1021
01:00:39.920 --> 01:00:43.079
wept over it, he's begged God for it. But he's

1022
01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:49.960
preaching the people that's got cold on God. By the way,

1023
01:00:50.039 --> 01:00:52.880
some of your faces look tonight. You're cold right now.

1024
01:00:54.199 --> 01:00:57.719
You ain't liking this well, I wish he'd shut up.

1025
01:00:57.760 --> 01:01:07.519
It's nearly eight point thirty cold cold, every cold, see,

1026
01:01:07.760 --> 01:01:19.079
oh held cold? What did it? I believe delight and

1027
01:01:19.199 --> 01:01:23.039
things in this life that overshadowed the things of God.

1028
01:01:24.519 --> 01:01:26.760
There was a time in your life that the things

1029
01:01:26.760 --> 01:01:33.519
of God brought great delight and joy gladness. But now

1030
01:01:33.559 --> 01:01:39.320
there's more enduring than there is enjoying. I believe those

1031
01:01:39.800 --> 01:01:42.920
some have lost the desire to spend time with God

1032
01:01:42.960 --> 01:01:47.360
in prayer. Now, communication with God is not what it

1033
01:01:47.440 --> 01:01:50.360
ought to be, and it's brought a coolness and the

1034
01:01:50.480 --> 01:01:53.920
coldness in your heart. You give it in the things

1035
01:01:53.960 --> 01:01:57.320
that you know are not right with God. You're giving

1036
01:01:57.400 --> 01:02:03.400
in to things that you know bring pleasure to the Lord. Neighbor, listen,

1037
01:02:03.480 --> 01:02:05.679
loved once tonight, you know what's right.

1038
01:02:06.360 --> 01:02:14.239
You You see the logical progression of thought. The idea is,

1039
01:02:14.239 --> 01:02:23.800
if you love God, you won't do anything wrong. Well again, hey,

1040
01:02:23.800 --> 01:02:26.599
those three people up front the church, they're perfect. They

1041
01:02:26.639 --> 01:02:29.199
love God. Everyone else you don't love God. So if

1042
01:02:29.199 --> 01:02:32.000
you just will love God, you will never And people say, no, no, no,

1043
01:02:32.039 --> 01:02:35.559
it's not about being perfect. Well then how are you quantifying?

1044
01:02:35.599 --> 01:02:39.360
How do you measure it? Well, you can have this

1045
01:02:39.639 --> 01:02:43.079
much sin and still love God, But this much sin

1046
01:02:43.360 --> 01:02:45.679
you've departed from your first love. You see how just

1047
01:02:45.840 --> 01:02:50.000
subjective this whole thing is. Again, look at the church

1048
01:02:50.039 --> 01:02:53.480
at Ephesis and Revelation to He doesn't mention any a sin,

1049
01:02:53.559 --> 01:02:58.519
he doesn't mention any disobedience, he doesn't mention anything. They're

1050
01:02:58.519 --> 01:03:01.960
doing everything right, Yet they departed from the first love.

1051
01:03:02.119 --> 01:03:04.880
So how then do you measure it?

1052
01:03:06.440 --> 01:03:09.280
You know what's wrong, you know if you're right, and

1053
01:03:09.360 --> 01:03:12.199
you know if you're wrong. But if you're wrong and

1054
01:03:12.280 --> 01:03:14.519
you don't want to do right or not interested in

1055
01:03:14.599 --> 01:03:19.960
doing right, you're cold. The Lord didn't criticize them because

1056
01:03:19.960 --> 01:03:25.079
of their theology. He didn't criticize them because of the orthodoxy.

1057
01:03:25.840 --> 01:03:30.639
He didn't criticizing because of their labor. He didn't criticize

1058
01:03:30.639 --> 01:03:35.719
them because they fainted or lost patience. But he said,

1059
01:03:35.760 --> 01:03:39.920
I have somewhat against them because you don't love me

1060
01:03:41.360 --> 01:03:46.000
like you once did. Preacher said it, do you want revival?

1061
01:03:47.320 --> 01:03:53.239
Not if you're cold, you don't. It's funny. I hear

1062
01:03:53.199 --> 01:03:55.079
his preaching that, and I think about what I'm going

1063
01:03:55.159 --> 01:03:57.400
to preach now. The Lord you knew that two three

1064
01:03:57.440 --> 01:04:02.400
weeks ago. I ain't never took it. I looked at

1065
01:04:02.440 --> 01:04:05.119
a hundred different outlines. But we don't need an outline.

1066
01:04:05.159 --> 01:04:11.719
We need inline. We need what God wants. You want

1067
01:04:11.719 --> 01:04:14.679
a meeting, you gotta get what you can get and

1068
01:04:14.840 --> 01:04:17.440
let God fill you up. I thought about when Brother

1069
01:04:17.519 --> 01:04:20.679
Joe is preaching, when he fed the multitudes over the

1070
01:04:20.679 --> 01:04:23.440
Bible said, when they left and got those twelve baskets

1071
01:04:23.519 --> 01:04:27.039
left over. The Bible said that all them men were full.

1072
01:04:28.760 --> 01:04:30.760
You know, you know, you know what you know? I

1073
01:04:30.920 --> 01:04:33.119
tell you about a fat man. He never gets full.

1074
01:04:35.679 --> 01:04:41.320
There's always more, there's always something else. I determined tonight

1075
01:04:41.480 --> 01:04:44.679
not to eat more than no art too. I'd made

1076
01:04:44.719 --> 01:04:46.320
up my mind. I wasn't gonna eat more than no

1077
01:04:46.440 --> 01:04:53.039
ort to know what. I eat more than art too,

1078
01:04:56.400 --> 01:05:00.280
So I hate somebody made some of them look like

1079
01:05:00.280 --> 01:05:05.159
little ice cream balls. I kept watching the meeting. I

1080
01:05:05.159 --> 01:05:08.800
thought that thing ain't melting. Ice creams both to melt,

1081
01:05:09.159 --> 01:05:12.960
but that ain't melting. There's something different about that. Come

1082
01:05:13.000 --> 01:05:15.480
to find out, it's cream cheese with some kind of

1083
01:05:15.760 --> 01:05:20.360
fake sugar in it. I got to have some of that,

1084
01:05:22.079 --> 01:05:24.360
not one that's like a lace tater chip you had

1085
01:05:24.360 --> 01:05:28.280
to eat. Nobody can eat just one.

1086
01:05:28.480 --> 01:05:32.320
Now I know he's joking, but I'm gonna raise a question.

1087
01:05:33.760 --> 01:05:40.599
At what point does food become an idol? At what

1088
01:05:40.840 --> 01:05:45.599
point does you're eating crossover into gluttony? And at that

1089
01:05:45.800 --> 01:05:51.239
point is that a sin? And does that then mean

1090
01:05:51.320 --> 01:06:01.440
you don't love God? I mean, and a lot of

1091
01:06:01.440 --> 01:06:04.400
these conferences food food food food food has talked about

1092
01:06:04.440 --> 01:06:07.760
frequently because they have meals and food food food, food, food. Food.

1093
01:06:08.519 --> 01:06:10.679
Already at this camp meeting, they've already talked about food.

1094
01:06:10.679 --> 01:06:12.880
I think once or twice. It's maybe the third time.

1095
01:06:13.159 --> 01:06:16.199
The food, the food, the food, the food, the food. Well,

1096
01:06:16.239 --> 01:06:21.239
when does that cross some kind of line?

1097
01:06:22.280 --> 01:06:28.159
I'm killing time because I get there. It is cold.

1098
01:06:29.559 --> 01:06:33.280
You preach like this, you gotta use little humor. You

1099
01:06:33.320 --> 01:06:36.159
can see the countenance of y'all's faces go from them

1100
01:06:42.639 --> 01:06:46.679
right and what I wanted to hear tonight, get sound

1101
01:06:46.800 --> 01:06:49.000
doctrine back up there. Let me tell you something about

1102
01:06:49.000 --> 01:06:51.480
their singing. They're singing to bring more conviction than some

1103
01:06:51.639 --> 01:06:56.400
preaching does. I've been listening to them, to him for years,

1104
01:06:56.519 --> 01:06:59.719
met him for the first time last year. My girls

1105
01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:03.440
feel mad at me about that. But they got more.

1106
01:07:03.519 --> 01:07:06.239
They got more power in their song than most preachers

1107
01:07:06.239 --> 01:07:13.039
gotten their preaching punch. What happened? What's happening to us? Cold?

1108
01:07:14.679 --> 01:07:17.280
I mean, we got all our hides dotted and all

1109
01:07:17.320 --> 01:07:22.199
are tease crossed. We're still visiting, going to the nursing home,

1110
01:07:22.320 --> 01:07:26.960
knocked in a few doors, handing out tracks. But we're

1111
01:07:27.000 --> 01:07:28.000
just going through the motion.

1112
01:07:31.320 --> 01:07:35.400
He's doing really good at you know, Hey, diagnosing the problem.

1113
01:07:35.480 --> 01:07:37.440
You can do all of this stuff, but you still

1114
01:07:37.440 --> 01:07:40.159
may not love God. Okay, that's great. Well, then how

1115
01:07:40.159 --> 01:07:42.639
do we know if we love God. I'm gonna continue

1116
01:07:42.679 --> 01:07:45.079
to ask the question. We're gonna wrap it up here

1117
01:07:45.119 --> 01:07:47.719
in a second, and then you can go finish listening

1118
01:07:47.800 --> 01:07:50.320
to the rest of this again. The name of this

1119
01:07:50.440 --> 01:07:54.559
message is you've left your first love from Stay by

1120
01:07:54.559 --> 01:07:56.599
the Stuff twenty twenty four on the sermon's two point.

1121
01:07:56.639 --> 01:07:59.119
Oh app okay, so please go listen to the rest

1122
01:07:59.119 --> 01:08:01.400
of it. Please listen to all of it. I mean it,

1123
01:08:01.480 --> 01:08:04.800
listen to all of the messages, but I still want

1124
01:08:04.800 --> 01:08:08.000
you to make your list and how you know. While

1125
01:08:08.000 --> 01:08:11.039
this was going on, I was arguing with artificial intelligence, saying,

1126
01:08:11.079 --> 01:08:12.440
how do I know I love God? And would get

1127
01:08:12.440 --> 01:08:13.920
me a list? And I say, well, didn't the church

1128
01:08:13.920 --> 01:08:15.920
at ephesis do these things? And they were like yes,

1129
01:08:15.960 --> 01:08:17.199
And I'm like, well, then how do I know I

1130
01:08:17.239 --> 01:08:19.079
love God? And give me the same thing. I'm like,

1131
01:08:19.159 --> 01:08:21.640
you just repeated what you just said, but you acknowledged

1132
01:08:22.279 --> 01:08:26.520
that the Church of Emphasis didn't love God. So you

1133
01:08:26.760 --> 01:08:29.960
and AI cannot seem to unravel this mystery. AI can't

1134
01:08:29.960 --> 01:08:32.520
seem to unravel it. He's not the best He's done

1135
01:08:32.640 --> 01:08:34.600
is well, the way you know love God is you'll

1136
01:08:34.640 --> 01:08:40.000
act like you did when you were dating. That's that

1137
01:08:40.039 --> 01:08:41.119
can't be the answer.

1138
01:08:43.399 --> 01:08:48.479
We're just going through emotion. That's what I'm supposed to do.

1139
01:08:49.640 --> 01:08:53.319
This is what I'm expected to do. But there's no

1140
01:08:53.439 --> 01:09:01.000
love in it. You become unwilling to give to the

1141
01:09:01.039 --> 01:09:07.319
Lord's work. You can give to anything else and everything else,

1142
01:09:07.359 --> 01:09:11.760
but when it comes to God's work, there's not enough

1143
01:09:11.840 --> 01:09:16.439
love that digs to Oh.

1144
01:09:16.520 --> 01:09:21.239
Now he's getting really specific. The amount you give will

1145
01:09:21.239 --> 01:09:26.039
determine if you love God. So can I use that?

1146
01:09:26.520 --> 01:09:29.600
Ladies and gentlemen, If you listen to this podcast, unless

1147
01:09:29.600 --> 01:09:34.239
you're giving at least thirty dollars a month, you don't

1148
01:09:34.520 --> 01:09:39.479
love God. Can your pastor say, unless you're giving one

1149
01:09:39.600 --> 01:09:43.960
hundred dollars a month to this church, you don't love God.

1150
01:09:44.399 --> 01:09:47.880
Does the amount you give determine if you love God?

1151
01:09:48.600 --> 01:09:50.119
Or you're giving at all?

1152
01:09:55.159 --> 01:10:01.479
Make a little bit of sacrifice ass love for one

1153
01:10:01.520 --> 01:10:06.479
another as a church. The Bible does say to bear

1154
01:10:06.880 --> 01:10:11.880
one another's burdens and so fulfill you the love of Christ.

1155
01:10:13.199 --> 01:10:18.479
We're family, but most of the time we first and

1156
01:10:18.600 --> 01:10:24.760
we are disagree. What's wrong love? Love?

1157
01:10:28.800 --> 01:10:32.239
But doesn't the text say that the church at Ephesus

1158
01:10:32.640 --> 01:10:39.159
has born and has patience, and for my namesake has

1159
01:10:39.279 --> 01:10:42.119
labored and has not fam What did they what and

1160
01:10:42.199 --> 01:10:42.840
has born?

1161
01:10:43.159 --> 01:10:44.359
Born? What? What? What?

1162
01:10:44.359 --> 01:10:49.319
What is that referencing they did not bear one another's burdens?

1163
01:10:49.720 --> 01:10:54.800
So how again do we know if we love.

1164
01:10:57.720 --> 01:11:03.560
You seek the approval of the world and a pat

1165
01:11:03.680 --> 01:11:05.159
on the back from the world.

1166
01:11:09.800 --> 01:11:14.039
The Church of Emphesis wasn't doing that. So then I see,

1167
01:11:14.039 --> 01:11:17.560
now I don't really understand. We have to try to

1168
01:11:17.640 --> 01:11:20.319
understand it in the context of where it's found.

1169
01:11:20.600 --> 01:11:20.760
Though.

1170
01:11:20.960 --> 01:11:23.359
The text that says nevertheless, I have someone against thee

1171
01:11:23.439 --> 01:11:26.119
you've departed from your first love is about the Church

1172
01:11:26.159 --> 01:11:32.199
at Ephesus. We can't just insert anything into that. How

1173
01:11:32.239 --> 01:11:36.079
did they demonstrate that they did not love God?

1174
01:11:38.800 --> 01:11:43.279
Yeah, and think that that is more desirable and more

1175
01:11:43.720 --> 01:11:48.880
applicable and more prominent in your life than heaven God's approval.

1176
01:11:50.520 --> 01:11:54.439
The Bible said, love not the world, neither of the

1177
01:11:54.439 --> 01:11:56.600
things that are in the world. If any man loved

1178
01:11:56.600 --> 01:11:58.960
the world, the love of the Father's not in him.

1179
01:11:59.000 --> 01:12:00.479
That's where a lot of us are denied.

1180
01:12:02.720 --> 01:12:06.840
Now I'll stop right there. But that what does that

1181
01:12:06.880 --> 01:12:12.920
have anything to do with the church at ephesis? I mean,

1182
01:12:12.960 --> 01:12:20.159
you're quoting from First John. John wrote Revelation, but he

1183
01:12:20.199 --> 01:12:23.680
doesn't utilize the same language here. You're doing all the

1184
01:12:23.720 --> 01:12:26.800
good things, but nevertheless you've departed from first love? So

1185
01:12:26.840 --> 01:12:30.000
how do you know you love God? All right, we

1186
01:12:30.079 --> 01:12:33.760
went seventy two minutes. We're gonna wrap this up. Thank

1187
01:12:33.760 --> 01:12:36.439
you for listening. Go listen to the rest of it.

1188
01:12:36.479 --> 01:12:37.920
Go listen to the rest of it. I think this

1189
01:12:38.000 --> 01:12:41.239
is the sermon. He mentions Abilene, Texas, where where I'm

1190
01:12:41.239 --> 01:12:45.279
broadcasting from. I'm broadcasting live from Abilene, Texas. I think

1191
01:12:45.319 --> 01:12:48.239
this is the sermon. He mentions a church in Abilene,

1192
01:12:48.239 --> 01:12:53.000
Texas where something crazy happened, and I'm like, well, maybe

1193
01:12:53.039 --> 01:12:56.079
maybe we'll use it for a separate episode just to

1194
01:12:56.119 --> 01:13:00.640
talk about well, yeah, yeah, yeah, that churches are not

1195
01:13:00.720 --> 01:13:02.840
obviously filled with people who are new creatures and old

1196
01:13:02.840 --> 01:13:04.600
things have passed away and all things that become new,

1197
01:13:04.880 --> 01:13:08.199
because every pastor I've ever heard tells horrible stories about

1198
01:13:08.199 --> 01:13:10.279
things that go down in churches, and some of them

1199
01:13:10.319 --> 01:13:13.239
I'm utterly shocked by. And as I even heard Charles

1200
01:13:13.279 --> 01:13:15.880
Stanley one time he got punched by I think a

1201
01:13:15.920 --> 01:13:18.479
deacon got punched in the face, and it's like, what

1202
01:13:18.800 --> 01:13:22.079
in the world physical violence and churches? And he has

1203
01:13:22.119 --> 01:13:24.119
somewhat of a similar story if it's the same preacher,

1204
01:13:24.159 --> 01:13:26.680
where they're basically almost started throwing punches at each other,

1205
01:13:26.840 --> 01:13:32.119
and it's like, yeah, so maybe church is still made

1206
01:13:32.159 --> 01:13:35.560
up of sinners, which it is. So then the question

1207
01:13:35.640 --> 01:13:42.800
is do we ever truly love God? And that's why

1208
01:13:42.840 --> 01:13:45.720
we have to be saved by faith alone? Because Christ

1209
01:13:45.760 --> 01:13:48.600
did love God correctly, and his love for God is

1210
01:13:48.640 --> 01:13:52.199
imputed to me, so meant my position, I love God

1211
01:13:52.239 --> 01:13:55.159
perfectly in my practice. I don't even know if we

1212
01:13:55.159 --> 01:13:57.600
can really quantify what it is or what it looks like,

1213
01:13:57.720 --> 01:14:09.479
or even how to measure it. Thanks for listening everyone,

1214
01:14:09.520 --> 01:14:10.640
Have a great night. God bless