Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000032A
|
00:29 Hello, I'm Lance. And I'm Dwayne.
00:31 And you are here with us at another episode of TKS, 00:35 "A True Knowledge of Self", 00:36 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:40 We were privileged in going over the Word of God 00:42 and being able to look at some of the realities 00:44 that are happening right now, 00:45 as it pertains to the hip-hop culture 00:48 and doing a comparison to the Christian culture 00:51 and trying to see, do they blend or do they not. 00:55 There is a reason for this. 00:56 There are many today 00:58 that are trying to make all sorts of amalgamations, 01:00 trying to blend things together and develop good. 01:05 But the problem is that 01:06 when things are tested by scripture, 01:09 which is the duty of the Christian 01:10 to prove all things 01:12 and to live by every word 01:13 that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 01:15 We begin to see that a lot of things 01:17 that even Christians have embraced, 01:19 even Christianity has embraced. 01:21 We find that there are contradictions, 01:24 there are living hypocrisies, and there are inconstancies, 01:27 and as a result of that 01:29 the will of God cannot be accomplished, 01:31 which we have established in previous episodes, 01:33 which is putting that robe back on humanity. 01:36 Once again, man coming in right union with God 01:39 and experiencing righteousness, which can only come by faith. 01:43 It is because of this that we had to look 01:44 at the lifestyles of the world today 01:46 and there is nothing 01:47 that has affected this world like the culture of hip-hop. 01:51 Hip-hop is incredible as it relates to its power 01:53 and influence in the world. 01:55 And though there be many people who believe in it, exercise it, 01:58 practice it, advocate it, etc., 02:00 though they may be doing it even innocently, 02:03 it has to be looked upon from the biblical lens and see, 02:06 is there consistency or inconsistency. 02:09 We've been seeing consistent inconsistency thus far. 02:12 We have been looking clearly at the Word of God, 02:14 we looked especially at a clip where one of the great teachers 02:19 and thought leaders in hip-hop culture, 02:21 KRS-One stated the very four key elements, 02:25 cornerstones or pillars of the hip-hop culture, 02:28 which was love, peace, unity, and safely having fun. 02:31 And we have been really looking at love 02:32 because love, quite honestly is inexhaustible, 02:36 because God is love and God is inexhaustible. 02:39 And we have been looking at it and doing some comparatives 02:41 and in our previous episode we looked at, you know, 02:45 some of the thought leaders 02:46 from Russell Simmons to Afrika Bambaataa 02:48 and things that they have shared 02:50 that unfortunately does not gel with some of the things 02:54 we are seeing from the Word of God. 02:55 We are seeing that love is something 02:57 that causes us to take stance against things 03:02 that even though it may make us uncomfortable, 03:04 we have to be willing to take that stand 03:06 because of those whom we love. 03:08 And we saw through those clips, Lance, that, you know, 03:11 some of these things were not consistent, 03:13 we were looking at it and trying to figure out, 03:15 okay, how can we say we love somebody 03:19 and at the same time we will not correct them 03:21 when they are worthy of correction, 03:23 which was admitted by both of the two individuals 03:26 that we just looked at, 03:27 Russell Simmons and Afrika Bambaataa, 03:29 where they are saying, "Hey, you know, 03:31 though these things may very well be wrong or evil," 03:34 you know, "I'm not gonna go ahead and say, 03:36 "Let's get rid of it, 03:37 let's stop it or speak against it." 03:39 Yeah. 03:40 "Yet when other things take place in our world, 03:43 the hip-hop community knows how to come together 03:45 and speak against it, call it wrong and call it evil, 03:48 and all these other things, 03:49 but they don't seem to want to do it 03:50 when it comes close to home. 03:52 At least this is what is seeming 03:54 to be the reality thus far. 03:55 It's because of this that 03:57 I believe we cannot count 03:59 on human manufactured ideas of what constitutes love 04:03 even as taught through hip-hop culture 04:05 and we need to get a real picture, 04:07 what really is love? 04:09 How does it really work? 04:10 How can I make it applicable in my life 04:12 and in my circumstances, 04:14 whether I'm in the hood or I'm in a palace? 04:16 How can I make it real for me? Right. 04:18 And so, I have some verses that I want to talk about, 04:21 but I think you have a verse there available 04:25 that kind of just walks us through, you know, 04:27 that was referred to in the Bible 04:29 as the love chapter. 04:30 That's right. 04:31 That kind of just highlights what love is 04:33 and if you read that for us, 04:34 then we are gonna go ahead 04:36 and walk through some other principles. 04:37 Well, then that would be my pleasure. 04:38 So here it is that we're looking 04:40 at a chapter in the Bible 04:41 that has been known 04:43 throughout theological realms 04:44 and Christianity generally, 04:45 as the love chapter, 04:47 which is found in 1 Corinthians 13. 04:48 Because I am reading from a King James version, 04:50 we are gonna see that word "charity" constantly come up, 04:53 but this is the word agape in the Greek, 04:55 which really deals with the Godly love. 04:57 Yeah. 04:58 So, it says in 1 Corinthians 13:1, 05:01 "Though I speak with the tongues 05:02 of men and of angels, 05:04 and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, 05:08 or a tinkling cymbal. 05:10 And though I have the gift of prophecy, 05:12 and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge. 05:16 And though I have all faith, 05:17 so that I could remove mountains, 05:18 and have not charity, I am nothing. 05:21 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, 05:24 and though I give my body to be burned, 05:26 and have not charity, 05:28 it profiteth me nothing. 05:29 Charity suffereth long, and is kind. 05:32 Charity envieth not. 05:34 Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 05:38 it doth not behave itself unseemly, 05:41 it seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, 05:45 thinketh no evil. 05:47 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. 05:51 Beareth all things, believeth all things, 05:54 hopeth all things, endureth all things. 05:57 Charity never faileth: 06:00 but whether there be prophecies, 06:02 they shall fail, whether there be tongues, 06:03 they shall cease. 06:05 Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 06:08 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 06:11 But when that which is perfect is come, 06:13 then that which is in part shall be done away. 06:16 When I was a child, I speak as a child, 06:17 I understood as a child, and I thought as a child: 06:20 but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 06:22 For now we see through a glass, darkly, 06:24 but then face to face: now I know in part, 06:27 but then shall I know even as also I am known. 06:30 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, 06:34 but the greatest of these is charity." 06:37 Amen. Amen. 06:39 So we're seeing a situation, you know, 06:41 the whole context of Corinthians 06:42 is really dealing with knowledge, wisdom 06:45 and essentially it identifies wisdom as being Christ Himself. 06:49 We saw in 1 Corinthians 1:24 that, 06:53 "Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." 06:56 That's right. 06:58 So, really that childish thing 06:59 that is being put away is ignorance. 07:02 It's ignorance. Powerful. Yes, sir. 07:03 It's a lack of the true knowledge and wisdom 07:04 that leads to reality that God is, that Christ is, 07:09 as it says in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that, 07:11 "He was made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, 07:15 and sanctification, and redemption." 07:17 So another thing that the Bible stresses is, 07:20 it identifies the fact that love is not an emotion 07:25 that you hear a lot about feeling, 07:26 I want to feel the love, I don't feel the love. 07:30 They are looking for this kind of emotional response 07:33 and this emotional fulfillment, 07:35 which God does provide emotional fulfillment. 07:37 It's not that that is completely negated. 07:39 It's just that love is a principle, 07:41 it transcends emotion. 07:43 That's right. 07:44 So when we talk about love, 07:45 there is much more to say about it, 07:47 I want to turn to a Bible verse, 07:48 but I know that you have something else 07:50 that you want to share. 07:51 Yeah, I mean, when I look at this concept 07:53 of what's coming out in 1 Corinthians 13, 07:55 it really does hone in on like what you said, 07:57 it really is functional of a principle 08:00 rather than simply an emotional stimuli, 08:02 some type of feeling we have here or there. 08:04 And I was reading one day a book called, 08:06 "Acts of the Apostles," 08:08 and it says something very powerful 08:10 commenting on this 1 Corinthians 13 passage 08:14 and dealing with, you know, the love chapter, 08:16 and I just thought it was so profound that I said, 08:17 "We have to read this." 08:18 And it's in Acts of the Apostles, page 318, 08:21 and here is what it says, 08:23 "No matter how high the profession, 08:26 he whose heart is not filled with love for God 08:29 and his fellowmen is not a true disciple of Christ. 08:33 Though he should possess great faith 08:36 and have power even to work miracles, 08:39 yet without love his faith would be worthless. 08:43 He might display great liberality, 08:45 but should he, from some other motive 08:48 than genuine love, 08:49 bestow all his goods to feed the poor, 08:53 the act would not commend him to the favor of God. 08:56 In his zeal he might even meet a martyr's death, 08:59 yet if not actuated by love, 09:02 he would be regarded by God 09:04 as a deluded enthusiast or an ambitious hypocrite." 09:09 My brother, that is profound. Absolutely. 09:12 And this is why love is worthy of study. 09:15 We have to be able to say, "Lord, I need Your love, 09:18 not my human manufactured love." 09:21 "Not my love with all of its incredible human limitations, 09:24 and acceptances, and all these other things." 09:27 We need a love that is born of heaven. 09:29 And God wants to give it to us. 09:31 He is willing to give it to us 09:32 through the medium of His spirit 09:34 and thank the Lord, the Bible says in Luke 11:13, 09:36 "If you want the Spirit of God, you can ask for Him." 09:38 Yeah. 09:39 So that we can literally say, 09:41 "Lord, I don't have Your love 09:42 but I'm asking You to put that love in my heart." 09:43 But it does require that element 09:45 that we've been talking about in previous episodes, 09:47 which is submission. 09:48 You got to be willing to submit to God 09:51 and then you can have power to resist the devil 09:53 that he may flee from us as James 4 tells us. 09:56 So this is a very, very important part of our study, 09:58 where we are really dealing with now, 10:00 you know, love, what is it? 10:01 How does it work? 10:03 How can I make it real for my life 10:04 and my circumstance? 10:05 And I hope that this is gonna 10:07 be an absolute blessing to our viewers 10:09 as I'm sure it's gonna be a blessing 10:10 even to us just to rehearse it. 10:11 Right, and just to mention as well is that 10:13 love requires constant scrutiny and accountability. 10:18 And that is the responsibility that we have. 10:21 And that is really how you maintain 10:24 the love for the community, 10:27 the love for your brothers and sisters, 10:29 the love for your family is what your motivation, your, 10:33 what you are doing 10:34 and how you are expressing "love" 10:37 has to constantly be scrutinized 10:39 and you have to be constantly held accountable. 10:41 And if there is nobody in the hip-hop culture for example 10:45 or many that are not willing to scrutinize, 10:50 to hold accountable within their own ranks, 10:52 then you know, 10:54 you have to question the love principle there. 10:56 Is it a principle or it's just something that is fleeting? 10:58 Absolutely. 11:00 So, let's look at Hebrews 12, and in Hebrews 12:2, 11:04 it kind of highlights 11:05 what we've been talking about the idea 11:06 that love is not simply an emotional stimulus. 11:11 It is a principle that transcends emotion. 11:14 So in Hebrews 12:2, it says, 11:18 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. 11:24 Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 11:29 despising the shame, and is set down 11:31 at the right hand of the throne of God." 11:34 Now the question here and we're gonna look at this, 11:36 but what is it that motivated His action? 11:40 What is it that moved Him to express this great, 11:44 immeasurable love? 11:47 And it says here that, 11:48 "The joy that was set before Him," 11:51 because of that, "He endured the cross, 11:53 despising the shame." 11:54 That's right. So, what was it? 11:56 And if we go to Luke 15, we'll see what that joy was. 12:00 What was it that was motivating Christ 12:02 to go against every single human impulse. 12:05 Every natural earthly, psychological, 12:08 emotional impulse was don't do this, 12:10 at all cost. 12:11 Protect yourself, you know, we're kind of wired, 12:15 because of sin we are wired for self preservation. 12:18 Yes. Right? 12:19 So, what was it that motivated Christ, 12:20 Luke 15:7, I believe. 12:23 We're gonna read Luke 15 and... 12:27 All right. 12:28 Luke 15:7, it says, 12:31 "I say unto you, 12:33 that likewise joy shall be in heaven 12:37 over one sinner that repenteth, 12:40 more than over ninety and nine just persons, 12:42 which need no repentance." 12:44 Amen. 12:46 The salvation of even one individual soul 12:50 brings immeasurable joy in heaven. 12:53 That's right. 12:55 So, Jesus' motivation for laying down His life 12:58 for His friends was going... 13:01 was there even if it was just one person 13:03 who is gonna positively respond. 13:04 Even if there was just one person to be saved, 13:06 He would have done it. 13:07 That's right. 13:09 He would have endured the cross despising the shame, 13:10 that's love. 13:12 And we're saying it and it's easy to kind of say it 13:15 and I'm not even gonna suggest that we really understand 13:17 how deep that is, 13:19 and how strong and powerful that is. 13:21 But nevertheless, we have the testimony of the scripture 13:24 that shows us clearly that the motivation, 13:27 the expression of love was not necessarily in a sentiment, 13:33 it was in an action. 13:34 That's right. 13:36 It was in a principle 13:37 that was exercised that went against 13:40 every single natural impulse. 13:43 And so love has to be the fact that God is love 13:46 and if that is in us, 13:47 then we have to be willing also 13:49 to endure whatever might come 13:51 to endure that cross, to despise the shame, 13:53 to be willing to do whatever it takes 13:55 even if it's just for one person, 13:56 even if it could mean the salvation 13:58 and the saving of one person. 14:00 And this is a kind of love that is very, very selfless. 14:04 Yes. 14:05 This is something 'cause if you read the account in Matthew 26, 14:08 Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, 14:10 Luke 22 also brings this out, 14:12 He's in the Garden of Gethsemane 14:13 and He is saying, 14:15 "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." 14:18 Jesus had to drink a cup 14:19 and that cup was filled with a very wrath of God. 14:21 Jesus was taking on the punishment 14:24 that should come to sinners 14:25 and He was willing to let this punishment fall on Himself. 14:29 You know, when a man dies today, 14:30 he can die but he's only bearing his issues, 14:33 what his challenges were. 14:35 Christ was taking on the sins of humanity. 14:37 2 Corinthians 5:21, tells us that, 14:41 "He became sin for us." 14:44 It's like literally sinners' past, sinners' present, 14:47 sinners' future, all was weighing on Christ 14:50 in the Garden of Gethsemane. 14:52 And this why it caused Him to sweat so much 14:54 that it literally popped His blood vessels 14:56 and blood was being mingled with the sweat. 14:58 He was dealing with the weight of the sins of the world, 15:02 strange enough, not His own. 15:04 So this is incredible because this is a love that, 15:06 like you stated, you stated it perfectly, 15:08 we're gonna spend eternity 15:10 seeking to understand such a love. 15:12 That you would be willing to step down from absolute glory, 15:16 absolute beauty, 15:18 looking your father face-to-face 15:21 and enjoying the beauty of angels and holiness, 15:24 and He came down to a sin cursed earth, 15:27 clothed yourself with human flesh, 15:30 human nature, 15:31 and went through all the trials of life, 15:33 and went through temptations far worse 15:35 than we ever could have faced, 15:36 and ridicule, put down, etc., 15:38 and then to have all of the sinners' sins 15:42 laid upon you. 15:45 We don't understand that, 15:46 our minds are way too limited to understand 15:49 what Christ was going through at Calvary and He said, 15:52 "I did all of this that 15:54 even if one person would accept it, 15:56 it was worth it." 15:57 Man, this is a selfless kind of love 16:00 that we would do well to consider often 16:03 is to think on Calvary and to understand 16:06 what Christ did that we may be saved. 16:09 And to appreciate and to cherish 16:10 the plan of salvation 16:12 rather than to shun it, and joke about it, 16:14 and jest upon it, as many do 16:18 even in positions of thought leadership in hip-hop culture. 16:21 It is so incredibly insulting. 16:23 And this is why Christians need to take a stand and to say, 16:27 "Listen, what's being taught 16:29 through hip-hop culture is error. 16:30 It is something that is dangerous." 16:32 Jesus said, "If you're not with Me, 16:33 you are against Me." 16:35 And therefore I'm not here to try to put, you know, 16:37 hip-hop culture in a neutral position. 16:39 There is no neutral, either you are for or you're against. 16:41 And everything that is being purported 16:43 through hip-hop culture 16:45 is against Christianity, 16:47 which is against Christ, 16:48 which is against the Word of God, 16:50 which is against God. 16:52 And this has to be taught, 16:53 it has to be made plain 16:55 and God's people need to come out of it 16:56 and into His marvelous light 16:58 and really understand 16:59 what it means to bear the cross. 17:01 To be able to say, 17:02 "Listen, if Jesus kept the view in front of Him, 17:06 the goal, even when He didn't feel to do it, 17:10 the view and the goal of what this process would accomplish 17:14 is greater than my feelings right now." 17:16 Yeah. And that's how love works. 17:18 And this is something we can take in our lives, if I, 17:21 you know, if I got to change my diet, 17:22 I can literally learn a lesson from the cross. 17:24 I can say, "Man, you know what? 17:26 I've been saying for a long time, 17:28 I need to eat better to have greater health." 17:29 But every time I see that food object, 17:31 it just pulls me and I just give in, 17:33 but what if I could remember a lesson from the cross. 17:35 Christ says, "It was the joy that was set before me 17:38 that I endured this." 17:39 What if you had the joy of your health set before you, 17:42 kept that in your vision 17:43 when you start practicing your dietary restrictions. 17:46 If you keep that joy set before you, 17:48 it helps better enable you to not give in 17:51 to the call of appetite or the god belly. 17:53 We can literally take principles from the cross 17:55 and make it practical in our own lives. 17:57 And this is a demonstration of the love of God 18:00 and this is how we can show forth our love back to God 18:03 and to our fellowmen. 18:04 Right. 18:06 So love goes deeper, I mean, it's clear that 18:08 love does not glory in itself, 18:09 in other words, love is not competitive. 18:11 In Philippians 2:3-4, 18:15 it says something very powerful. 18:17 It says, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, 18:22 having the same love, 18:24 being of one accord, of one mind. 18:26 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, 18:30 but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other 18:33 better than themselves." 18:35 So, we see here, you know, 18:38 if we thought of just life in general, I mean, 18:40 almost every single culture is rooted in competitive, 18:45 you know, behavior 18:46 and if we just think of hip-hop, I mean, 18:49 I don't know how many, 18:50 when I was in the culture and I was MCing, 18:53 I don't know how many battles I had. 18:55 I don't know how many battles as a dancer that you had. 18:57 But that is the... 18:58 that is one of the fundamental aspects 19:01 and elements there that it's really me against you. 19:04 Who's better? I'm better. 19:06 And that is encouraged, that in fact is cheered 19:08 and revered whether it's over, 19:10 you know, how many record sales, 19:12 how many units you move, how many downloads you had, 19:14 how many views you had on YouTube or you know, 19:18 somebody on the street corner with no money 19:20 and how many battles he won and how many, you know, 19:22 punch lines he had. 19:23 So this idea of competition 19:25 is contradicting love, you know, 19:29 and we know that whether it's on the basketball court 19:31 or what have you, often times this turns to violence. 19:34 It can. 19:35 This friendly, friendly competition 19:37 can quickly turn to violence 19:39 and that's just part of the culture, 19:41 that's just part of life, you know, 19:42 we are gonna have some of that and some of this, 19:44 we just need to have a balance. 19:45 And if we were to take the Word of God 19:46 just for what it says, 19:48 it says, "In lowliness of mind let each esteem others 19:53 better than themselves." 19:55 How can you do that and engage in an activity 19:58 where my goal is to demonstrate I'm better than you. 20:01 Exactly. It's literally impossible. 20:05 Yeah. It's a contradiction. 20:06 So when we are looking at the Word of God 20:08 and we are looking at the love of God, 20:10 we are seeing something very profound, 20:12 because I know you just read verses 3 and 4, 20:14 but if we were to go further in verse 5, 20:16 Paul is really trying to just summarize his point. 20:18 He is saying, "Do you know what I'm really trying to say?" 20:20 Verse 5, "Let this mind be in you, 20:21 which was also in Christ Jesus." 20:23 That's right. 20:24 You want to know the mind of Christ? 20:25 Let me show you the mind of Christ. 20:27 Who thought it not robbery to be equal with God. 20:29 But He humbled Himself, became obedient unto death, 20:33 etc., this is the demonstration, 20:36 the character, the example that Christ wanted us to have. 20:39 Not to be busy trying to battle each other 20:41 and I'm trying to beat you or beat me, 20:43 because my human nature doesn't like to be defeated. 20:45 No. 20:46 So even though I can be like, "Good, good one there, 20:48 you've got me, you've got me." 20:50 A lot of times there is something 20:51 in my heart that says, 20:52 "I can't believe this brother beat me, man, if it... 20:54 You know what? 20:55 In fact, if I could, I'd probably 20:57 knock him out right now 20:58 but I know there's so many people looking." 20:59 I mean, these things going on in the heart 21:01 that can come out eventually in the character, 21:03 and this is how a lot of those fights 21:05 break out at different, you know, 21:06 sports arenas or some of the, you know, 21:09 the house parties, and the clubs, 21:10 and everything, where all these battles 21:12 and this competing and trying to beat each other 21:15 when if we follow the biblical blueprint, 21:17 we wouldn't have to deal with this. 21:18 Let each esteem others better than themselves 21:21 in lowliness of mind 21:23 and looking not out for yourself 21:26 but looking out for others, that was what verse 4 said. 21:28 That's right. 21:29 So, if we follow this principle, 21:31 this is a demonstration of love. 21:33 Yeah. 21:35 So, if we, you know, we've talked about this before, 21:38 but Jesus put it very simply in John 14:15, it says, 21:41 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 21:43 Now this opens another dynamic of love that, you know, 21:48 as it relates to the human response, 21:50 how are we to response in love? 21:51 We understand that we're supposed 21:53 to lay down our lives for our brethren, 21:54 we understand but when Jesus says, 21:56 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 21:58 Love now takes on another aspect, 22:01 another dimension, and another layer. 22:03 So I want to turn to 1 John 2 22:05 and really walk through a principle here. 22:07 We've looked at some of these verses before, 22:09 but when we look at 'em again, 22:11 we're gonna look at 'em through this lens, 22:12 so 1 John 2 and I'm looking at verses 3-6, 22:16 it says here that, 22:20 "And hereby we do know that we know Him, 22:22 if we keep His commandments. 22:24 He that saith, I know Him, 22:26 and keepeth not His commandments, 22:27 is a liar, 22:29 and the truth is not in him. 22:30 But who so keepeth His word, 22:32 in Him verily is the love of God perfected. 22:35 Hereby know we that we are in Him." 22:38 And we stressed this before but again the fact that 22:41 love can be demonstrated, love can be witnessed. 22:44 That's right. 22:45 And in this case, is witnessed through obedience 22:47 and obedience to none other but God. 22:49 Obedience to His commandments 22:51 is an indication that love is present, 22:54 the love of God is present in the human heart. 22:56 Now it goes further in 1 John 3:16 22:59 as we read before and we'll stress it again. 23:02 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, 23:04 because He laid down His life for us. 23:06 And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." 23:08 So love is demonstrated through action, 23:11 so we understand and we see the proof 23:14 and the evidence of love in that, 23:17 "Christ laid down His life for us." 23:18 Yes. 23:20 So, we had to demonstrate that in the same fashion 23:21 but notice, it goes further in 1 John 4, 23:24 1 John 4:8-9, it says, 23:28 "He that loveth not knoweth not God, 23:31 for God is love. 23:33 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, 23:36 because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, 23:40 that we might live through Him." 23:42 So God, the Father, 23:44 demonstrated His love by action. 23:46 He didn't just say it, 23:48 He didn't just mention it or feel it, 23:49 He demonstrated His love by sending His Son, 23:52 and His Son demonstrated His love 23:54 by laying down His life. 23:56 We are supposed to demonstrate love by laying down our lives 23:58 and keeping His commandments. 24:00 Now if we really were to carefully consider this, 24:03 again these principles 24:05 will need to be reflected in the heart 24:08 of God's people today, you know, 24:11 even in the most trying circumstances. 24:13 I'm gonna use the social issues right now. 24:15 Again, right now we believe that, 24:19 there are many rather, 24:20 I'm not gonna include myself in this on this point, 24:22 but there are many who believe 24:24 that the police officers are the enemy. 24:27 And therefore, there's a lot of things happening on that end. 24:29 Some of the police officers, they believe some of these 24:30 civilians are the enemies 24:32 and there is a lot of unrest happening in society right now. 24:36 Well, what does the Bible teach? 24:38 Christ, God the Father loved humanity enough 24:41 that He was willing to let the only one that was like Him, 24:44 come to save these individuals, 24:46 yet these individuals were enemies. 24:49 You see, when we read Romans 5 in the previous episode, 24:51 it says, "God commendeth His love toward us, 24:53 that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," 24:56 that was Romans 5:8. 24:57 Literally, if you go to Romans 5:10, 24:59 it actually says in verse 10, "While we were yet enemies, 25:03 Christ came and died for us." 25:04 So Jesus was demonstrating a love 25:07 for enemies and the question is, 25:11 what happens to your love or your love principle 25:14 that you function by 25:15 when you come in contact with somebody 25:17 that you can deem in your mind a bonafide enemy? 25:20 Jesus' love was consistent to the point 25:22 that even one day when Pilate says, 25:24 "All right, what do you want me to do? 25:25 I got one man, Barabbas and I got Jesus, 25:27 what do you want me to do?" 25:29 They said, "We want Barabbas to be free, 25:31 and we want you to crucify Christ." 25:32 He said, "Why?" 25:34 They said, "We just want Him crucified," 25:35 and they yelled even louder and Pilate said, 25:37 "Look, I, my hands are innocent, 25:39 this man, my hands are clean, 25:41 this man is innocent, 25:43 I have nothing to do with this just person, 25:44 I'm gonna let you go ahead and do what you want, 25:46 but I believe He is all right." 25:47 And after He said that, the people responded, 25:50 "Let His blood be on us and on our children," 25:54 and these are people that Jesus blessed. 25:57 Christ gets on the cross 25:59 and He looks at these people 26:00 who are speaking so intelligently, 26:02 I mean, they are making it clear, 26:03 "This is what I want, this is how we want it," etc., 26:06 and lo and behold, Jesus says, "Father, forgive them. 26:11 They actually don't know what they are doing." 26:13 I wonder if this attitude can be towards many of these 26:16 individuals who are functioning like enemies right now. 26:19 Do we have this attitude? 26:20 Literally, I mean, these are things 26:22 that we have to reconcile with 26:24 is even when someone behaves like an enemy, 26:27 does that now give me license 26:29 to let emotion take over my principle of love? 26:34 And this is why this has been a very, very deep study 26:36 and you know, I know that the Lord has blessed 26:38 and you know, I appreciate you sharing these verses 26:41 and I believe that God just wants to make this thing plain 26:43 that love is about obedience. 26:46 It's about following God first and foremost, 26:48 loving your fellowmen consistently even 26:50 when they act ungodly towards you, 26:53 being willing to lay down your life 26:55 even for individuals if necessary 26:57 that they may receive the everlasting gospel 27:00 which is the wonderful, simplified a life's problems. 27:02 These are beautiful principles. 27:04 This is a balance of true love 27:07 that comes from the heart of God. 27:10 We really want to praise the Lord for just the things 27:12 that we were able to study, 27:13 I believe that it was imperative 27:15 that we could receive a true knowledge of God 27:18 which gives us a true knowledge of self 27:20 and helps us to see our need for Christ 27:23 that our lives may be surrendered unto Him 27:25 in such a way 27:26 that we can live like Jesus lived on this earth, 27:28 and we can live by that love principle that always says, 27:32 "Not my will but thy will be done." 27:36 Until the next time, we want to go ahead and encourage you to, 27:38 please, meditate on these things, 27:40 study to show yourself approved, 27:42 pay attention to these words and ask God through His Spirit 27:45 to settle these truths home in your heart, 27:47 and then share with somebody else, 27:49 and see what it does in their lives, 27:50 and watch how you and them will be encouraged together. 27:54 Until the next time we come together, 27:56 please remember that wonderful text of scripture 27:58 in Proverbs 2:6, which tells us, 28:01 "It is the Lord that giveth wisdom 28:04 and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." 28:08 God bless you. |
Revised 2017-03-09