Genuine Love - Pastor Bruce Mejia

Amen.

Okay, the title of my sermon this morning is Genuine Love, Having Genuine Love.

Second Corinthians chapter 4, excuse me, 6 verse 4 says,

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

But in all things, approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience and afflictions

and necessities and distresses and stripes and imprisonments and tumults

and labors and watchings and fastings by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness,

by the Holy Ghost, and I want you to notice this, by love unfaigned.

Now, what does it mean to have love unfaigned or what is unfaigned love?

It means real love.

Famed love is fake love.

It's dissimulated love.

It's a false love.

And the Bible is telling us here that we as God's people should be approved as the ministers of God,

the servants of God, by having these list of qualities.

And one of the things that it says here is that we need to make sure that we have genuine, sincere love.

Genuine, sincere love towards the Lord, towards others, towards our brothers and sisters in Christ,

towards the lost.

We should be characterized by a genuine love according to the Bible.

First Timothy chapter 5, you don't have to turn there.

1 Timothy 5 · chapter mention

Stay there in 2 Corinthians.

First Timothy 5 verse 1 says,

1 Timothy 5:1

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart

and of a good conscience and of faith unfaigned.

Romans chapter 12 verse 9 says this,

Romans 12:9

Listen, let love be without dissimulation.

Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.

What is he saying here?

He's saying in Romans chapter 12,

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Make sure that your love isn't fake.

It's not just this insincere love where you're just faking the whole thing.

It's simulated.

Make sure that your love is without dissimulation.

And I want you to notice that it says,

Abhor that which is evil.

Meaning that this is showing us that some people claim to have love,

but they also love that which is evil.

Whereas the Bible tells us that if we're going to have a sincere,

genuine love towards the things of God, towards others,

it merits us to abhor hate, despise that which is evil according to the Bible.

It goes on to say,

Be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love

in honor, preferring one another.

You know, obviously what the Bible is telling us here

is that we as God's people need to make sure that we have love.

And love is obviously a fruit of the spirit.

We know that God is love.

And so it's important for us to learn how to love.

We obviously know that the Bible tells us that once we get saved,

we become children of God.

We're taught of God how to love.

But that doesn't mean that we're not supposed to abound

and grow in our love as well

and learn how to become loving individuals.

Now, why is a sermon like this important?

Well, because of the fact that this world,

you know, lukewarm Christians,

compromising Christians are always defining for us

what it means to love.

Fake churches out there, fake pastors and fake preachers

are constantly condemning Christians

for their so-called lack of love.

Oh, these people are not loving.

Your preaching is not loving.

That doctrine is not loving.

You're just not loving enough.

No, actually, you just have a fake definition of what love is.

You actually just don't know what the Bible says

about what it means to love others.

And we have to stop allowing these internet-type people,

these fake pastors, these insincere individuals

to try to define for us what it means to love.

And for sure, we need to stop letting unsaved people

define for us what love is, right?

You know, and unsaved, oh man, that's very Christ-like.

You don't even know who Jesus is.

How are you going to tell me what it's like to be like Christ

when you've rejected him?

You claim you don't even believe in him,

but somehow you're going to hold me to that standard

even though you have no idea who Jesus is?

You've never read the Bible.

You don't know any doctrine.

You don't believe in God,

but yet you're going to tell me that I'm not Christ-like?

Oh, what would Jesus do?

He would do exactly what I'm doing.

And so, you know, the Bible says that we have the mind of Christ.

The Bible tells us that the natural man

referring to the unsaved person

received not the things of the Spirit of God,

neither can he know them for their spiritually discerned.

They should not take the covenant of God in their mouths

and try to condemn us, ask Christians and say,

well, you know, that's very loving as a Christian.

Yeah, actually it is very loving as a Christian,

but you wouldn't know that because you haven't read the Bible.

You know what?

I'm not going to allow unsaved people to tell me

what it means to love someone,

what love means because at the end of the day,

my God is love.

And he's taught me within his word

what that means and how that looks.

And so, you know, if you've gone to these weak,

you know, limp-wristed type churches,

these soft churches,

you probably have been infected with this fake love.

You probably have been demonstrated fake love.

You've been preached out with fake love.

You've been fellowshiped with fake love.

Maybe you might have a little fake love yourself.

You might have some sort of fake love in you

and it's my agenda today

to remove that fake love from you

and teach you what it's like to have genuine love

according to the Bible.

Now, you're in 2 Corinthians chapter 6.

2 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

Go to chapter 7 if you would.

Chapter 7, we're going to talk about genuine,

sincere love today.

And look, folks, obviously I understand

that sometimes Christians can become,

you know, quote-unquote,

fairesthaecal.

They can lack love.

They can't struggle in that area for sure.

You know, if a Christian is not walking in the spirit,

they're not reading the Word of God.

They're not fellowshiping with the Lord.

They can, you know, become cold-hearted

towards others, towards the things of God.

Okay?

And at the end of the day,

we need to make sure that we grow in our love.

Yeah, we have love in our hearts because of God.

But you know what?

The Bible also requires for us to grow in that area,

to cultivate that love as well

and work on it on a daily basis.

Now, the first point I want to make here

regarding genuine love is that genuine love,

listen to this, is an emotion.

Okay?

We don't want to go so far in the opposite extreme

and think to ourselves,

well, no, the Bible says other things about love

doesn't have to be an emotion.

No, actually, according to the Bible,

it is an emotion.

The Bible tells us to love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart, soul, mind,

and strength, right?

It talks about loving God with our hearts

and with our strength,

meaning that God wants us to be emotionally involved

when we love God and when we love others.

Not just be this robot,

this person who's just emotionless,

just despondent towards others and towards God.

He wants us to have some emotion when we're praying,

some emotion when we're talking to others.

He wants us to have that genuine love

that exerts that emotion.

Look at 2 Corinthians 7, verse 14 says,

2 Corinthians 7:14

For if I have boasted anything to him of you,

I am not ashamed.

But as we spake all things to you in truth,

even so our boasting,

which I made before Titus,

is found a truth.

And his inward, listen to this,

his inward affection is more abundant toward you

whilst he remembered the obedience of you all,

how with fear and trembling,

ye received him.

What is the Bible telling us here?

It's telling us that Titus,

when he's reporting about the church at Corinth,

as carnal as they were,

as immature spiritually as they were,

he had this inward affection

towards the Corinthian church.

And obviously what we see here

is that Titus, because he's spending time

with the Corinthian church,

he's helping them grow in their faith.

He's leading them.

He's reporting about them.

He's thinking about them.

He ends up developing a love for them.

And what does this show us?

If you have a hard time loving someone,

just spend some time with them.

Invest time in that which you're lacking love in.

You know what happens?

You end up cultivating a love for that person,

for that thing.

You're like, I don't love church.

We'll spend time in church.

And the more you do,

you end up developing a love for that.

Oh man, I have such a hard time loving the Word of God.

Well, invest some time into reading the Word of God

every single day.

And what's going to happen is

you're going to develop a love for the Word of God.

How about this?

In marriage.

Oh man, I don't feel like I'm in love anymore.

Why don't you spend some time developing that relationship,

investing in your marriage,

and guess what will happen?

You'll fall in love again.

And then you'll fall out again.

And then you'll fall in love again.

And then you'll fall out again.

It's just part of how marriage is.

You're not going to be in love 100% of the time.

It's just not realistic.

Because we are sinners.

We fall short.

Our spouses fall short.

They can annoy us.

We annoy them.

We have characteristics and attributes

that they may not like.

But here's the thing,

is that the more we invest into that relationship,

the more we can keep that flame going.

That inward affection is what keeps it going.

The point being here is that love is,

genuine love is an emotion.

Genuine love is expressed through affection.

Genuine love is expressed through tears.

Genuine love is expressed through wanting to be

in the presence of that individual

that we care for and have love for as well.

You don't have to turn to 1 John 4.

But go with me if you would to 1 Peter 3.

We saw that in 2 Corinthians 7,

Titus had an inward affection

towards the believers.

We can say that he had sincere love

for the brethren.

I don't really like to go to church

because I just don't really click

with people at church.

You don't click with people at church

because you just leave church

as soon as it ends.

You don't give anybody time to click.

You unclick as soon as church ends.

I like to preach it and everything.

I'm not really a people person.

You know what, as a Christian,

you don't really have that luxury now, do you?

Because the Bible commands us to be people people.

We're supposed to be around people,

fellowship with people.

If you're like, yeah,

but I just don't know what to talk about,

trust me, in a church this size,

you will find someone as weird as you.

You can click with.

You can talk to.

There's a bunch of them.

The end result of that will be what?

An inward affection for others.

Make no mistake about it.

God commands you to love the brethren.

Part of that, of course,

is having that affection for them as well.

First John 4, you don't have to turn there.

You are in 1 Peter 3.

John 4.7 says,

Beloved, let us love one another.

For love is of God.

Everyone that loveth is born of God

and knoweth God.

This is showing us that one of the first things

that we learn as Christians,

when we get saved is what?

To love.

More specifically, to love the brethren.

Why?

For God is love.

He says in verse 8,

he that loveth not,

knoweth not God,

for God is love.

Basically, the fundamental attribute,

divine characteristic that we get

at the moment of salvation is love.

Now this kind of flies in the face

of those who think,

well, you know,

you have to love God to be saved

or something like that.

No, you have to believe on Jesus Christ

to be saved.

Okay?

Unsafe people don't know how to love God.

You know, Christians barely know how

to love God, right?

Because you have to learn from the word of God.

But the initial thing that we learn,

the initial thing that is given to us

is the love of God.

And it's our job thereafter

to develop, to cultivate that

for the Lord and for others.

It goes on the same verse 9.

And this was manifested

the love of God toward us

because God sent his only begotten son

into the world that we might live through him

here in his love,

not that we love God,

but that he loved us

and sent his son to be the

propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us,

we ought also to love one another.

This is nice and mushy, amen.

No man has seen God in any time.

If we love one another,

God dwelleth in us

and his love is perfected in us.

This is obviously demonstrating

that we should never have hatred

towards the brethren.

And let me just be very clear.

The brethren.

Meaning those who are saved, right?

Actual Christians.

Because sometimes it's just like,

oh yeah, but I saw a video of you

saying some pretty crazy stuff

about this one pastor.

Yeah, it's probably because

he's a false prophet.

He's probably not saved.

And I can't love those who love evil.

The Bible commands me to love the brethren.

And when we talk about the brethren,

we're referring to people who are saved.

And when I talk about people who are saved,

I'm talking about people who have believed

on the Lord Jesus Christ

exclusively for salvation.

Now repenting of your sins for salvation.

Not baptism for salvation.

Not the keeping of commands for salvation.

Not works for salvation.

We're just talking about believing

on Jesus Christ.

And it's not believing on Jesus Christ

plus something else either.

So why believe in Jesus?

But I do believe that you have to,

oh, you're not saved.

Because now you're adding something

to your faith in Jesus Christ

and the Bible tells us,

and if by grace there is no more of works,

otherwise grace is no more grace.

Romans 11-6.

So when the Bible talks about brethren,

don't take that label

and place it upon just anything

that calls itself a Christian.

And look, we need to wake up here

and recognize that not everyone

on the internet calls themselves

the Christian are actually Christians.

I.e. Catholics.

Oh, there are brothers.

No, they're not.

They worship Mary.

They believe in a workspace salvation.

I heard they were the first Christians.

They might have been the first Christians

that went apostate.

I'll give you that.

But just because something calls itself

a Christian, a believer,

doesn't mean it's true.

We need to make sure

that we prove all things,

hold fast that which is good,

that we test people

based upon what they profess to believe.

And if a person claims to believe

in salvation and they assert

that salvation is anything else

other than through their faith

in Jesus Christ,

mark it down.

They're not saved.

Oh, are you allowed to save?

People are not.

Yeah.

You know, the Apostle Paul said,

I'm afraid of you.

What is he saying?

I'm worried that you're probably

not even saved.

That's what he told the Galatians

in Galatians chapter two.

It's important for us to recognize

that when we talk about the brethren,

we're talking about those

who have placed their faith

exclusively upon Christ

for salvation, folks.

And look, if you're not 100%

sure that if you die today

that you'd go to heaven,

if you fall into

the category in the camp

that I just described for you,

you need to get saved today.

Oh, I thought baptism

saves you, though.

Well, that's funny.

What happened to the thief on the cross?

Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise,

and he didn't come down from the cross

and get baptized.

The Bible tells us,

therefore, we conclude

that a man is justified by faith.

Listen to this,

without the deeds of the law.

There's your faith alone, by the way.

Without the deeds of the law.

I mean, by faith alone.

And so the point being here

is that we are to love the brethren.

That's what the Bible teaches us.

But obviously we know

we're supposed to love

unsafe people as well

enough that we would go

and give them the gospel.

Okay?

Now, you're in 1 Peter chapter 3.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Let me read you one more verse

before we get into chapter 3.

1 Peter chapter 122 says,

Seeing ye have purified your souls

and obeying the truth through the Spirit.

Unto unfaigned love of the brethren,

see that ye love one another

with a pure heart.

Listen to this, fervently.

So the Bible says

that we should have a sincere love

for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And it communicates that

by talking about a pure heart,

unfaigned love.

But then it says

we should be fervent about it.

Now, what does that mean?

What's another word for fervent?

Passionate.

You should be passionately

loving the brethren.

Okay?

Meaning that we should, you know,

we should favor

our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let us do good unto all men,

especially those

of the household of faith.

The Bible tells us.

And so what do we see here?

Genuine love is an emotion.

And specifically when we see it as an emotion,

we see that it should be geared towards

the brethren,

that we should have fervent love,

unfaigned, pure love

towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Look at 1 Peter chapter 3.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Verse 7 says,

Likewise ye husbands,

dwell with them according to knowledge,

giving honor unto the wife,

as unto the weaker vessel.

And as being heirs together with the grace of life,

that your prayers be not hindered.

Of course, 1 Peter chapter 3,

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

the initial part of 1 Peter 3,

are instructions for husbands and wives.

And of course, the first part talks about

the fact that a wife should be in subjection

to her husband,

submit to her husband,

that he is essentially the boss.

Right?

And it goes on to say that the husband

should likewise give honor unto the wife.

Why?

Because according to the Bible,

she is the weaker vessel.

Okay?

She's weaker emotionally.

She's weaker physically.

And in some cases,

she is weaker spiritually.

Okay?

Which is why Eve, you know,

was deceived by Satan.

So he says, you know,

we need to honor them,

dwell with them according to knowledge.

And what happens when you have this harmony

within the home?

What happens when the wife

submits unto her husband,

and the husband honors his wife?

Well, the latter part of verse 7 says this,

that your prayers be not hindered.

So if you want a life hack

for prayers in your marriage,

get this,

have harmony in your home.

Make sure that you're living in accordance to

the structure of the Bible

when it comes to marriage.

And what happens is

you will get your prayers answered.

If not, your prayers can be hindered.

Your petitions will not be answered

because you have no harmony in the home.

Verse 8 says,

finally, be all of one mind.

This is another way of saying,

be on the same page.

Okay?

Having compassion one for another.

And I want you to notice this,

love as brethren,

be pitiful, be courteous.

Now, this is obviously addressing,

you know, husbands and wives,

but this is very much applicable

all across the board to just Christians in general.

Right?

You know, to love as brethren,

what does that mean?

It means you should be friends.

Okay?

You know, my wife and I, yes.

She's my wife.

I'm her husband.

But guess what?

We're friends too.

You know what we do as friends?

We cut up.

We laugh together.

I make fun of her.

She tries to make fun of me,

but she's not as funny.

You know, we cut up.

We laugh.

We joke.

We cry.

We are like friends.

And so obviously the Bible promotes

friendships and Christianity.

And the Bible tells us that when we have

this sincere, pure, genuine love

one toward another,

the result of that is that

we end up loving as brethren.

We end up being like good, close friends.

And the byproduct of that

is that we are pitiful one toward another.

So what does it mean to be a friend?

It means that you have sincere love

and you pity someone

when they're going through a hard time.

You're courteous towards them.

You favor them.

You mind what they're going through

more than yourself.

You put their needs

and their desires above your own.

This is what it means to have

sincere love.

Look what it goes on the same verse 9.

Not rendering evil for evil.

You know what that means?

We shouldn't be vengeful

towards other Christians.

Right?

We should not have vengeance

towards other Christians.

If someone in our church wrongs you

or does, you know,

offends you or whatever it may be,

you know, the Bible says

that the answer for you,

the solution for you,

should not be to render evil back.

Right?

Okay?

Because genuine love,

forgiveness, genuine love is pitiful.

It's courteous.

It doesn't render evil for evil.

Listen to this.

Or railing for railing.

What is railing?

It means lying, slander.

You should not have vengeance

towards someone

and lie about them

because they lied about you.

Okay?

The point being here is

that genuine love is not vengeful.

He says,

but contrary to wise blessing,

knowing that you are called there unto,

that you should inherit a blessing.

Turn with me if you would.

Go to 1 John 3.

1 John 3.

We're talking about genuine love this morning.

Genuine love is an emotion.

Inward affection.

Don't be despondent

emotionally towards others.

Now, I get it.

You know what I mean?

Maybe to some of us,

that doesn't necessarily come as easy.

We're kind of stoic

or we try to act like we're stoic.

Other people are just a lot more easy

to become emotional with people

and just have that visible affection

towards others.

We should try to meet people

in the middle though, right?

To some people,

when they're just overly affectionate,

you need to chill out a little bit.

You're just a touchy type.

But if you're a dude,

go hug a dude

and you don't have to be hugging the ladies.

And vice versa.

Oh, but I got inward affection.

Yeah, I bet you do.

Obviously, this is with the...

the rules should be

that we should be appropriate.

The point being here

is that genuine love is an emotion.

We don't want to disregard that

or think that love,

according to the Bible,

this is the exception.

We don't have to be emotional

about this stuff.

And to a certain degree,

I kind of felt like that

for a while

because of the fact

that I've seen so much fake...

so much fakeness in churches

amongst Christians

where they had this visible,

emotional love towards God.

But they were super off-doctrinally.

They didn't have love for souls.

They didn't have love for the truth.

And so it's just like,

well, this is just fake.

You act like you...

you draw on nines of God

with your lips,

but your heart is far from him.

You're acting like you love God.

You're acting like you love the Word of God.

But when you're given the truth,

you reject it.

That's not real love.

That's a fake love.

And so just seeing that for years on end

kind of gave me

somewhat of an aversion

to that emotion, right?

But that's not right either, though.

Because we need to recognize

that love is an emotion.

It's an inward affection.

And we need to balance it

with all the other descriptions

of love that we see in the Bible.

So genuine love is an emotion.

Number two,

genuine love is demonstrated

by actions, okay?

Meaning that, yes,

we should have affection

one toward another,

have a love in our hearts one for another,

but they should also be demonstrated

in our deeds as well.

Look at 1 John 3

and verse 16.

It says,

hereby perceive we the love of God

because he laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives

for the brethren.

But whoso hath this world's good

and seeeth this brother have need

and shutteth up his bowels

of compassion from him,

how dwelleth the love of God

in him.

Now, let me just

help you to understand something here

because along with this

fake love that people have,

people also end up,

you know, asserting that

if someone doesn't have

love in their hearts,

that means they're not saved, right?

And that's not

necessarily true either, okay?

Because sometimes people

don't cultivate

the spiritual virtues

that they have, you understand?

They don't cultivate it.

How do you cultivate it?

By going to church,

by reading the Bible,

walking in the spirit

that you should not fulfill

the lust of the flesh, okay?

How is the fruit of the spirit

produced?

By walking in the spirit.

It doesn't come naturally.

You know, when we get saved,

the Bible tells us

that we're in doubt

with the Holy Spirit of God

in whom you also trusted.

After that you heard

the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation

in whom also after

that you believed

you were sealed

with the Holy Spirit of promise

which is the earnest

of our inheritance

unto the redemption

of the purchased possession.

The Bible says we're sealed

unto the day of redemption

with the Holy Spirit of God.

We have the spirit of truth.

But hold on a second.

If we want to benefit

from the indwelling spirit,

we've got to walk in the spirit.

You actually have to

yield to the spirit.

And so if a person gets saved,

listen to this,

if a person gets saved

to come to the saving

knowledge of Christ,

they're indwell

with the Holy Spirit,

but they don't go to church.

They're not reading the Bible.

They're not getting

godly fellowship.

They're going to be

a corner person,

not absent of the spirit,

but weak in the spirit.

I mean, folks,

this is why the Bible tells us

be strong in the Lord

and in the power of his might.

Well, why would he have

to command us that

if that just comes naturally?

I'll tell you why,

because it doesn't come naturally.

It's something that has

to be cultivated.

And you know what?

I know weak Christians.

I've seen weak Christians.

You want to know a weak Christian?

It's a Christian

who just doesn't

live according to the Bible.

They're giving themselves

over to the lust of the flesh.

But if you're to talk to them,

are you safe to say,

well, I remember

when I got saved years ago,

yeah, I believed on Jesus Christ.

I'm just living a backslidden life

right now.

That's a weak Christian.

It's a carnal Christian.

You're like, oh, there's

no such thing as a carnal Christian.

Really?

Because the Apostle Paul said

in Romans 7, I am carnal.

And I'm assuming that, like,

he's a better Christian than you.

Just throwing that out there.

It's possible that the Apostle Paul

was better than you

in regards to, you know,

his Christian practices

and living a godly life.

Yet he himself said,

in me, that is in my flesh,

dwelleth no good thing.

For the things that I would,

I do not.

The things that I do not,

that I do.

You know, he's talking about

that inner turmoil

that he experiences.

Why?

Because when we get saved,

it doesn't mean that God

extracts the old man from us.

He's still there with us.

Which is why the Bible says

to put off the old man

according to the deceitful lust.

Make sure that you put off

the old man,

put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why?

Because we have both natures

on us 100% of the time.

And you say,

well, what's the difference

between the person

who actually has love

and is a Christian

and the person who doesn't

have love

and is a Christian?

I'll tell you what.

The person who has salvation

and they don't have love,

they're not reading the Bible.

They're not walking in the Spirit.

They're not in church

being taught

how to have sincere love.

They're not here today.

Listen into the sermon.

So yeah, you know what's going to happen to them?

They're going to become bitter

towards people who rung them.

They're going to have hatred

in their hearts

towards brothers and sisters in Christ.

They're going to have fear

in their hearts.

They're going to have inner turmoil.

They're going to have constant

battles in their mind.

They're backslidden.

They're involved in sin.

Why?

Because they're not really growing

in their faith now.

Are they?

Okay?

And so the Bible tells us here

that how dwelleth the love of God in him

if he's shutting up his bowels of compassion

meaning that

when the Bible talks about the bowels

it's referring to kind of like our intestines.

We like to say,

I love them with all my heart.

The Bible is like,

I love them with all my bowels.

I have a bow movement for you.

I feel something.

And it's kind of like

maybe it's referring to

like if I were to conjecture

what's the exact interpretation here?

It would be like, you know,

I have butterflies in my stomach.

Right?

Got one laugh.

One man who knows what I'm talking about there.

You know, the bowels of compassion

is simply referring to

when you see a brother in need.

Maybe they have like a physical need.

A financial need.

Some sort of,

you know,

they're lacking something in their life.

You know,

the Bible says that we should have

some sort of bowel of compassion.

Like man, I want to help this person.

Okay?

I want to help fulfill that need

as best as I possibly can.

He says in verse 18,

my little children,

let us not love in word,

neither in tongue,

but in deed and in truth.

What is it saying?

You know, it's nice that you say you love people.

It's great that you claim to love God.

It's great that you claim to have sincere love,

but the Bible says

don't love in word and tongue,

do it in deed and in truth.

Meaning do it according to the Bible

and then do it by doing something about it.

Now, what is the clearest example

of this in the Word of God?

Well, James chapter two tells us

if a brother or sister

be naked in destitute of daily food

and one of you saying to them,

be warmed and filled,

you know,

but give them not those things

which are needful to the body.

What does the prophet

even so faith that the path

and our works is dead,

being alone?

What the Bible is saying there

is like, oh,

you have love with your words

because you're like,

oh, be warmed and filled.

I hope you get your needs met

and God bless you.

You know,

yeah, that's a very loving thing

to say,

but the Bible says here

that if we're to have,

you know,

a mature, perfect faith,

we need to make sure

that we provide for the needs

as best as we possibly can.

What is the Bible telling us?

It's telling us that

sincere, genuine love

seeks to go out of its way

to provide for the needs

of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Okay?

As best as we can.

Obviously,

in some instances,

maybe you're not financially able

or you're just not,

you don't have the possessions

or the resources available,

but if you do though,

the Bible says you should have

bowels of compassion

for your brother and sisters

in Christ.

John chapter 15,

John 15 · chapter mention

turn with me if you want to

John 13.

Go to John 13.

You're in 1st John.

Go to John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

I'm going to read to you

from John 15 in verse 12.

It says,

this is my commandment

that ye love one another

as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man

than this,

that a man lay down his life

for his friends.

Obviously,

one of the greatest expressions

of love,

as far as an action is concerned,

is to actually give your life

for your friends.

And that's a major sacrifice,

is it not?

You know?

And I think I speak

for all dads when we say

like, we would willingly

give our lives

for our children.

You know,

if my son,

my daughter,

was in some sort of danger

if they're drowning

or whatever it may be,

and it would require

my death to save them,

I would willingly

make that trade.

That's obviously,

I think that's more

of an easier trade

rather than just anybody.

You know?

But the Bible says,

you know,

that's like the greatest

expression of love there

as noted by the fact

that Jesus Christ

obviously sacrificed

himself for us.

I remember years ago,

maybe it was like

10, 15 years ago,

this is in a different church.

There was a youth activity

and I think it was

at a beach or something

but it was a youth activity

and the teens were swimming

and one of the teens

got caught in a riptide.

You know,

he got caught in a riptide

which is extremely dangerous,

you know,

and he got caught in a riptide

and one of his friends

saw that he jumped in.

I think he jumped in

with like a boogie board

or something like that

and he saved his friend

but he drowned.

He was about 15, 16 years old

or something,

he was a teenager,

he drowned.

He gave his life for his friend

and that is the greatest

expression of love right there

and of course he's a hero

but this is demonstrating

that greater love

has no man to this.

He had enough love for his friend

to want to save him

even if it meant giving

his life for him.

Jesus goes on to say

in verse 14,

ye are my friends

if you do whatsoever

I command you.

John chapter 13,

John 13 · chapter mention

let me just spend some time

on that actually real quick.

Ye are my friends

if you do whatsoever

I command you.

So don't prep

friend of Jesus

on your bio

if you're not obeying the Bible.

Don't put

I'm a follower of Jesus.

Really, how's your obedience though?

You kind of look like

a godless person.

Don't tell me you're a friend

of Jesus

and you've got

only fans or something like that.

Look at John 13 verse 33,

John 13:33

little children

yet a little while

I'm with you

ye shall seek me

and as I said

into the Jews

whether I go you cannot come

so now I say to you

a new commandment

I give unto you

that ye love one another

as I have loved you

that ye also love one another.

What is the Bible telling us?

It's telling us here

that this is a major,

major command in the New Testament

that we should be characterized

by our love

towards other brothers

and sisters in Christ.

And you know what?

It should be said

that we have a greater love

for our sisters

and brothers and sisters

in Christ

than the unsaved.

You know obviously

if you're working out

in the world

you go to school in the world

you are involved

in the secular realm

you're going to come

in contact with a lot

of unsaved Christian

unsaved people.

A lot of people

who don't adhere

to religion

they're not Christian

but let me say this

you know you should

obviously befriend them

in order to win them

to Christ

but you should never favor

an unsaved person

over your brothers

and sisters in Christ though

and it should not be

that you're closer

you feel a lot

you feel this kinship

towards unsaved people

more than you do

towards your brothers

and sisters in Christ

towards Christians.

Why?

Because of the fact that

the Bible tells us

being not unequally

yoked together with unbelievers

for a fellowship

that's righteousness

with unrighteousness

we'll conquer that

with Christ with Belial

we'll party at the

that believers with

an infidel

obviously we want to

win them to Christ

we want to get them saved

help them come to the

saving knowledge of Jesus

but hold on a second

if you're just

super comfortable

with the unsaved though

you just love being

around them

you know something wrong with you

you need to develop

a sincere genuine love

for Christians

because this is

literally commanded

by Jesus himself

he says a commandment

I give it to you

that you love

one another

and he's talking to his disciples

and that command

extends unto us as well

you don't have to turn there

but go with me

if you would to

Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

I'm going to read to you

from 2nd Corinthians chapter 8

you go to Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

if you would

2nd Corinthians 8 7

says therefore is he

a bound in everything

in faith and utterance

and knowledge

and in all diligence

and in your love to us

see that you bound

in this grace also

when it says a bounder

means to grow

so if you're sitting there

like man I don't

actually love the brethren

as much as I should

but well you know

join the club

because we all get there

at one point or another

where our love

for the brethren

is not where it should be

we don't necessarily

have an inward affection

towards the brethren

but you know the Bible says

we need to a bound

in that area

just as you a bound

and growing

your utterance

and your knowledge

of the Bible

God says you need to

work on your love

stop being such a cold

hearted person

such a stoic

and actually develop

some inward affection

towards your brothers

and sisters

in Christ

and of course

we're in the point of

actions right

it goes on the same verse 8

I speak not by command

but by the occasion

of the forwardness of others

and to prove the sincerity

of your love

this is in 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9

2 Corinthians 8:9

for you know

that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

that though he was rich

yet for your sakes

he became poor

the etherist poverty

might be rich

and herein I give my advice

for this is expedient for you

who have begun before

not only to do

but also to be forward

a year ago

now therefore

perform the doing of it

of course the context here

is that he's saying

you know

provide for the needs

of the church at Corinth

you know you claim to have

love in your hearts

express that love

by your actions

and by your sacrifices

now let me say this

when it comes to loving

the brethren

and this is important

we should love the brethren

not expecting anything

in return

now the natural

byproduct is just like

can you show me some love

back though

can I get some love

can you favor me

like I favored you

and you know what

that's a natural response

but it should not be

an expectation though

okay

you know we

why because

genuine sincere love

loves not expecting anything

in return

genuine sincere love

loves

and just is satisfied

is content

is happy

we're just leaving it at that

making it just a one

one way road

like well you know

I always tell this person

I love them

they never tell me they love me back

I mean that's just

some people are like that

now you know

I think every once in a while

you know

in its appropriate way

you should you know

reciprocate that

so you don't come off

as a jerk

you know what I mean

you know like

ditto bro

or something you know

but you know

don't do things for people

because you want something

in return

don't express by your works

the sincerity of your love

your inward affection

because you want people

to express that to you

as well

that's not right

because sincere love

doesn't expect it

they do it without expecting

any type of return

or expect for it to be reciprocated

look at Matthew 5

Matthew 5:44

verse 44

but I say it to you

now this of course

is talking about your enemies

but you know

we can

place this also in the context

of just anybody

love your enemies

bless them their curse

you do good to them

that hate you

pray for them which

despitefully use you

and persecute you

that you may be

the children of your father

which is in heaven

for you make it the sun

to rise on the evil

and on the good

and send it's rain

on the just

and on the unjust

for if you love them

which love you

what reward have he

do not even

the publicans

the same the Bible says

okay

so this is like

oh man

you know unsay people

act like that

okay

we need to make sure

that when we love others

we're not expecting like

aren't you going to say

something

you know

don't you want to say it back

you know

or you did something

for someone who's just like

well you know

remember when I did that

for you

well obviously

that didn't come from

a heart of sincerity

when we help others

give gifts to others

we bless others

we should see it

as mission accomplished

I can move on

with my life

and not wait for that

person to reciprocate

that in return

okay

like oh man

I'm just a person who kind of

needs that

well you need to learn

not to need that

okay

and you know what

if you are not

receiving that type of

compassion

love for one another

from others

then you know

find your solace in the Lord

because the Lord

always reciprocates that

we love the Lord

he loves us back

and let's just be honest

we don't reciprocate that

to the Lord

as much as we should

so when he extends

his love towards us

his compassion

and mercy towards us

his grace towards us

you know

we're not always

hopping on

in our prayer life

thanking God for those things

sometimes he just

blesses us with rain

with blessings

with resources

and finances

and possessions

and spiritual blessings

and we don't say nothing back

so everyone does that

okay

the point that I'm making

is that

genuine

sincere love

gives

not necessarily expecting

anything in return

okay

and let me also say this

sincere genuine love

we're talking about works here

for Gibbs

the Bible tells us

go with me if you would to

let's see here

go to 1 Peter chapter 4

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

1 Peter chapter 4

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

1 Peter chapter 4

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

if you would

and after 1 Peter 4

we're gonna go to Galatians

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

1 Peter chapter 4

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

so point number 2 is that

sincere genuine love

demonstrates works

right

for one another

and part of the works

is just being

willing to forgive people

when they wrong

forgiveness needs to be

a major attribute

and characteristic of a Christian

that's something that we

definitely need to develop

on a daily, weekly, monthly,

yearly basis

okay

because people offend us

they wrong us

they

you know do evil unto us

and we need to learn

how to forgive

the Bible says

the Bible tells us

in Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

let all bitterness

and wrath

and clamor

and evil speaking

be put away from you

with all malice

be kind unto another

tender heart

of forgiving one another

even as God for Christ's sake

has forgiven you

you know what that means

it means that

you should forgive people

in your heart

like well I don't forgive them

because they haven't asked

for forgiveness

well you should still

forgive them in your heart

though

and if they come to you

in person

asking for forgiveness

forgive them

and look folks

forgiveness is probably

one of the most

pleasurable things to do

you know as a Christian

I'll be honest with you

when you forgive someone

you're just able to release them

of that debt

of that burden

of that offense

it's great

and it

ensures you

and it ensures me

that we will be

forgiven of God

obviously we know that

we're forgiven of God

of past, present and future sins

for eternal damnation

but guess what

we need daily forgiveness

of sins

because we offend God

on a daily basis

if we say we have no sin

we deceive ourselves

and the truth is not in us

if we confess our sins

he is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins

and cleanse us from all

unrighteousness

well you know what

if you want that promise

to be true

you have to forgive

your offenders

okay

and the Bible says

for Christ's sake

have he forgiven you

so we need to make sure

we do it as unto the Lord

right

look at 1 Peter chapter 4

1 Peter 4:8

verse 8

and above all things

listen to this

have fervent charity

among yourselves

charity is just

another way of saying love

have passionate love

but then he says

for charity

shall cover the multitude of sins

now this doesn't mean

you sweep things under the rug

okay

you know these churches

that sweep pedophilia

and crimes under the rug

that's not fervent charity

it's criminal

okay

when it says

the covers of multitude of sins

is referring to the fact

that when you forgive someone

you don't bring it back up again

you bury that offense

you bury it

and you don't hang it

over their heads

for the rest of their life

right

you know

you want to have good relationships

in your marriage

you want to have a good relationship

amongst your friends

don't be the person

who just brings up the past

all the time

have fervent charity

listen to this

have fervent charity

that covers the multitude of sins

okay

and so that's important

go with him

if you would

go to a Galatians chapter 4

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

genuine love

is an emotion

genuine love

is demonstrated

in actions

but let me also say this

genuine love speaks the truth

okay

this is my favorite part

right here

amen

let's get all that mushy

gushy stuff out of the way

real quick

let's get down to brass

taxier

okay

genuine love

speaks the truth

okay

and this is something

that churches

don't like to talk about

they love those first two

points

you know

and if you're a Lib Christian

you love what I just said

right there

like man

just finish right there

just just

amen right there

and we're good to go

but hold on a second

we're expounding upon

what it means to have genuine love

and according to the Bible

genuine love

actually tells you the truth

and let me say this

you know

the word nice

is not in the Bible

nice doesn't exist in the Bible

obviously the Bible tells us

to be kind

to be gracious

but let me just tell you

something right now

sometimes the truth hurts

and you know what

sometimes the Bible commands us

to tell the truth

in a very rude manner

and in fact

the apostle Paul said

though I be rude in speech

yet not in knowledge

that's like

that's like my live verse

right there

you know because people are like

oh man he's so rude

look how he says

all these

what he's saying in these letters

and he's like yeah

I'm rude in my speech

yeah

the way I say things

is not nice

but I'm not rude in my knowledge

because I know what I'm talking about

I'm giving you the truth

and you know what

you'll never find

a spirit filled prophet

of the Old Testament

be nice

and I didn't say

there's not any nice prophets

in the Old Testament

because there are

but they're false prophets

they're all false prophets

study it

the false prophets

of the Old Testament

they're the ones who are just like

no judgment is coming

you're going to have peace

in your day

don't listen to this guy

he's being mean

he's guilty of treason

you know

you're going to go and prosper

you're going to win this war

Ahab dies

liar

that's the result of nice preaching

whereas Micaiah is like

you're going to die

you're not coming back

and he's like this guy

never preaches good concern to me

but only evil

he doesn't like the truth

but you know what

the truth sometimes hurts does it not

and let me tell you something right now

the Bible tells us

that we need to be in church

hear the preaching of God's word

and it says that we

henceforth be no more children

tossed to and fro

carried about with every wind of doctrine

by the sleight of men

cunning craftiness

whereby they lying away to deceive

and then it tells us

but speaking the truth in love

and this is

the liberals favorite

verse right here

oh he's not speaking the truth in love

right and I get accused of this

all the time

all the time

it doesn't offend me though

at all

because I don't get offended by people

who don't know the Bible

if they try to use the Bible against me

I'm not like how could you

I'm like this person just doesn't know the Bible

because what do they mean by

oh he's not speaking the truth in love

he's saying it mean

it's just the way he says it

and you know

if I had a dime

for every time I heard this

we would have the building already

where they'll say something like this

they're like

well it's not what he says

it's how he says it

you know

preach about fornication

preach against Jews

preach against Muslims

preach against the Godars

preach against false religion

and then you know

I'm ripping face

I'm lifting up my voice

like a trumpet crying out loud

and sparing not as the Bible commands me

and they're like

well it's true what he's saying

but I just

it's how he says it

you know

it's good that he's preaching

fornication is a sin

yeah but you know

it's just how he says it

why does he have to say it like that

and it's just like

how do you want me to say it

you want me to be like

fornication is wicked

don't do it

yeah you would laugh at me

exactly

you would laugh at me

because you would not take me serious

and there's a reason why God commands

a certain dynamic

in preaching in the Bible

he would literally

command his prophets

you better make sure you yell this

when you're preaching this

you better make sure

you stomp with your foot

preach against the nation

and the leaders

you got to get the people's attention

you know he didn't say

hey make sure you're like

nice about this whole thing

you know

don't go overboard

you know

make sure that you display Christ

but you know what

Christ was a hard preacher though

and people are always

like you don't preach like Jesus

and I tell them

yeah you're right

because I'm not flipping over tables

you actually

you're actually right about that

because you know

I don't remember

ever flipping over a table

when I'm preaching

because that's exactly what he did

and again

people have this perception

of who Jesus is

that's not in the Bible

this is the perception

of people of Jesus

the protruding Catholic heart

it's all bleeding

it has a crown on it

for whatever reason

he has long

he's got the A1s

you know

he's got the robon

lights

what does this mean

and they think he just

like floated around

and just

that's not the Jesus of the Bible

when the Bible says

to speak the truth and love

let me explain to you

what this means

speaking the truth and love

meaning

means that you tell people

the truth out of a heart

that loves them

in love doesn't mean

how nice you say it

it means you're telling them

because you actually love

the person that you're talking to

that means sometimes

people tell you the truth

not because they love you

they just want to be

condemning towards you

they have a holier

than now complex

they're hyper spiritual

so that is a temptation

for people

and so the Bible commands is

make sure when you preach

the truth you give the truth

you do it in love

meaning you do it out of a heart

that actually desires

their exhortation

their spiritual growth

you want them to repent

of that sin

lest they should come

to destruction

and desolation

you want them to come

to the truth of this

particular subject

so that they don't

destroy themselves

that's what it means

to speak the truth and love

not like the decibels

of your voice

well you don't have to yell

like that

you know

why do you have to be mean

why do you have to call them

homos and fags

and why do you have to say

Jews

and why do you have to say

all these words are so offensive

well because you know

gotta get your attention

and you know what

look at all the stuff

that God had Ezekiel do

when he preached

and look

people who criticize

this dynamic

preaching

have obviously never

actually studied

how the Old Testament

prophets behaved

God's like

lay on your side for

360 days

390 days

and then he's like

eat cows dung

and he's like

just doing crazy stuff

I mean one of the crazies

is like you know what

I'm gonna take the desire

from your eyes

and I don't want you to mourn

meaning that he was gonna

allow Ezekiel's wife to die

and he's like

when you rise up in the morning

go and preach

and don't mourn

that's not very nice

you know what the Bible says

in the morning

she died

and he rose

and he did as he was commanded