TV 1740 | The Most Important Thing Conclusion

There's nothing that Satan loves better than to divide people from one another and to cause people to have feelings and actions and reactions to one another that cause division. So there's not that really ... It's not what he's after. The most important thing doesn't come into play, that we love one another. Discord, just allowing a situation where a brother or sister are divided from one another. In any way, there's a division there. They're not flowing in harmony. There's not a freedom within them in how they treat one another, how they think about each other. Man, we can't afford to allow any of that to operate in our hearts and lives. Jealousy, we all know what that is, when you see somebody else and you harbor some feelings about ... Not only do you want what they are or what they have, but you harbor these feelings about it. It sets you at knot. It puts a spirit of division between you and that person, as though they have something that I want or they are something that I want. God, just be yourself. He's never made anybody else in the history of the universe, nor will he ever make somebody exactly like you. Just be you, as he made you to be, and that'll be awesome. That's all it takes. God set us free from these things. Fits of rage. Now some people are affected more than others, but we all have times when something happens and we get angry about it, and our anger is directed at a person or a situation. We feel justified because look what they did. Is there anything that justifies a fit of rage? Is there anything on the planet that justifies it, that says, it's okay because ... No. If anger is a part of your personality, and it is to one degree or another with every one of us, we need to learn to recognize and say, wait a minute.

God allowed that to happen because he's showing me a need in me, and the problem is not them. God can take care of them if there's a need, but I need his grace so that it could be Jesus coming out of me and not me with anger. Oh, God help us. All right. Fits of rage. Selfish ambition. Dissensions. Again, you got this discord and dissensions where there's disagreements that just rise up and we take one side or the other. Sometimes it's ... When he says factions, it's the next thing. When you got groups of people, this one feels this way, this one feels the other, and they're against each other. God help us to learn to bring every issue before the Lord and humble ourselves and say, I might be wrong, and I'm wrong if my spirit is wrong. That's all it takes. You could be right technically. You remember the statement that was made in our midst so many years ago. You're right or you're wrong even if you're right, if your spirit is wrong. That's something to think about and remember, isn't it? Then he goes into envy and drunkenness and orgies and the like, but how many of those things have to do with human relationships? Folks, I need the Lord. I need the Lord. I'll tell you, if any of these things are at work in our lives, the devil is loving it. He's provoked it. He knows how we're made. He knows how to point out faults and to create dissension and anything in the world that would absolutely break the unity of the spirit.

May God get us to this place. It's not about anything that I'm talking about. This is a general principle that seemed like the Lord just brought to my mind. How easy is it for us to get caught up in something that is just ... All it is is human nature that breaks the tie between us. I want my spirit to be right. It's not that I need to work up an emotion regarding you, but I need to love you and see past your faults. I need to do what the Lord does for me. To see past your faults and say, Lord, help that brother. Help that person. Help that sister. I know they got needs, but I want to have a spirit that's free from reacting to that need as though, oh God, that's terrible, or that's this, or that's that. I want to be a source ... of help and not condemnation. Because if we desire that, God will absolutely help us to be a help to somebody who may be genuinely in need. Every one of us here has needs. Oh, wouldn't it be awesome if God would just pour His Spirit through all of us to one another? I believe it's happening in varying degrees. Thank God for the degree that it is. But this is the most important thing there is, is love. Praise God. I guess there are so many other scriptures that I could point out to. One thing that struck me as I was thinking about some of these and looking up some of these passages, I don't see any conditions listed, do you? It never says love one another as long as. Love one another unless. It's always an unconditional love.

Thank God that His love is unconditional. He's not looking for me to measure up particularly in my own strength. Now He's working in me for sure, but His love itself, His desire for my welfare does not depend upon my performance from day to day. Now He may be grieved in work, but that's not the same as not loving me, and it's not taking personal offense. God's not like us. He doesn't get offended because He sees imperfections in us, but we do. We react one to another. There are no conditions. There's just one of them that I thought about. You know, in Ephesians, He goes on and He mentions love in several other contexts, but one of them is talking about marriage and the home, and He says, husbands love your wives as long as they ... Oh, wait a minute. If they do what you say, if they measure up to your standard, then love them. No, He just says love them. There's nothing, there is no power on this earth that has more power to change situations than to show people the love of God. How many relationships could be healed if the man obeyed this and stopped getting upset about this and upset about that and holding against the ... Oh God, help us. A lot to think about, isn't it? There are no conditions to any of these commands. There's no way that ... We have all kinds of ways now to justify how we feel about this and about that person, about this situation, but not one of them is to justify a wrong spirit in us. Anything but a free spirit that just says, Lord, I love them. I want the best for them. I'm not going to take whatever it is personally. I'm not going to harbor it. I'm not going to hold it.

Lord, help me. It gets really extreme when you think about it. Think about some of the things Jesus said. I think Luke 6 is one passage I was thinking about, and He says this. I think it's in the Sermon on the Mount. Love your enemies. Now, some of you can't even love your wife or your neighbor, but Jesus goes all the way to the nth degree and says, love your enemies. Wow, do I need divine power to do that? You think about believers that have suffered all kinds of things, that have gone to prison and suffered, been tortured and killed for the gospel. Think about what they did with Jesus. What did He do? I'll get you, you just wait. No, He said, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Man, it takes a supernatural salvation for anybody to be able to do that. We got plenty of reasons to be humble and grateful and trusting in God, but every situation that arises. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, you know, we've heard all these things in the past. To them, turn the other one, turn to them the other also. Someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you. takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. There's the golden rule, and it's not do others before they do you.

This is treat other people the way you want them to treat you. God help us. You know, I don't know if I've ever actually said this before, but I have often thought this, and I think it actually gets into this in a little bit. I don't know if you realize how that works. In many instances, you know, it does say this down further, I'll just jump ahead, I'll throw this in right now. We tend to get what we give. People have a bad attitude, wind up having people have a bad attitude toward them, don't they? You see that over and over again, you get what you give. How many of you ever thought about this when you're in a situation and you're about to act or react to somebody, perhaps in a negative way? All right, let's have a word of prayer. Father, please watch carefully how I treat this person because this is how I want to be treated. How many of you realize that when you're treating somebody badly, when you're having a wrong attitude toward somebody, it's a prayer. That's a sobering thing to think about because that works, that's a two-sided coin. It tells us what we ought to do, but I'll tell you, if people have a hateful attitude, it's going to come back. You'll see it down below. All right, and then he talks about if you love those who love you and so forth. And the sinners do all that, no credit to that. But he talks about how we ought to treat people, even if they treat us badly, then your reward going down, then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Now I know there's times when judgment is poured out and God tries to get people's attention, but you think about the times as a general condition, there'll be a wicked guy who's

got this land that needs to be watered and he sends rain. He doesn't say, well, you haven't behaved today so you don't get no rain. We have a God who's not like us at all. He is kind and merciful. I'll tell you what people are ... people talk about why doesn't God do something. I think we're going to get to the other side and we will be blown away with the patience that God has shown the human race and how many things that he has allowed that are good and merciful in spite of the conditions. We're going to be amazed at his grace. Do not ... now here it is where you see what you get, what you give. Do not judge and you will not be judged. How many of us are quick to point out faults and really just lay it on somebody? It's one thing to recognize a need, but the spirit in which we do that is pretty central. God help us to have the Spirit of Christ. Where Paul says in Galatians, if anyone's overtaken at a fault, you which are spiritual go to them, but in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. See, that's what the Pharisees didn't know how to do. They had this self-righteous standard of being what they thought they were supposed to be and they could look down at people and just say, what's the matter with you? Every one of us is in a position to where we're going to have to have ... if we see the things the way they really are, we're going to have to have a spirit of patience and love and mercy and a desire to help and not condemn, a spirit of understanding. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. I've pointed this out before, I bet everybody here wants to be forgiven, right? You'd all love to be forgiven. You got things that you know are wrong, you want to be forgiven. Is there anybody in your life who has done something to you and you have not forgiven them?

Boy, it got quiet. That's something to think about, isn't it? Did Jesus mean this? It's not the only place He said that. I'll tell you, we need grace, don't we? We want God to forgive us, but we don't want to ... We're like the ... What was the parable that Peter was told about the rich man who had a servant who owed him a whole bunch and he forgave it, and the servant went and got one of his other fellow servants and had lunch money that he owed him and he couldn't pay it, threw him into jail. Of course, the owner, the master heard about it and the guy didn't wind up so good, did he? The whole point was we've got so much that we've been forgiven of, and we are so unforgiving for the littlest things. God give us the spirit of Christ toward one another. I'll tell you, there's a freedom in that. If we carry around the burdens of feelings about somebody and this and that, I'll tell you, that's a terrible place to get. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Here's this business about give and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you again. That's a pretty good example of what I was talking about, how the golden rule works two ways. You get what you give. If we're going to have a wrong attitude toward other people, don't be surprised if they have a wrong attitude toward you. God help every one of us just to humble ourselves. Well, praise the Lord. Look at 1 John chapter 5 or chapter 4, I think it is, if I can find it. Dear friends, verse 7 of chapter 4, let us love one another for love comes from God.

That means something, doesn't it? We're told what to do, but now the question is, how do I do that? How can I possibly do what he's talking about in this book? Dear friends, let us love one another. Why? Because love comes from God. If I'm opening my heart to His love in my heart, I have the power to love other people if I'm willing. It's a choice, isn't it? Everything we do that involves a wrong spirit toward anybody, whether it's an instant reaction or harboring it, it's a choice that we make. We don't have to make, but we do it, and we all do it at some time or other. Everyone who loves has been born of God. That's talking about divine love. The only people who are capable of divine love are people who've been born of His spirit. Been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us. He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. It's a point I've made before. What does that mean, His love is made complete? Is God just showering His love in us so that we can love Him back in some private thing? Now we certainly should, but God pours His love into me so that He can pour it through me to you.

And the same is true for every person that He shares His love with. We're meant to be conduits of His love, not just ... Well, what would the word be if you were the dead sea and everything flowed into you but nothing out? I don't want to be a dead sea. I want to be a living channel. I want to be a river that He can put what He wants in me and what He puts in me comes out and helps somebody else because I'm concerned about them. They're the ones I'm meant to be living for. That's easily said and not so easily done. We need divine grace to do it, don't we? But He's faithful, all right? So that's how God's love is made complete. This is how we know. know that we live in him and he in us, he has given us of his spirit and we have seen and testified that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and that's more than just some mental little thing, this is a genuine heart that acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God. God lives in them and they in God and so we know and rely on the love God has for us. That's my confidence to live. If I didn't actually have a conviction in here that God loved me, what would I have to go on? Man, this world is a mess. If all I've got to trust in is me, good luck with that. That's the spirit, that's the message, by the way, you hear everywhere. You've got to stand for yourself, you've got to, you know, it's all about you. I need to be the object of divine love and I need to know it in here. That's the only thing that gives me an identity that matters. That's the only thing that gives me a sense of stability, a rock to place my hope on, to build my house on, if you will, all right? God is love.

Whoever lives in love, so he's not just talking about some theory here, he's talking about the way I actually treat people in real life, okay? Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment. In this world, we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. Now, he's talking about the fact that, the idea that my relationship, if my relationship depends upon my ability to live up to a standard, that I don't have any basis for confidence. I have a reason to be afraid. But God doesn't want me to live under that kind of, oh my God, am I going to make it? He wants me to know that I have a rock, a solid place to put my hope and my trust. Thank God, thank God, no fear. Fear has to do with punishment. The punishment's been exacted already on our Savior. Thank God. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Again, you have the flowing through us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command, anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. And the devil is scared to death that God's people will get a hold of a simple truth like this, because it is the most important thing. I'll tell you, we serve a God who's faithful. We serve a God who has so many things for us. May every issue and every life be brought before the cross, starting with me, so that

we are free to love one another and be patient with one another. And I'll tell you, his spirit will begin to flow and cleanse. There'll be water, the water of God's spirit will flow and cleanse. And I'll tell you, the Lord is getting a people ready. He's doing everything on his end. We just need to wake up and be aware. We need to be aware of how the devil works. We need to be aware of what God is trying to do to bring a people to a place where we're ready to stand in this hour. He's got everything that I need, everything that you need. But God give us the grace to be genuinely humble. We've got a lot to be humble about if we're honest, to be gentle, to be loving, to be kind, all the things that he says to one another. And I'll tell you, God is going to work in ways that we have never imagined. There will be bondages broken in lives. There will be victories won. If we can just love one another where we're at and just start there and go forward, God will set his people free and he'll get the glory. To God be the glory. This has been the Midnight Cry broadcast. If you would like a DVD or CD of today's message in its entirety, please request it by program number. While it is not required, a donation of $10 for DVDs and $5 for CDs is suggested to help with expenses. Also for those who request it, we will send you our quarterly publication, the Midnight Cry Messenger, free and postage paid. Send your requests to Midnight Cry Ministries, Post Office Box 685, Southern Pines, North Carolina, 28388. We invite you to join us again next week at the same time, and may God richly bless you until then.