GET TOGETHER – Speaking the Truth In Love

GET TOGETHER – Speaking the Truth In Love

Eph 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ–(NKJV)
The Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. According to my studies the church at Ephesus was made up of Gentile converts some who had perhaps worshipped the goddess Artemis, the Greek name, or Diana the name that the Romans gave her when they accepted her into their pantheon of gods and goddesses. And there were also Jews who had been brought up in the Synagogue but had now come to know Jesus Christ as the long-awaited Messiah.
Chapter 4 deals a lot with the way that a Christian and follower of Christ is to conduct themselves. For example, we see in Eph 4:17 that we are to walk in a way that is different that the way that the world walks. “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.”(NKJV) In Eph 4:1,2 Paul talks about what it means to be a prisoner of the Lord. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” And by the way the only way that one can have true freedom is by being a prisoner of the Lord.
So back to our main subject. It had to be a challenging time for those early believers in Ephesus. I am sure that they had family members and friends who still worshipped the goddess Artemis. As I surf the internet, I see that there are people who still do that today. It had to be a challenge for those Jewish believers in Jesus Christ when some of their family members and friends did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah and thought that maybe they had gone off the deep end.
And today in the United States of America we are challenged as Christians in the United States never have been challenged before concerning God’s truth. Which is the only truth that is true. And yet we are just as the Ephesians were told to do to speak the truth in love.
If we truly love people, we will speak the truth. If you were going down a road where the bridge is out, and I knew that it was out, and I didn’t tell you that would not be love. There are a lot of philosophies being forced on our culture that are a road that the bridge is out on. Paul warned about being swayed by the philosophies that will lead to where the bridge is out. Col 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
I never thought that I would see so many basic truths be challenged and denied in our culture. It is a basic truth that God created us male and female. Jesus said it this way Mt 19:4,5 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,'”and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? Marriage is between one man and one woman. And God chose us and created us as either a male, or a female. Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
The culture that we now live in is a culture that desires to change the language. Our children and grandchildren must be taught at home at an early age about how God created them. We are told in Ps 139:15,16 “My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” The Youth Pastor, the Sunday School Teacher and Pastors are called to teach and preach the truth on this, but the primary teaching on this has to be done in the home.
Certainly, there are children that have been brought up in the instruction of the Lord who have gotten on the highway that leads to the bridge that is out. But we have this promise from God as we pray for those that have that they will come out of that deep dark place and get back on the road that the Lord has for them : Pr 22:6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Pray for them, love them, and expect them to return to the Father’s House. And yes, we have many homes now where there is not a biblical worldview on this so that is a challenge for us in the church on how to do this in love to help those who don’t come from a home with a Biblical worldview.

Which leads me to this. I believe that if we will prayerfully do what Jesus has commanded us to do in Mt 28:19,20 with a whole lot of prayer that we can see God move in a way that will remove the confusion and the lies about a person’s identity, and their sexuality and concerning when life begins as well as other things in our culture that go against the word of God. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
I will say this about those who promote these ungodly agendas they are committed. They have a high level of commitment. How much higher should our commitment level be to speak the truth in love?
I love people. As Christians we are commanded to love people. Jesus answered when He was asked what the greatest commandment was Mt 22:37-39 “Jesus said to him,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’’ This is the first and great commandment.” And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
As I said I love people. I think about what awesome Christians that some of these people that are committed to an ungodly cause would be. That is why we are to not only speak the truth in love, but we are to pray for those who oppose us. Jesus said in Mt 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” We pray for those who oppose us. We don’t seek to see them get canceled. We seek for them to know the truth, come to the cross and just as He did for us that their sins be canceled.
So not only do we warn people not to go down the road where the bridge is out, but we are also to be there to help them to get out of the deep place that they have fallen into. The Apostle Paul had this to say to those in Corinth. Corinth was a very sensual and carnal city. There were many in the church that had been bound up in various types of sin. He said this in 1Co 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
When I look at the lifestyles that Jesus delivered those in Corinth out of I can say thank You Jesus for delivering me out of the sinful lifestyle that I was living in. The truth in love says that we can be forgiven and saved from Hell. The truth in love says that He can deliver us out of a lifestyle that leads to Hell. The truth in love says that He can heal us from the damage that Hell has had over our lives. How good it is to be washed in the Blood of Jesus! How good it is to know that we have been sanctified and set apart for Him. How good it is that true transformation takes place in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul said it this way in Ro 12:,2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus we know that You love those who are in opposition to the Gospel as much as you love us. Today we pray for those that have been deceived and confused by the principles of this world and the current culture. We pray that just as You brought us out of lifestyles that we once walked in we pray for those that they will come to the Cross of Jesus Christ and know who their identity is in Jesus Christ. Lord forgive us for sinful thoughts, and for any other way that we sin. Help us not to go back into any sinful lifestyle that we may have lived in before we met You.
In Jesus Name
Amen

PS For those in Northwest Alabama our Broadcast Redeeming the Time comes on at 9:30 A.M. AND 9:30 P.M. on Sunday morning and Sunday night. That is on Spectrum Channel 10. In Jasper, it is on TV 16.

GET TOGETHER – Speaking the Truth In Love

Eph 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ–(NKJV)
The Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. According to my studies the church at Ephesus was made up of Gentile converts some who had perhaps worshipped the goddess Artemis, the Greek name, or Diana the name that the Romans gave her when they accepted her into their pantheon of gods and goddesses. And there were also Jews who had been brought up in the Synagogue but had now come to know Jesus Christ as the long-awaited Messiah.
Chapter 4 deals a lot with the way that a Christian and follower of Christ is to conduct themselves. For example, we see in Eph 4:17 that we are to walk in a way that is different that the way that the world walks. “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.”(NKJV) In Eph 4:1,2 Paul talks about what it means to be a prisoner of the Lord. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” And by the way the only way that one can have true freedom is by being a prisoner of the Lord.
So back to our main subject. It had to be a challenging time for those early believers in Ephesus. I am sure that they had family members and friends who still worshipped the goddess Artemis. As I surf the internet, I see that there are people who still do that today. It had to be a challenge for those Jewish believers in Jesus Christ when some of their family members and friends did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah and thought that maybe they had gone off the deep end.
And today in the United States of America we are challenged as Christians in the United States never have been challenged before concerning God’s truth. Which is the only truth that is true. And yet we are just as the Ephesians were told to do to speak the truth in love.
If we truly love people, we will speak the truth. If you were going down a road where the bridge is out, and I knew that it was out, and I didn’t tell you that would not be love. There are a lot of philosophies being forced on our culture that are a road that the bridge is out on. Paul warned about being swayed by the philosophies that will lead to where the bridge is out. Col 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
I never thought that I would see so many basic truths be challenged and denied in our culture. It is a basic truth that God created us male and female. Jesus said it this way Mt 19:4,5 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,'”and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? Marriage is between one man and one woman. And God chose us and created us as either a male, or a female. Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
The culture that we now live in is a culture that desires to change the language. Our children and grandchildren must be taught at home at an early age about how God created them. We are told in Ps 139:15,16 “My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” The Youth Pastor, the Sunday School Teacher and Pastors are called to teach and preach the truth on this, but the primary teaching on this has to be done in the home.
Certainly, there are children that have been brought up in the instruction of the Lord who have gotten on the highway that leads to the bridge that is out. But we have this promise from God as we pray for those that have that they will come out of that deep dark place and get back on the road that the Lord has for them : Pr 22:6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Pray for them, love them, and expect them to return to the Father’s House. And yes, we have many homes now where there is not a biblical worldview on this so that is a challenge for us in the church on how to do this in love to help those who don’t come from a home with a Biblical worldview.

Which leads me to this. I believe that if we will prayerfully do what Jesus has commanded us to do in Mt 28:19,20 with a whole lot of prayer that we can see God move in a way that will remove the confusion and the lies about a person’s identity, and their sexuality and concerning when life begins as well as other things in our culture that go against the word of God. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
I will say this about those who promote these ungodly agendas they are committed. They have a high level of commitment. How much higher should our commitment level be to speak the truth in love?
I love people. As Christians we are commanded to love people. Jesus answered when He was asked what the greatest commandment was Mt 22:37-39 “Jesus said to him,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’’ This is the first and great commandment.” And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
As I said I love people. I think about what awesome Christians that some of these people that are committed to an ungodly cause would be. That is why we are to not only speak the truth in love, but we are to pray for those who oppose us. Jesus said in Mt 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” We pray for those who oppose us. We don’t seek to see them get canceled. We seek for them to know the truth, come to the cross and just as He did for us that their sins be canceled.
So not only do we warn people not to go down the road where the bridge is out, but we are also to be there to help them to get out of the deep place that they have fallen into. The Apostle Paul had this to say to those in Corinth. Corinth was a very sensual and carnal city. There were many in the church that had been bound up in various types of sin. He said this in 1Co 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
When I look at the lifestyles that Jesus delivered those in Corinth out of I can say thank You Jesus for delivering me out of the sinful lifestyle that I was living in. The truth in love says that we can be forgiven and saved from Hell. The truth in love says that He can deliver us out of a lifestyle that leads to Hell. The truth in love says that He can heal us from the damage that Hell has had over our lives. How good it is to be washed in the Blood of Jesus! How good it is to know that we have been sanctified and set apart for Him. How good it is that true transformation takes place in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul said it this way in Ro 12:,2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus we know that You love those who are in opposition to the Gospel as much as you love us. Today we pray for those that have been deceived and confused by the principles of this world and the current culture. We pray that just as You brought us out of lifestyles that we once walked in we pray for those that they will come to the Cross of Jesus Christ and know who their identity is in Jesus Christ. Lord forgive us for sinful thoughts, and for any other way that we sin. Help us not to go back into any sinful lifestyle that we may have lived in before we met You.
In Jesus Name
Amen

PS For those in Northwest Alabama our Broadcast Redeeming the Time comes on at 9:30 A.M. AND 9:30 P.M. on Sunday morning and Sunday night. That is on Spectrum Channel 10. In Jasper, it is on TV 16.