Pastor West: [00:00:00] Good morning and welcome everyone. Grace Life Church. We're in Jemison, Alabama. We're right next to the Galleria. Real close anyway. Only a hop, skip and 14 jumps. Go in your Bible, if you will, to Ephesians chapter three. We I don't know if this is number 5 or 6. Whatever the number is. We've been teaching on the love of God. And you could go for that till Jesus comes back, which I think is going to be pretty soon. We were praying this morning before the service began. Much of our prayer went towards praying for Israel. As you know, they were under attack this morning. In their hours at 7:00, they have hundreds of ballistic missiles. Hundreds, some say, even a few thousand ballistic missiles attacked by Hezbollah, funded by Iran. So they're getting attacks on the South, but they're mostly the North. And boy, aren't you. Can you imagine attacking Israel? Wow. So we are living out. We are living out this book. This book really is alive, isn't it? Yes, I said, this book really is alive. So we're we're praying for the for many things, there, of course, their protection and all the inhabitants there of Israel. You know, he said, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. So that's what we've been doing. That's what the Lord led me to do. You know, he was always in the Bible, but I didn't always do that. But this is not I don't I'm not saying this to say, look what I've been doing, but I have not went one day since October the 7th without praying before or during the day, usually before I go to sleep without praying for Israel.
Pastor West: [00:01:37] Israel is the time clock. Israel is the timepiece. You want to know what time it is in the world. You want to know what time it is in this book. Watch Israel. Watch what's happening in Israel. So that's why we have to be not, not not just those who go and get on a trip and go. We have. Oh, thank God for all that. But what about the other person on the gas pump on the other side? What about the person in the workplace? What about the person if you. If you use a dead hare? What about people sitting in a chair? What about the one changing your oil? What about the people that you that you come in contact with? We got to give voice. We gotta. We gotta minister the gospel for the time is at hand. Now, where did I ask you to go? I don't know what I'm doing in the book of John, so give me just a moment. How many? If the if the word. How many believe the word is true? Yes you do. Do you believe the word? Timothy. Timothy said the Word of God is good for for correction, for instruction. It is. It is the instruction for living righteously and holy, which is the will of God.
Pastor West: [00:02:45] So this book, this book. **A member that Pastor has not seen in a long time walked in** Oh, man, my my my my my, I'm so happy. I'm so happy. Can I have a hug? Good to see you. You're a beautiful family. Yeah, I will. My mother was talking about him before she went to heaven. She says that is one of the kindest. She couldn't talk about. She could not talk about him without tears in her eyes. Wow. And I think. I think she was trying to tell me. Why can't you turn out more like him? I say, well, now wait a minute, wait a minute. Ephesians chapter three. So we're in the series on the love of God, and we're going to go step by step. We're you know, we can and we will continue. This is just our next our next step in this. And we're going to go quite a ways. Now Paul prayed, we started off in Ephesians chapter one and we were talking about the wisdom of God. How many know that you need the wisdom of God in all matters? How many know the wisdom of God? The wisdom of God will answer all matters. I know I quoted in a lot of people quote this Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiastes that says, money answers all things right. That's what the that's what the word says. Money answers all things. Ecclesiastes. Y'all got quiet on me. That's what it said. Didn't mean it was the right answer.
Pastor West: [00:04:10] It just said it answers. You know when you're drowning and there's no one around. You can say I'm drowning. And then you yell. But I'm. You know. Or if you're in the ocean. Years ago, when show and I went to an orange beach and I was pretty young. Which, whatever that is. But but we were we were pretty young, and we went out to swim, and they had the red flags up, and there was supposed to be maybe an undertow. And I told me, I said, I didn't say that. And we went out there and it got her first. And then I felt it and we never felt an undertow. That's a weird feeling, isn't it? That's a scary feeling when it starts sucking you down. Like, and I know it's going to go see Jesus, but I didn't want to go that day that way. I'd rather go in my sleep about 103 after I've had a lot of ice cream. But that's just me, I don't know. Yeah. Michelle went to Publix yesterday and she. She brought home some ice cream. She said there's some ice cream in the freezer. And I said, what did you buy that for? She says, what do you think about it for? And she said it was buy one, get one. And I said, you have heard from the Lord. You have heard that woman of mine hears from God.
Pastor West: [00:05:23] Amen. So Ephesians chapter three starting with verse 14, Paul prayed this prayer over the church at Ephesus, but it's a New Testament prayer. So it's the New Testament prayer. Then we can pray it for ourselves and over ourselves, can't we? That's right. Y'all ready? Ephesians chapter three. I'm in the King James. King James. For this cause, I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit. Where in your inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, but that ye be rooted and grounded in love. If you're grounded. If you're. If you're. If you're rooted and grounded in love. Then verse 18 says, you'll be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, the length, the depth and the height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. That you might be filled with the fullness of God. Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. So a lot of people preach, and I have to on verse 20, but in context, you know, in 20, it says what he's able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. And I hear people preach that, and I've done it myself about this, and God's able to do it.
Pastor West: [00:06:56] Well, that's true anywhere you want to put it. But in context, in that prayer, what does he want us to get? He wants us to understand his love, and he wants us not just to hear it. As Christian was saying a while ago. He wants us to stew in it. He wants us to ponder it. He wants us to think about if me or any other minister stands up before you and preaches things out of an experience, but it's not in the word. Love them, pray for them, but forget it. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now, I say this every now and then. But two years ago, I asked the Lord something about it doesn't seem like this is happening anymore. I don't see much of this in the service anymore. I said, why isn't this happening anymore? I was looking for, you know, he said he would confirm his word. So I said so. Now I'm not really seeing these things happening in our midst like I used to see them. And I said, and I know you. I know this is your desire. You want to help people, but these things should be happening. Will you tell me? Well, I didn't have to go on the Daniel fast. He spoke before I. Before I quit asking or before I asked the question. He answered it and he said this.
Pastor West: [00:08:12] He says, check upon your preaching. Wow. Well, see, who can I blame about that? The devil made me do it. I'm just reading my wife's notes. Preachers com sermons. Com I. I can give you all kinds of stuff if you want it, but it's artificial. Come on, man. He said, check upon your preaching. He said you have more commentary. He said you started to have more commentary than you have Scripture. Wow. And I thought, well, surely my my commentary is Scripture. He says, not so much. That kind of hurt my feelings a little bit. And I'm just being real, real with you. He said, check up on your own preaching. So I had to go back and listen to me, which I can hardly stand it. I mean, I could, I said, but what you're talking about, you know, Pastor Buddy used to say when he come preach from Arkansas, he said he was a registered redneck. He said, you go to Arkansas. The courthouse, they got papers on me. I'm a registered redneck. How many don't like to hear yourself? It's like, oh, gosh, I can hardly do it. But I found, I found out that the Lord actually was right this time, and there was too much commentary. Then the more that you talk, I always ask. Brother Higgins said, you know, you think he's talking all the time. Because when you went to a meeting, he was the speaker, right? But they always stayed away from the meeting and he would never talk.
Pastor West: [00:09:47] He'd just say Yeah. Yeah, yeah. They asked you why is that. He said well the less that you talk. He says you lessen the chances of sinning with your mouth. In other words, if I'm not saying anything and then I can't even say the wrong thing. There you go. So I checked upon my preaching, so I made some definite changes. And because it's the word that sets you free. It's not me that does it, but it's the word that sets you free. So here Paul said that we would be rooted and grounded in faith. No, we'd be rooted and grounded in what? Love. But faith works. By what? By love. So if we're not living in the love of God. And what is that? I mean, what is what difference is can we make between love the world? Love. Phileo love. Phileo love, you know, just simply mean I like you if you like me. I mean you went to school in using the elementary. I mean, I don't know. I'll ask you, gentlemen, do you remember when you were really young? When you looked at a girl, you went. Yeah. I mean, y'all remember that being young, just. Just me and Bill, one on one. Okay, well, we didn't really like girls, you know, in the first grade or second grade, but to me, in the third grade, somebody changed something about girls all over.
Pastor West: [00:11:09] I mean, it's just I mean, it was like I was like, I got twitterpated, you know, ever watched Bambi? You got Twitter, Twitter, springtime. And all of a sudden they look different, and they smelled different, and they were kind of cute. Well, just the year before, I was like, well, who'd want to be a girl? Touch one? Well, I got into the fourth grade and I liked him even more, so we would pass notes sometimes I like you. Do you like me? Check one. You ever did that? Thank you, Brother Brian. Thank you. I got a few more, and sometimes I wouldn't do that because I didn't want the rejection. So I would ask my friend, ask her if I liked her. Would she like me? In other words, my friend, I put him on the front lines because I didn't want to go all the way out myself and then be rejected. Do you understand? And then we would. Then we'd ask him, well, do you want to go together? And they say, yes, but it's kind of stupid. Where? Where were we going? We're going Lunchrooms going to PE. We're going back to the next class and go home. Right. But rooted and grounded in the love of God, he said, passes your knowledge. The the Ephesians 320 that is to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think, which means people can limit the love of God.
Pastor West: [00:12:33] Yeah, that'd be true in any subject. We'd be preaching. In other words, how far can you go in the love of God? Can you measure breadth and height and length and depth and come up with a number? Do you know exactly how far east is from west? No. Well, then you'll never know the depth of his love. Ever. And so we see this, that there's the fullness available to us. But the more that we go deeper. You're not going to see you. You're going to see Jesus. And as you see Jesus, then you're going to get the wisdom of God in any kind of situation that you're in. And it will not ever, hardly ever will it ever be with with the wisdom of man. Because the wisdom of man is simply built upon knowledge. He uses all of his five senses. That's where he knows things, right? That is the carnal man. Carnal just means he's being led by his senses. So if you go to school, you go to university, you get a degree. You learn how to be a plumber, you learn how to be a hairdresser, you learn how to be a, you know, a fashion designer, whatever it is. This is knowledge. First Corinthians eight says, but if a man, if he doesn't know God, the love of God, he said, he knows nothing. All he said, all he is, is puffed up.
Pastor West: [00:13:46] That's right. So you don't want to hear a puffed up sermon, do you? No. We want something to help us so we know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Amen. And I like to call it like this. I got a truth bucket. And if you're a serious student of the word, then here's what you must do. Anything that you hear that if it comes out of this book and you hear it, and then you see it in your own life, if my life is opposite of that in any kind of way, I have a choice to make. I can either take the untruth out and replace it with the truth, but you can't put the truth on top of it. Amen. How many are not wearing the clothes to church that you slept in? Not when you were there. So the rest of you slept in those clothes. Okay. Okay. The one time that you could ever get a whole church raided. And y'all ready to go? Amen. Praise the Lord. Ten more dollars if you end it right now. Who gave it to him? Our offer is doubled if you just let them go. Okay, Matt. We'll look at this. I'm going to be mostly in the in the passion today because I want to be passionate. But Matthew, chapter nine, I want you to see what Jesus said. How many know that his words are supreme? Amen.
Pastor West: [00:15:18] John G. Lake said if it was the natural law, he said, Jesus's words would be the Supreme Court and that would be as far as you could go. Come on. You believe that? Yes, sir. Matthew chapter nine. And we're going to draw a comparison in Matthew nine and in Matthew 12 of what Jesus said concerning matters and our title, if you want to, if you want to have a title for a day in the love series is called "The Lord Delights In Mercy Not Sacrifice." So Matthew chapter nine, verse ten and 13, if you'll put that up as we get the passion translation Matthew nine. There we go. Verse ten. See if I got that right. Okay, maybe I got it right. Yeah. Here it is. Later, Jesus went to Matthew's house and made himself at home. Many other tax collectors and outcasts in society were invited to eat with Jesus and his disciples. When this, known with those known as the Pharisees, saw what was happening, they were so happy. They were what? Indignant. And they kept asking Jesus disciples, why would your master dine with such lowlifes? When Jesus overheard this, he said, yeah, I really shouldn't be here. What did he say? He spoke up and said, healthy people don't need to see a doctor, but the sick will go for treatment. Amen. Then he added, now you should go and study the meaning of this verse. I want to show you mercy.
Pastor West: [00:17:15] Not just offer me a sacrifice, for I came to invite the outcasts of society and sinners, not those who think, who think they are already on the right path. Now go to Matthew chapter 12. I would suggest you go to the right. And I'm going to read eight verses one through eight. Y'all let me know when you get there. Matthew 12 one through eight. One Saturday on the day of rest, Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field of wheat, and the disciples were so hungry that they were hungry. I'm still in the passion. So they plucked off some heads of grain and rubbed them into their hands to eat. But when some of the Pharisees saw what was happening, they said to him to Jesus, look! Your disciples shouldn't be harvesting grain on the Sabbath. Jesus responded. Haven't you ever read what King David and his men did when they were hungry? They entered the house of God and ate the sacred bread of God's presence. Violating the law. Oh, no. They didn't violate a law, did they? Violating the law by eating bread that only priests were allowed to eat, he said. And haven't you read in the Torah that the priests violated the rules of the Sabbath by carrying out their duties in the temple on a Saturday? And yet they are without blame. But I say to you, there is one here who is even greater than the temple.
Pastor West: [00:18:47] If only you could learn the meaning of the words. I want compassion more than I sacrifice. Every other translation uses mercy, but here it says compassion more than a sacrifice. You wouldn't be condemned by innocent disciples, for the Son of Man exercises his lordship over the Sabbath. So they wanted to know why he didn't do anything on the Sabbath. But what he really wanted to tell them is you're talking to the Sabbath, man. You're telling me what I'm supposed to do in me, and I am the one that you're talking about. Works really good. My grandkids, they like. I do it for two hours now. Do again, do again. So what we see in both passages is Jesus saying the same thing, right? Which is what I desire, what mercy and not what sacrifice. In chapter nine, we see Jesus, including guilty people, as his friends. In the ninth chapter, he calls them sick. Why did he call them sick? Because they are. And he knows. He knows that he's the doctor. But in chapter 12, we see Jesus sticking up for the innocent people who are being criticized, and he calls them guiltless because they are guiltless and he becomes their defender. So the people who are guiltless. Jesus says, I want them to have mercy and not sacrifice the people who are guilty, who are wrong. He said, I want you to have mercy and not sacrifice. So in both cases, the innocent and the not innocent, the guilty and the not guilty, Jesus has one common heart felt where he wants this thing to always go.
Pastor West: [00:20:37] I want them to have mercy and not sacrifice. Okay. Would you agree so far with the word on that? Absolutely. Okay. Now, mercy in the Bible definition is this God is gracious and kind and compassionate. He not only withholds your judgment, but in love. He meets the desperate need of the man's condition. So here's someone who would be guilty of whatever it is he, she, whatever and mercy would be. God wants to be gracious to you. Compassionate to you. Kind to you. And he wants to withhold any judgment from you. But in love he meets the need. The desperate need of that condition. Without bringing you judgment, without bringing justice to you. Mercy is God's forgiveness. Mercy is. And I'm reading from Vine's expository dictionary. I don't I never I never wrote one. Mercy is the withholding of just punishment. So we see two opposite situations. Guilty people in chapter nine. Innocent people in chapter 12. And he applies the same principle, which is I want this. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. But why? Why? Because did Jesus, the principle always is the same. Mercy always applies. Nothing is more profound in this word to him than mercy. Now, we won't go there to the book of Hosea, because it might take you a couple of weeks to find it.
Pastor West: [00:22:10] But I'll just kind of write this down if you're making notes. Hosea is six six in the Old Testament, God said through the prophet Hosea, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than I do burnt offerings. So can we see the see? We saw it in the Gospels, and there's many places we wouldn't have time to go through all this day. But the word mercy that he uses in Hosea six six as an adverb. The word mercy is in the form of an adverb position, which means I, mercy, I desire. As a verb. In Hosea six six it's even stronger, which is mercy I delight in. Remember Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive what? Mercy. Mercy. Blessed are the y'all here. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. So what was the. If you go when you read the context of Hosea chapter six, this is what you'll see in here. What was the context of that? Well, number one, the nation of Israel had drifted away from God, but they kind of still kept up with rituals. They're kind of what we would call backslid. But but they're keeping the letter of the law, not the spirit of it, just the letter C, but the but the letter of the law brings what? Death. But the letter law is still the will of God, right? The law is not bad.
Pastor West: [00:23:47] The law is telling you the holiness of God. But he knows there's no man can keep it. Have you tried? Anyone ever be willing to raise their hand and say, I have broken the speed limit sometime? Oh, yeah, I have. Go, go turn yourself in. Well, I didn't have to get turned in when I got pulled over going 98. I only I only got, you know, Pastor Jim Brooks. He used to be a he was calling me one time come back from Tulsa from a meeting and he says, hang on. He says, I got a state trooper behind me. I said, well, just go talk to him. And so the guy comes up there and he says, Jim, you know, he looks at his thing. He says, what's your name? He says, my name is Jim. He says, you're from Alabama. He was coming back from Oklahoma. And so they clocked him going right under 100 miles an hour. Every time I rode with him, it's wide open. Jim only had one speed. Wide open. This tadlock, she's in heaven. She had that same speed. Wide open. Wide open. I never wanted to ride with her. She said you want to go with me? I said, no, ma'am, I'll follow you. I'll. If I can be your chauffeur, you can sit in the back if you want to. I'll open the door. I'll do everything.
Pastor West: [00:25:05] But I'm not with you driving? No. I'm just not going to do it. Do you see what the Lord's doing to quick work? So we got to get there in a hurry. I said, yeah, that's a very loose translation. I've used it, but it doesn't really, you know, that's pulling it out of context. That's not the revised translation, that's the reverse. And. So anyway, Jim was telling the pastor, Jim was telling, he said probably wouldn't do you any good to tell you. I was deputy sheriff for a number of years in Alabama. He says he said, well, all that means to me is you ought to know better. He says, yeah, yeah. He says, well, I mean, I broke the law. He said, do what you ought to. He said, well, can I ask you, you know, being a deputy sheriff, he says, why would you be going 98? He said, well, you know, it's just a long stretch of road and I need to get home. You know, I mean, he was in a, you know, there's sometimes you can go like places in Mississippi. You get on the interstate and not see a car for a long time. So he just went up there like he, you know, he's in a hurry. He said, why would you be going 100 miles an hour? Or so, why would you be going 98? He said, well, because there's a governor on this thing and it cuts off at 100.
Pastor West: [00:26:14] So I had to come right under it. And I'm sitting there listening while he's on the phone. You know, I'm thinking. And the state trooper started laughing. He says, against my better judgment, he said, at least you were finally truthful. He says he said, could you bring it down a little bit? He said, he says, a little bit. A little bit. I used that same thing. It didn't work for me at all. They won't take my license, send me to school forever. So, I don't know. It might have helped if I'd been a deputy sheriff. Well, he broke the law, and the guy in the state trooper gave him. What? Mercy. Now, so the context is Israel has drifted away from God, but she still keeps up her rituals, and they're still making sacrifices and outward things of religion. That's what they're still doing in a backward condition. And they would sometimes they would say, and they would do the right things. They had the knowledge of doing and saying the right things, but their heart was far from the Lord. And when you read Hosea six, this is this is the Lord's take on this. And the Lord said to this people, watch here. He said, your love is like a morning cloud. It's like a dew that comes early and then goes away. In other words, your heart has been removed from me and you're going through all the rituals of church, but you're not stewarding anything.
Pastor West: [00:27:43] And for this reason, I am going to make you crispy critters. Crispy. Not good. That is the reverse translation. He said your love is like a morning cloud. Like a dew that goes early. And so what does God say to weak people who aren't very good at repentance? He said, but for you I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Whom I desire to show mercy to you. He does not. He did not want it to. He did not desire to extract from them. Or you sacrifice for your sins and promises that you'll do better from now on. That's called the grace of God. Amen. The grace of God. What will it do? Well, the the grace of God is is really just what, in one sense, it's the power of God. The ability of God to to help you overcome sin so that you don't even need repentance. You know, people say, well, this is grace is nothing but a cover up. Well, you don't understand. The gospel is called grace. Paul said, if you preach anything other than this gospel of grace, he says, you're not even preaching the gospel. You're doing some kind of religious thing. Read that in the book of yeah. Galatians one. And it gets out there, and he and he goes further than that. He said, if anyone preach any other gospel than this, he said, off with you.
Pastor West: [00:29:25] That that's stronger than that. But I don't even want to say it. Well, in other words, he says, if you're going to preach any other gospel than this, he should be doomed. Go to the pit. Now, he once was on the other side of this thing, right? He once was, he said, a Pharisee of all Pharisees. He said, I believe. He said, I believe I might have kept the whole law. He said, but I found out everything that I thought that I knew, he said, is rubbish and dung. Come on now. And he says, I am the least of all apostles. I am not worthy to be called apostle. Even though the Lord says I'm an apostle. He says, because I am the one who persecuted the church and persecuted the Lord's family. Because I thought I was doing the right thing. And you know, the Lord never brought that up. He never brought he. He never brought up to him that you were the one who stoned Stephen, put people in prison, had them killed. And then he he saw his passion and persistence and said, I can use that. Yeah, but this boy needs a turnaround. There was a song when I was a teenager. It was called blinded by the light. And so Paul, on the road to Damascus went from darkness too light, right? That's right. Well, if you didn't sleep in those clothes, how many do you think you'd be wearing those clothes all day tomorrow or the next day or the next day? Anybody here going to change? Eventually? Well, you put the new clothes on top of those clothes.
Pastor West: [00:31:16] Or were you shower and change clothes and put on new clothes? That's right. Why don't you just put the new on top of the old. This ain't right, Bill. Bill just went to the court. He just ain't right. He took all y'all's answers. You could have said. He said it just ain't right. Paul said before you put on the new man and the new mind of Christ, you'll have to put off the what? The old. He said the old is corrupt. He said, I have a new wine. He said, you're coming into the New covenant shortly, and you're going to come into the new wine of this covenant, which is the covenant of grace, which is a covenant of the love of God. He said, and you're not going to be able to pour all the rules and the regulations and the old into a new wineskin. He said, because it will burst and you're going to lose the wineskin and you're going to lose the wine. Wow. So you'll have to get rid of one to make room for the other. That's good. Amen. Amen. I mean, after a while, you put on so many clothes. Layers of clothes. We do that sometimes when we're cold going outside.
Pastor West: [00:32:29] But, you know. But if it's day number 47 and you just keep on putting clothes on, but you're gonna have to go buy some bigger sizes. Just ain't going to work. Yeah. A friend of mine was. Well, I can't do that. Anyway, I can't do that. You see, we do it. All right. Now watch here. Jesus said, or the word said in Isaiah 53 six, all of you, like sheep, have gone astray. Each one of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of all of us to fall on him. I mean, Jesus was perfectly innocent. None of us were innocent. We were all guilty. And yet he became. He became sin. He didn't sin, but he became sin. He stepped in as your substitute. And he said, I'll give you my no. Guilty for your for your guilt. Amen. He said, now, if you'll give this to other people, that's it. You'll be just like me. That's exactly as he is. So are you. He said, but if you. But if you're going to do it the other way, he said, then you'd better keep every law that there is. And if you miss one thing, one commandment, one of the of the of the. The law, which wasn't even given to a Gentile, was given to the Jews because I'm not under the law. Well, you never was actually, unless you're Jewish, right? He says so.
Pastor West: [00:34:01] But if you're going to live this way by your own conduct or by you telling people about their conduct, he said, then you can't miss it on one point, because if you miss one point out of all the laws, he said, you're guilty of all of them. You're guilty of their sin. He says, so if you don't show mercy, then I can't show mercy to you. That's right. I'm asking you, does the Scripture say that? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So God sweeps this whole thing away in one statement. I desire mercy and not a sacrifice. That was his deepest heart of all. Jesus understood that when the Pharisees criticized him for befriending sinners in Matthew nine, he explained himself with his gods, his father's own words. And he said, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. When the Pharisees criticized him for allowing the disciples to harvest grain on the Sabbath, what did he do? They were breaking the law. They broke the law. But he explained, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. In first John four seven, don't go there. It says, God is love. But is there wrath in God? Don't answer. Yes. Is God love? Answer yes. But is there wrath in God? Yes. Where do we see wrath in God? At the cross of Jesus. At the cross of Jesus. And those who will never accept Jesus, and later will be hell. Why? Because the wages of sin is death.
Pastor West: [00:35:36] Amen. It's the not guilty. Dying for the guilt. Those who are guilty for the. Those who are not innocent. So we don't want the wages of sin, do we? So the Bible says God is love. But nowhere does it say God is wrath. What flows out of the God's deepest heart towards us is this love. Not payback, not judgment, not sacrifice, not shaming, but love. Agape love that forgives and restores. Yes it does. Now, first Corinthians 13, if you will. Five in the amplified sound. Woman. 13 five. Amplified. Excuse me. Will all this be easy? No. But can you do it? Yeah. Because the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. If you're born again. Then he gave you the love to do with. 13. Five. There it is. Amplified. Love is not rude. I've broken that a few times. It's not self-seeking. I know someone who did that one time. No. Love doesn't look after its own interest. Gosh. Gosh. Love didn't try to get the last piece of pie when there were three more people in the room. Love didn't go on Black Friday and knock three people out to get them to get that electronics. Because you've been standing there for since 2:00 in the morning, took you out. But it's the last one. I know, but let the Lord handle it. Love is not what? It's not rude. It's not self-seeking.
Pastor West: [00:37:21] It's not provoked. It's not overly sensitive or easily angered. What kind of love? The love of God. So I've been married 41 years, and I've had the opportunity to break every one of these things several times. My wife tells me sometimes. She said it would be okay if you need to go somewhere. I said, where do you want me to go? She said, I'm sure you can find something to go do. She said, I don't care where you go. And I thought I would do it this way. Then I could see really where we were on it. I said, well, I'm going to go sit down at Longhorn's. And she said, okay, because if I said that when we were doing really good, she said, you ain't going to Longhorn without me. She said, go ahead. Do you need some money? I was like, oh, okay, so you need some time alone. It's probably people got to her. I don't know what it was, but the love of God does not take into account a wrong endured. Do we take into account a wrong that someone did to us? Yeah, it happens all the time, doesn't it? Yes it does. Who's Paul writing to? The church. At what church? He's talking to a church. Yeah. The easy translation or the easy EEOC says, if I love people, I will be polite. I will not just want to please myself. If someone does a wrong thing against me, I will not keep it in my thoughts.
Congregation: [00:38:53] That's good.
Pastor West: [00:38:55] And sometimes that's a fight. Not keep it in your thoughts, man. You see what? You don't know what they did. I know, but it doesn't change that verse. Did you notice that? He didn't he didn't put different snares in there. I mean, nothing that you could put in there changes that verse.
Congregation: [00:39:08] Amen.
Pastor West: [00:39:09] The voice translation says God's love is never rude, never crude. It's never indecent. It's not self-absorbed. Love is not easily upset. Love doesn't tally up a record of wrong. Love doesn't make you a record of your wrongdoings. Amen. I'm talking about the love of God. So my truth bucket over here, we talked about. Well, I got things in my life that I've been doing them the other way. If I'm going to let this be how I live, then I got to get. I got to take off the old garment so I can put on the new one. I can't put a doctrine over the old doctrine. One of them has to go, or else what you'll have, Paul said, is you'll have a doctrine, but it will be the doctrine of devils that Paul said you would see. Amen. The doctrine of demons. Imagine that demons have a doctrine. They do. So the idea of keeping the list of wrongs directly connects us with Paul's words in the Corinth church. Now, would you take us to first Corinthians six one through seven in the passion? Brother Hagin was teaching on this. I had notes on this. And And he was talking about civil matters, government matters, Christian with the Christians. And to put it in context, he was saying some some in the church were bringing lawsuits against other Christians. Instead of settling church matters among themselves in a spirit of humanity and love, they were dragging each other to court. And I imagine some of them, if Judge Judy or some of them, they would have went on TV and done it.
Pastor West: [00:40:59] So Paul has to talk about this to the church at Corinth. Verses one through seven, if you will. Furthermore, he said, how dare you take a fellow believer to court? It's wrong to drag him there before the unrighteous to settle a legal dispute. Isn't it better to take him before God's believers to settle the matter? Do you realize that we, the holy ones, will judge the universe? And if the unbelieving world is under your jurisdiction, you should be fully competent to settle the trivial lawsuits among yourselves. For surely you know that we will one day judge angels, let alone these everyday matters. Don't you realize that you're bringing your issues before? Before civil judges appointed by people who have no standing within the church? Wow. What a shame that there is not one within the church who has the spirit of wisdom, who could arbitrate these disputes and reconcile the offended parties. It's not right for a believer to sue a fellow believer, and especially to bring it before the unbelievers. That's it. That's it. Right? No. That's first step. First step. Don't you realize that when you drag another believer into court, you're providing the evidence that you are already defeated? Wouldn't it be better to watch here? This is. This is not always easy to hear. But listen, wouldn't it be better to accept the fact that someone is trying to cheat and take advantage of you, and simply choose the high road. At times it's better just to accept injustice and even let someone take advantage of you, rather than to expose our conflicts publicly before unbelievers.
Pastor West: [00:42:48] So they were taking each other to court and the church was and asked him. He said, you know, don't, don't you know, one day you're actually going to judge angels and the world system. So why would you take this sin and put it into a court of unbelievers? He said, isn't there just someone with with who's spiritual enough to follow my word and do the right thing? Now that that opens up all kinds of questions, all kinds of things about all kind of matters. Here he's talking about how church, how a Christian, how a believer is to handle themselves. And he was talking to this church. So people sometimes say, well, is it always wrong for a Christian to sue another Christian. I'm going to say I'm going to say, ask the Lord. He'll tell you. He may tell you to do this. What we did a couple of weeks ago, what happened was when we was talking about we talk about the the throne of God. The kingdom of God is established on two principles justice and righteousness. And you are the righteous of God in Christ Jesus. But the Lord is holy and he's just. So we go to him for a righteous just verdict. Go to him, not to a court. We go to him and we asked. We ask him, what do I do in this matter? I prayed for the whole church and I prayed for some people who individually came up. In other words, you say, well, that just sounds like turning the cheek and, you know, getting slapped all day long, you know, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
Pastor West: [00:44:30] So what do we do? Well, you go to the court of justice because God has a court in the scriptures, and he is the righteous judge, and his throne is established on those two principles righteousness and justice. You are the righteousness of God. But he wants to. He wants what's right. But he's the judge that tells you what's right. So there's times when you're not asking the Lord in a court matter, like in a natural court, but you're going before the throne room of God, that you go into the court and you're asking the Lord for a righteous, just verdict. And he is right. Now, if someone has wronged you, they've hurt you or hurt your family or your company or whatever the situation can be, how can a believer handle that? Well, you go before him who is right and you don't ask the Lord to bring any type of retribution to the person. I mean, it's not payback. You can't do that in the love of God. In other words, they might be wrong. That person is wrong. Their action was wrong. Everything that they did was wrong, right? But you can't ask the Lord to pay them back. But it brought hurt to you. Or could bring hurt to you. So what do we do? We go to the righteous judge who is the Lord. We don't ask them to do anything harmful to that person. We know Jesus prayed for those who persecute you.
Congregation: [00:46:01] Yeah.
Pastor West: [00:46:02] Pray for them. And he said, pray a blessing. Come upon them. You're like God can I just bless them out. No no no no. Pray for those. Bless them who hurt you and who despitefully has used you. In other words, they used you or cost you something. But then you go and you give them what the Lord gave them Because he desires what mercy he delights in it. Old covenant, new covenant I only give you a few scriptures. We could be here all day reading the scriptures now. So he said, this is what he did, that he brought this. He said, so an unbeliever. Now in Colossians three, if you'll put that up in the Paris translation. Colossians 312 through 14. And while you're going there the pastor, if you go to Matthew, I think it's the bada bada bada bada bada. 18th chapter, I think. But don't go there. But I thought I had my notes, but I don't. It tells us what to do. So we have to know these things. We have to know them. Because you're the body of Christ and things will happen in life. And you, we have to know what is right by the Word of God. I think it's Matthew 18, but just stay where you are. But it said, if a brother is offended at someone, if someone has done you wrong. Jesus said, go to that person. That's it. It's in you. Is 18?
Congregation: [00:47:45] 18:15.
Pastor West: [00:47:46] 18:15? Well it's not. So he said, if a brother offends you, hurt you. He says, go to that, brethren. Now, who's he talking to? He's talking to believers. He's talking to the church. He's not talking about lost people. You have the love of God in you, right? So if you're offended, someone actually did hurt you. They offended you. He said, you go to that person. Don't, don't don't involve the other people. Go to that person and tell him. But if he won't repent, then go back and get 2 or 3 as a witness and go back to that person.
Congregation: [00:48:25] That's what it said.
Pastor West: [00:48:26] And what do you do? You want the 2 or 3 people not to condemn him, but to see you have offended. You have done a wrong here. You've brought injustice into our lives. And so by by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses, let his word be established. He said, now if they don't repent.
Congregation: [00:48:45] Go to the church.
Pastor West: [00:48:45] He said, now take it to the church. And then he said, and bring the whole thing before the church. What he doesn't want to do is bring it before the church. In other words, what's he talking about? He said, it's if a brother or sister is overtaken in a fault, then you, the one that was offended, keep it personal. You go to that person. If he repents, you restored your brother.
Congregation: [00:49:09] That's what he said.
Pastor West: [00:49:10] But if he doesn't repent, see? What is the Lord trying to give here? He's trying to give mercy. But there were cases in the Bible they wouldn't repent. But you can see he's not trying to get it so far down the road. He's saying, if you offend me, then I'm supposed to go get a I'm supposed to come to you and say, man, you've hurt me, right? This, this and this. And if you're like, I ain't my problem. Then I'm supposed to go get 2 or 3 spiritual people, right?
Congregation: [00:49:42] We not supposed to go on Facebook?
Pastor West: [00:49:43] No, we can't go on Facebook. I don't know. We're on YouTube. We might can go YouTube, I don't know. We can go Twitter. We can go Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Instant book. Mix them all together. We got somebody. So I go get 2 or 3, and then we talk it over again. Yeah, but now if you repent, what do we do? It's over. It's over because I've restored my brother. Right? And we've had 2 or 3 people that the devil used to try, you and I, to be separated. Right. Over a period of years. But they weren't waking up and saying, I'm going to find some way to dissolve this relationship. It was just this right here. Ministers didn't get you in your ear and it caused a problem. It was my fault, not your fault. It's my fault. I listened to too much garbage from someone I thought was very influential. But it wasn't a downgrade in the way I heard it. But it was. And it was all my fault. It wasn't his fault at all, but it was to keep us apart. Well, it wasn't, but a couple of months, three months later, I got really hurt. Really hurt. I mean, by a spiritual mentor mentor to me that I cared much about.
Pastor West: [00:51:14] And I got really hurt. Because there they were as like a spiritual father. He spoke into my life, and then I got hurt. And then I got angry. But I was more hurt than angry. And then my words, which Pastor John was talking about last Sunday in my words, I said something about that person. And another minister said to me, who? The Lord showed him the whole situation by a supernatural sign. I mean supernaturally. He said, this is what happened. This is what happened. Gave me a mounts, figures, money, everything that happened, you got hurt. This is why you got hurt. Well, the only one who knew this situation was me, my wife and God. And he knew who the person was. There was some money involved in it. Thousands of dollars. And then I got. I got hurt that he did this. I mean, I was more hurt than I was angry. Yeah, but because the money's gone and I got to go do something, I didn't know what to do. And I read over in Proverbs, don't let anyone borrow money unless you can just give it to them. I didn't do that, but I ended up giving it to him. But not because I wanted to.
Pastor West: [00:52:32] I mean, I mean, it wasn't coming back. So I had to go to the Lord and say and say, what do I do? I'm in trouble. Well, I just told this person, and I've told this story before, so I don't want to get into that. But then this was many years ago. Many, many, many years ago. This one. This one last Thursday, years ago. So I said to this other person, I said, so the Lord showed you that. And I said, well, I forgave him. I said, but you know, there's a part of me just wants to jack their jaw. And he let me go for about 10 or 15 minutes, gave me a lot of rope. Then I felt the rope go like this, and he drew me back And he says, can I ask you a question? I said, yeah. He said, a while ago that you said that you forgave. I said, yeah, I forgave. He said, but you wanted to jack his jaw. I said, oh yeah, I wanted to jack your jaw. He said, you wanted Jackie. I said, yeah. He said, who's you? I said, now he's talking to a word person. And I said, well, you know, I was
Congregation: [00:53:38] He said.
Pastor West: [00:53:42] Is that you, Eric West? Is that the old man? Is that the new man in Christ? Does the new man want Jackie Jones?
Congregation: [00:53:51] So. Amen.
Pastor West: [00:53:55] And as soon as I did it and I said I wanted to hurt him physically, the Lord showed me what I said about you. And I didn't even know I said that about you. He played me a video of it In a restaurant on 280, and I heard myself say what I said to you, and I saw how terrible it was. And I went to the bathroom, dismissed myself for about ten minutes and wouldn't cry, just cried because I thought, I can't even believe I said that I was so deceived. I didn't even know I said it, but the Lord let me hear my own words. So I'm in Ralph and Coco's, which is gone. Great alligator tail. Whoo! Black and alligator tail. And I know y'all want to go. So I heard those words. So in my hurt with another man, the Lord showed me how I had hurt someone myself. And then I said, well, then that's why he ain't coming around no more. I thought, well, why don't he ever come around anymore? I guess he didn't want no more of that. He didn't want to sign up for no more of that. I thought I was helping him. That's how I actually thought I was helping you.
Congregation: [00:55:08] Telling you that stuff.
Pastor West: [00:55:10] I mean, this wasn't five years ago or ten years. Way back there. Okay, so the Lord had to use someone supernaturally to show me me. And so he said to me, he said, you, you've never forgiven this guy of anything because you can say, well, we forgive him, we love him. We're forgiven. But, but but you keep bringing it up. I know y'all never done that, but I've done it before. I'm just going to be honest. I know y'all have never done that, so I forgive him, but you kind of bring it up every now.
Congregation: [00:55:40] And then.
Pastor West: [00:55:41] Just to you or someone else, or you kind of hold them at arm's length.
Congregation: [00:55:46] No more. Come on.
Pastor West: [00:55:47] I'm in the. I'm in the booth preaching on the other side. And I.
Congregation: [00:55:51] Did it.
Pastor West: [00:55:52] You let me give you 50 push ups and 14 Hail Marys. See, that's not forgiving. Because Jesus said, if you don't forgive those who hurt you, offended you. He said, I can't forgive you.
Congregation: [00:56:08] That's what he said.
Pastor West: [00:56:09] He says in Ephesians. He said, be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another. As I forgave you. What does the Lord want? Mercy, mercy, mercy. He desires mercy, and he wants to restore the situation.
Congregation: [00:56:28] Amen. Right.
Pastor West: [00:56:29] He wants restoration. He came that we might be. What? Reconciled. Restored. So Paul says. Don't. Why are you taking the natural course as believers? Why don't you settle this issue within you as the believers? Why don't you become so mature that you you don't hold a leash on the on people one another, but that you give them my love and restore those who have fallen. Yeah. He said, one day you're going to be you're going to be in charge of judging angels, but you're going to take your these situations of y'all wanting to sue each other and you're going to stand before an unbelieving court. He said, that shouldn't be so among you. So Brother Hagin said one time in a conference in Tulsa in a prayer service, he says, you can't find one place in the scriptures where any believer, any church person ever used the civil authorities anywhere about anything. He said, never happened. They all said it within the church, settled it within the church. Now all they got. Just a minute and we're going to wrap up now, James, chapter two, if you will. Verse 13 says in the Passion translation. Well, we missed Colossians, but put that down. Look it up. Colossians 312 to 14 but James 213 says, for judgment is without mercy to one who's been shown no mercy. Judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy will triumph. Over what? Mercy with trials. Oh!
Congregation: [00:58:06] What judgment?
Pastor West: [00:58:09] So that was the final statement he made in James. Is that mercy, glory or boast against judgment? Knowing that we're mercy and judgment seem to conflict. Mercy wins. Mercy wins. Our sins may argue against us, but the accuser of the brethren, Christ is our loving advocate who argues for us and prevents us from receiving the judgment we deserve. So we in turn display God's type of mercy towards others. James two eight says, he says your calling is to fulfill the royal law of love. And he calls love a law. That's right. Isn't that interesting that God would call law a love? How do we do it? Well, he calls love itself a law. Watch here. Verse eight, he says, your calling is to fill the royal law of love as given to us in Scripture. You must love and value your neighbor as you love and value yourself. For keeping the law, which is what the royal law of love is the. Noble way to live. Verse nine. But when you show prejudice, you commit sin. And you. Violate the law of love. The one who attempts to keep all the law of Moses but fails in just one point. Has now become guilty of breaking the law in every respect. So if I get out of here in 65, I mean, just I mean, reading Andrew wrong book on grace. He said, if you get out there and you just break, you're in a 55, but you're going 65.
Pastor West: [00:59:43] Are you guilty? Yes. You didn't you didn't keep you didn't even keep manslaughter. Right. He said, now you're guilty of everything. You think that sounds silly? Yeah. Now you're a murderer. You're a thief. You're a robber. You're a rapist. You're. You're everything. So he says. But I don't want to give you that. What I want to give you is the grace of God. I want to give you mercy. I desire to give you mercy. Now we're in the dispensation of grace. And when Jesus comes back, it's going to be different. It won't. It won't be the dispensation of grace. Then. Then you'll know where it's coming from. But right now, we're living in the dispensation of the grace of God. So he says, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Verse 11. For someone who tells us, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. If you don't commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you are still guilty as a law breaker. So we must both speak and act in every respect, like those who are destined to be tried by the perfect law of liberty. And remember that judgment is merciless for the one who judges others without mercy. So by showing mercy, you take dominion over judgment. I'll finish by reading you a short story. A true story about a missionary who wasn't a missionary in the beginning. And this just speaks to today's word about mercy. It says the story of Jacob Deshazer was who suffered greatly as a prisoner of war during World War II.
Pastor West: [01:01:25] But after the war, as a committed Christian, he went as a missionary to Japan. It goes on to say, he said it's he said, it's part of history, that America didn't enter the Second World War until December 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor with 360 planes. It was a turning point. In the next day, the US entered the war. At that time, Deshazer, the guy I'm talking about, he was a young serviceman. He enlisted in 1940. He but hated the Japanese so much he volunteered for a bombing mission on the Japanese. He wanted to wipe them out for what they had done at Pearl Harbor, but on the return home, his plane ran out of fuel and they ditched in China. And they all survived. But the next day they were captured by the Japanese, and they were placed in a terrible prisoner of war of camp or, you know, prisoners of war. Now, Deshazer was imprisoned for 40 months, 34 of those months of the 40 months he was in solitary confinement. Three of his mates were executed. One of them. They starved to death. He was in hell, starved. He was beaten and he was tortured. He was labeled a war criminal and sentenced to life imprisonment. For almost two years, Deshazer and the other struggled in the for several diseases. They froze in winter. They they gave them him no blankets and they baked in the summer with no ventilation.
Pastor West: [01:02:57] At times, the airmen grew so angry at the brutal guards that he worried about his insanity. In quieter moments, he wondered how they could be so inhumane. What he didn't know was that every day his mother back home was praying for him, because actually he grew up in a Christian home. Thank God for our mothers, right? His father was a minister. He asked a Japanese guard for a Bible, which was reluctantly given to him for three weeks. They said, you can have this Bible for three weeks later. Years later, he wrote this. I eagerly began to read its pages, and I discovered that God has given me new spiritual eyes, and that when I look at the enemy officers and the guards who had starved and beaten my commander, my companions, and me so cruelly that I found no bitter hatred for them, changed to love and pity. I realized that these people did not know anything about my Savior, and that if Christ is not in a heart, it will just be natural that they will be cruel. This remarkable man read Romans ten nine, you shall be saved if you honestly say from your heart, Jesus is Lord, and you believe that with all of your heart that God has raised him from the from the death. The Savior gave his life to Jesus Christ after reading what Jesus said as he hung on the cross.
Pastor West: [01:04:17] Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing. He made a promise to God if he excuse me, I don't want to do that. He made a promise to God that if he survived the camp, he would return to Japan as a missionary. And that is what happened. Jacob the Savior felt. God said to him, go and teach the Japanese people the way of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. When the war ended in August of 1945, he was released from being a prisoner of war, but he was broken and ill, young man. And he returned to the United States. But now, as a committed Christian, he knew what God wanted. He went to a Bible seminary. He studied. Then he returned to Japan in 1948 with his wife, where they ministered for 30 years and established a church in the very city he was bombed. This man's hatred for the Japanese turned to love and concern, and he spent his entire life spreading the message of Christian love and forgiveness. Wow. This true story reminds me of another one, another wonderful verse from the Bible. Second Corinthians 517. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten and everything is new. 18 says, God has done it all. He sent his Christ. He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us. And now he's given you that work to make peace between himself and make peace between others.
Pastor West: [01:05:47] He signed up after what the Japanese done at Pearl Harbor, and he wanted to go back and do the payback. And he did. That's an extreme story, isn't it? Yeah, but it just shows us I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Why? You know, you and I have a pretty good sacrifice. Is Jesus enough? He is enough, isn't he? So I want to give mercy in any way that I can. Give mercy to anyone who deserves it. Well, the one who needs it. Jesus in verse chapter nine of Matthew and Jesus in chapter 12, he had the same response. Those who was guilty. He said, they need a physician. They're sick. They're wrong. They need a physician. I want to give them mercy. Matthew 12. He's defending people who are not guilty against those who make an accusations against them. And he became their defender. His position on all of it is. Please let me give mercy. Please let me give grace that my love and my work. Do a work in you so that you can take that love and make those who are broken. Those who are guilty to set them free.
Pastor West: [01:07:07] Love keeps no record of a suffered wrong. Amen. Why do why does 50% of marriages fail? It's because they're not really reading this book and it's got to go beyond reading. You got to stew in it, Christian said. You got to stew in it because some of the things that we all face, we don't want that stew. But isn't it true that 50% of marriages fail? Our own records. Why is that? Well, she he they did they didn't they this. And then I lost that loving feeling. And when you lose that loving feeling. You got to go feel it from someone else. But after you lose that feeling. Alabama. I think you can only get married 7 or 8 times. So you got to get that feeling by the eighth time at least. You got to move to another state that doesn't have any limits on it. The problem with that thinking is that wherever I go, there I am. So I got to make love, as Paul said, my highest aim, my highest goal. There's faith, there's hope and there's charity, love. And the greatest of these is what?
Congregation: [01:08:30] Love
Pastor West: [01:08:31] Yeah. It's love. So we just give God thanks for his word today. And for each one of us that we can make correction courses. We want to talk about relationships and marriage and all this because it's it's so needed everywhere that you go in. Jesus said, you know, the one thing that the world's going to see the world. This is the one distinguishing mark, how the world will know that you're that you're my disciple. How is that? That you show love one to another? It didn't say because you, you know, have a great gift of prophecy or healings or workings of miracles. All that's wonderful grace. But the world will know that you are actually one of mine if they see you loving one another. So that's let that be our highest goal. Let that be our pursuit. Even in the hardest cases, in the trying times. Let love speak. Let the royal law of love be the law of the land. Amen. Amen. God bless you.
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