The Path to Perfection Part 2 - Eli Lopez - September 1, 2021

thank you jesus praise the lord christian life center if we could all stand to our feet in the building this evening amen um i just been thinking about the service today and i've been thinking about what the lord wants to do in this place and i think before we get started i think it's it's only right that we should take some time and every issue of life every distraction every you know however your day went today if it's been a long day if it's been if you've had some struggles today i want you to take those struggles and i want you set to set them by the wayside just for a moment i want you to set them by the wayside right now those of you watching online i want you to take every distraction and i want you to set it by the wayside because we've come together we've come to the house of god you've joined us online for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to connect with the lord so right now as you begin to set those things aside i want you to begin to focus on god i want you to begin to meditate on the lord and i want you to think about how good the lord has been to you i want you to think about the goodness and the mercy of god you are standing here today you are here today with breath in your lungs you have the ability to come into the house of the lord to join us wherever you may be watching and regardless of any circumstance the lord is good and he deserves praise and he deserves our worship he deserves our very best that's it church begin to meditate on him begin to focus on him and i want you to begin to verbalize your gratefulness verbalize your thankfulness um it's not enough that it would be just in your mind but get begin to speak begin to magnify the lord with me magnify the lord with me today church father we worship you today we praise you today we are grateful for the opportunity god to come together in worship and in praise lord you have been so good to me i cannot tell it all lord my soul cries out hallelujah tonight god i am thankful for all that you have done yes lord is anybody grateful today i believe there's a little bit more gratefulness in the house tonight lord you've been good to me god i have breath in my lungs i have clothes on my back god you are faithful in every way lord regardless of the circumstance god i know you have been good i know you are my provider i know you are my healer i know you are my waymaker lord you are good you are good you are good hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah church i want us to stay in that vein of thanksgiving and praise as the worship team comes i want you to worship along with the praise team this evening hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Music] jesus i wonder one more time we could give the lord some praise tonight we worship you lord there's nobody like you you are so good to us jesus hallelujah hallelujah i will bless the lord i will bless the i will lord the lord i will bless the lord i will praise his name i will praise his name for the rest of my life [Music] [Applause] i will bless the lord [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] let [Music] his glory and his oh yes [Music] [Applause] i will bless the lord i will bless the lord [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] he's good [Music] you are good all the time [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] love yes forever [Music] like jesus [Music] you [Music] all the time [Music] [Applause] all [Music] all the time you are good you are good all the time and your love being good forever you are good all the time you are good [Music] you are good all the time [Music] let's give the lord some worship oh you are so good lord there's nobody like you jesus oh hallelujah hallelujah lord you are so good to us jesus oh hallelujah come on somebody let's give him some worship tonight his love and do it forever amen hallelujah thank you lord thank you jesus hallelujah hallelujah oh we worship you jesus wonder we can lift our hands tonight and just worship the lord hallelujah [Music] [Music] when i think about the lord how he picked me up and turned me around how he placed my feet [Music] me [Music] [Music] hallelujah lord you're worthy [Music] and all the press [Music] [Music] thank you jesus and all the honor and all the praise it makes me thank you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you jesus lord you're worthy of all the glory and all the honor [Applause] [Music] thank you jesus [Music] [Applause] me [Music] thank you jesus hallelujah [Music] let's exalt him one more time jesus we thank you we're worshiping on your name right now we exalt your name jesus you are worthy of all the praise and all the glory and all the honor we've come into this house and we've participating online right now in one mind and one accord to glorify the king of kings and the lord of lords you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus we're going to go before the lord in prayer for this city for this state and for this country for it surely needs jesus we're going to pray that the lord's will be done in the upcoming election pastor haney mentioned that on sunday hopefully we're going to have a recall anyway that's my opinion and the lord will lead you to the right person to vote for do your research and do that we're going to pray the lord's will be done in this state in that election as well as the lords will be done in your home and in your workplace and in your school and as we pray we're going to pray for the neighbor of your north east south and west from your home from your workplace from your cubicle let's go before the lord right now jesus we love you and thank you lord for what you are feeling right now in this place we know that you are an omnipresent god and you are everywhere at all times and right now we ask that you will pour out your spirit upon all flesh in these last days may your will be done right here in stockton as it is in heaven may your will be done in this state as it is in heaven lord may your will be done in this upcoming election we give it to you right now in jesus name we pray for righteous leaders in our city we pray for righteous leaders in our state we pray for righteous leaders in our country we give it to you right now in jesus name that they'll have the revelation of your name jesus and lord we ask that you'll touch our police department that your spirit will reign upon them that you protect them jesus for the efforts that they do in your will in this city in in this county and in this state jesus we give them to you right now and we speak to the north we speak to the south the east and the west from this building from our homes from our workplaces that it must give up the souls that belong to you your word says that your spirit that lives inside of us give us to be bold witnesses for you help us jesus to be the salt and the light to our community jesus and those we come in contact with may your will be done in our life and help us be the light to this world we ask the heads of protection be upon our members and upon this church we surrender it to you right now in jesus name in jesus name thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus and if you've come into this place and you have a situation that you want the lord to intervene in it could be financial it could be spiritual could be mental it could be physical whether it be in your life or a close family member or friend just simply raise your hand right now across the sanctuary saying jesus i have faith and believe in you and i'm going to give this situation to you brothers and sisters look around you reach your hand toward those that have their hands raised if you live in that household with the individual raising their hand let's pray together as a family as a body of christ if you're online watching just simply put your prayer requests in the comments right now and we're going to pray with you jesus we give all of these situations unto your hands we know jesus that your word says that by your stripes we are healed and we claim that healing right now in jesus name for all those that are in this building that may have cancer and may have other ailments write down all those participating online we ask right now let your miraculous healing power be upon that home in jesus name touch that body right now in jesus name review cancer right now in jesus name we rebuke coven right now in jesus name let the strength and restoration come right now by your word [Music] you are our provider our refuge and strength provide for every need represented right now [Music] we give these families to you we give this situation to you and we believe and trust in you right now all together let's get thank the lord for hearing our prayers and acting upon them jesus thank you we trust you we put our faith in you amen i think it'd be approved we say thank you jesus whew that feels good in the house tonight it is now time for our wednesday evening tithe and offering if you'd like to give of course electronically or online you may do so and also if you're here in the building you of course contribute monetarily here as well jesus we thank you lord for your many blessings in your provision upon this ministry upon us as individuals lord we ask right now that you'll open the windows of heaven and pour it a blessing which cannot be contained thank you for what you provided for us in jesus name we pray amen god bless you as you give tonight [Music] [Music] i love jesus he's my savior when storms are raging he's my shelter where he leads me i will follow i love jesus yes i do and he loves me i love jesus he's my [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i will follow i love jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] and i won't take [Music] [Applause] he has been so good to me [Music] so very good is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah jesus oh no other name under heaven can save us jesus jesus no other name [Music] [Applause] heaven can save us jesus jesus no other name i know well yes i've got it yeah [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] everlasting [Music] jesus jesus jesus jesus oh jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus oh no other name [Applause] come on somebody [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh jesus jesus jesus jesus oh no other names [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] there's no other name i know hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Music] i'm wondering right now if we could put our hands together and lift our voices and let's give it our very best just for these next few moments come on give it the very best that you've got [Music] so [Music] [Music] it really doesn't matter if it's been a good day or if it's been a bad day he is still deserving of the very best of my praise the very best of my worship i may be in some storms right now some trials or i may be on top of the world but he's still god and he's still good and he still deserves the very best of my praise [Music] amen the lord is good i said the lord is good as sister puentes was leading us a few moments ago we were just just having a good time and a good pentecostal worship service i i thought of that old saying that john wesley when people asked him how in the world was he getting hundreds and thousands to show up to hear him preach this is what he said he said i light myself on fire and the world comes to watch me burn i thank god for a fired up church service there's no telling what god's gonna do in our midst my goodness turn and wave at somebody and just give them a holy ghost smile tell them it's good to see them in the house of god tonight [Music] amen god bless you you can be seated tonight and we have been on a journey through this subject of spiritual formation and we've had a few breaks here and there different events revival services last week we had a prayer meeting and it was very very fitting and appropriate that we did so on the week of consecration that we were on last week and we're going to continue this journey here tonight i'm so grateful to my pastor for allowing me week after week to stand before you and to to share the word of the lord i have made this comment i am so privileged that god would call me to preach the gospel and i endeavor to prepare and whenever i'm pr asked to preach i always want to step to that pulpit prepared and i i always want to step to the pulpit just with the excitement and the energy that the pulpit deserves how can i be a dead dry preacher when i'm serving such a living powerful awesome god so i love preaching i really love and preaching is very uh it's it's emotional and and you're making that appeal for that service you're making that appeal for that altar call when you preach and and i love being a preacher but there's something i love even more than preaching and that's the opportunity to teach and somebody made this statement to me when i was young and it has really guided my my much of the way that i do ministry the comment was told me the effects of preaching are seen at the altar but the effects of teaching are seen over a lifetime and we need both we need preaching we need to get to the altar we need conviction or we need faith we need we need those experiences and those spiritual breakthroughs but we also need just good meat and potatoes teaching that's going to nourish us and give us what we need for the journey and so i'm so appreciative of the opportunity i've had on these wednesday evenings over the past several months to teach and you guys know me i get fired up and even when i'm teaching the excitement will come through but what what an opportunity that we could grab this this holy book and use it as our textbook for life this tells us how to live it tells us how to think tells us how to behave this book is our guide and so uh thank you for going on this journey with me if you do have one of the course workbooks i know there are many that have picked those up we are going to continue we're on page 52 but we are on the subject of spiritual formation and we have already completed four lessons the first lesson was the call the second lesson we dealt with developing spiritual disciplines and we took a couple weeks to talk about that the third lesson was spiritual gifts and we talked at length in fact we took four weeks to deal with that lesson by itself because we talked about spontaneous spiritual gifts we talked about resident service gift resident office gifts and so on and then our fourth lesson was dealing with the fruit of the spirit and we took our time and and went through the fruit of the spirit as given to us by paul and then not last week two weeks ago we began lesson number five the path to perfection and we really got right about halfway through uh if you look at the notes we're right about halfway through and so that's where we're going to pick up tonight we're going to pick up there let's pray lord jesus we love you and we honor you and we cannot say thank you enough for every blessing and for all of your goodness god i ask that in your kindness in your mercy that you would nourish us and feed us again from the truth that is your word we love you and we thank you for your goodness in jesus name and everybody said amen so in i'm going to do a real quick recap especially because it's been two weeks since we have been uh dealing with the subject i'm going to do a real quick recap we have been working through second peter chapter one and we began right at verse one and in verse one we see that peter identifies we'll go to the next slide we see that peter identifies in verse one as a slave and an apostle of jesus christ and we talked about that and and if you need to review that i believe that service is posted online if you want to go back so we don't have a time to to go through all that again but just these were the main points we made he identified as a slave and an apostle and we talked about the significance of that in verse one he also clearly identifies jesus as god the language that he uses is very clear that he viewed jesus as god verse two we talked about how grace and multi grace and peace excuse me are multiplied not added but multiplied to us as we grow in relationship with god and all of us i don't know about you but i'm i'm convinced in my own life i i could always use some more grace and some more peace and so that'll be multiplied as we grow in our knowledge of god verse 3 god has given us everything we need to live for him and we talked about that all things that pertain to life and godliness have been given to those who are born again so as a result we have no excuses there are no excuses none of us are going to stand before god and say well i couldn't live for you because no we have everything we need to live for god verse 4. we saw that we are recipients of great and precious promises that's the the language that peter used great and precious promises and also in verse 4 we see that we have already escaped the corruption that's in this world and you have to confess your reality beyond your feelings you may not feel strong but you are strong and you may not feel free but you need to confess that you are free you have already escaped it's in the past tense you have escaped the corruption that's in the world you have to confess the truth of your word over and above whatever you might be feeling with in your heart and your emotions know the word is truth we've escaped we are free from the corruption that's in this world and then there's a change between verse four and verse five because verse 4 is is really everything god has done for us and the grace and the peace being multiplied the the great and precious promises being recipients of everything everything that we need to live for god and and having escaped all all of this having escaped the corruptions in this world everything we see in the first four verses is what god has done for us and in verse five it becomes our responsibility what are we going to do because of everything god has given us and what god has done for us so in verse 5 considering all god has given us and all that he's done for us we are to give all diligence everyone say all diligence the word all means that there's no shortcut here you can't do this halfway or part way you've got to do this complete that's why the bible says love god with all your heart it's telling you something you can't love him halfway you can't be halfway committed and you can't give partial diligence you you don't get the opportunity to take a day off on this journey that we're on we are committed we are committed give all diligence give it everything that you have and this is very significant i want you to um if go back real fast wherever we're at on that last point there we go i have it underlined there give all diligence i want you to just to kind of take a mental snapshot of what you're seeing there the word the word it's give all diligence that being underlined because in a few moments we're going to come back and revisit that statement as we get near the end of the lesson we're going to revisit that statement about giving all diligence because peter is going to come back to that point and he's going to make it even stronger and we're we're going to talk about that so giving all diligent so there's no shortcuts we've got to give it our best okay verse 5 continues giving all diligence says add to your faith virtue the faith that we have that was introduced up in verse 1 we are to add to that faith virtue okay and we talked about accessing the power of the holy ghost to empower us to live morally upright and pure lives i don't have the strength in it of myself i don't have to strengthen my willpower to overcome all the the addictions or the habits or the temptations or the sins of this world but by the power of the holy ghost every single one of us is an overcomer we are not trapped to living a life of sin but we can live a life that pleases the lord jesus christ add to your faith virtue and you have to do that you have to add to your salvation experience your faith virtue and then add to virtue verse 5 knowledge and we talked about the learning of god's ways according to scripture and the work of the holy ghost we need to increase in our knowledge of god verse six add to knowledge self-control temperance is what the king james uses it means self-control and we talked about mastering one's emotions rather than being controlled by them i'm going to use a different word rather than emotions i'm going to use the word feelings because sometimes we think of emotions and we just think of of maybe anger or sadness or happiness but really what it's saying is you have control of what goes on in your life you're not you're not controlled by your feelings you're not controlled by your appetites you're not controlled by by by cravings or or desires or or feelings and in other words you are in control there are things you won't do no matter how much your flesh wants them there are things you won't do because you're in control you're not letting your flesh run wild and do whatever it wants and you need to add this add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge to knowledge self-control this is something every one of us needs to add to our our lives verse six continues and add to self-control perseverance if you have a king james says patience the thought here is not succumbing to discouragement or the temptation to quit not throwing in the towel yes sometimes the journey gets rough yes there are challenges along the way yes our faith gets tested absolutely but we've started with jesus and we're gonna finish with jesus we're gonna make it all the way until heaven is our home there's no there's no turning back and that's right where we ended off so we're going to continue now in verse six so it says obviously to add at your faith virtue to virtue knowledge and knowledge self-control the self-control perseverance and now we are to add in verse six to perseverance godliness it's like a formula it's it's this incredible formula that we get in second peter chapter one and that's one reason i asked you to read it at least three times before we went back into the finished out the lesson because i just wanted you to be aware of of the path that unfolds in this chapter the formula that peter writes out under the inspiration of the holy ghost that things that we are to add to our faith experience we are to add this thing called godliness this is from a greek word eusebia and really what it's talking about it's our attitude towards god and that's very important and when we get to the next point you're going to see how with wisdom and and unction peter listed this formula in in an order that is fitting and appropriate eusebia it really it's our attitude my attitude towards god the way i think about god and it's actually a word that that predates the bible it's a word that you can find in in secular greek writing it was a word that was used to describe pagans who would spend time in pagan temples pagans that were very religious and and pagans that were considered being close to the gods and and so it was this word that would describe these religious people and paganism and peter takes this word and he applies it to the believer and just like you've got these people that that are going to be very religious and they're going to make their sacrifices and they're going to spend time in their temples and because they have a reverential attitude towards their their false god he said there should be something in us that we have a right attitude towards our god and that we want to spend time with our god we want to be close with our god we have such a high regard for our god that we want to draw nearer to our god the word deals specifically with our attitude the way we perceive god and you need to add this to your faith so for us christians it speaks of one who is aware of god and is seeking to draw nearer to god the the the root word what we see here is eusebia but the root word is eusebius and it's found in acts chapter 10 verse 2 and it's a word that is used to describe cornelius and this is what it says in acts chapter 10 verse two cornelius was a devout man a eusebius man so it's the root word that we see here now in in in uh ii peter chapter one and it says that cornelius was a devout man that's the word eusebius one who feared god with all his household who gave alms generously to the people and to and prayed to god always you see how his attitude towards god affected his behavior his attitude towards god affected his conduct and his lifestyle and look at the last part of that verse of acts chapter 10 verse 2 it says he prayed to god always because he had the right attitude towards god he was trying to draw near to god he was trying to reach for more of god and i'm gonna tell you the closer we get to the coming of the lord the closer we get to the trumpet sounding we don't need less prayer we need more prayer this is not a time to find excuses to being a prayerless christian because prayerless christians are powerless christians this ought to be a time where we find ourselves in prayer more than ever before the church is facing challenges we've never faced before and we've got to get people who are trying to be like a cornelius that there's a godliness inside of us that says i don't want less of god i want more of god i'm not trying to back up i'm trying to move forward i'm not trying to be less committed i want to be more committed and someone who develops this godliness has a hunger has a desire is trying to ever draw closer to god and peter says you need to add this to your faith this godliness where you want god and you want more of god your attitude towards god affects everything about your life and causes you to reach for him and if pagans could spend hours in their temples with their false gods i think holy ghost filled believers jesus said it this way i i've i've preached at different churches and and we we set a high bar here at christian life center but i remember my wife was with me we were preaching at a church within the last year and and the church it was sometimes you walk into spiritual environments and they're not the healthiest they're not the best and you're aware of that but you you do what the lord sent you there to do and you pray for a breakthrough and and we we had a good service um but i was also aware that that the spiritual atmosphere was not where it needed to be in that in that church with that congregation i'll never get the pastor got up afterwards and he said he said the word of the lord was ministered and it was a wonderful response but the pastor made this comment he said i'm going to challenge some of you to spend i'm going to challenge you the church i must challenge you to spend time in prayer today he said at least at least spend 10 minutes in prayer and and he was asking them to do something that maybe some of them weren't accustomed to do and spending 10 minutes in prayer that's that's that's what he felt he could ask his people and maybe get a positive response and i was thankful that he challenged him and he pushed him to spend time in prayer outside of church but i was also really almost heartbroken because jesus looked at his followers and he made this he asked this question could you not tarry with me one hour could you not tarry with me one hour i think every christian ought to spend at least an hour a day in devotion in prayer and reading your bible and seeking to draw close to god in fact what i really believe is you should give a tithe of your day to the lord 24 hours in a day i think you should give a tithe of that to spiritual focus spiritual devotion i've heard some people say well i'll do that but part of that will be ministry work maybe that'll work for you but that that's that's how i feel about it i don't think we give god enough time as his children how many hours do we waste on social media or the news or entertainment i mean we wait and we have you know the i'm gonna say the legitimate reason maybe it's an excuse well i need to unwind i i've had a busy day a stressful day i need to relax and fine whatever but how about giving god the first fruits how about instead of giving god always the leftovers we give him the very best of our time and our attention and i'm thankful if you spend 10 minutes in prayer every day i'm thankful that that's that's good that's better than nothing but i'm going to tell you we set the bar a little higher than that a christian life center and if jesus could look at his his disciples he could you not tarry one hour i think every single one of us should set at least an hour aside every single day to develop this godliness to develop a right attitude towards god that causes us to draw closer to him everyone said amen verse 7 to godliness brotherly kindness so in verse six i'm told to get my attitude towards god right and in verse 7 i'm told to get my attitude towards my brother right it's amazing how these two concepts go hand in hand in the bible that when i get my attitude towards god right then my attitude towards my brother will also be impacted and you there there are there are multiple places we're going to look at several in a few moments but there are multiple places in the bible where the concept of me having a right relationship with god translates into me having a right relationship with my brothers and sisters in the church and ambassador miller is up on the platform he's going to help me read several verses first john 4 go ahead and advance the slide he's going to help me read first john 4 20 and then john 13 35 and then john 15 12 through 17. and i want you to listen at this concept of having a right attitude towards god going hand in hand with having a right attitude towards my brother first john 4 20 if someone love says i love god and hates his brother he is a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen how can he love god whom he has not seen john well let me let me let me do my preacher thing here interrupt you cut you off what a powerful question how can you claim to love a god you've never seen and yet you hate your brother who's sitting right in front of you john says something's wrong if your attitude towards your brother is wrong chances are there's something disconnected with you and god godliness and brotherly kindness the way i reach for god the way i profess my love for god and the way i treat my brother they are linked and i don't think it's an accident that peter put one right after the other because one impacts the other as i get my attitude towards god right i am also to get my attitude towards all of you right because we know how it works we're a family and sometimes families i've got kids oh my goodness sometimes we just don't get along sometimes we rub each other the wrong way sometimes we we say things a little sharp sometimes we we let each other down and we're not there maybe the way that we should be we're we're people and we're family and sometimes it's not always the most ideal situation in a family but you know what we're family and we have the same father and the same blood covers us and washes us the same spirit fills us in the same name has been spoken over our lives and salvation we are a family so we've got to learn to push those differences asides and those squabbles aside and and any of that we've got to push that aside and we've got to come together and be the family of god and if i really really really really really love god then i should really love you too go ahead thank you john 13 35 by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another how are people going to tell if our christianity is real by the brotherly kindness that's in our midst that's how people can tell oh my there is something special among those people and that's how the love of god is felt by those who who come into our doors they feel by the love that we have one for another okay one more brother miller john 15 12 15 12 this is my commandment that you love one another as i have loved you greater love hath no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends you are my friends if you do whatever i command you no longer do i call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing but i have called you friends for all things i have heard from my father i have made known to you do not choose you did not choose me but i chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatever you asked the father in my name he will give you these things i command you that you love one another that passage is a call to radical obedience to jesus christ look what he says there this is this is amazing he said you are my friends if you do whatever i command you wow so many people claim to be the friend of god and and they're failing the test of obedience he said you're my friends if that whole passage is a call to radical obedience to jesus christ and you know what starts and in that passage loving your brother part of my radical obedience to jesus is the way i treat you and the way you treat me i am to add to my faith virtue to virtue knowledge to knowledge self-control to self-control perseverance to perseverance godliness a right attitude towards god's godliness a yearning for god a longing for god a love for god a hunger for god that i'm to add to godliness brotherly kindness that not only would i love him intensely but that we would love each other intensely and you are to add this to your faith experience this is to be in ingredients if you're making the cake and you're adding in the different this this ingredient needs to be added in this is part of the formula this is the pathway for spiritual growth we continue in verse 7 to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love this is the greek word agape in first corinthians 13 this word is translated as charity if you read first kings 13 now about it faith hope love or faith hope and charity and so this this passage um when when he listed here love this love this agape love is considered the highest ideal of christianity what the very when we talked about the fruit of the spirit right the fruit of the spirit is love it is agape and so this type of love that we're talking about it's a love which does not originate in the one loved but rather in the one who loves this is the love that god has shown for us so this is this is a love that doesn't look at somebody and say well i'm going to love you because you deserve my love this is a love that says i'm going to love because it's in my heart to love and that's why this love represents the love of god because when did god choose to love you roman says while we were yet sinners that's when christ died for us god didn't wait till you got good god didn't wait till you turn the corner and you turned over a new leaf god didn't wait till till you showed some good signs that you were gonna finally be a good person then god said well now i'll love her now i'll love him god loved us when we were unlovable when we were raising our fist at god and rejecting god he still loved us he still died for us he still reached for us that's the kind of love this is talking about this agape love that originates in the heart of the one who loves when we talked about the fruit of the spirit this was the definition we gave for it i'm trying to get my my notes to work and my phone keeps shutting off here we go we we said this in lesson number four when we looked at agape it is the unqualified ceaseless and selfless seeking for that which is best for another let me say that again the unqualified ceaseless and selfless seeking for that which is best for another when you love this way you are willing to sacrifice you are willing to take the loss that somebody else could have gained that somebody else could be blessed and i often make this point our children have no idea how much we love them and the sacrifices that we're willing to do on their behalf and they won't really understand until they have their own kids but every parent here who's whose heart works right every parent here whose heart maybe there may be someone here that may maybe maybe your emotions aren't working right and i i i can't speak for that but every parent here whose heart works right if your child was in danger what would you do to protect them what would you do to rescue them if they were in physical danger that's why parents run into burning buildings that's why parents will do extraordinary things because there's a love that they have that you can't put into words but i am willing to sacrifice that the person i love could be blessed could be protected i'll take the loss that he or she could have the gain and that's the love that's in the heart of god towards every single one of us what did god get out of the cross except except six hours of suffering and rejection he didn't do it for himself he did it because he loved you to that extent that he was willing to take the loss so you could have the gain and now this is a sign of spiritual maturity when i start loving the way that god loves it's part of the formula it's part of the formula this is the love that god has shown to us everyone said amen verse 8 for if if these things are yours and abound i love that right he says if these things are yours and and not that you would just have them in like you know a meager amount he said you are to abound in these things i am to abound in virtue i am to abound in perseverance i'm to abound in godness i'm to abound in brotherly kindness i'm too abound in agape love i'm too abound it's to be something overflown have you ever poured water into a glass and you overfilled it it just comes out all over the place that's how this is supposed to be you're too about there's to be an overabundance of these things in our lives abound have more than enough if these things and these things is talking about what we just started talking about picked up in verse five add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge and all self-control self-control perseverance perseverance godliness godliness brotherly kindness brotherly kindness love if these things are yours and abound look at this you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord jesus christ having these characteristics guarantees according to peter guarantees a healthy productive christian life you will neither be barren nor unfruitful your salvation you're going to have an impact on the kingdom you're going to bear fruit there's going to be lives you're going to touch there's going to be an impact you're going to have upon the kingdom your life is not going to be a wasted life but it's going to be a productive life if you will do these things if you will add these things if you will make sure the formula is not incomplete but you make sure i'm going to do this i'm going to add to my faith if you will do these things you will have a healthy productive christian life you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in your salvation experience verse nine here's the other side of the coin though for he who lacks these things this is talking about the christian that has come to church and gotten saved and then stops growing stops moving forward he said he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness so you see a progression the the spiritual vision begins to dim and it first becomes short-sightedness and eventually it ends up in spiritual blindness where you can no longer see the things that matter he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins think about this the first step in backsliding is a lack of spiritual growth that's the first step he who lacks these things is short-sighted even the blind and has forgotten you've forgotten what god's done for you you've forgotten the power of his grace in your life you're you forgot how he picked you up out of out of the gutter and out of that the slop of the pig pen you have forgotten all that he delivered you from and you hear people they start talking about their old life and they talk about the old life they came out of and it almost becomes wistful i remember going to the parties i remember having a good time i remember cruising this and and they started telling the stories of of what they used to be and and instead of it being a testimony of look what god delivered me from it it almost sounds like they they want to go back there it's because they're no longer growing spiritually because when you have spiritual eyesight you'll look at that old life and say thank god that's not who i am anymore i'm a new creature in christ all things are passed away behold all things have become new i don't want the past i don't want yesterday i don't want the sins of the past i have been set free heaven is my home i'm a holy ghost-filled believer his name covers me and his holiness fills me but you stop growing and all of a sudden that world that old world becomes more appealing you lose your spiritual vision and you forgot the power you forget the power of the wonder of his delivering and his grace and his goodness and his mercy and you start reaching back for the very things that he set you free from the very first step in backsliding never forget this is a lack of spiritual growth think about that in nature things that aren't growing they're actually dying and in god christians who are not growing in reality they're dying i've got to make sure i'm moving forward on this journey that i'm adding to my faith some critical things that are going to cause me to be healthy and productive for my lord everyone said amen verse 10 remember how i had you take a mental snapshot of what he said in verse 5 about giving all diligence and when i see the word all that means everything that means like there's no shortcut when you when you give all their that it's everything you have but then look what he says in verse 10 be even more diligent how can i be more diligent when i'm already giving my all but that is how important what he's been telling us he said i already told you to give all diligence now i'm going to tell you to give a little bit more how do you give more than all i don't know but you've got to somehow find a way that is how important what peter is teaching us about our christian walk and our christian growth be even more diligent he said i already told you to give all diligence now i'm going to try to convince you to give even a little bit more than giving your all be even more diligent to make your call and election sure the call refers to the place you have in god election is is your salvation make sure that you stay saved and make sure that you keep the place that god has called you to occupy in his church there are things god has called you to do there are things god has called you to be and that is your calling that covers your life you need to be even more diligent don't cut any corners in your spiritual growth don't cut any corners in your walk with god be even more diligent to make your call and your election sure now look what he says the title of this lesson is the path to perfection look at the promise that he gives us if you do these things you will never stumble what if you read this in the king james it says you will never fall and the new king james says stumble and i want to know what's the difference or you know why does it say stumble in this and you look it up that the greek word uh is is tayo i'm sure i'm saying that incorrectly but you don't know greek so no big deal taiyo and the literal rendering of taiyo is to trip that's what it literally means to trip figuratively it's talking about to air or to to to fail or to sin so that's that's how it's used figuratively when we use it like in reference to the christian walk and and we use tayo it means you know figuratively to to commit a sin to sin to fail in some matter but but the literal word itself means trip there is a difference between tripping and falling there is i have fallen before and if it's in front of other people it's embarrassing i have fallen and when you're falling you are laid out on the ground you're down there but i've also tripped before have you ever tripped on nothing have i done that you're just walking along and all of a sudden like your foot gets like you forgot how to walk i and that's really embarrassing you try to like play it off you know like you know but there's a difference between tripping and falling one it i mean you're laid out the other you're on your way but you somehow catch yourself before you fall and peter says i'll tell you what if you do these things you add to your faith virtue you add to virtue knowledge you add to knowledge self-control you add to self-control perseverance you had the perseverance godliness you had the godliness brotherly kindness you had to brotherly kindness love he said you do these things you won't even trip what a promise if you and i will do this thing called spiritual growth we will not even trip on this journey i i'm so excited that in this word there is a plan see some people believe the lie that you have to sin a little bit every day and you have to fail god every day i don't believe that i believe by the power of the holy ghost and the guiding of his word i can lead or leave a life that pleases god i don't believe i have to sin every day i believe i can live an overcoming life that makes god smile because i'm striving to be more like him am i claiming perfection no but i'm claiming there is a path to perfection for the child of god why would i aim less you know what jesus said he said be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect jesus said a high bar for the church and we get up and we we excuse away carnal behavior well you're going to sin a little bit here every day that's not in your bible there are remedies for when you do sin there is resolution for when you do make a mistake there is a plan for when you do fall rejoice not against me oh my enemy when i fall i shall arise yes if i make a mistake i'm going to get up and i'm going to call upon the blood of jesus and i'm going to keep going forward but friend you are not somehow bound to being a failure for god if you have the holy ghost if you've been baptized in the name that is above every name if you live according to this word then you can live an overcoming life i'm supposed to be teaching if you do these things you will never trip oh what hope this fills me with what joy it fills me with because god did not call me to be a failure we are more than conquerors through him who loved us we are called to walk in victory everyone said amen verse 11. the end of our faith for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly isn't that amazing an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and savior jesus christ see these christians don't barely make it to heaven why would someone just barely scrape by and barely try to make it to heaven i want an abundant door open have you ever walked somewhere and somebody opened the doors for you don't you just feel special walking in there can you imagine when your lord commands the angels to open the gates of heaven as wide as they can be opened and you look around to see who the special guest is and it's you you're the one that there's a i feel the holy ghost there's an abundant entrance waiting for you because you did what you were supposed to do with your faith you you started this process of spiritual growth and you didn't cut corners and there's going to be an abundant entrance waiting for you you've heard me say this point before but you know some people say you know boy if i just make it to heaven by the skin of my teeth that'll be good enough your teeth they don't have skin you need to make up your mind today that you're going to heaven and that heaven's doors are going to be open wide for you when it's your time nobody nobody nobody accidentally makes it to heaven no one's going to wake up like how'd i get here what a surprise if you make it to heaven it's because you made up your mind that you're going to heaven and i've made up my mind i want those doors open wide that when i step into my eternal reward um but brother lopez what if i have made so many mistakes on this journey that i'm not sure i can do what peter has taught us to do i don't know if the path of perfection is for me because i've made so many mistakes i've made bad decisions i've made carnal decisions i've been weak in faith at times or i've been uncommitted or i i appease this flesh when i shouldn't have what about me because i really don't feel like the path of perfection really is for me anymore in luke 22 31 and the lord said simon simon indeed satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat it is the plan of your adversary to rob you of your faith by destroying your connection with god see the devil wants you to live in condemnation he knows he can't drag you out of the church so he tries to convince you for you to walk out of the church on your own how does he do that he tries to damage your faith to the point that you are the one that breaks your connection with god god won't break it with you but you can break it with him i'm not good enough i'm not worthy enough i've made too many mistakes i have failed god too many times all this spiritual growth that we're talking about that's well and good for others but but not for me i have failed god too much and that's right where the adversary wants your thoughts to be because you are one step away from creating a a severance with you and your lord the moment you start thinking your god has given up on you and god has sent me tonight if you won't give up on god he's not about to give up on you let me say it again if you won't give up on god i promise you he's not about to give up on you verse 32 jesus looked at simon and said i'm not worthy i'm not worried you've got some flesh you've got some weaknesses you've got some emotions you've got some things that you are definitely not a finished product peter you've got some things that that the devil's going to try to exploit but i have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and this is what i love look at the faith that jesus had in peter he didn't say if you return he said i have so much confidence in you i know you're about to deny me i know you're about to turn your back on me i know you're about to run away in fear i know you're about to curse and act like you don't even know me i know all that's about to happen but i also know what's on the other side of that failure i know what's on the other side of that mistake and he didn't say if you return to me he said when jesus had so much confidence in peter he knew he was going to get up out of his pit of condemnation he was going to get up from that mistake he was going to get up from that failure and he was going to try to somehow be reunited and he said when you have returned to me strengthen your brethren and god has sent me tonight at the close of this lesson you may have felt like a failure one time too many but jesus is not looking at you and saying if he's saying when when you get back on track when you get back in the race when you get back on course when you get your act back together don't worry the call of god is still on your life the hand of god the favor of god the blessing of god will still be upon you when you get up and so god has sent me to encourage someone the path of perfection is for you and when when you decide to add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge into knowledge self-control and the self-control perseverance into perseverance godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness it's a brotherly kindness that agape love when you decide to do these things just wait and see what god will do in your life just wait and see the fruitfulness the anointing the blessing and that's just on this side of things friend there's no telling what's laid up for you up there but on this side of things there are promises and blessings and when you have returned to me so if you feel like a failure tonight you need to take that voice of condemnation and cast it aside and say wait a second god has a plan for me and he hasn't given up on me and i'm not about to give up on him but me and jesus for the rest of my days i'm going to live a life that honors him and that grows in him would you stand with me tonight the path to perfection if we could have just maybe a keyboardist that might be a good place to start what we read two weeks ago when we began this journey was that you and i have everything we need to live for god verse 3 says as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness friend that doesn't apply to some of us that applies to all of us god has given you everything you need to live for him but the question tonight is will we have the right response to what god has done for us romans 12 1 says it like this i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto god and then he said this which is your reasonable it's reasonable it just makes sense to give everything to a god who's given everything to you it just makes sense it's reasonable to love a god fully and completely when you think about how fully and completely he loves you you know why the bible says he's a jealous god because that's his attitude towards you he will love you fully and completely and all he asks is that you in return love him fully and completely he's given us everything we need there is a beautiful path to perfection for the people of god there is a journey of spiritual growth where our lives are guaranteed to be fruitful and productive for him that on the other side the doors of heaven will open wide to welcome his children home but it all comes down he's done what he could do it all comes down to your response and my response will i get on this path to perfection will i walk with him the way that he's called me to walk with him will i grow and grow and keep growing in him would you raise your hands tonight in this holy atmosphere lord we love you [Music] lord we love you lord we love you we receive your word tonight we don't fight your word we embrace your word and the call of god that is going forth in this sanctuary the summoning that's in the realm of the spirit god it's in the very atmosphere of summoning to be everything that you've called us to be i pray your people will respond with that which is right and that which is reasonable with your hands raised would you now just add your voice to the atmosphere [Music] [Music] i jesus [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] we often say it and it's uh becomes a rhetorical refrain where the speaker will say it and the audience will respond we'll say the lord is good all the time something along those lines or an amen but i want to tell you tonight not to elicit any type of a verbal response but to elicit a heart response the lord is good think about how merciful how gracious he's not the god of a second chance he's the god of a hundred chance he's the god of a thousand how many times have i had to come to an altar and get it right all over again there is a summoning in this atmosphere would you respond to god tonight would you respond with your life would you lay your body down as a living sacrifice just say god i'm yours i will give all diligence and then i'll give a little bit more and i'll be even more diligent i will make my call and my election sure this altar is open tonight and obviously be safe and be wise but this is not an altar to come and pray for anyone else this is an altar for you yourself perhaps you'd rather turn and kneel where you're at then make an altar right where you're at but please no one go home tonight without visiting the altar in some way without renewing a commitment in some way would you come and pray tonight i want to live [Music] way he wants me to live give till things no more to give [Music] but i could never never [Music] the way he wants me to live i want to give [Music] till there's no more to give i want to [Music] till there's just no more love but i could never ever i want to live the way he wants me to live [Music] this no more to give i want to [Music] but i could never [Music] lord [Music] wants me to live [Music] give till this [Music] i want to live the way he wants me to live i want to give [Music] till there's no more [Music] i want to love love till there's just no love but i could never [Music] so [Music] i want to love love till there's just no more love but i could never ever [Music] i will give if you are i will give you all if all [Music] of is i will not withhold and if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember [Music] and be willing to stay [Music] i will give you all i will give you all [Music] and if my sacrifice less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say [Music] i will give you all i will give you up if all is [Music] and if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best [Music] and be willing to say [Music] [Music] i [Music] my sacrifice is [Music] [Music] and be willing to say [Music] you

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Length: 95min 51sec (5751 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 01 2021