[Darris McNeely] The apostle Paul uses three phrases when he describes the fruit of the spirit that we know as love in his epistles, and that's the title that I chose for my message here this afternoon. The first, the greatest, and the more excellent, none of which are unfamiliar terms to us when it comes to how Paul has described love. A very important, a very large topic from the scriptures.

Love is the first of the first fruits that he lists in the Book of Galatians Chapter 5. Love, joy, peace. You know how they flow from there. But it's the first, I think there may be a reason for that. It seems that when you have love in place, that then, that's the foundation for the other fruits of the spirit that flow from that, perhaps is one way to approach it. The fruit of love and the quality of love, he says it's the greatest of the gifts at the end of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 there, and he says that it's the greatest of these is love between faith and hope. Not that faith and hope are unimportant, but it makes you wonder that because we see the love of God, that it ignites our faith and hope and is a critical part of that whole matter there. But then when he says that of the gifts of the spirit, that I'll show you a more excellent way, it could be that that frames our identity in God who is love.

And so, the first, the greatest, the more excellent is something I'd like to talk about here this afternoon and move into it in a little different way than we might normally have thought about to get to the conclusion that I think is very important for us here in the Church of God at this this this particular moment in the purpose and plan of God.

In Revelation Chapter 2. In the first of the letters to the Churches in Asia Minor, to the Church at Ephesus, Jesus has a very interesting commendation to make to them. He tells them... And we're not going to turn there. I'll just explain it to you, again, most of us are familiar with it, but for those of you that want to go ahead and turn to it, but when Christ addresses the Church at Ephesus, He commends them because they have endured, they have tested those who were calling themselves apostles and are not, and found them wanting. And He said, “You have not grown weary.” In other words, you see a Church there that has been holding firm and fast the congregation, they're in the city of Ephesus that is holding very firm to the calling that they have and to the responsibilities they're given. But He says, “I have this one thing against you.” He says, “You have left your first love.” And He tells them to repent and do the first works, “or I'll come and I'll remove your candlestick from its place.”

So, it's the only problem that they've lost what He calls this first love and He said, “Repent, change. Do your first works.” They've been very good. They've held on to truth. They've even tested people who rose up in their midst and wanted to lead people away, claiming an office in a position in the Church that was not theirs to claim, “I am an apostle.” And this is the story there. There's a vision and a picture of the Church at Ephesus. That congregation, when you look at the story of the New Testament, that is really very interesting and one that I think has some very interesting parallels for us to consider as it applies to us.

The Church in the city of Ephesus had been started by the ministry of the Apostle Paul whom we all know, a very important figure in the New Testament situation. And for three years, the Apostle Paul worked very diligently in that city. And from his efforts and labors, many disciples went out and created other congregations there in Asia Minor, the other six that we read about in Revelation 2 and 3 plus others that are mentioned in other locations in scriptures such as Colossae and Hierapolis and probably others that are not even mentioned at all.

In other words, it was a very fruitful period of three years where a lot was accomplished in the ministry of the Apostle Paul based out of the city of Ephesus. We have two whole chapters almost in the Book of Acts that talks about that, but then the Apostle Paul died. He was martyred a few years later and people rose up thinking that they could take his mantle and be an apostle like he was. And Christ later says, “You tested them, you found they really were not.” So, Paul had warned them that false teachers would come in and they had that problem. So, they stood firm and they stood fast, and the years went on, and there they were in the mid-'90s. A.D. And Jesus was commending them. But saying, “You've lost something. You've not been weary, but things have in a sense caused you to leave a first love. Repent and do the first works there.”

What were those first works? Well, it's very easy to understand. You go back to Acts Chapter 19 and you read where Paul came to Ephesus and worked for three years and what he did. And you can understand what I think they left being a first love that they needed to get back to first works that they needed to return to. It's very simple to understand there in the Book of Acts when you look at the story of how that Church ignited in faith and in love and in a dynamism that spread the seed of the gospel throughout the region of Asia Minor, leading to the creation of other congregations in a very strong, not centralized, but a center of evangelism and faith out of the city of Ephesus during that time. And that was all done as a result of people turning from idolatry.

And in Acts 19 is the story of the riot that took place because Paul's preaching turned enough people from idolatry that it got into the back pocket, the pocketbook of the silversmiths of the city. It's one of the great stories of Acts, and there's nothing as we know, that will get people's attention faster and with more vehemence than to get into their pocketbook, raise the taxes, raise the prices, then we got something to talk about, right? Well, Paul cut into the bottom line of the silversmiths because people were turning from idolatry. They weren't going to the temple of Artemis and they weren't buying silver idols and all of the economy that had built up around that, and it created a riot that had Paul gone into the theatre would have cost him his life. He didn't, and he lived to talk about it. But when you think about the power of the word that was preached at that point in time by Paul and those that he trained and sent out, there was a dynamism that was moving and developing there at that time. That is unique and it's an important study all to itself as to what was happening there in the city of Ephesus during that period of the ministry of Paul. But that was where people were turning from idolatry.

One of the stories is they brought their books of black magic and witchcraft out, and they burned them because they wanted no more work and attachment to the black arts and black magic and idolatry and everything that went with it. They burned that and they turned, and the Word of God, it says, grew mightily in Ephesus. And for one brief shining moment to borrow a 20th-century term, the light of the gospel pierced the darkness of paganism and idolatry in Asia Minor in the city of Ephesus. And we read about it right there, and members were created. Disciples came into the Church, and this is the people, this is the congregation that Christ is addressing. And He's saying, “You've stood firm. You've held on. You've kept together in spite of all the efforts to divide, conquer and just shatter the truth and the gospel, but you've left your first love. Go back to it. Go back to what it was that caused you to turn to idolatry and embrace God.”

They won the battle for truth, but they were in danger of losing the battle for love. That's an important key out of that story and what Christ is saying to the Church at Ephesus. We know that Jesus answered the question from the Jews about what is the greatest commandment. And He said, “The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all of your soul, your heart, and your mind.” He said that is the first and the great commandment, to love God. And we know that that's defined by the first four of the commandments, three of which identify turning from idols, vain, empty things. The fourth one being to keep the Sabbath, which in itself is tied into the other three very closely because as we understand what it takes to obey God and to worship Him on the Sabbath and to keep it holy and to do that continually as a way of life. We are here living testimony, a living witness to that. But that is the first commandment to love God with your heart, your soul, and your mind.

Brethren at this moment where we are in the purpose and the plan of God is very critical. It's very important for us to understand something about what Jesus was telling the congregation at Ephesus to get back to and to return to a love, a deep love for God. A love for God that I think is a critical need for all of us to consider and to look at as we think about this matter of love. The first, the greatest, and the more excellent way.

I'd like for you to turn over to the book of Ephesians, and I'm going to spend a few minutes here in the book of Ephesians looking at a prayer that begins in Chapter 3 and verse 14. Ephesians 3:14. A prayer that comes at a point where Paul seems to close out a major section of theology and purpose and teaching as he writes this letter to the Church at Ephesus. Keep that in mind. The Ephesian letters written to the members of that congregation, that Christ, a few years after this addressed, the very congregation Paul had started and had founded. And he writes this very important letter that has many unique features about it, but he comes down to a point where he kind of comes to a break, and he gives them a prayer. And it seems to be his prayer, but I think that it has a great deal of teaching for us and can help us to understand, I think what it was that Christ then later will tell the Church at Ephesus, they need to repent and get back to, but because it will help us to understand what Paul's commending them about what they did when they responded to the words of the gospel and when they were called.

So, let's look at it beginning in Chapter 3 and verse 14, and let's look at this in the light of what Jesus later says, but also in the light of how Paul talks about this being the first, the greatest, and the more excellent way, this fruit of the spirit of love and come to an understanding of what it is.

Ephesians 3:14-15 Paul then says, “For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”

And so, in prayer, He bows His knees and we can take what teaching is important from that very statement right there. But what he is saying is I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, and we know and we understand the nature of God, that God and Christ are two and yet one in terms of family and purpose but they represent the family of God. The whole family in heaven and earth is named after the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. These two beings who inhabit eternity in that unique position that they were in at the time. Paul writes this as a result of Christ's life, death, and His resurrection to the right hand of the Father and His role as intercessor and mediator for us.

This is then the purpose and the plan that Paul has already very clearly laid out in the previous verses to explain what God is doing. He's building a family and Christ is the first of the first fruits, and he says, “I bow my knees to them. The whole family in heaven and earth is named in that.” This helps us to begin to understand the details of that first and greatest of the commandments that Jesus Himself talked about, and what was at the heart of the gospel that Paul preached to the people in Ephesus as he taught there because he was showing them the identity of the true God. They were worshipping pagan gods and goddesses. And he comes in with this message of the true God, and he says, “Artemis is no longer a god, never was. They're empty beings. They're hollow. They're nothing. They're gods that are not. They're things that are not.” And he pounded that into them, and he explained to them the very meaning and message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, as he told them about the Father, and what the Father's purpose was through Christ. Did you read about it in Chapter 1? To bring all things ultimately together in Christ, and He is working in his body and He's the head of that body and He brings all of that out.

And this is what they began to see and this is what they turned to. This is what they began to love. This is the message. This is the truth that they began to buy into and all that came with it in terms of the Word of God, the way of life, the law of God. But it was on this matter of the identity of God, that He was God and He was Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They learned that God is a family and they learned the name of that family. They learned about the character of that family. Its purpose and what God was doing and the whole meaning of the family of God. And they began to love that with a passionate heart. They went far beyond anything that they had ever understood and known about the pagan world and the pagan god. The little-known thing about the pagan world of the 1st century where Paul was working in the Church and the other apostles was paganism, had worn itself out. It had been shown to be empty and futile for so many gentiles, from so many people, which is why they found believers and God-fearers in the Jewish synagogues when they came to those various cities. And Paul preached to them.

Among many of them, they became the ones who became a part of the Church of God along with other Jews and many other gentiles ultimately, but they began to see the love of God, the pagan gods didn't love them, but they began to realize that God did, and they saw that love and they turned to it and they embraced it with passion and with all of their heart as they learned the identity of who this God was and what He had done in sending His son. As Paul explained it all, and as we can see from this letter in the Ephesian letter plus all the other writings of Paul, the details that we obtained from what he revealed to his audience in that day, on top of all the gospel accounts and the Old Testament and the other writings, all of that revealing the way of God. Now, let's go on to verse 16.

Ephesians 3:16 He said that “He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.”

Another phrase, very deep in meaning. But He said that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, you know, and other parables. Jesus talked about going and finding a pearl of great price as He explained the details and the mechanics of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven, like a man who found a pearl of great price and a treasure. And he went and sold all that he had to buy that field, to buy that pearl of great price, being the whole package, the whole knowledge of truth and God. This is how this is explained, and Paul says, “These are the riches that God has granted you and pray and ask that there is more understanding of those riches and what they mean that we might be strengthened with might.” And here he begins to talk about the strength and the might and the power ultimately, as he will of the relationship with God, but of the ultimately the love of God. As we will see as he brings this out here, people who sold all of that. But as that happens that strength begins to build. And He says that we are strengthened according to His riches, through His Spirit in the inner man. The inner person.

It is something that begins deep within our mind, our psyche, our understanding, and ultimately our heart. But it's the inner person strengthened with that. That's the identity that Paul is beginning to build here as we begin to understand exactly what he is talking about. We see this idea of the inner man, which then speaks to the understanding of what is man. Who and what is man? You've heard that phrase before. You've heard the phrase who and what is God? Well, this is really, you know, Paul didn't, I don't think he used those words. We use them today. We've heard them many times. Who and what is God? Who and what is man? When we hear those, I think we need to stop and think exactly what is that telling us. What does it mean?

Because it's really speaking to this concept of the love of God that we have that love toward God by turning from anything that can divide us from God, divide us from our attention with God. We are able to put aside anything from the physical realm that can come between us and God in a relationship with Him, whether it would be money, status, celebrity, whatever physical aspect of this culture. We are able to turn from it, just as an Ephesian person was a member in the Church at Ephesus, was convicted to do the same thing and no longer go down to the temple at Artemis. But then beyond that, go deeper into how they were to then begin to live and to walk before God no longer walking according to the course of the power of the prince of the power of the air, but according to a new way of humility and love and working upon the inner man and through the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit through a relationship with God.

Because that was as they began to understand their nature. And so, they began to understand who and what was the true God that He had created man in His image, and that creation involves becoming a son of God and that frames and shapes the identity then and now. Our ultimate identity, the inner person that we are seeking to develop is being done by the divine nature of God. That's the why. We are to take on and be partakers of the divine nature, Peter would later write. And that is to perform changes and miracles in the inner person. The way we think about God, toward God, and the way we think about each other and live toward each other.

Who and what is God? He's a family, and it's the first family of heaven and earth. And man is created in His image to take on the divine nature to become a part of that family of God, to be brought into that at that level to take on the very nature of God through the Holy Spirit we're created in that image, and this is what Paul is reminding them of. This is what they turned toward when they turned from idolatry. This, brethren, is the love that they first entered into in the city of Ephesus when they heard the Gospel and it changed their life. It changed everything. They forsook all to follow Christ when they came to that knowledge and that understanding because it gave them now a new identity. And that's, I think, a very important key to understanding what it is that Jesus later will tell the members to go back to, to repent, and do the first works. Go back to the way you felt about what knowledge of your purpose in life and you learned about the Word of God.

You learned about the law of God. They turned from their pagan festivals and they began to keep the holy days of God and they turned to keep the Sabbath and they turned to love their fellow man and no longer to walk in an adulterous way or a lying, deceitful way. They turn from gods who lied and tricked and deceived them and who themselves were adulterous and immoral. And they turned to a new way represented by the God that they became acquainted with through the preaching of the gospel whom they loved and it changed their life. And it began to form within them a new identity that changed everything they did and said in the culture of Ephesus in the 1st century. Just as it does for you and I today, they took on that identity and they began to realize who they really were.

Who and what is... When we say who and what is man, we are at the very tip of the iceberg of a larger discussion about identity when it comes to understanding how this world works, how and why we are what we are to become, and what is happening to us when we look at the world around us today. At the heart of so much of what is around us in this world today with the various identity battles you think, stop and think about all the different identity battles that are taking place today. We're in the midst of a sexual revolution that has transcended everything that I first began to learn about such a revolution more than 50 years ago when that term began to be used back in the 1960s. Then it had dealt with promiscuity, free sex. The pill had come in to just revolutionize things. But we have moved way beyond that today into a trans-LGBTQ type of sexual revolution that [inaudible 00:26:35] human identity. And that is what we have to understand. It is all about who and what is man. And humanity has been redefined into something that is no longer created in the image of God. There's no gender. It could be changed. And were being worked in that direction. Many in the world are and it's come to our door. It will probably come deeper into our fellowship as this world continues along that way. And I do think we need to understand exactly what is at the heart of it. It strikes at the heart of human nature and human identity.

We do have a belief and an understanding in the Church of God about what man is, and we understand that he's created in the image of God and we are created to, ultimately through calling, a calling and repentance and faith and receiving of the Holy Spirit. When God calls, we can begin to take on the very nature of God to be changed in the inner man, which is what Paul is talking about here. And that's at the heart of it. You know, years ago, decades ago, how far back do you want to go? Man untethered himself from God. Some will put that back, let's say, at the industrial revolution and scientific and technological advances that began to move in the late 1700s, 1800s, 1900s, as man began to adapt and harness the elements and much of his world, causing him to turn from a dependence on God and the seasons and things that would turn us to God. And religion and evolution all have untethered us from God, and we have come a long way for that. But I think what we are seeing today is that the end game is being played out that began when we denied God or said God is dead.

The end game of that is to deny human identity. Human identity, that's the end game. And that's what we are seeing the leading edge of, maybe more than just the leading edge right now as it is coming into the world and beginning to dominate conversations. And it strikes at the very truths that God turns us from, just as Paul indicates here, where we are to be strengthened in the inner man through a relationship with God, through that love of God. Look at what he goes on to say in verse 17 here.

Ephesians 3:17 He says that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love. That Christ might dwell in your hearts in faith.”

That's the essence of our calling. That is the essence of why we would be baptized and desire to receive God's spirit. That Christ would dwell in our hearts because that's what changes the inner man. That's what creates this new spiritual identity. That shows us the love of God and turns us in turn to love God with all of our heart and with all of our soul and with all of our being because we know that we are tethered to a spiritual father relationship with a father with Christ as our elder brother and as His son. And that really means something. And that drives our lives every day. That's what we check every day. That's what we remind ourselves of every day before we go out the door. That we have a relationship with God and Christ dwells in us.

And so, what we face and what we deal with as we go through our day should help. We should meet it because Christ dwells in our heart. We have that strength to deal with it in a godly way. We have that strength to resist temptations or sin or other pulls that are going to take us away. We can combat it. We're strengthened in the inner man because that is being written on our heart. Brethren, the New Covenant is all about the heart. We know that when we read that in Hebrews 10. This New Covenant is about God's light writing His law upon our heart. It's a covenant of a heart. But it's a different heart because God's Spirit is working upon us, creating an identity that tethers us to Him. And it is when we really understand that. Learn it, never forget it. Go out of the house each day with it guiding our mind and our lives, guiding every interaction and relationship that we have that we begin then to take on the love of God. And it really then does begin to impact our view of Him and the way we deal with one another, because we see each other created in the image of God. And we see that potential and we seek to reach their hearts. We seek to touch other people's hearts. We seek to understand the heart of people. It's all about relationships.

You know, one of the biggest lessons I've learned in my life all the years is just that it's about relationships. When I look back over the people that I've known and worked with and taught and pastored and the kids that I had come through camp, even the kids that have come through ABC and many of you are out here today that I've had the privilege to teach you part of the Bible. As you've come to ABC and to learn. And I look back at so many whose paths have crossed mine and I've crossed theirs in all the different aspects of my work for the Church. I've learned a lot of lessons. But as I was thinking about it here with this message and what it is that we are to develop toward God, I came to realize that the relationships that I've won. By that, I mean that where there's been a connection with people. Sometimes you don't always connect with people, right? You don't win every relationship. Sometimes you lose. And sparks fly and friction happens and we have discord. We all know that. And I've had my share. But I know that the ones that I've won, in other words, where there's been a success, a friendship, something developed that you are able to go back to and pick up on when you meet at the feast or you talk or whatever. The relationships I've won came when I won the heart. They came when I won the heart. I lost them when I did not understand and gain the heart. How about you? Think about your relationships.

The ones I won, I won because I took the time to listen. To seek to understand what made them tick. And I was able to look beyond the surface. What kept me from always doing it, my nature. There wasn't enough of the faith of Christ dwelling in me to make that happen at that time. And I wish I could get it back. And at times I recognize that it works both ways. I was doing the best I could. Maybe they weren't doing the best they could, and there's so much that goes to work in that. But I ultimately have to own what is mine and you have to own what is yours.

A few weeks ago, we had the camp directors come through their annual meetings planning out the next year, and one of the directors was staying with me and I got a little bit of an insight into their deliberations as they were planning out the program for next year. I think just like every other camp director planning session that's been held from the beginning of our program, what took a lot of time was dealing with issues that impact on relationships. But the issues come down to policies. Don't do this. Can't wear this. Can't look like this are part of our camp program, right? And when I heard that those were being discussed, I said to one of the camp directors, “Oh, yeah, well, we were talking about that 25 years ago. You're still talking about that?” Well, they should talk about that. Because those policies are important and I know why they're there. I helped to put a number of them into the little box that you have to look at kids and parents when you fill out your camp application every year. And I see that they're still there. But I will tell you they are important and they need to be there.

But I will also tell you that every camp director, every minister, every staff member that's working with students, campers, or our youth, and every youth that's coming into our program or coming into our ABC program or any other part of our educational programs need to also understand why they're there. But most importantly, both parties, campers, parents, staff, ministry, teachers. Everyone needs to be working toward understanding the heart. Each other's heart. And the why. Why is it there? And why is it important? And that's pretty deep and that takes time. And we have to kind of separate the emotion. But we need to understand the why. But we need to get to the heart. We need to win hearts. I lost a lot of hearts. I won some. I cherish the ones that I've won. I would love to go back and try to fix some of the others. And time perhaps that might happen. But that's what this prayer is talking about. These are the first works that we need to get back to. It is the heart of God. That He showed toward us and calling us. And that we then returned as we honored Him, loved Him, obeyed, and learned to love God.

As we go on here. Look at what he says “That you may be rooted and grounded in love.” This is probably the heart of the prayer right here. Rooted and grounded in love. Rooted gives you the impression of something that goes deep into the earth, doesn't it? A tree... Wind started blowing this morning at my home, and I thought, “Oh, boy, what's blowing up that sky got really dark.” And the trees started going back and forth. And I have a Bradford pear tree in my front yard and I started seeing it sway back and forth. But I know it's not going to fall over unless maybe a tornado just rips through because its roots are pretty deep. And that root system brings up the nutrients and the essence of life and water and nutrients that it needs to survive.

When our love is rooted deep, the life essence of God is going to be transmitted to us because it is rooted and grounded in love. Look at what it says here, “Rooted and grounded in love.” In verse 17. That's the essence of life. A mother's love. A father's love. The marital love between a man and a woman. When we create the environment where love can root and be grounded with a solid foundation, then big things can happen. That's what we seek to do with our zone program and our camp program. That's what we seek to do with every other program that we have in the Church to draw and knit us together in the body of Christ. And to show that respect and that love. But when that environment is worked on, where love can root and be grounded, big things can happen. Then we will see what Jesus said would be the sign of His disciples that you will love one another. We'll be rooted in that very foundation and grounded in that foundation that the apostles and the prophets formed the part of.

Earlier in Chapter 2 and verse 20, Paul has talked about the apostles and the prophets being the foundation of the Church and Christ being the chief cornerstone. Those apostles like Paul and the others, like the prophets, they saw what God was. They became and they understood who they were and they loved that. And they took that and they stood for that truth, for that gospel, for that message of God, that prophetic warning, whatever it might have been at any time as God was working. And they witnessed for God out of a deep passion for the relationship with God. We see that whether it's Isaiah or whether it's Paul or John. Or whether it would have been the newest member in the city of Ephesus or any of us here today. When we have that passion for God, then that is going to develop that very important environment in our lives. And so, they witness for God out of a deep passion for that relationship.

Ephesians 3:18-19 He says, “That we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, and the length, and the depth, and the height. To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

This is reminiscent of Romans Chapter 8 where Paul says that there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God. It's the same thought and the same idea here that comes out. And this is the heart of the prayer that is here, that we are to be grounded and rooted in to understand the fullness, the depth, the all-encompassing majesty of God's purpose and love for us. And when that happens big things can develop and God can do important things. He ends this prayer in verse 20.

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now, to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.” God's Spirit is a power and the love that that spirit produces and creates within us. That is a power too. That is a part of that power. And it is extremely important according to that power that works in us, “to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

And so, the prayer ends, the power of love flowing from a passion for God and a passion for that life that God reveals. That's the first love that the Ephesians had. That's very clearly demonstrated from what we see in Acts 19. And those are the first works that Christ is telling the congregation to get back to. And to do that. They won the battle for truth. But they were in danger of losing out on love. And He tells him to get back and fine-tune that relationship and to develop a passionate relationship with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ because that is what shaped their lives.

And so, what's the message for us today? What do we take away? Well, brethren, we have won the battle for truth. It's an ongoing guarding and defending in one sense. But we understand the truth of God. We have held fast and we have held firm to that and we proclaim that we understand the truth of God, however, you want to define it. It's been established. It is solid. But we now face a godless culture of creeping evil that's bent on denying the very nature of mankind. And it's working and it's working very strongly as we battle and endure and ultimately win against that force and wherever it peeks into our midst and into our family. And that's why that policy, that's why that rule is so important.

That's why each one of us need to stand back and consider why and seek to understand so that we don't let any of it come into our midst and get a foothold. It's there. We are going to endure. We are going to win against that. But to do so, we will have to be deeply rooted and grounded in the first and the great commandment, and that is a love for God. And what He is doing, who He is, what He is, and who we are and what we are, what we can become. As God strengthens the inner person, the inner man through faith in Jesus Christ, love becomes a fruit of the spirit. Brethren, when we see God so clearly. We will sell all and follow Him.

Love becomes a fruit of the spirit when we identify with the life of the one who personifies truth and who showed it in His own earthly life, Jesus Christ. Love becomes a fruit when the divine nature becomes our identity. When the development of the inner man, the one created in Christ, begins to emerge with God's law and love written on our hearts. So, let's be about gaining and returning, if necessary, to that first love which is not only the first but the greatest and the more excellent way.

[Rudy Rangel] Today I'd like to go through a section of Scripture, that's going to be the framework for the message. I read this during the Feast, and it really helped with my focus. There's so much to unpack in the 12 verses that we're going to go through. I won't get through every aspect of it, but we'll unpack what we can here. I didn't realize until the Feast, how distracted I have been this year by everything going on in the world. 2020 has really stolen some of my focus. And perhaps you feel the same way. I want to refocus, and the Feast of Tabernacles is a welcome slap in the face for spiritual awakening. And I was grateful for it this year.

This year, I have been wrapped up just like everybody else with what's going on with the virus. I've been wrapped up and seeing what's happening now with this crazy presidential election. I've been wrapped up with seeing, oh, who agrees with me on Facebook about masks and the situations going on with that? Even while working on this very message, I was wrapped up in that Supreme Court judicial nomination. It was just great TV, really, when I was wrapped up in it. And all of this clutter throughout the year, I can say, has gotten me a little off track. It's got me a little off track focus-wise.

So let's go to Hebrews today. Here's where I'm starting. For us to get refocused, as we face now the coming winter, a few months without a high holy day, Sabbaths we have obviously, coming up each week, but let's refocus. Let's start in Hebrews. And Hebrews at the end of chapter 4 and 5, the author begins talking about the qualifications of the high priest. We see the author bringing the point that Jesus Christ is far superior to any of the human high priests that there were serving, since the time of the Levitical priesthood. Jesus Christ is of the order of Melchizedek, the priest's king that we read about in Genesis 14.

In one of our articles online, we state very clearly that this Melchizedek could have only been the eternal preexistent Word who later became Jesus Christ, who is our High Priest and King. And at the end of chapter 5, the author takes the recipient of this letter to task on their maturity. See, he's laying the groundwork of the importance of Jesus. In verse 9 of chapter 5, he uses the words like, "He's been perfected. He's the author of eternal salvation." And he's telling them this before He says, the bomb drop of, “you have become dull of hearing,” in verse 11. When I read this in the New Living Translation, it says quite boldly, in verse 11 of chapter 5, "There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don't seem to listen."

It's important to understand that the writer here is writing to those who came out of sort of the Old Testament way of worship. Most likely these were Jewish converts. Some of them, probably even ex-priests. And what they were doing, what they began to do, was to look back, when things were easy, comfortable. And He's taking them to task. I don't want to look back. We shouldn't look back as Christians. We need to look to Jesus and see what He's doing in our lives today. When He said He was going to the Father, and He works, and His Father works, we have to believe that. We have to believe that He is working. And we have confidence as we move closer to the Kingdom of God that He is working intimately with us through His Spirit.

With everything going on in the world, I don't want to look back. I don't want to look back. Don't look to our society or our government to fix things in this world. Things weren't that great back then either. We are a body of people solely looking forward, looking forward to that Kingdom of peace that's coming, that Kingdom to come. And you and I, we're ambassadors for that. We are ambassadors, representatives of that coming Kingdom of peace. This year of 2020 did not start off hot, and it went down from there. My daughter was telling me that she saw a meme this week that said, "2021, round 2." Let's hope not. I wouldn't say that I was dull of hearing because of lack of interest or weariness but because of the distractions we all had to deal with. The distractions are what can easily take us off track, focus-wise.

Okay. So here we are. Hebrews 6, this is where we'll begin. "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection," or another word here that's translated is maturity, which is the title of the message today, "On to Maturity." "Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and the eternal judgment." Verse 3, "And this we will do if God permits." Remember, the author here is writing to a group of people who are slipping. And so he says, "Let us go on." And he's not saying that in terms of, well, let's leave this behind. What he's saying is, these are the foundational principles. These things that are listed here, repentance, that's a basic doctrine. That is something we all know that is the foundation of our relationship with God.

If we don't repent, there is no relationship. There isn't a relationship. The understanding of faith, you know, repentance is turning away from sin and faith is that turning towards God, and understanding that I'm moving away from darkness and I'm moving towards the light, towards God. The understanding of baptisms and of the laying on of hands. The laying on of hands is a very special thing that we look to for ceremonies in the Church, for ordinations, for the setting apart of people, whether it be a wedding, or for an ordination, or for even blessings. We'll have the blessing of little children, at some point. He's saying, "These are foundational things, the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment." There is a foundation that you and I, we adhere to. We don't waver from the fundamentals.

Later in the chapter, it mentions that the hope we have is an anchor to the soul. And having these fundamentals grounding us, it is hopeful, and it is an anchor. There's comfort in knowing that in the next couple of months, we're going to have another round of annual holidays. I look forward again to the Passover. Each year, we get to renew our knowledge and deepen our understanding of what God is doing in our lives. There's comfort in that. It's comforting. As this world gets crazier, and it will, we have a guide to life. And there is a foundation of belief that we adhere to and we don't waver from the things that are fundamental. That's what he's saying here. The meaning is not… We're not going to do these things anymore but it's these things are so much a part of our life that let's move on from that. Let's not squabble over the things that we absolutely know to be the foundation of our belief. Let's move on so that we can become mature. Let's build on these principles.

When we build a house, we pour the foundation, and then we move on. We move on to building the rest of the house. We build on top of that. So what does this look like for us as a spiritual body? I had a discussion with some friends this Feast. We stayed here in Cincinnati. And I remember saying that, once you've been in the Church for a while, the doctrines of the Church, they're pretty straightforward. Keeping the Sabbath, I can do that. I can do that. Keeping the Feast days, I can do that. I can do that. There are some things though, that we are required to move on to maturity. And what that looks like is… In 2 Peter, we're going to read it again today. Let's go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1:5, "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love."

It's interesting. It sounds like a progression here, doesn't it? Add to the things that you have. Okay, you started off with faith, then you add virtue, in virtue, knowledge. You continue to grow in this area. And, you know, if you think back on the history of, you know, the Church, in general, where are we falling short in the maturity? It's interesting that love is the last thing there, love. All these things build up to love. You think, "Oh, love?" Where we fall short on maturity is really some of the hard stuff. And the hard stuff is dealing with people, dealing with people, with each other. That's the hard stuff. Thank you. Keeping the Feast and Sabbath days, it's on my calendar, I'm going to do it. But when Jesus says things like, "Pray for your enemy." That's easy to say, but I have strong feelings towards this person. I have hurts. That's the hard stuff. That's where our maturity should be heading towards. Difficulties with people, that's where we've fallen short.

Jesus said, "Go to your brother when you're offended." It's easy for me to tell my friend when they were offended, "Oh, you should just go talk to them," but to do and practice in real life, it's not easy. It's hard. That's the hard thing. Love… You know, we want knowledge. We want to have more understanding of what the Scriptures say and what God wants us to… Well, this is leading up to love. That's the hard stuff. Another thing that we're told to do that's easy to say, that you need to esteem others better than yourself. Moving on to maturity is more than just knowledge. It's a heart matter. It's a heart matter. The heart stuff is not some new teaching. It's actually putting into practice love. Thinking about going on to maturity, this is an area that we can all focus on. The relationship stuff is hard. Feelings and emotions make it difficult. As we're still on this spiritual rejuvenation from the Feast, let's commit ourselves to be more loving. Jesus said very clearly, and we'd say it all the time, "By this, you will know that you're My disciples, if you have love one for another." We need to do that. Let's do that. Let's go on to maturity.

I don't always do this. And so, I think this is a good place where we can start. The last section here in Hebrews of that first three verses, it says, "If the Lord wills." This is sort of similar, as we read in James 4:15, where he says don't boast about what your plans are or where you're going to go. You know, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do that.” So if God allows us another year, these are the things that we're going to make as our foundation. So back in Hebrews, you can actually just put your marker there because we're going to go back there for the rest of this sermon. The first couple of verses here, verses 1 through 3 tells us that we have a solid foundation, a solid foundation of understanding. And from here on out, we're going to build on that. That's what we need to do. We need to build on what we know for stability.

Hebrews 6, we can go on to the next part, verse 4. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tested the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves, the Son of God, and put them to open shame." It's impossible to do that, it says. Now, let's understand. This is the unpardonable sin. This is what we're talking about here. What can we do that God can't forgive? Now going through this, here are other reference Scriptures for the unpardonable sin, Hebrews 10:26, Matthew 12:31. What I realize going through this, if you're worried that you've committed the unpardonable sin, then you haven't done it because it's a heart issue. It's a heart issue. This unpardonable sin, the thing that you do that God can't forgive, it's up to you actually. What it is… what's explained here is a mindset, a mindset that says, for someone who has been baptized, who says they've been partaker of the Holy Spirit, they've been baptized, then they start down a path of sin.

But that sin is better in their mind than the promises that God gives. And rather than submitting to God and turning their life back to God, and stopping, they say, "No, I'm content with this. This is where I want to be. I want to continue on in this sin. And that's just where I want to be." It's this idea of the mindset of, I'm not going to repent because this is what I want instead. That's what it's talking about here. It's turning your back on the sacrifice that Jesus made for you. Now, at the end, while he's talking about this, we do read about a falling away, “the love of many who were wax cold.” We read about this falling away. And there's a danger to that falling away. So, in the context of us today, trying to get refocused back to God, back from all the craziness we see in the world, what should I be asking myself? If I'm not committing this unpardonable sin, how should I think about this?

Let's go to Revelation 2, and these are the letters to the churches that we read about. Revelation 2:1, we read this. These are the things that we should be asking ourselves. "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your a labor of patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you've tested those who say that they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…’"

Those in Ephesus had some really good things going actually. They hated evil. They found false teachers and called them out on it. And they had perseverance. That all sounds pretty zealous. But what they lacked was a love for this way of life. And that's what we have to ask ourselves.

I have to ask myself, "Do I just hate evil or do I love what God has called me to do? Do I love that God wants me to be a representative of Him? Do I love His feast days? Do I love His Sabbath day? Do I love the fact that I have been called into a body of believers and we're to grow together? Do I love those things?"

Those in Ephesus, they kind of got tired. And they didn't get tired of hating the bad but the good stuff, they needed to learn to love it again. They needed to get fired up. We are supposed to have a fire in us for this way of life. And when we don't have that, we are lacking. We're lacking. What do I love more than this way of life? What do I love? We have to ask ourselves these questions. Have I put anything ahead of loving God, loving this way of life, and loving my brothers and sisters? I think this is where our generation needs to focus because of all those distractions, because of video games, because of what's on the news, because of Twitter, because of Tom Clancy novels.

Actually, I didn't know about that Mr. Phelps. That's interesting. Thanks for sharing. What are we putting ahead of God? What do I love more? Am I just willing to call out evil as I see it or am I willing to say, "I love this way of life”? All of our distractions can lead to a loss of love. It can lead to like a weariness, like, "Oh, yeah, it's a Sabbath, I'm ready to go." But do we love it? Have we put our time, and energy, and focus somewhere else?

So these verses in Hebrews, if you want to start heading back to Hebrews 6, remind us that we have made a serious commitment to God. A serious commitment to God. And that He talks about the extreme consequences of falling away. It's good for us to remember that we can't grow weary of this way of life. We can't grow dull of hearing because it's serious. The commitment we made to God is serious. Hebrews 6:7, "For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessings from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned."

Now that we understand the serious of the commitment that we made to God, we should consider something else. Am I bearing fruit? Am I growing? Am I being a productive Christian? We read a parable that shows that not everything that is sown, bears fruit. So we have to ask ourselves, "What do I need to do to make sure that I am growing?" God is looking for those who are going to transform, who are going to become something else. That's what He's looking for. Not staying the same, not, like, "Oh, yeah, it's just been another year. I did not too bad. I stayed good." That's not what God is looking for. Are you drinking in the rain every day? Because staying stagnant or getting bogged down by the distractions of the world, it's not helpful. We need to take stock of the growth that we've made, see where we're at, and see where we've fallen short. Because no matter what, here it says, there is an outcome for our response, in terms of growth, either a curse or blessings.

Jesus said something very similar to this, as we read in Hebrews here… in John 15. John 15:1, Jesus says, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I'm the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; without Me, you can't do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them in the fire, and they are burned." This here, again, is beautiful imagery that we read about, you know, our relationship, what it should look like to Jesus. We have to be connected to the vine. A branch that's broken off and is laying in the yard isn't going to grow fruit. It's off by itself. It's not going to grow. We have to be connected to that vine. And for those who do bear fruit, it says pruning is still required.

That's why we go through trials. That's why we go through hardships. When I was a kid, my parents planted three trees in our backyard. Three trees and I remember it. I have very clear memory of us planting the last one. And my youngest brother had like a Little Tikes car. It was red and had handlebars, you know, the plastic Little Tikes vehicles. And he ran over the last tree that we planted, and he got in trouble. And you know what happened to those three trees? The two first trees grew at an average rate. That third tree that he ran over, the one that he stressed at a very young age, by the time we moved out of there, was as big as any tree in the neighborhood. It grew because it was under stress right from the very beginning. And that's what caused it to grow. None of the other trees grew like that. So when we go through the difficult times here, as it says, to bear fruit… Sometimes to bear fruit, we have to go through hard times. And it's hard for me to even admit, but the times that I've grown the most spiritually, have been during those difficult times. It's hard in the middle of it. But you look back and you say, "You know what? I'm different because of that. I'm a new person. God's working in me. And I can see that. I could see His hand in my life." The option to not bear fruit isn't a path that we should go down.

I was watching a rock documentary, recently. I'm not going to out myself and tell you what band it was. But rock and roll artists are usually pretty wild in their young years, live a pretty wild lifestyle. And this band was no different. And they were being… As they got older, they started to sing against some of the ways that they had lived their life. They were growing, right? And some of the rock journalists took them to task on this and said, you know, "Aren't you hypocrites because the things that you're talking about now, that's exactly what you used to do when you were in your 20s?" And they said, "I'd rather be a hypocrite than someone who doesn't grow." I'd rather be a hypocrite than someone who doesn't grow. Our life is a transformation. And if someone we come across 20 years later sees us and says, "Oh, you're kind of a hypocrite because you're speaking against a way of life that you used to live." No, no, we can't be locked into who I was 20 years ago. We're under a process. We're going through a journey. We're on a life of transformation. We're not hypocrites. We're growing. We've been tasked with that growth by God.

Let's go to Colossians 2, Colossians 2:6, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." We need to be rooted in Jesus. Again, that imagery of the branch and the vine, we need to be deeply rooted in Jesus Christ. We are a people who are supposed to be growing, firmly planted in Jesus for nourishment and for growth.

Okay. Let's go back to Hebrews now. Hebrews 6, as we continue on in this section. Hebrews 6:9, “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister." I like that they're saying, "I recognize that our tone has been a little bit stern, but we are confident we are confident." The tone has changed here. You know, clearly, they were correcting. They were being corrective here. The writer was being corrective. And the change of tone moves and he says, "Okay. I love you, my beloved." And the writer says, "I have assurance…" He assures them with confidence that he's going to urge them on. He knows that they have better things ahead of them. You can only take so much of the correction before you say, "You know what? I believe in you though. This is what's going on. But I believe in you."

I help Mr. Kubik occasionally with the podcasts. And about a year ago, he interviewed Katherine Rowland, who was our choir director. And she said something very profound. I wrote it down. I thought it was so encouraging. She said in this podcast about being the choir director. She said, "You can't look at your choir and wish that they were somebody else. You have to see these people who you have here, and you have to just believe in them." And man, that was so encouraging. I think for any person in leadership should have that mindset. I can't wish that I had a better baseball team or I wish I didn't have a better team at my plant at work. Look at that those people and believe in them. And that really changes your mindset, especially if you have a boss like that, who says, "You know what? I believe in you."

Here, the writer is being encouraging at this point. After working on the Feast video and thinking about all the things that are going on in our church, you know, I feel that way too. I feel like we have some awesome things. Despite what's going on in the world, we have some great things happening. It doesn't matter if we have different ideas about masks or what political thing is going on. It doesn't matter. That stuff doesn't matter. We're God's people. What binds us together is His Spirit and our hope of a coming Kingdom. That's what we're looking forward to. That's what brings us together each week. We can be adaptable. We can show love. We can be caring. We can yield ourselves to God. And God is not going to forget the good works that we do. That's encouraging. That is encouraging because sometimes those good works do take sacrifice. He's not going to forget.

This week, our daughter, Edie came to us and we didn't even ask her. She said, "Oh, I had to sit on the hall today." You know what I said? And I said, "Oh yeah, why did you have to sit in the hall?" "Oh, in our music class, they were playing Halloween songs, and I didn't want to listen to them." And so she said, "I don't celebrate Halloween. I'm not comfortable sitting here." So she had to go out in the hall by herself, 11 years old. Man, that was a proud moment for me. We didn't know that that was happening that day. She took it upon herself. And you know what? God is not going to forget that. That's encouraging. God is not going to forget the labor of love. When we stand up for Him, He's not going to forget.

So here, Hebrews 6:9-10, God knows you. He knows what you've done, what sacrifices you've made in your life. He's on your side, He's on your side. There's a corrective letter here that the writer of Hebrews is giving. And he's saying, "But I'm confident. I know you have your faults, and I'm not giving up." God feels that way too. He's confident. He's cheering for us to succeed. Jesus said, "I'll never leave you. I'm not going to leave you." Those are encouraging things to think about as we shift our focus here. Okay. Hebrews 6:11, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

It's not really a language we use today. It's kind of a mouthful to "show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.” It's not really how we would say that today. But are you actively engaged in the guarantee and hope of God's Kingdom, of His promises? Are you actively, like, I am hopeful? Do people see that hope in your life, or is it Bleak Street? "Yeah, here's what's going on in the news. I can't believe what's going on." Are you living a life of hope? And are you full of assurance of that hope? I am sure that what is coming is better than what we see around us. And then it goes on here, "That you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

There is a group of people who live their lives by faith. There's a group of people who have a hope ahead of us, seeking a better country. We read about them in Scripture, but that's not where it ends. We have some of those people in our congregation today who have lived a life of hope. Those people who have gone before us, as someone smack dab, finally, in middle age, I can say this, to the older generation, thank you. Thank you for laying down your life of faith for those of us younger than you, that we can look to your examples. I'm grateful for that. Under a certain age, we needed to see your life committed to God, and love for God's truth, and for His people.

And to the younger people, thank you for boldly taking up the reins to move forward towards that Kingdom of God. We need people who are passionate, passionate about this way of life, ready to share with those who God's calling. We need that. You who are young, you know this is the right way to live your life. You can't logic your way out of it. You must carry on what the Church has passed on to you. Live a life willing to transform. Live a life of faith and pass on what you've learned. God's called us all individually and He's called us to be part of a body for growth, for edification. This church, when we come together, is a powerful resource for spiritual growth.

The Hebrews writer was addressing a people who were growing weary. They were sluggish. They knew what was expected but it was just easier to say, "I'm just going to keep doing what we were doing before, do what we've always done." We've just come home from the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day. It's a highlight for many of us for the year. It's a time when we spend quality time with God, with His Word, and with His people. Now that we've unpacked our bags and we're settling in for the winter, let's not grow weary. Let's not grow weary of the truth of God. But let's boldly go to Him and ask Him to rejuvenate our hearts to this way of life. Let's not get distracted and bogged down by what we see going on around us. It doesn't matter what's going to happen in November. We don't have to worry about that. But let's all together as one body, move on to maturity.