The "I BELIEVE" Series
“What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
TEXT: Galatians 5:6
We’re still focusing on faith. I told you that before this year is through, I’m going to make a believer out of you. I’m going to make sure you are faith filled and faithful. I’m going to keep you in the faith by keeping you in the love of God by keeping you in love with Jesus. Some one is saying to themselves “What’s love got to do with it?” Galatians 5:6 says faith worketh through love. 2Corinthians 13:5 says
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? You can’t be in faith if you are not in love with Jesus. You have to keep yourself in the love of God by keeping yourself in love with Jesus. 1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 8 says -
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, F42 but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails…
Then verse 13 say this: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
We have to make sure we don’t fall out of love with the Lord, Jesus Christ because you can’t be in faith if you are not in love with Jesus. Faith works through love. We have to keep ourselves in the love of God by keeping ourselves in love with Jesus because you can fall out of love with Jesus Christ.
Revelation 2:1-5
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
In Revelation 2 Jesus said I see your works, I see your labor, and I see your patience, but He never said I see your faith because they fell out of faith when they fell out of love with Him. Verse 5 of the text from which we read says “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.” Some of you have fallen out of love with Jesus. I didn’t say you don’t love Jesus. I said you are not IN LOVE with Jesus. The zeal is gone. The thrill is gone. You find yourself enduring the Christian life but not enjoying it. You find yourself just going through the motions of church work but your heart is no longer in it. You find your self going to church but never expecting God to meet you there. You’ve left your first love. If you don’t keep yourself in the love of God by keeping yourself in love with Jesus you can fall out of love with Jesus.
Jude 1:21 - Show Context
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Love is not by chance. It’s by choice. You have to keep yourself in the love of God. You have to keep yourself in love with God. It’s called the thrill of the hunt. You maintain the zeal and you maintain the thrill by going after God. You go after God by looking for Jesus and following Jesus. If you don’t keep yourself in the love of God by keeping yourself in love with God, you will fall out of love. He keeps Himself in love with you! Lamentations 3:21-23 tell that His compassions fail not because He renews His mercies toward you every morning. He keeps Himself in love with you but it takes TWO to make a love relationship work. You have to keep yourself in love with God just like you have to keep yourself in love with your spouse. Some of you have lost your first love because there is no hunt for the will of God. There is no hunt for the way of God. There is no hunt for the worship of God by following Jesus. And just like a coffee pot, If you do nothing long enough, there is an automatic shut off. If you are in automatic shut off, there are some things you need to do.
1. Get plugged in again.
You can take a coffee pot and place it next to an electrical outlet, put a filter in it, put coffee in it and put water in it but nothing will happen if you don’t plug it in. Sometimes we have to get plugged in again. Just like a coffee pot can stay hot for a minute even if it is automatic shut off and even if it is unplug, a Christian can look like they have it going on even after they’ve fallen out of love with the Lord. They look they are still percolating. They look like they are still working. They look like they are still hot for Jesus but it’s not the pot that’s hot. It’s the coffee inside the pot that hot. They can still quote the scriptures. They still know the songs of Zion. They still know when to say Hallelujah and Thank you, Jesus. But, it won’t go on for long if you don’t get plugged in again. You have to get plugged in again! I had someone answer this question for me:
What do you do when people say they love the messages on audio cassette but won’t come to hear them in person?
What do you do when people say "You said just what I needed to hear" last week, but won’t come back the following week?
What do you do when people say "I’ll be back!" but never show up?
What do you do when the church seats are filled with empty promises?
What do you do when people say "You are a great teacher", "There is a sweet spirit in this place", "I really feel at home here" and according to what people say you are doing everything right but everything seems to be going wrong?
What do you do if you are not sure you want to keep trying?
What do you do when you aren’t afraid anymore to admit that you have failed?
What do you do when you don’t care anymore?
What do I do now?
What do you do? … Fast and pray! Get plugged in again. Spend time with the Lord fasting and praying like you used to , praising and worshipping like you used to, reading and studying His word like you used to when the relationship was new. Pray for revival and you’ll have one. Get plugged in again! We need a revival up in here. Revival in here (in the church) starts with revival in here (in the heart). We need a revival up in here. We need a refill. We need a refuel. We need a recharge. We need to get plugged in again. And just like that coffee pot, if we get plugged in again we can get turned on again.
2. Get turned on again.
Many of us have lost our first love with Jesus. You have to fight to keep the relationship right. Some things are worth fighting for. You ought to be passionate enough about some things that they make you laugh. You ought to be passionate enough about some things that they make you cry. And you ought to be passionate enough about some things that you will fight for them. There was a commercial on TV a long time ago for Lucky Strike cigarettes. On the commercial, the man had a cigarette and a black I and the slogan was “I’d rather fight than switch.” Well, I’d rather fight than quit! I know the devil thinks he’s got me up against the ropes, but I’d rather fight than quit. I know he may have given me a black eye, a busted lip, and had me hurting on the inside but I’d rather fight than quit. He’ll wish he never messed with you before this is through. He’s gonna think he was in the ring with Mike Tyson when this fight is over. I’m not talking about the Mike Tyson of 20 years ago. I’m talking about the Mike Tyson of just a few years ago. Tell the devil, ”I will bite your ears off, Devil!” You’ve got to get turned on. You have to want what God has promised you. Say, “I want it!” You gotta want it bad! You have to be like the blind man. Jesus made mud from spit and put it in his eyes. That man walked all the way across town to the pool of Siloam with mud on his face and spit in his eyes because he wanted to see. You gotta want it bad! You have to be like the woman with the issue of blood that pressed her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus garment because she wanted to be mad whole. You gotta want it bad! You have to be like the two men that tore the roof off of the house Jesus was preaching in to get their friend to where Jesus was so he could be healed. You gotta want it bad! You have to be like Jacob. Jacob wrestled with the angel of Lord all night long. There was an external wrestling because there was an internal wrestling in the heart of Jacob between the Lord and Jacob for Jacob to change, for Jacob to get right. Then, after they wrestled all night, the angel of the said enough is too much and because Jacob would not have a broken spirit the angel gave him a broken hip. But as something broke on the outside, something broke on the inside. Jacob said, I’ve been running from my promise to God but I can’t run no more. I was trying to get away but now I need the presence of the Lord to stay and I won’t let go until you bless me. You’ve got to get plugged in and you’ve got to get turn on and say I won’t give in. I won’t turn back. I won’t give up. I’ll keep looking up and I won’t let go until you bless me because I want it bad. It starts with wanting Him bad. The fire and desire for the kingdom of God with burn out if there is no fire and desire for the King. Before this year is through, I am going to make a believer out of you. I am going to make sure you are faith-filled and faithful. But you can’t be in faith without first being in the love of God by being in love with Jesus. That’s what love has to do with it.
