The Narrow Gate

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. This is Rob Haymes. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.

Praise you Father. We just praise you right now in Jesus’ name. We thank you Father for this program, The Narrow Gate. We just thank you for it. Let’s turn to Mat 7:13&14, Jesus was speaking, and He said, Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Let’s turn to Mat 7:21-27, Jesus said, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! 

Then He said, Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. 

Ok, let’s turn to Mat 25:31-46, When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. Then they also will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. I just want to quote that verse again, …these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Ok, now let’s turn to 1 Pet 1:13-23, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 

because it is written, Be holy, for I Am holy.  And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever. Let’s turn to 2 Pet 1:2-11, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 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, or endurance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Have you forgotten that you were cleansed from your old sins? Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My Words. He said, Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  The way to and through the narrow gate is love, true love. The only way you can find the narrow gate is by love, and the only way you can go all the way through it is by love. Love is patient, love is kind, love endures all things, hopes all things; love never fails. Jesus said, Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends; loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself; love does no ill to his neighbor; doing to your neighbor as you would have him do unto you. When you see him hungry, feed him, or thirsty, give him a drink. If he’s naked, clothe him. In 1 John it is written, If you have this world’s good, you know, if you have money, if you have clothes, if you have food, and you see your brother or your sister in need, and you do not minister to them, how dwells the love of God in you? If you are only mindful of yourself and your own needs and desires, seeking your own pleasures, seeking money or power; the things of this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, you cannot see the way. You won’t be able to find that narrow way unless Jesus has mercy on you and deals with you to bring you to repentance and the love of God. He said, I Am the way, I Am the truth, and I Am the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me. He will lead you through that narrow gate, and in His way. But it is difficult; it is hard, because, before you can come before the Father,  you must be changed; you must be broken; you must be purged and conformed to His image. You must seek Him with all your heart. You must seek after righteousness and you shall be filled. You will find God when you seek Him with all your heart. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. If the love of God is in you, when you are confronted with the truth, you will repent, and turn to Him with all your heart. You will stay faithful to Him as He brings you through the narrow gate to purge you and wash you and create in you a clean heart and righteousness from the God of your salvation: the righteousness which is from God by faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for you on the Cross. You will love Him because He so loved you that He gave Himself for you and washed you from your sins in His own Blood.

The last thing, the last thing you would ever want to do is continue in any sin after He has revealed and proven His love for you by His sacrifice for you on the Cross. He died for our sins and rose again for our justification. The narrow gate is the cross. We must deny ourselves and take up our own cross every day and follow Jesus, being led by; yielding to the Holy Spirit every day as He leads us in following Jesus to do the Father’s will. Remember, Jesus said, the only ones, the only ones who are going into the Kingdom of Heaven are they who do the will of His Father. Not my will, Father, but yours be done. Is that your heart? Or are you still after your own pleasures? Do you love Him? In Mat 25:41, Jesus made it clear when He said, Depart from Me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels… Consider the word, everlasting: it never ends, day after day; night after night, eternal torment and pain, with no rest forever,   but, continual joy, glory and peace with Jesus and with His Father in His Kingdom, to those who continue and remain faithful unto death through that narrow gate. Only the love of God can sustain you through it. Everlasting life, or everlasting death: it’s one or the other. 

Interpretation of a message in tongues:

 I Am God Almighty. Behold, I have spoken through My servant Rob to warn you this day. The way is narrow that leads to eternal life. You must seek it with all your heart. Turn to Me with all your heart and seek Me with all your heart and you will find Me, says the Lord. 

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com 

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.

The Pillar And Ground Of The Truth

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.

Today we’re having Brother Dave Hickman on the program. His message is The Pillar And Ground Of The Truth.

Prove it! What? That every one of these people; every one of these writers in the New Testament spoke in tongues. Well, prove they didn’t ! Do you think every one of them, all these writers, maybe ran into Paul at one point or another? I would say so. Well what did Paul say when he ran across you? He said, Have you received the Spirit since you believed? And then, if they said no, he said, Well you’re supposed to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and he laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. So that’s what happened if you ever ran into Paul. So if any of these writers ever ran into Paul, I guarantee you that, if they were not already baptized in the Holy Spirit, it happened to them. And what did Jesus say?, You shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. He said, Tarry here until you are endued with power from on high. Tarry here until you are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Don’t go anywhere else. There’s no going beyond, until you are baptized in the Holy Spirit.  

You may be in presumptuous sin. You may be presuming that you’re sent when you’re really not. Are you sent without the Spirit? Do you have any kind of seat in the Church; any kind of ministry in the Church, without the provision through Jesus Christ, our baptizer? You know, Jesus Christ is the one who baptizes you in the Holy Spirit. These gifts are gifts of the Spirit. You do always resist the Holy Spirit. If you’re resisting the gifts, you’re resisting the Holy Spirit. It says that the Christians have one or two gifts; several gifts. And what is it? We’re the Body. So why? So you can be a member of the Body; so the Spirit can use you in the Body. You can be a member; you can come into that Church having something to give; having the Spirit of Grace; having the grace to give to those who are in need there. There’s people in that Body who need that ministry. 

It’s not just some preacher who loves the preeminence; who’s set first. Let me just tell you something: If you are a single leader; a singular leader in the Church, you’re usurping Christ’s seat, because Jesus Christ is first in the Church! He’s the Head of the Church, not you; not any man. Amen. It says by the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established; let the prophets speak two or by three and let the others judge. There’s always plural leadership in the Body. Every word that’s spoken; every word preached; every word taught needs to be tried and proven. How do you prove it? 

It says try the spirit, whether it be of God or not. How do you try it? You try the spirit with the Word. You don’t try the spirit with your spirit; you don’t try the spirit with the will of a man; you don’t try the spirit with anything but the Word. Amen. And you prove all things, it says. Prove all things; hold on to the good. It says, Have nothing to do with any appearance of evil. Put it out of your Body! Put that wicked one out of your Body!

If you’ve got some preacher that’s preaching without the Spirit, he’s got no seat; he’s got no place in your Body. Amen. You see, the true Gospel is the Gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from Heaven. And then it says, Having not the Spirit: carnal. You’ve got yourself a carnal gospel. You’ve got yourself a carnal preacher. You’ve got yourself carnal Christians, and you’re coming in there with sin all over you, into that Body; into the Church of Jesus: His holy people, with sin on you. You come in there with that sin on you; that presumptuous sin; that uncleanness. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. God is in the business of bearing witness to the truth; He’s in the business of making manifest: whatsoever makes manifest is light. Light shines and makes darkness manifest. You can’t continue in the true Church without your sins being exposed. Amen.

You can’t just keep walking in that and think you can get by with being a member of His Body. If you’re wondering why the Spirit is never using you in that body, or the Spirit is never using anything but the preacher, well I’ll guarantee you there’s all kinds of sin in that place., and number one is unbelief. Amen. It says When you come here, one has a Word, one has a song, one has a tongue, one has an interpretation, one has a gift, whatever the gift is that you have. That’s what the Body is for: it’s for the operation of the members in particular, Amen. And everybody should come with something. You should be continuing in His Word, being filled with His Spirit; being instructed of the Spirit, and established in the present truth. And when you come, you should be prepared; with your heart prepared to worship in Spirit and in truth and to speak, Lord willing, in Spirit and in truth; to bear witness to the truth; to bear witness to what Christ has done, Amen, to give Him glory; to give Him honor; to give Him praise; to give Him thanksgiving; to give Him true worship, in Spirit and in truth. That’s the true Church of the Living God: the Pillar and the Ground of the Truth. Amen. When God revealed that to me: the Church of the Living God is the Pillar and the Ground of the Truth, I saw the lies in the Church and I was angry at those lies! This Church is supposed to be the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, not a bunch of liars! Amen.  So Go! Take this truth; continue in that Word; be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, and open your mouth in His name, and He’ll fill it, Amen, with His Word: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and He’ll send you forth out into the world, every day, every week, Amen, and you can be used of Him to bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus, Amen; to please the Father. Hallelujah! And what pleases Him? Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Your faith!, your faith pleases Him, thank God. And we’ll talk about your faith next, Amen.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life, Amen, according to your faith, your faith!, be it done unto you. Amen. God responds to faith; He responds to your faith. Amen, Amen. Without faith it’s impossible to please Him. Faith pleases God; faith glorifies God, Amen. Do you think if it pleases Him, do you think it’s going to glorify Him? Amen, Amen. Absolutely it will glorify Him when you believe Him. It says, With the heart man believes unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. See, faith, out of the abundance of a heart of faith, the mouth speaks and confesses Christ; Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Song by Dave: And The Angels Shall Rejoice

If you’re thinking about tomorrow,

And your yesterdays are full of sorrow,

And you just don’t know where you’re going,

If you don’t know just what to do,

But you know this world is not for you,

There’s a place to go

Where there’s rivers of living waters freely flowing.

And it’s not so far away, the Word of faith;

It’s in your mouth and in your heart,

The price was paid.

So confess Him with your mouth,

And believe Him in your heart,

And you’ll find a way:

I Am the way;

You’ll find the truth:

I Am the life.

And the angels shall rejoice with praise

Over one sinner saved.

And though you’ve gone so far from Him,

He died for you

And He rose again.

And it’s not so far away, the Word of faith;

It’s in your mouth and in your heart,

The price was paid.

So confess Him with your mouth,

And believe Him in your heart,

And you’ll find a way:

I Am the way;

You’ll find the truth:

I Am the life.

And the angels shall rejoice with praise

Over one sinner saved.

And though you’ve gone so far from Him,

He died for you

And He rose again.

Thank you for reading this message and song by Dave Hickman  from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship in the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.

 Real Christians

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. This is Rob Haymes. Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.

Amen, Father, in Jesus name, we worship you this day! We give you thanks! Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord! Father, I want to thank you for giving me this message about Real Christians. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, Amen.

Let’s turn to Acts 2:36-47, Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, right after the Holy Spirit was poured out, verse 36, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the Apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.  This is how the Church started: with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Today we’re talking about real Christians. I also want to talk about true fellowship. It says in verse 42, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 

Let’s go to 1John 1:1-9, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. Let’s go to Acts 11:19-26. In Acts chapter 11 we read about the Church in Antioch. Let’s start in verse 19, Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the Word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the Church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The word Christian means a follower of Jesus Christ. The people in the Church in Antioch were following Jesus. As I was receiving this program from the Lord, I received a tongue and interpretation, and the Father spoke and He said, My Church is holy; My people are holy; My doctrine is holy, and I was reminded of the scripture that says, holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. The word holy simply means separate from sin, or set apart to God. God is holy; His Church is holy; His people are holy. He’s making a holy people.

Let’s turn to 1 Peter 1:13-23, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 

because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever. You see here that the way that we purify our souls is by obeying the truth; the Word of God is the truth, through the Spirit. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. Let’s go to 1 John 3:23&24, And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. Let’s turn over to chapter 2, verses 3-6, Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. How did Jesus walk? He said, I only do what I see My Father doing. 1 Cor 2:1-5, The Apostle Paul said, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified: Jesus Christ crucified, the wisdom of God and the power of God. Thank you Lord.

Ok, let’s go to Mat 15:8, These people draw near to Me with their mouth, Jesus said, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The Church is satiated with the doctrines of men, producing vain worship all over the world. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He teaches truth. Jesus is the truth, and He said, If you continue in My Word you will be My disciples indeed, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. A true disciple of Jesus is a follower of Jesus. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine, the New Testament, the Words of Jesus, in breaking of bread; in prayers, and in true fellowship. True fellowship is in the light, as we read in 1 John. Beloved, if we allow sin in our fellowship, we do not have fellowship; we are in darkness, we are lying. True fellowship is in the light, keeping His Words, and we have true fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. When we come together, one has a song; one has a doctrine; one has a revelation; all things being done unto edification, glorifying Jesus in the Holy Spirit and in truth. The word Christian means a follower of Jesus. 

Following are several interpretations of messages in tongues which I received from the Lord during this broadcast:

I am God Almighty. Those of you who are listening to My servant Rob, pay attention carefully to these words that I gave him this morning. Look unto Me. I am the author and the finisher of your faith. If you will humble yourself and return to My Word; return to the truth; return to My Apostles’ doctrine, you will flourish; My Church will be cleansed; My people will be holy and I will bless them, says the Lord.  I am God Almighty. Return to Me with all your heart.  Look unto Me, the author and the finisher of your faith, says the Lord. My Word is the truth! Believe My Words, people! Return to Me with all your heart! Put away these false doctrines; put away your sins; put away evil from amongst you says the Lord, and My light will begin to shine in a greater way than you have seen in days past, says the Lord. I am God Almighty. Turn to Me with all your heart. Love Me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love one another. That is My will for you My people. Turn to Me; turn to My Word. Turn away from evil; turn away from the Devil; turn away from his preachers; turn away from falsehood and follow Me in the truth, says the Lord, and I will bless you.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . 

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.

 Love And Truth

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. 

Amen Father, in Jesus’ name, we thank you once again for this program. We come to you in the name of Jesus. Thank you Father for your Words; for the message that you have given me for this week, Love And Truth.  1 Cor 13:1-8, The chapter on love, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 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. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Verse 6, (Love) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love rejoices in the truth, not in iniquity. 1 John 4:7-11, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Let’s turn to John 3:14-21, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, this is Jesus talking, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. Light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 

Let’s go to 1 John 1:1-10,  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. Did you know that God wants you to have fullness of joy, and He’s made a way for you to have that? Verse 5, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, that includes with the Father and with His Son, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. My little children, Chapter 2, verse 1, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. The Bible says that Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil. He said I only do what I see My Father doing, and He said, The Words that I am speaking, the Father has given them to Me. 1 John 2: 15-17, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever: extremely important scripture! Consider those Words carefully! 

1 Cor 6:9, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The wages of sin is death; eternal damnation, but the gift, the free gift of God is eternal life in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Love does no ill to his neighbor. Sin is disobedience to the Law of God. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. The righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, as the Holy Spirit leads us to do our Father’s will. So we are sons and daughters of the living God who loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, who came and lived as a man in this evil world and was tempted in every way, yet He never sinned, He never disobeyed His Father, to offer Himself, therefore, as the spotless Lamb of God upon the Cross at Calvary to be crucified and die for our sins and be resurrected from the dead to justify us. Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus loved us that much, to ransom us from our sins with His own Blood. The life is in the blood. The atonement is through the shedding of His Blood. The destruction is in the rejection of His sacrifice for us. The condemnation and the damnation is in what we do to ourselves when we reject God’s great love for us through the gift of His Son as we cut ourselves off from His salvation. The love of pleasure is not love. The love of money is not love. The love of power; the love of self; the pride of this life; it is not love. This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to deliver us from our sins; from the very things that destroy us. Sin is evil because of what it does to you, and what it does to other people. God loves all people! He said that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and be saved and inherit eternal life in His glorious Kingdom. There is only one answer for this world, for you, and for me: repent and turn from our sins and believe God’s love for us through the sacrifice of His Son, and come to Jesus! Take His yoke upon us, and learn of Him, learn His ways, walk in His ways, with Him, following Him. Jesus said, If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross every day, and follow Me. He leads people who surrender to Him in paths of love and correction to produce righteousness in us that He may bless us in turning every one of us from our iniquities. 

No matter how much pleasure and riches and power may be attained through sin, it is always working death in those who practice it. It destroys our love; our true fellowship with God and with one another. It destroys our bodies and our minds. It destroys our cities and our nation. God takes no pleasure in this; no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but they will die. He sent his Son to save us from death, but if we will not accept His life, we will die in our sins. Jesus said, If you do not believe that I Am, you will die in your sins. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes unto the Father but by Me. He is the way, He is the truth, and He is the life. In Him is life. He that has the Son has life. He that does not have Jesus shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. Little children, let no man deceive you, the Apostle John said, he that does righteousness is righteous, but he that practices sin is of the Devil. Sin is lawlessness; disobedience to God’s holy Word. It causes destruction and hurt and harm to oneself and to others, as we said earlier. As we walk in obedience to God and His Word, walking in love, we will be edifying and blessing others, and we ourselves will be blessed; our families will be blessed, and our cities, and our nation. Beloved if God so loved us that He gave His beloved Son for us to save us from our sins, we also ought to love Him and one another by turning from our sins and doing righteousness in the Earth.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.