live the truth with love

I am going to read the first verses of chapter 4, read the Word of the Lord like this, and let us keep in mind that Paul is writing from prison: "I, therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, I beg you to walk worthy of the vocation with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, bearing with patience one another with love, eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in the same hope of your vocation; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all; but to each of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”

Therefore he says: ascending on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. And from that that went up, what is it? but had also descended to the lowest part of the earth?”

“He who descended is the same who also ascended above all the heavens to fill everything, and he himself constituted some apostles, other prophets, other evangelists, other pastors and teachers, in order to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that we are no longer fluctuating children, blown about by every wind of doctrine, by the stratagem of men who cunningly use the tricks of error to deceive, but that by following the truth in love, we may grow in all who is the head, this It is Christ from whom the whole body, well arranged and united among themselves by all the joints that help each other, according to the activity of each member, receives its growth to build itself up in love.”

God bless His Word this afternoon, let us pray: Heavenly and beloved Father, I stand before Your Presence right now so that You bring Word to Your people, that I am only a channel but everything comes from You for the enrichment of our lives and souls, all this we ask of you, amen.

In this biblical period, which we have had to live as a generation, brings with it some challenges, challenges that cause us to define our position and attitude in an intentional and direct way of our reality as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, in a world that It is influenced by intellectualism and humanism. The purpose of these trends is to confuse, undermine, separate, and divide what we have been taught, what we have grown into, what we have heard, and what the Word says.

In some moments when we travel through this life our past comes to us, and the past many times in that process determines our present and our future. Listening to the Apostle Paul this afternoon, I want to tell you, first: do not let your past define your present or define your future. The Church of Ephesus was in a very important place since the trade of Central Asia Minor and all of Rome benefited from it, and Paul understood that this city reflects a privilege they had with Caesar, since they produced him a lot of money, especially for the Romans was a very important city, which is going to bring then the complexities that the believers who enter this Church come from a Jewish background, from a Roman background, from a Greco-Roman background, from a humanist background.

And what is interesting? that the Apostle Paul while imprisoned says to them: I beg you, I beg you, I implore you to walk as is worthy of the occasion with which you were called, and at this hour I want you who are with me to repeat this phrase: we are going to live the truth in love, that is the theme of this afternoon's sermon.

It seems that Paul knows them well because after making that plea, that you walk worthy, he adds "with all lowliness and meekness," with all lowliness and meekness. And he adds something that may not apply now when he says: “bearing with one another in love.” Tell your brother this afternoon: supporting you with patience and with love. How about that vocal exercise, right?

Speaking with Roberto this week about these passages, Roberto told me about the need for our people to be aware that the Evangelism strategies and programs that we are going to undertake have to be based on love. They cannot be based on my education, they cannot be based on my experience, they have to be based on the love of our Lord Jesus Christ because love moves me to share the story.

His Paul first establishes: "I urge you to walk as is worthy, with all lowliness and meekness" and then adds: "bearing with one another" and then adds: "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ”.

For a people in the 21st century to be able to succeed in strategies of Evangelism and outreach outside of our building, it has to begin with being aware that my motivation and purpose arises from the fact that I do not deserve anything, and what I have received I have received by grace , and although I do not understand it, I follow that mandate that I have to be prepared and willing to say to another: God loves you, Christ loves you.

Paul then reminds us, it seems that he is speaking to Sunday school children but he is speaking to adults, and he tells them: so we will no longer be children tossed about by the waves and carried from here to there by every wind of teaching, Paul had the experience of being on a boat and he felt what a wave did with a boat from side to side, and how it broke it, and he compares that to all non-biblical teaching, and how it breaks and corrupts what we should have at all times: live the truth with love.

Paul is in prison, he spent two years working in Ephesus, and he is no longer present in Ephesus, but Paul knows in his mind that what God allowed him to build has to be built and sustained, and it has to be based on love. And at the end of this chapter there is a phrase that he uses in verses 15 and 16 when he says: "following the truth of love, let us grow in everything in him who is the head, this is Christ" and adds: "of whom all the well arranged body, and joined together by all the joints" or ligaments say some versions, "that help each other, according to the activity of each member, receives its growth to build itself up in love."

Pablo understands and tells us now in the 21st century that you and I are part of an organism, not of an organization, we are members of a single body and this body has to work in an organized way so that it obtains results, and the first thing that What we should think about this afternoon is: am I as an individual walking worthy before the Lord? Am I walking worthy of the vocation that He has given me?

And Paul uses the phrase joint, and that reminds me that Paul as a good Pharisee and Jew knows of a story in the Old Testament where joints and ligaments are used, the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel, and my The question is: if we are walking worthily in the vocation with which we were called, let me tell you something, God has called you to a valley of dry bones, be it your home, be it your family, be it your work, be it your community , whether it is your environment or your city, and in order to succeed inside the valley of dry bones, the passage says that Ezekiel was taken and put in the middle, he was not outside observing the valley, he was inside, and Paul understands that to be worthy of the vocation we have to be really prepared and taught in what we really are within a completely real posture.

You and I reflect that reality, you and I teach that reality, and seeing this reality with love the challenge then is that my action will determine what my person really is, God has called me, God has equipped me, I feel happy , I'm fine, I feel like I'm with the Lord, but it's time to really demonstrate and teach with tangible facts where my commitment is within that scale of values.

I don't need Pablo to repeat to me what I should already know. Our message to our Congregation and our people, you who are seated, you who are part of this Church, you who are part of the Body of Christ is and should be: am I living worthily the vocation that God has sent me? And if I am not worthy because my lifestyle does not reflect that dignity, let's start with individuals.

Once the Church begins with its individuals to build the areas that have to be improved, to re-enter a pattern of living what we are talking about, what we are preaching, what we are reading, once the people are united, all united as one man, as one body, reflecting what God has given us and sent us when we are faced with the challenges of this life that are coming and will continue to come, we can say and we can say to the challenge: we don't have much Maybe we are not that many people, maybe we don't have that much money, but we know someone who has made us worthy of our vocation and I have been loyal and responsible with my call. When the time comes to face this situation, I can say: Lord Jesus. Count on me because I am living worthily the vocation that You have given me.

It seems that this is why they had problems in Ephesus because he had to emphasize one body, one spirit, one Lord, one faith. If you have the first point of living your vocation with dignity, feel proud in the Lord that you have been selected to live that vocation, that you represent the best of the Kingdom. That I together with my brother make a town.

This joint thing reminds me that this is part of the muscular system of the human body and the joint cannot work alone. If the skeleton does not have the joints and all those ligaments cannot move, how many say amen for that? amen, and sometimes we without realizing it are like that. Okay, God told me that I'm going to be muscle, I can't stick to the joint. God has told me that what I am going to be inside His Body will be the feet but I do not get along with the ligaments, God has told me that I am going to be a lung but I do not get along with the other lung.

Gregory used an expression this morning about those who were in Ephesus in the atmosphere of magic and realized that there was a Jesus who preached, and miracles were done in that Name, you know these people, they were looking for a way to get money with someone famous and they said: we are going to retire with that Jesus, so they meet a demoniac and they said to him: we rebuke you outside in the Name of Jesus and the Name in which Paul preaches, and what did the demon say? I know Jesus and Paul but I don't know you, and one man killed seven. But the point is this afternoon, how many know Jesus or how many know of Jesus? because that's the idea. I don't want to know about Jesus, I want to know Jesus.

My commitment is not to make Pablo feel good, it is not to make the Pastors feel good, my commitment is that in these dangerous times the Church has to be determined and defined, that the one who called us has made us children, children Hallelujah children, what a blessing, what a benefit. When I say to another: I am going to tell you my story but it is because I have read it, it is because that Jesus also came into my life and I have experienced it.

I am sure who Jesus is and I can share who Jesus is. So when that crucial moment in the history of your life comes when you are in front of the valley of dry bones, just imagine: these communities are dry, they have no life! and God has chosen you, God has chosen you so that in your work you are that Ezekiel who rises up in the midst of dry bones and proclaims the truth with love by living it. What a privilege that God has chosen me, He has chosen you and has put you in privileged places.

Those who work in the health system that is controlled by confidentiality, you are in an important place. Those who are in the education system where not everyone can enter because I don't have children in school, the Lord has not put me in school but you are in school, you are a teacher, you are a council, that is your valley Of the dry bones, that's your area.

You already work driving trucks, you are working with type “A” people, that is your valley of dry bones, and God reminds you this afternoon: walk worthily of the vocation that He has given you, do not be embarrassed, do not regret it, God has called you to that place, praise Him, do your job and He is going to do His.

If your job has to do with cleaning, another world full of valley of dry bones. If you are taking care of children and that is your job all those parents of children who do not know the Lord, all those are valleys of dry bones, you have to live that truth in love. If you work in the corporate world of America, the world controlled by money, the world where people are not interested in serving anybody but in getting money, God has put you in that valley of dry bones so that you be the difference, so that they know the Lord through you. This afternoon you are not alone, do not give up, let us not give up, on the contrary, let us walk with our heads held high because God has called me and if God has called me He will give the job, He will do the rest, my function is to fulfill my loyalty and my freedom.

At a critical moment, at a time when the Word of the Lord is still being questioned, the perseverance of that Bible is being questioned, our behavior as believers is being questioned, I tell you: my behavior is not important unless Jesus is inside of my life directing my steps and guiding me, I feel happy to walk worthy of the vocation that He has given me to live the truth with love, not with judgment, not with condemnation, with love.

If we cannot work together and we are one body, then how can we reach the one who is lost? If the organisms of the Church, whatever their function, cannot work together, where will the Body move? do you know what happens? the Body remains static because it cannot move. We do not want our Church to be static but to move.

Ministry leader in this Church, listen to me carefully at this time, God has put a desire in your hands, he has put an organism in you. It is your duty as a leader to reflect the truth and live it in love, how? with your other fellow leader, who represents another area of our Corps but is still the same Corps. May your leadership work where you are working not be antagonistic or egocentric, nor is it so that they recognize what I am doing, but rather so that God sees that I live with dignity what He has given me and that I love the truth, and I love the truth, and I live it with love, so that we may be a united Church, not in concept or programming, in the Spirit of God, a single Church.

On one occasion in Puerto Rico, it is no longer in New York, Puerto Rico, this really happened, when I started pastoring in Puerto Rico, I was very young and did not have much experience, I had stayed with a family, a family they were like family to me, and on one occasion I asked the father of this family: look, our house has a window called the Miami window that has knobs, it's missing about four knobs, can you go on Saturday and put the knobs on it? knobs? and he told me: sure Pastor, I'm going to go, okay, he went and did it. So when I arrived on Sunday morning he was waiting for me first of all to tell me: Pastor, I did my job, and I: great, he put four knobs.

During the service I forgot to acknowledge him publicly because he had put four knobs on the window, I forgot, and my friend stayed at home for three months because the Pastor forgot to announce or acknowledge that the brother had put four knobs, and in this time in which we are living, the 21st century, the last times, what we are doing living that truth in love, do it for the Lord, do it for the Lord. Do not look to the side who is seeing you, who is not seeing you, who is going to recognize you, who is going to greet you, who is not going to greet you, do it for the Lord, wait for the Lord's reward.

Because it escapes us humans, we can forget it and it's not intentional, especially after the age of 20, right? the mind fails. But the idea is, just as we are gathered now, calm, content, without headaches, we are the Body of Christ, we are the Body of Christ, live the truth with love.

It doesn't matter that the neighbor doesn't live it, you, you live that truth with love. Let the world see that we are different, not because of how hard we scream or what we sing, but rather that our lives, at the moment of passing judgment, emit grace, emit love, we are in the joy of preventing people from going to hell .

Do you know what people are called, an example for you to practice here? Sunday morning we have a lot of people who come who live on the street, who don't have a home, who have lost their dignity, you have to say to those people: I love you, I'm no better than you. Christ came into my life before and I am in that condition because Christ came into my life before, not because I deserved it or because I am one of His favorites, it is because He came into my life before and freed me from that life but That has taught me to love, to love, to love because God has given me grace, because I was saved by grace, and we must give grace when we have received grace, but we must live it.

There can be no way to allow this to happen because we are going to the streets, you know that in the streets you have to live the truth with love, you have to be sincere, sincere, how many are willing to unite and recognize the call of our Pastor? principal and also of our God? We are in the business of rescuing souls with love, with love.

In this city, in this Church we have been blessed, very blessed and that blessing has to be to make us more humble, more humble because everything we have is from the Lord, that is very important. When the Lord called him our Pastor responded to that call but whoever called him also tells you: Join that call, join to live life with dignity. And when I get to heaven I haven't done many things but they will tell me: you lived life in truth, you were faithful to what I have demanded and what I put. I never changed the values of the Kingdom, I never adulterated them. I want to hear when I get to heaven: Faithful servant, you were faithful in little, I will put you in much, enter into the joy of your Lord.

Now finish, I want you to look at each other, look at each other, brothers, look at that Body. Give thanks to the Lord for what is at your side, which is part of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, of that powerful Church. At some point we will hear the sound of the trumpet and it will be to respond in a positive way, when listening to the sound if you have felt this afternoon to live this life with dignity as it has been placed in you, to live the truth with love, I ask you that you join me in standing up in a symbolism of one Church, of one Body. When something happens to the body to one of its organs, the whole body suffers, the whole body suffers.

Changing my perspective, living life and the truth with love, when I change my perspective I infect others with it, living the truth with love, the Lord will fulfill His mission in me and fulfilling it in me in the Body, and fulfilling it in the Body in this morning, at this hour.

And repeat after me: Lord Jesus, You know what organ I am, allow my function to be in unison with the rest of the Body and that I be part of that Body that is You. Help me, cover my life, cover my house, cover my family and give me the authority so that when I am in the valley of dry bones I can continue living the truth with love. I promise to function as an organ of a body and I commit myself, and I submit myself to Your Lordship, I am going to work for Your cause, I am going to work so that the Gospel is spread, I am going to work by grace, I am going to work by grace because You You gave me grace and I owe you everything.

Lord give me the strength to be able to live the truth with love, all the glory and all the honor is yours Lord because you are the God of love. Brothers, God bless you.