Aaron Salisbury preaches on the power of love at Rivers Apostolic Centre
A Sunday morning service at Rivers Apostolic Centre, Brisbane, featuring communion, testimonies, announcements, an offering message, and a sermon by Associate Pastor Aaron Salisbury.
Summary
Associate Pastor Aaron Salisbury and Apostle Rory lead a full Sunday morning service at Rivers Apostolic Centre, Brisbane. The service opens with a communion liturgy drawing on Romans 8, followed by congregational prayer for healing, testimonies of answered prayer, and church announcements. Apostle Rory delivers a brief message on seed-sowing and generous giving before introducing Aaron Salisbury, who preaches the main sermon titled "The Power of Love." Drawing on 1 Corinthians 12–13, John 13, and Romans 5, he argues that love — not signs, wonders, or prophetic gifts — is the defining mark of Christian maturity and the primary force that draws people to the church. He grounds the message in a personal vision in which he heard the Lord instruct him to "love the people," and illustrates the theme with pastoral anecdotes, cultural references, and an extended examination of the Corinthian church's historical and moral context.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Communion Liturgy and Opening Prayer
Aaron Salisbury: Hallelujah. We need the blood and we plead the blood. Let's just take this moment to acknowledge that we need the blood of Jesus. We bring very little in our offering this morning, but yet the blood of Jesus pays and has paid for it all. Just take this moment to plead the blood. So we agree — we plead the blood of Jesus in this place. We plead the blood of Jesus over your church. We plead the blood of Jesus over Logan City. We declare that you alone are holy, Lord, and that it is your blood that makes us holy, God. That and that alone. Nothing that we can bring, nothing that we earned, nothing that we can ever deserve.
So today we want to say hallelujah. We praise you, Yah. You are God — you and you alone, our God. We worship you, Jesus, in thanksgiving for dying on the cross for us and shedding your precious blood. We can't even begin to comprehend the power of your blood, but we are grateful for our salvation. You are the only true God. You are the one and only God who saves. And we glorify you this morning.
We take authority in the name of Jesus. We break the power by the blood of Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ, over every unholy thing in this place. And we say, be gone from here and be gone from us in the name of Jesus Christ. And we declare the holiness of the Lord, for you are holy, and your blood alone speaks to the holiness of the only true and living God. We worship you, Jesus. So grateful, so grateful, that every stain has been removed.
It's quite interesting — when you try and remove stains, you don't usually use the same thing to remove that stain. But our stains were scarlet, and the blood of Jesus comes and completely washes us white as snow.
The word of God in the book of Romans says, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. This morning as we consider communion, we remember the depth of what Jesus sunk to on our behalf — that he became a sin offering for us — in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Holy Spirit.
And down to verse 14: for those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again. Rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by this we can cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Now if we are children, then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may also share in his glory.
All the way down, the confirmation of these scriptures is the confirmation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who brings any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? We heard last week about coming naked and poor and wretched and blind, but yet we are clothed in the blood of Jesus. As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to the slaughter. No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hallelujah. Today as we come to the table of the Lord — of common union — because of the blood of Jesus, we come in recognition and confirmation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is God, and that is who we come to honor this morning, who we come to acknowledge. The love of the Father to send his beautiful Son to become a sin offering for us is extremely humbling for each one of us in the room. And then to pour out his Spirit abundantly for each one of us, that we might live in an empowered way on this earth.
Romans 7 and 6 speaks all about our own personal struggle with the flesh and with sin. And this is the answer to that — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the power of the cross. So let's stand together, and as we come forward this morning, let us acknowledge that without what Jesus did for us, there really is no hope. But let us acknowledge that he is our living hope. And this morning we take the broken body, and we take the cup, the blood of Jesus, and we are strengthened. In those scriptures it says that the Spirit strengthens our mortal bodies. So let's come forward.
If you know somebody who is unwell and who needs healing, please pray for them. I encourage you to get into groups this morning and have some prayer. Can you put your hand up if you are currently struggling with a physical ailment? Just put your hand up. So have a look at these ones in the room — please go and have communion with them and pray for them. We have powerful testimonies to share this morning of the blood of Jesus. So come forward. Come and take the bread and the wine. Take the body and the blood.
Testimonies of Answered Prayer and Church Announcements
Aaron Salisbury: As we take time to pray for one another, I want to share a number of testimonies that have come through this week that the church has been praying for, and we want to give thanks and honor and praise to the Lord. When answers to prayer come, we are often praying but quite often we don't hear the answers. So this morning we want to give honor and glory to the Lord for Aya Nora, who received her permanent residence and who also received a job from the Lord. So we want to say thank you to the Lord for that.
We also want to say thank you to the Lord for the most amazing miracle. We have a new believer in our midst, and we want to welcome Aaron. He gave his heart to the Lord in the service a couple of weeks ago. Isn't it awesome to have the blood of Jesus speaking strongly today?
We also just want to say thank you so much for your prayers — Christine and the family — for Jada last week. It's an awesome report that Jada is out of hospital. She came through and she is doing well. She's with family, and let us continue to pray. Nothing short of a miraculous outcome there in the Lord. And so we're very, very grateful, and the family is very grateful for our prayers. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace and your mercy. Hallelujah.
Just wanted to share a couple of notices as well. Tonight we're going to be having the evening service, starting at 6 o'clock, and we'd invite you to come. We're going to have a night of worship and the Word and an extended time of just spending time in the presence of the Lord. So please come through. Our SNS team will be leading us tonight — the young adults worship team. So do pray for them and come along to encourage them. And we'll have supper afterwards — soup and bread and fellowship. We're looking forward to some time together.
The Echad Feast is coming up, which is the Ladies' Day, and that will be on the 20th of June. We know that a number of you have been asking about your friends who are going to come along. Please would you put their names down today on the list, which is at the hub, so that we know how many to cater for. We've been very blessed by our team of men in the church who are going to be serving the ladies on that day, and they need to know how many people to plan for.
We also have a big weekend that weekend because we have Bishop Wayne Malcolm coming to speak on the 21st — Sunday the 21st. So please do invite your family and friends to come along, particularly if they are in business or hoping to be in business, or if they want to know about kingdom finances, which I think we probably all do. Let's invite friends. We'll put more chairs in because we're expecting a lot of people. If that is the case, then please, family at Rivers, make room and make way for visitors. But if you would like to find a spot, come in early, and then let's bless the community as they come in.
Apostle Rory on Seed-Sowing and Generous Giving
Apostle Rory: I just want to reiterate about Wayne Malcolm. If you're in business — like Wendy said — if you're in business, or you want to be in business, or you've been in business and you got checked out of business and you wish you were back in business, that sort of business, monkey business, funny business, any kind of business — I did a course with him, just 40 days of just learning where he was coming from, and I learned a lot of stuff that I hadn't heard regarding the principles of finances in the kingdom of God. He'll be here on the 21st, and then the following Saturday there's a day seminar or day conference down at the Gold Coast. Be there or be square.
So, seeds are funny things, aren't they? We think that you plant a seed and it grows up. Well, of course it does, but before it grows up, it grows down. And it breaks out of that shell, and that first little movement of the seed is called the radicle. So if you want to be radical, you need to go down first. It's just a principle in God — the way up is down. That's it. And so the seed goes down by putting out a tiny little thread-like root that's called the radicle.
I'm told — and I don't even know if it's true because you don't always know how to check for truth — but I'm told that seeds were found under the pyramids and were planted in the right conditions and some sprouted. That, to me, seems like a "once upon a time," however, it could be true, such is the power of a seed. I've got some old seeds at home, but you plant them in the right environment, in the right soil, at the right time, and those little suckers will grow. The power of the seed.
I think there's probably only one place where they will never grow, apart from what Jesus says about stony pathways and so forth. I've found that seeds won't grow in a packet. You've actually got to get those things out of a packet and into the soil. That's a good word. You can have it. Out of the packet. Mostly out of fear, we hold our seed in a packet. It's called a bank account. It's not a bad idea because we're told also to prepare for the future and to save and to accumulate and to build a house and 101 other things that we're told to do. So that's all legitimate. I'm not knocking that. I'm just saying that we can hold on to seed that we need to sow.
I want to read the word because Paul, writing to that church at Corinth — which had more strife in it than Ned Kelly — was just like whatever, but it's going to stay for all eternity because of the instruction that came out of it. He says, remember this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. It's not rocket science, not Japanese algebra. Pretty easy. Put two seeds in, two's coming up.
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give. That's a decision you make. There's no pressure. There's no manipulation. Is that a relief? Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. It's like some of you hold on to your $5 note so tight the Queen gets tears in her eyes. For God loves a cheerful giver. Not just in giving of your seed, not just in giving of your finances — just be a giver. Give of your time, of your energy, of whatever it is that you've got to give. And God loves that.
For God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Good works are rooted in giving. He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. Now he who supplies seed to the sower — so the seed that you've got in your packet, he supplied it to you, or you wouldn't have the packet, let alone the seeds in the packet — and bread to the eater. So you've got to eat food. You've got to look after yourself. Your car eats petrol. You've got to put some in. Your insurance eats the roof of your house — praise God, eh, Dave? We thank God for hail. And so the things you do are consuming. That's the bread you eat, not just how much you pig out at your table. It's bread to live on.
So he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for the eater will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Powerful stuff. I don't think we do life well when we're stingy. I just don't think we do life well because the stingy spirit restricts you. It restricts your thinking and it brings about fear of lack. Anybody here ever known a fear of lack? Yeah. I think we all have, if we're honest. There's a time when there's a fear of lack, and that can come very unexpectedly or because of a big bill that you hadn't planned on. Fear of lack. But the fear of the Lord far outweighs the fear of lack, and he provides seed for the sower and bread for the eater. Amen.
So today — what's today? First Sunday of the month. So it's first fruits today. Anytime you can give to missions, though we have the last Sunday of the month set aside for that. There's tithes and offerings, all sorts of ways to give. The giving of alms, which we do through a Jean Barham account — a lady who was very generous in missions and very kind to the poor, who was in this house for many years. We have a Jean Barham fund where we give to the poor, those needing alms. So let's come with our tithes and our offerings and our first fruits specifically today, knowing that God will provide for you according to how you sow.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we bless everyone in this house. We bless those bringing in tithes and offerings and missions givings and alms to the poor. And Father, we bless today the givers of first fruits, which was the original and first giving that ever there was. Father, would you just release the south wind? I pray a release today from the south wind. Let the south wind blow. Let those who are angels, made winds, ministering spirits, let them bring forth and bring in multiplication, even as a seed multiplies. I pray for multiplication on businesses and families, salary and wage earners. Lord, I pray that even hobbies and little tiny things that people do would be turned into income so that families will be blessed, children will be well looked after, and there will be plenty over to give to those in need.
And so Father, I pray an extravagant blessing on all first fruits, as well as on tithes and offerings and missions giving. Lord, would you bless them? I actually pray that they'll have dreams of harvest. Show them, Lord, areas where you have gifted them profoundly and give them the courage to start to do something that you can bless. Let them prepare a field for your goodness to land in. We give you praise, Lord. Amen.
Sermon: The Power of Love — Introduction and Scripture Reading
Aaron Salisbury: Thank you, Rory. Hallelujah. You may be seated. If you have your Bibles with you, there are three passages of Scripture I'd like us to look at as we begin the word this morning.
Let's begin with 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and I'd just like to read from verse 27 then into 1 Corinthians 13, just the first three verses to begin with. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, now you are the body of Christ and members individually, and God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, and after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Verse 30, do all have gifts of healings — healings, plural? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? Verse 31, but earnestly desire — everyone say "earnestly desire" — the best gifts. And yet I will show you a more excellent way.
Go to chapter 13, verse 1: though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a 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.
And then John chapter 13, verse 34 and 35, the words of Jesus. He says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you may also love one another. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
The Historical and Cultural Context of Corinth
Aaron Salisbury: Paul reached Corinth around AD 50. This was during his second missionary journey, and he founded the Corinthian church. Paul later wrote two very detailed pastoral letters in the New Testament to the Corinthians. The background of Corinth was fascinating, and it helps us understand why Paul wrote so extensively and passionately to this church. The culture and the setting and the spiritual struggles give important insight into the messages found in 1 and 2 Corinthians.
Luke, in fact, wrote in Acts chapter 18, verse 8, many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Corinth was one of the most fruitful apostolic places that Paul ministered, despite the many obstacles that Corinth presented.
Corinth was actually located on a narrow strip of land that connects northern and southern Greece. Corinth was a place of two major harbors, which made it an amazing commercial hub where ships traveling between Asia and Europe used to come into harbor. The city's geographical position made it a tremendous economic powerhouse. The city was very diverse and cosmopolitan. Merchants and sailors and travelers and traders from all the nations passed through Corinth, and they brought with them culture, they brought with them ideas, and they brought with them wealth. And the combination of prosperity and cultural variety played a major role in shaping the environment that the Corinthian church developed in.
Now, Corinth was very prosperous and very influential. It was also known for its moral corruption. In fact, ancient writers were so influenced by the corruption that they came up with this term — the term was to Corinthianize. And if you had that term used about you, that meant you were very immoral. It actually characterized immoral living. The city's reputation came from its paganism, and the city was renowned for its pagan worship, especially the worship of the cult of Aphrodite, who was the goddess of love. Now, according to tradition, the temple of Aphrodite employed a thousand sacred prostitutes who served as part of their religious practice. Another temple dedicated to Apollo stood on Acro-Corinth, which was the steep hill that rose above the city.
Corinth was known for pagan rituals, idolatry, drunkenness, and sexual immorality. That was what Corinth was all about. And this culture exerted pressure on the Corinthian Christian converts, many of whom came from these backgrounds steeped in paganism. So Paul responded to this environment, and he wrote in his letters against impurity, against unholiness, and he talked about the importance of being separate from the idolatry of Corinth. Many of the Corinthians were struggling to break free from old habits.
But the amazing thing was the Corinthian church actually grew in the midst of all this paganism. And Paul actually spent a long time in Corinth to try to establish a strong foundation in this particular church. He wrote through his letters about the challenges facing that church around doctrine, moral failures, worship disorders, and divisions. And despite its flaws, the Corinthian church stands as a testimony to the grace of God. It shows that God can reach into every place — even into Brisbane, praise God — into the darkest places, and transform lives and build a community of believers committed to Christ. And the same God that worked in Corinth is at work in the church today.
A Vision: "Love the People"
Aaron Salisbury: As I was preparing for this message, the Lord reminded me of what happened a couple of months ago. I was lying in bed and about to go to sleep in our bedroom, and I looked up at the ceiling. That's what I often do before I go to sleep — just look up at the ceiling. And the ceiling started to do something strange. The ceiling started to move. And I'm looking at the ceiling thinking, I look at the ceiling all the time. This is different. My ceiling doesn't move. And the ceiling started to swirl and move as I was looking at it. And as this began to happen, I thought, all right, this is not normal. Something is going on here.
So I watched the ceiling for a while, and I realized that I was in a vision. And as I continued in that vision, I looked up, and at the end of my bed stood two angels — one on the left-hand side and one on the right-hand side. And I thought to myself, this is quite profound because I don't normally have visions and I don't normally see angels. I've had a few in the past, so I understood that something amazing was happening here. And these angels that were standing there were motioning to me and saying, come, come with me.
Well, at that point I didn't go, "Woo-hoo." I got very emotional because I thought, if angels are beckoning for me to come — well, angels are from heaven, so they want me to come to heaven as well. And I thought, that's kind of scary, because if I'm going to heaven, maybe I'm not going to come back. Maybe this is it. And I actually started to get very emotional, and I nudged Wendy, and I said, there's two angels at the end of our bed and they're actually telling me to come with them. And Wendy said, well, go. And I was quite tearful. I said, but Wendy, what if I don't come back? The fact that Wendy was keen for me to go — I had to talk to her about this later. Why did you want me to go so eagerly?
So I decided, okay, I'll go with the angels. And obviously this was in the spirit, because physically I was still in the bed next to Wendy. But I went with the angels, and I went through what I could only describe as a place of just spaciousness. And as I went with the angels, I began to feel the presence and power of God stronger and stronger and stronger. And as I went with these angels, I realized I was getting closer and closer to the very throne room of God. The presence became so strong and so powerful.
And at one stage, I remember clearly just stopping and looking at the angels and saying, I'm going no further, because I thought if I keep going, well, I'm not going to come back. This is so powerful and so strong, what is happening all around me. And I remember in the vision, as I turned around to go back to earth, I felt and heard in the spirit the voice of the Lord. And the Lord said to me something very strongly as I faced back to earth. He gave me three words. He said, love the people.
That was the instruction that he gave to me. And that's what has inspired this message today. And as I was preparing this message, I remembered that vision, but also as I was seeking the Lord, he gave me two words — love and fire. And as I began to look into that, it says in 1 Peter 4, verse 8, and above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. So Peter is admonishing us as the church to have fervent and fiery love for one another. This is a deep love. And here we have love and fire represented in one scripture.
What Love Really Means
Aaron Salisbury: But here's the thing — we live in a culture, we live in a time where love, and particularly fiery love, has been twisted and perverted. Rick Warren, who wrote the book The Purpose Driven Life, had these words to say. He said, lust is about satisfaction. Love, however, is about sacrificing, serving, surrendering, sharing, supporting, and even suffering for others. Most love songs are actually lust songs. What Rick was speaking about is what the ancient writers would call Corinthianized love — that is, lust which celebrates immoral living. Whereas the love that God demonstrates is not about self-satisfaction. It is about sacrificing, serving, surrendering, sharing, supporting, and suffering for others.
John 3:16, the most famous scripture in all of the Bible, says, for God so loved that he gave. I've discovered something. Mother Teresa said these words: you can give without loving. Yeah, like Rory was talking about before — we can feel pressure to give sometimes, we can feel compulsion to give. But the reality is, you can't love without giving. And that's why loving God is so important, because if we truly love God, we'll give.
Charles Spurgeon said these words: love God and do as you please. I love to say that to young people — love God and do as you please. So long as you're loving God, you will do what is right.
Well, I don't know if you've ever heard of a band called the Black Eyed Peas. Anyone remember back to 2003? On the 12th of May, 2003, the Black Eyed Peas released a song, "Where Is the Love?" And that song became the biggest selling single in the UK in 2003. Before I go any further, because I know these messages are recorded, I just want to say publicly, I don't endorse their values. I don't endorse their music or their lust songs, because they have a few of those. However, this song, "Where Is the Love?", touched on something very interesting. And here are a few of the lines of the song. I'm not going to sing it, but I'm going to give it a go.
"I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder. As I'm getting older, your people getting colder. Most of us only care about money making. Some of us got to follow in the wrong direction. Wrong information always shown by the media. Negative images is the main criteria. Infecting young minds faster than bacteria. Kids want to act like what they see in the cinema, yo. Whatever happened to the values of humanity? Whatever happened to the fairness and equality? Instead of spreading love, we're spreading animosity. Lack of understanding leading us away from unity. That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under. That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down. That's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under. Got to give my faith, got to keep my faith alive till love is found. Now ask yourself, where is the love? Where is the love? Where is the love? Father, Father, Father, help us. Send some guidance from above. Because people got me, got me questioning, where is the love?"
Well, let's have a look at that. Romans chapter 5, verses 5 to 8 says, now hope does not disappoint — and I must put a disclaimer in here: if you get a musician to preach, this is what happens — now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone would even dare to die. Verse 8, Romans chapter 5, verse 8: but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Where is the love? The world is questioning. Well, there is the love. The love of God that does not disappoint. The love of God that is poured out by the Holy Spirit. A love that lays down its life for others — not just for nice others, but for sinners.
You may be asking yourself, well, how can I, how can we actually physically love like that? Well, here's the thing — you can't love like that. The standard is too high. The only way you can love like that is through the power of the Holy Spirit. That love is too great. It's too massive for us. To love like that is actually supernatural. We need the supernatural power of God to love supernaturally.
Word and Spirit: Growing Up Together
Aaron Salisbury: The Apostle Paul was so concerned, so deeply troubled about the moral and spiritual corruption of the Corinthian church, that he inserted 1 Corinthians chapter 13 right in the middle of 1 and 2 Corinthians. And he begins in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1. He says, if I have the ability to speak powerfully and profoundly, even like an angel, but don't have love, I'm just like the pagan demonstrations you see all the time with clanging brass and cymbals which are used in demon worship. That's about how effective I am. In verse 2 he says, if I have the gift of prophecy and I have the revelation to call out your phone number, your address, your next of kin, and your family's secrets to the point where I headline prophetic conferences in the USA, if I can work signs and wonders and even move mountains with my faith, but have not love, I'm nothing.
Why is this important? Well, in the charismatic movement, we have elevated the gift of prophecy and prophets above the sacredness and power of the Word of God. And we are in an hour, a time of God's refining upon his church. The charismatic church today is experiencing a scrutiny and a purifying — if you don't believe me, just look at the internet — where God is taking us to a place of maturity. What does that maturity look like? It looks like this: we need the Word and the Spirit together.
Because if you have the Word without the Spirit, you will dry up. And many of you come from those dry churches, haven't you? Crispy dry, mate. Honestly, it was just like, would somebody just do something? Would something happen? Could somebody please get healed somewhere? Could something interesting happen? I remember as a young kid just going through church and watching all this going on, thinking, is this what Jesus died for? I mean, is anything going to happen? You read about all this cool stuff in the Bible about miracles, signs and wonders, raising the dead, demons coming out of people. But I remember sitting in those church services and, oh my gosh, it was just so boring. I thought, how is the world going to come? How is the world going to get fascinated? How is the world going to want to come into this place? We just bore them to tears. I mean, how many know — if you're going to bore people, read them Shakespeare. Bore them with politics or bore them with world history. But it's a crime to bore people with the Word of God. We should be on the edge of our seats every time we gather together, expecting that God's going to do something. We should be expecting the power of God to flow in our church times.
But here's the thing. If we have the Spirit without the Word, we will blow up. In other words, it becomes all about emotionalism. It becomes all about experiences. And the Word becomes secondary. And this is the challenge we have in our charismatic churches — we can become so obsessed with signs and wonders. We can become so obsessed with the guy up the front who told me my telephone number and told me this and told me that. But actually, where's the Word of God? We need the Word and the Spirit. At least the Spirit without the Word will blow up. But if we have the Spirit and the Word, we'll grow up. And that's the issue. We need to be growing up.
So how do we know that we've grown up? When we have the love of God poured out in our hearts by the Spirit who's been given to us. We haven't grown up when we become dependent on the prophet to tell us what we should be finding in the Word of God ourselves.
And can I just say this — by the way, I love the prophetic. Two of my favorite people in the whole world are highly prophetic. That's Wendy and Brother Andrew. Highly prophetic. And actually, years ago, over 10 years ago, I was kneeling right here in this very spot and I was commissioned as a prophet here in this church. So I love the prophetic. I just don't want you to think that I'm against the prophetic. But the message today is about love. Because the greatest of these is love.
The Story of Belinda: Love Remembers Names
Aaron Salisbury: What are you talking about, Aaron? Well, many years ago when Wendy and I were pastoring the Baptist church way back in Blenheim, New Zealand, one of my jobs as the pastor of the church was — I'll just give you a bit of a background here. In the Baptist church, if you've ever been to a Baptist church, they practice this thing called membership. So you come along to the church for a while, and after you've been coming for a while, the church approaches you and says, would you like to become a member? My job was to interview the people that wanted to become members of the church.
And there was a lady called Belinda who had joined our church and been coming along for a while, and she said, I'd like to be interviewed for membership. So my job was to interview these people and to ask them questions about their faith and so on. And one of the questions I loved to ask them was, why did you choose this particular church, our Baptist church? Because we were in a town in Blenheim where there were a number of different churches to choose from. So, like, why did you come to ours?
And I must confess — can I be a bit vulnerable this morning? I was kind of hoping that they would say, oh, it's the great preaching. Or, I just love the way you guys pray for people. Or, we just love the fellowship afterwards. So I asked Belinda the question. So, Belinda, why did you come to our church? Expecting her to say something like that. She said this to me. She said, Aaron, the reason I come to this church is because you remembered my name.
I thought, wow, okay. And I said, well, can you explain that to me? What happened? She said, well, I came to this church for the very first time and you greeted me at the door and I told you my name. And do you remember the other day we were in the supermarket? We were shopping in the supermarket, and you were walking down the aisle, and you saw me down the aisle, and I was right on the other side. And you called out in a loud voice, you said, hi, Belinda. And she said, well, I'd never been at a church anywhere where people remembered my name. And that's what blew her away. Above any of the preaching or the praise and worship or the fact that we were praying for people and God was moving in signs and wonders, what moved her was the fact that we remembered her name.
You see, love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself and is not puffed up. Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil. It does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Wendy and I have the privilege of doing a lot of premarital counseling. And what we love to say to people that are considering getting married is, when you read 1 Corinthians 13, take the word love out and put your name in. So if you just consider that for a moment — put your own name in there. Well, I suffer long. Well, gosh, I'm kind. I don't envy. I don't parade myself. I'm not puffed up. I don't behave rudely. I don't seek my own. I'm not provoked. I think no evil. I do not rejoice in iniquity but rejoice in the truth. I bear all things. I believe all things. I hope all things. I endure all things. How many know, when you bring it that close to home, it's very sobering. Because every time I read that, I just get this big old lump in my throat because it's like, I know that's the standard, and I'm not meeting it.
Love Covers — But Is Not Blind
Aaron Salisbury: Now, Proverbs 10, verse 12 says these words: hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. Notice it says love covers all sins. It doesn't say love covers up all sins. God's love doesn't mean I can sweep my wrongdoing or my family's wrongdoing under the carpet. It doesn't say that.
Years ago, I was taught a little poem. A very simple one, but sometimes the most simple stuff is the most profound. It goes like this — I'm throwing this in for free this morning. Dearest darling ducky, behind your ears it's mucky. Never mind, love is blind. Dearest darling ducky. Thought you'd enjoy that.
The thing is, the love of God is not blind. Verse 6 gives us the balance in 1 Corinthians 13. It says, love does not rejoice in wrongdoing or iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. If iniquity or wrongdoing is okay for us and we're covering it up, we're not spreading love — we're actually spreading animosity.
You see, the Corinthian church didn't have a grasp on what the love of God was actually all about. They'd never seen the love of God incarnated. What they had around them manifesting was not the agape, which is the unconditional love of God. What they had all around them was eros, which is self-seeking, self-gratifying love. And what they had was this worship of this goddess called Aphrodite, which was the goddess of love, which was absolute immorality. What they needed was a different incarnation of love. And this is what we need as the church — a different incarnation of love.
Because listen to the radio, look at social media, look at the internet. Love is so twisted. It's so perverted. You can't listen to a rock song nowadays without it being about what I need, getting my needs met. When it's said "I love you," what they're actually saying is "I lust you." I love you because of what you can give me.
But what we have in John chapter 1, verse 14 are these words: and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. What's the point? The love that we talk about and read about in the Word of God must incarnate. It has to become flesh. It has to become flesh and dwell among us. This is what the world is screaming out for.
Love Draws People — Not Signs and Wonders
Aaron Salisbury: They aren't going to come because of our signs and wonders. And by the way, I love revival. Wendy and I have been a part of a couple of revivals in our time. I love the moving of the Spirit and I don't want to minimize that. But let me tell you, that's not what's going to bring people to this church.
A month ago, I sat with a man from this church and we'd never sat down to have lunch before. And we were talking back and forth. This man had done mission work overseas, he'd been into different places in the world. And he said these words to me — I didn't prompt him. We were just talking about Rivers. And he said, he's never felt welcome in a church anywhere like he's felt welcome in this church. And I thought, well, praise God for that. And what came through to me strongly yet again is it's the love of God that's going to draw people to this church much more than our signs and wonders.
And praise God for what he's doing in our midst. Praise God for every salvation, every baptism, every deliverance, every healing that we have seen. I praise God for those. But those things will not draw people, because what they're asking is, like the Black Eyed Peas sang in 2003, where is the love? That's what's going to change people's hearts — the love of God. That's what's going to move people far more than any healing or any sign or wonder.
God showed us this in Romans chapter 5, verse 8. We read this earlier: but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that's the real love. That's the love that God is talking about. It's easy to love people that love you, isn't it? Those are the people that we invite around to have a meal. Those are the people that are on the Christmas card list. The people that love us, we love to show them love back. But Jesus went hard out with us. He said, well, if you only love those who love you, what better are you than the tax collectors? That's not supernatural love. That's just what everyone else does. Even the world does that — they love the people that love them. But when we demonstrate love by being willing to lay down our lives, that is what is going to change people's lives. That is what's going to draw people to the life of the church.
Jesus said these words: a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. How? As I have loved you. That you love one another. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. It's not going to be because of how loud our praise and worship is. And you know me, I love music. It's not going to be because of how many people are packing the church out. It's because of our love for one another. That's what's going to get the world to sit up and take notice. It's not our miracles or our signs and wonders or our prophecies.
Because I've discovered something. You can impress people from a distance, but you can only impact them up close. Miracles and signs and wonders and prophecies will impress people. If you want to get people to come to church, just put a prophetic conference on. We've done prophetic conferences and this church had over 800 people packing this church out. So we know that's what's going to draw people. Prophecy will impress people. But you can only impact them up close.
Signs and wonders impressed people in Jesus' time. Time and again, Jesus would perform a miracle and the people would walk away saying, we've never seen things like this. This is amazing. God has raised up a true prophet here in Israel. But those people that were impressed didn't become followers of Jesus. But here's the thing — when Jesus drew people in, when they got close to him, when they felt and experienced his love, that's when they became impacted. And that's when they became followers of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13, verse 13 says these words: these three remain — faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. And I love faith. I love it when faith is exercised and demons fly out of people. I love to see people getting healed. I love it when faith moves mountains. It's wonderful. And without hope, where are we? I love to see hope fulfilled. It's wonderful. But the greatest of these is love.
And here's the cool thing — there's not a person here this morning, or a person that will ever hear this message, that cannot love. Love is not about gifting. Love is not about who's standing up the front. We can all love. And if we're not sure how to love, we just need to look at the love of Jesus. And that love is what is going to change lives.
Closing Appeal
Aaron Salisbury: I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again. I'm just burdened for us as a church that as the power of God moves — and it will come along tonight, we're going to have a wonderful time in the presence of the Lord — and as more and more signs and wonders come, as God moves more and more powerfully by his Spirit in this church, that we, in those times, as God moves more and more in revival power through this church, won't forget to love one another. Because if we forget to love one another, well, we're going to either blow up or dry up. But if we keep the Spirit and the Word working together, we'll grow up.
How are we going to grow up? It's when we can demonstrate love to the unlovely. If we look around this morning, well, everyone's kind of dressed up and looking kind of good. Everyone's kind of smelling good, which is wonderful. We have a wonderful church. But here's the thing — out there in Logan, out there on the Gold Coast, there's a lot of people that don't look like you and I. A lot of people that maybe haven't had a shower for a week or so, aren't dressed in great-looking clothes. There are a lot of people out there in trouble. And my question is this — what would it look like if this church was full of those people? If the doors were flung wide open and because we demonstrated the love of God so strongly, people said, I've got to go and check that out. I've got to go and see, because look how they love each other.
So let's stand this morning. I just want you to bow your heads. I'm not going to ask anyone to come to the front — actually, I'll just hold that thought for a second, because I do want to just check if there's anyone that's not a Christian this morning. So just while your heads are bowed and as you're standing, you may have come into this place and you don't have peace with God. I'm not asking you if you come to church. I'm not asking you if you read the Bible. I'm not asking you if you sing songs. What I'm asking you is, do you know him? Do you know the love of Christ? Because if you don't know the love of Christ, I'd love to pray with you and for you, because you can know this morning the love of Jesus Christ. You can leave this place this morning having real peace with God.
So while our heads are bowed this morning and we're focusing on the Lord, if there's anyone in this place and you don't have peace with God, you don't know — should you lose your life today — whether or not you'd be in heaven when you die, the good news is you can have total peace with God. So if that's you, you don't have peace with God this morning, I'm just going to invite you to raise your hand. Is there anyone this morning who doesn't have peace with God? Anyone that doesn't know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Is there anyone?
Well, praise the Lord that we are a room full of people that have peace with God. Hallelujah. I'm not going to call you forward this morning, but I just want you to think about this. Where are you in terms of the love of God? You may have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, which is wonderful, but God demonstrated his love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that's the love that God calls us to. He calls us to incarnate his love, which means to make his love real, to make his love flesh — in other words, flesh and bones. We can say that we love people, but we need to demonstrate it as God demonstrated his love through Christ.
So we're going to worship the Lord in a moment, but as we're worshiping, I want you to think about where you stand in terms of the love of Christ that he's called us to demonstrate.
Lord, we just thank you for your presence here this morning. Lord, we thank you for your profound love for us. Lord, help us as we go into this week to demonstrate your love — particularly, Lord, to those that we feel don't deserve our love, don't deserve our attention. Help us to flow and go into the supernatural love of the Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus. We bless you. In Jesus' name, amen.