Sermon Notes
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First Making Peace July 25 2010
First be reconciled to your brothers
Matt 5:23-25 (Amplified Bible)
v23So if when you are offering your gift at the altar you there remember that your brother has any [grievance] against you, 24Leave your gift at the altar and go. First make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift. 25Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way traveling with him, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.
We need to learn how to build relationships and if they are damaged to know how to repair and restore them to perfect health.
1. If your brother
Three types of relationships in the kingdom of God
a. Koinonia-fellowship-meaning sharing, contribution and participation
In contemporary terms, they can be the acquaintances that we meet in church, take communion and pray together but not necessary know in an intimate way
b. Kingdom partnership-relationships that are established by working together in the kingdom of God—not necessary personal friends—such as CAM members
c. Covenant relationships-ps jono preached about—close friends who stick with you through thick and thin—cell members
2. Has something against you, go
Always take the initiative whether you are the offender or the offended (compare Matt 18)
3. Leave your gift
Reconciliation precedes worship
According to this verse, reconciliation precedes worship and ministry
Strained relationships can cause our worship to be hindered even rejected
The kingdom is about the heart
The gift derives its value from the heart of the giver. You can’t worship with a pure heart when you have a soiled conscience
RECONCILIATION IS THE PREREQUISITE OF WORSHIP. At the very heart of worship is reconciliation.
Some people think it’s actually better not to go to Church so they don’t have to see the person they feel so angry with. The idea is not to stay away from Church if you have a bad relationship with your brother or sister! The idea is to get right with your brother or sister quickly because worship is so important. WORSHIP IS A PRIORITY. RECONCILIATION IS A PREREQUISITE, and that involves helping eachother to get things right.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT) says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
God bless you as you do always seek reconciliation no matter how right you may think you are. Let relationships be more important than forming a case against your brothers and sisters. Let WORSHIP BE A PRIORITY and because of this, let RECONCILIATION BE A PREREQUISITE.
Jesus says “first”-make right relationship the first priority
If you are the problem, ask for forgiveness
If someone has caused you a problem, forgive
Matt 28—the parable of forgiveness
In Heb the word ‘forgiveness” means to cover over, to lift up or off
It is to send away as the scapegoat was sent into the wilderness with the sins of the people in order to make atonement and pardon for them
The Greek has the same idea- which is to set at liberty
Here in the parable—to forgive is to cancel the debt
If you still hold someone responsible for where you are or who are, you have not cancel the debt—not true forgiveness yet
Signs of unforgiveness in a relationship
a. Crack, a wound
b. Division
c. Offence—stumbling blocks–distrust
d. Bitterness—intense animosity—marked by cynicism and complaints
There is a hardness that comes with refusing to obey the Lord, and the longer we refuse the harder we get. Bitterness and anger results. Short tempers flare up at the slightest of difficulties. Some turn to sinful behaviors to cope with or deal with their first sin. Some turn to alcohol, others turn to sleep. They begin to alienate people and push away those with whom there are no problems and rather than getting help, they distance themselves from those they need. Some people just get cool about the whole thing. I heard a brother say one time, “Well if he thinks I’ve offended him then he ought to come tell me. If he’s not man enough to come tell me then it’s his problem and not mine.” Well that sounds pretty manly all right, but it’s not biblical. Jesus said to go first and make it right.
4. Why—because unforgiveness brings torment