Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from Matthew Chapter 5, but before we do that I wanted to ask you a question.
What is the first thing that you do when you get up each morning? The word first means it comes before all others in time and order, it is the earliest.
Maybe when you get up, you get dressed and have a cup of coffee. Possibly you take a shower, eat some eggs and some toast and watch some news at the dining room table. Doing something first means to do it at the very beginning before any other things.
If you were going to take a long trip in your car and drive to visit somebody in another state what would be the first thing that you would do before leaving town? More than likely you would go to the gas station and check your oil and fill up your tank with gas for the trip. It’s very important to do that first because you would probably run out of gas on the way. Another dictionary defines first as meaning preceding all others because of importance.
When something is important to you it is of great significance and value. It is very prominent in your daily routine. If you were to sit in a classroom somewhere and the teacher asked you to write an essay you would first need a pen a pencil and a piece of paper. If you were going to go for a bike ride with your friends and family to the lake you would first have to go get your bike out of the garage. The scriptures teach us that God wants us to be reconciled with himself and each other. Before we even bring a gift to the church we are supposed to first be reconciled to somebody we have wronged. That’s how important reconciliation is to God.
Matt 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
I happen to be looking at some of my old studies from about 15 years ago. The following is an excerpt from one of those studies. I’m reposting it today to show you that my views have not changed on this issue.
(2007) …..[ Many people who profess Christianity sin against others in the church and could care less about repenting and being reconciled to them. Many of them simply join another church and bring numerous gifts, but the truth is this, if you have wronged a brother and know that they are upset with you, you must first repent and be reconciled to him, which means to be in a friendly relationship with him, before offering a gift to God. If you don’t care about a brother that you have sinned against, how can you possible care about God? Join us for today’s study. ]
I held these beliefs 15 years ago and I still hold them today. God doesn’t desire our money, he doesn’t want our possessions or gifts unless we learn that He wants reconciliation with others.
As we talked about recently, there are many people who are preaching a false gospel in the world today. They claim reconciliation with others in the church is not required. That’s as heretical as claiming that we don’t have to go to Christ to get to heaven. When they preach these things they are teaching lies against the truth of God. All liars are going to have their place in the lake of fire someday. Just knowing that fact should cause them to repent of their wickedness before it’s too late.
I’ve always taught that if we make mistakes we can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need but you have to admit that you are in error. Reconciliation is required with God. When people are incapable of admitting fault and reconciling with others, they’re rejecting one of main doctrines of the Christian faith. If some people actually preached the truth that they needed to be reconciled to others in their groups, I’m sure there would be a lot of people in the church who would get up and leave and go somewhere else. That is how hard their heart is when it comes to admitting fault. If they can’t admit fault to somebody in the church how can they admit their faults to God? It’s just a sham.
They would rather put some money in the offering plate each week then have to go apologize to somebody else and reconcile with them. That’s sad isn’t it. That is what’s going on in moderate forms of Christianity Today.
Many people would rather write out a check then have to forgive somebody else. These people are involved with feel-good Christianity. It really feels good but the truth is it’s all wrong. Those who cannot reconcile are turning away from true christian charity. Again, it hurts when people sin against us, but we need to be forgiving with others. When someone rebukes you and is upset with what you have done to them you need to apologize to them. To reject these simple teachings are to reject Christ.
When people apologize or say I repent you are supposed to forgive them and be reconcilled. When we admit fault to our Lord Jesus Christ he cleanses our hearts and our minds from all unrighteousness. If you claim to be ” in Christ ” that is going to be the same way that you treat others in the church.
There is a false form of Christianity that is growing in the world today. It’s not the true faith that was handed down to the apostles 2000 years ago. It’s a church that is not being lead by true charity for Christ and His Word. When you truly understand how forgiving God is you will take that forgiveness and show it to others.
Matt 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
So if you bring something to offer to God but you remember that your brother is upset with you, God wants you to be reconciled to him first.
When you remember something it means that you recollect something in your mind. It means to bear something in your mind and to recall it. To remember is to keep a person or event or thing in one’s mind.
As I have talked about recently, there are many commands and teachings by the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. This is one of them. This is a command of the Lord. If you remember in your mind that you have wronged somebody else and they’re upset with you, you need to go be reconciled to them. Before God wants any kind of gift, reconciliation has to be first. If you claim to love Jesus, He commands reconciliation. That’s why he commanded it here. That’s why the Apostle Paul called it the ministry of reconciliation.
Remember that reconciliation is impossible without forgiveness and confession. If you truly forgive another person there won’t be any grudges that are kept, and the past misdeeds will be forgotten. The relationship that was broken because of sin will be repaired and restored to the original state that it was in before the sins were committed. Remember that we are reconciled to God through his grace.
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
If you have committed just one sin, then you have broken all of the Commandments unilaterally. Whether we have sinned one time or sinned numerous times, God gives us the grace that we need in order to become the people that he wants us to be.
God wants us to be reconciled in the church and to apologize and forgive each other from the heart.
Look at the things that God has forgiven you for. Look at the faults that you admitted to him. That is what I call a process of Grace. You cannot forgive others who don’t apologize. You can’t apologize if you’re filled up with pride. If you’re filled up with pride you cannot receive forgiveness.
When you do something wrong to others in the church and you’re aware that they are upset with you, you are commanded to be reconciled unto them. It’s not an option it’s mandatory. God does not want division in the church, the scriptures clearly teach that. He wants us to be reconciled. Truly we are reconciled unto God by the death of his son. Before we bring a gift to God we are commanded to be reconciled to a wronged brother first.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
In the church when a brother sins against you you’re supposed to rebuke him. If he tells you I Repent you’re supposed to forgive him. God does not simply forgive everybody on the face of the Earth unless they first come to him and confess their faults to him. That has to happen first. Neither are we required to forgive other people in the church if they will not apologize. We have to be reconciled through Christ to get forgiven and to be with God someday in heaven. Those who don’t will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
It’s very similar here upon the Earth. If you have sinned against somebody else in the church you are supposed to reconcile with them. You need to be humble and apologize for your misdeeds and your wrongs committed against them so that they can forgive you from their heart. If somebody sins against you, you rebuke them. If the offending party apologizes for it then you forgive them. You cannot forgive others who will not apologize and admit fault. Forgiveness is not automatic with God otherwise there would be no eternal damnation. God requires an admission of guilt so that he can forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Confession has to happen in order for reconciliation to happen. If people don’t understand the concept of forgiveness and reconciliation in the Christian church they are missing everything about our faith. You’re missing everything about why Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Like I already said, how do you forgive other people who won’t apologize or confess sin? You can’t. You have the desire in your heart to forgive them, you want to forgive them but it’s because of their hard heart they won’t admit fault and apologize. That truly is a snare of the devil. Instead of being humble and admit that they did something wrong to somebody else they go the complete opposite way and get lifted up with pride.
Those people who tried to bring gifts to God in the church but didn’t reconcile with a brother that they wronged were walking in complete religious hypocrisy which was condemned by Jesus when he preached to certain Jews. It’s the appearance of being filled with Charity while the truth is you have no charity about the feelings of other people. There is a lot of this going on out in the world today and they label it as Christianity but don’t be deceived. They claim that you can confess your sins to God but don’t have to apologize to anybody else.
For those who really believe that lie, they need to heed this warning. If you do not truly forgive others in your heart, if you will not apologize to others and attempt reconciliation with them, God is not going to forgive you. If you love Christ you will obey his commands and apologize and forgive. These are doctrines of our faith that need to be kept.
I think that’s where I’m going to stop for right now, but Lord willing, we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye-bye everybody.♥️
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