Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When I was very young, I got a handheld electric wood burner. I’m not talking about a wood stove, but a handheld electric pen that you could use to burn wood. When you plugged it in, it would slowly warm up so you could make your own drawings by burning them into a piece of wood. It was very similar to a soldering iron. Although I was never artistic when it came to paintings, I made the best attempt that I could, trying to produce things that looked creative. Thinking back so many years ago, I really don’t recall where I had originally gotten it from. I don’t remember if it was a gift or something that I had actually purchased, but I do remember that the box that it came in was filled with many different patterns that were drawn on dry pieces of flat wood. If I simply followed the patterns in the box, I was a brand new and aspiring artist! But in the end, it was just wishful thinking. As a young pyrographer, I would use my handheld burner and burn the images deep into the wood, everything from landscapes to wildlife. I was never really good at it, and in fact when I used it, I think I burned my hands more than the wood.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Like an image that is burnt deep into a piece of wood, the conscience bears witness to the lives that we have lived. It is etched into our minds, very much like the audio that has been scored into the vinyl on an old 33 rpm record. There’s only one way that the conscience can be relieved of all these deep images. It is through repentance and humbly admitting your fault to the Lord Jesus and other brothers in the church whom you have wronged.
Matthew 18:15-19 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
When somebody sins against you in the church, it doesn’t feel very good does it? Each of us has to endure a certain measure of suffering that we must go through before we inherit eternal life. The heart becomes scored because of what others have done to you. Anyone who willfully chooses to sin against a brother, with no desire to apologize, will suffer severe repercussions with God. I’m not saying this to condemn you, but to warn you. God’s justice will prevail forever.
Without reconciliation towards God through Christ Jesus, and without reconciliation to a brother whom you have wronged, will result in one’s own damnation. I do not say this to condemn you but to save you. Eternal life is a serious thing, and salvation hangs in the balance. The entirety of the Christian life is completely based upon reconciliation, with God and others. Those who deny the gospel of reconciliation are certainly not Christian. It’s clear from scripture that God doesn’t want anybody to perish but some obviously will, because they openly refuse to reconcile with others. They chose to wrong God and others in the church. I pray that they people would seek reconciliation.
So many marriages, for example, have failed in this world because of a lack of forgiveness. Mercy is like glue, cementing people together in the church forever. The lack of mercy is what destroys families and destroys a church.The refusal to forgive a confessor is an unforgivable sin. I’ve taught this for twenty years and I will continue to teach it. The refusal to forgive those who confess, will bring upon themselves their own damnation. Genuine love wants to forgive. We see this in the mercy of Christ, and it is caused by divine charity.
Matthew 5:23-26 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. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Like a wood burner, sins committed against a brother can burned into the conscience of one’s mind. The mind bears witness to the wrongs that one has committed. They might try to forget what they have done, but they won’t be able to run and hide from it on judgment Day. Their lives are like a hard drive that will retain the memory of their past wickedness and sinful deeds. Reconciliation with a brother is so important, that you can lose your soul if you refuse to do it, and this includes a husband. In the church, we can wash people’s sins away, extending to others the multitude of God’s mercy. Actually, to bring a gift to the church and refusing to apologize to a brother in the meantime, is completely hypocritical. People such as these are no different than the Pharisees of old.
Matthew 23:27-31 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
The conscience is a reminder. Like a video recorder it bears witness of all that you have done in this life. But before the conscience can be cleansed, confession must be made with God and others. Some people have done all kinds of wicked things to people each day yet they refuse to repent. Repentance is paramount to the christian life.
Whether it is reconciling with a husband, or a brother in the church, refusing to confess fault and wash your sins away in the blood of Christ will result in punishment. I say this not to condemn you, but to save you. Even a wife who refuses to reconcile with her own husband, is wilfully going against the command of Christ. It’s no different if she went out and murdered somebody every day.
1 Corinthians 7:10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
Divorce, and separation by a wife is forbidden in the New Testament, because these acts are completely void of charity. Millions of conservative Christians believe the same thing I do, and those who believe otherwise are calling all of them liars. That’s not falsely accusing one person, it is falsely accusing millions of people.
Reconciling with a brother is commanded in Scripture. Refusing to do this will only cause one’s sin to be permanently etched into their mind, like burning a piece of wood in….
…..Pyrography
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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