First be Reconciled

Good morning and welcome in everybody.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The book of Matthew. 

Matthew 5 ²³ Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ²⁴ Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Reconciliation is defined as the restoration of friendly relationships with others. A genuine friend is a person who you know very well and who you like a lot. In the church we share friendships with each other through our mutual faith in the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Friends are attached to each other by feelings of mutual affection and kind regards. After all, we are called to love one another, which is what true friendship is all about. A friend Is a person who you enjoy being around, and that you spend a lot of your time with. Look at how much time that Jesus and his disciples spent together during their day. 

Even in a close friendship there are times when you might do something that the other doesn’t appreciate very much. You might sin against them or wrong them in some manner. When somebody sins against you it doesn’t feel very good, and it’s going to cause problems in close relationships. You can tell when somebody is upset with you, because there is something wrong in the relationship. That’s why many friends will occasionally ask each other, is everything okay? Then they might explain something that you did that really upset them. Once it’s out in the open, you can apologize and they can forgive you. That’s reconciliation. At times it can get much more heated than that. When a brother is upset with you enough to vent on you with great displeasure, the best thing to do is to quickly apologize and make it right. When this is done, the relationship can be salvaged, and things can continue as they once were. 

Now, if a wife is upset at her husband or the children are upset with their dad, that can be a very different situation altogether. He might be your friend, but he is also the authority in the home. It is his responsibility in the sight of God to rebuke and to chasten his own household, and the best thing to do is to obey and submit to him at all times. A wife or children who rebuke their dad dishonor him. Many dads might make the wrong decisions, but so have you, because all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God has placed him in a position of authority in the home, and he needs to be feared and honored. After all, he is the one who made you for you are his seed. When you submit to his authority, things will go well with you. It pleases the Lord Jesus when you do this. A wife and the children might not like what he does occasionally, but he is the head of the household and the rule over his family has been granted to him by God. Usurping his authority is a sin, whether it’s a dad, or men of God who have brought you up in your faith. If they have baptized you and given you Holy Communion, you are forbidden from going over their head. Peter usurped over the Lord, and Jesus called him Satan. This is why it’s so bad when a wife leaves her husband, because rather than submitting to his control, she wants to be in control, but that’s a topic for another discussion.

Before bringing a gift or even an offering to the church, God requires that you are first reconciled to a wronged brother. Reconciliation is the essence of the New Testament, as we are reconciled to the Heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In order for reconciliation to happen, you must first repent and confess your faults to them. You must acknowledge that you did the wrong thing. As I’ve said many times before, if you did something to a brother that you could not imagine them doing to you, then obviously you sinned. Refusing to confess faults and apologize can cause a rift in a close relationship because of something that you have done. It’s one thing for unbelievers to do this to each other, but anybody who wants to inherit eternal life must reconcile with a brother. This is commanded in the scriptures. Those who desire to be reconciled to God through Christ and cannot reconcile with a brother are hypocrites. This is because he that loveth not a brother abideth in death, and in the church we are all involved with the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5 ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

In this modern day of false Christianity there are many different denominations, and rather than making up with those whom they have wronged, many people will simply join another church and have communion there instead. But they do so to their own damnation. They will even bring large donations and lavish gifts to their groups. But if they are too proud to reconcile with a brother, then their gifts are given in vain. The reason why is because they could give thousands of dollars to the church and then end up being damned anyway. This is because they are not obeying the gospel of Christ. God doesn’t want the gift until you first reconcile. Reconciliation is a huge part of our own salvation, whereas if people don’t seek it, they are abandoning the teachings of our faith, and are to be treated like a heathen.

Even in a marriage a wife is forbidden from leaving her husband. This is a command of the Lord. It doesn’t matter what his behavior might be, to be faithful to Christ she must obey her husband in everything. I’ve had some incredibly strict teachers and employers during my life, but when you.happily obey them, you find favor in their sight. They even promote you! If a wife leaves her husband, she needs to reconcile with him so she can come into compliance with the commands of Christ, otherwise she abides in a state of perpetual disobedience. This is because she never truly repented of it. If she refuses to obey the commands of the Lord she doesn’t love the Lord. All she is doing is believing a lie. Our salvation requires repentance, turning away from sin, and returning to do what’s right in the eyes of God. Those who refuse to do that are in a state of rebellion and going to lose their salvation unless repented of.

On the other hand, sometimes when you seek reconciliation and apologize, people will refuse to forgive and forget, just as God does with us. The incredible thing is they expect God to forgive and forget their sins, but they refuse to extend that same mercy to others in the church. Jesus commanded to forgive from the heart, and if it’s truly sincere, the relationship that you have had in the past will flourish once again. Please understand that if you have made the attempt to apologize and are willing to reconcile, but they refuse to do so, you are free from the boundary of conscience. You have done what is required on your part in the sight of God. If they cannot forgive you at that point, God will not forgive them at the judgment no matter how much money they gave the church. 

Above any types of gifts to the church, God requires a heart of obedience. If you are not going to do what He says, then why do you call Him your Lord? Reconciliation is required by God, and before any gift is given to the church, you must…

……. First be Reconciled

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 all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️

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