WEBVTT 00:00:01.160 --> 00:00:06.639 Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.660 designed to uplift and strengthen you in your 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.939 walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.879 the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:23.579 right in. You know, I was just speaking to the 00:00:23.579 --> 00:00:31.960 pastors and I told them, I said, God has been 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:36.679 gracious to us in this house. There's no, we 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:40.700 gather here and then, the word of God does not 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:45.399 speak to us. God does not speak to us. Every 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:48.000 time and every moment we gather, there's always, 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:51.579 always the word of God for our spiritual building. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.460 And I want to encourage you to be serious about 00:00:55.460 --> 00:01:00.990 what you're receiving. Hallelujah. 52 weeks, 00:01:01.130 --> 00:01:12.709 52 days, every Sunday, every Wednesday, and every 00:01:12.709 --> 00:01:19.269 Friday. Hallelujah. As Paul would say, we have 00:01:19.269 --> 00:01:23.629 not shown to declare to you, right, the counsel, 00:01:23.709 --> 00:01:27.650 all the counsel of God's word. Now you have a 00:01:27.650 --> 00:01:31.129 responsibility. Now, if you don't see your life 00:01:31.129 --> 00:01:33.989 becoming better, it's not that God is not faithful. 00:01:35.569 --> 00:01:40.430 It's not that God is not working. Probably you 00:01:40.430 --> 00:01:42.769 have to examine how you've been responding to 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:48.430 God's word. It will be foolishness for you to 00:01:48.430 --> 00:01:50.549 be doing something over and over and over again 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:55.230 and expect to see a different result. Hallelujah. 00:01:55.969 --> 00:01:59.560 So this new year is an opportunity. to restock, 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:06.159 to take stock, rather, and to be open to changing, 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:08.780 change your ways. Let me use the word, let me 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:11.659 use this phrase, change your ways. The things 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:13.319 you've been doing have not been usually resolved. 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:15.479 Maybe there's another, but there's a better way 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:21.659 to do it. Hallelujah. So please, be encouraged 00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:28.610 to take advantage, to participate. And enjoy 00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:31.629 the work of God. Because you see, sometimes when 00:02:31.629 --> 00:02:33.909 we come in, we speak with some of you, we are 00:02:33.909 --> 00:02:37.349 wondering, you've been here for three years, 00:02:37.590 --> 00:02:42.550 four years. You've been hearing, we've been teaching 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:48.430 you from week out and week in. And we are surprised 00:02:48.430 --> 00:02:53.210 at the responses we hear and some of the actions 00:02:53.210 --> 00:02:55.810 we see you take. You see that we are not doing 00:02:55.810 --> 00:03:02.409 well. So really encourage us. The greatest encouragement 00:03:02.409 --> 00:03:06.150 we can receive as your pastors is the result 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:08.210 that we will see, the fruit that we will see 00:03:08.210 --> 00:03:12.729 coming out of your life. Hallelujah. Now turn 00:03:12.729 --> 00:03:25.750 with me to Matthew 22. Matthew 22 from verse 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:40.379 34. Unread from the NLT. But when the Pharisees 00:03:40.379 --> 00:03:43.560 heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:48.219 his reply, they met together to question him 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:51.379 again. One of them, an expert in religious law, 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:55.199 tried to trap him with this question. Teacher! 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:59.460 Which is the most important commandment in the 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:03.039 law of Moses? And we know what the law of Moses 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.800 is, right? Pastor has been teaching us about 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:10.400 the law of Moses. So which is the most important 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:16.040 commandment in the law of Moses? What is the 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:20.519 central point of Moses' teaching? What is the 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:30.579 dominant theme? In the law of Moses. Jesus replied. 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:35.620 Verse 37. This is it. You must love the Lord 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:41.079 your God. With all your heart. All your soul. 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:46.839 And all your mind. This is the first. And the 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:50.480 greatest commandment. And summarily. We are talking 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.579 about loving God. How we love God is our. is 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:58.819 by our response to his word. This is how we demonstrate 00:04:58.819 --> 00:05:03.800 our love towards God. Amen? We demonstrate our 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.279 love to God by our response to his word. And 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.680 the response that will show that we love God 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:15.779 is faith. Hallelujah. We show faith, we believe 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:19.379 in God's word. Or we talk about believing in 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:21.259 God, or we're talking about putting our trust 00:05:21.259 --> 00:05:24.430 in Jesus Christ. This is how we express our love 00:05:24.430 --> 00:05:30.269 towards God. So he went on to say in verse 38, 00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:35.430 this is the first and the greatest commandment. 00:05:35.430 --> 00:05:40.589 A second is equally important. Love your neighbor 00:05:40.589 --> 00:05:46.189 as yourself. So when we express our faith towards 00:05:46.189 --> 00:05:50.509 God, we express our faith towards God. believing 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:53.629 in his provision for our salvation, believing 00:05:53.629 --> 00:05:56.589 in his word, what he says about who he is and 00:05:56.589 --> 00:06:02.689 what he has done, then we love our neighbor. 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:08.269 And he went on to say in verse 40, the entire 00:06:08.269 --> 00:06:12.750 law and all the prophets and all the demands 00:06:12.750 --> 00:06:16.629 of the prophets are based on these two commandments. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:21.620 So the summary of God's message to us, right, 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:27.420 is about love. Love for God and love for one 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:34.040 another. Love towards God and love one to another. 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:42.000 We love God by responding to his word, by obeying, 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:48.379 then we respond equally. by how we demonstrate 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:55.879 love towards one another. And this has been the 00:06:55.879 --> 00:06:58.220 summary of all that the prophets have been seeing 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:03.420 from Genesis to Revelation. This is the message. 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:08.980 Love towards God, faith in Jesus Christ, and 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:17.339 then how we love one another. And this has been 00:07:17.339 --> 00:07:22.939 what we've been discussing this season. How we 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:25.680 can effectively walk in love towards one another. 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:34.939 And we established that we are a family. We are 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:39.560 members of the same family. And how we become 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:42.160 members of this family is by faith in Jesus Christ. 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:48.230 Our response towards God, towards... having faith 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:50.970 in Jesus Christ and his finished work brings 00:07:50.970 --> 00:07:54.370 us into family, brings us into relationship with 00:07:54.370 --> 00:07:57.509 God. And then we highlighted as well that as 00:07:57.509 --> 00:08:01.509 family, offenses will come in the course of our 00:08:01.509 --> 00:08:06.449 human relationship. All right? Because sometimes 00:08:06.449 --> 00:08:09.750 we have so much expectations towards one another 00:08:09.750 --> 00:08:15.709 that is not real. Because we have so much expectation 00:08:15.709 --> 00:08:18.069 that in the house of God, as a fellowship together, 00:08:18.310 --> 00:08:22.230 oh, these are angels. You know, we're angelic 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:27.310 beings. So when a brother offends you, you become 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:33.049 offended by the entire church. So long as we 00:08:33.049 --> 00:08:36.149 are in this world and we are humans, offenses 00:08:36.149 --> 00:08:39.009 or conflicts would arise during our human interactions 00:08:39.009 --> 00:08:42.129 because we have different history. All of us 00:08:42.129 --> 00:08:44.080 come from different backgrounds. Are we together? 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.259 We have different stories. We have different 00:08:46.259 --> 00:08:49.120 experiences. So in the course of our relationship 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.100 as humans, because first of all, we are humans. 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:56.519 Okay? Of course, we are supernatural beings, 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:58.399 but we are living in the world. We have physical 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.259 body and we live in a physical world. So in the 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:03.039 course of our interaction, there will be conflict. 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:07.340 I think in the course of our meeting with the 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:09.519 pastors, Pastor Victor bring us to something 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:12.840 that was, you know, that was a lie to me. He 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:15.129 said that, Even in scriptures, the apostles, 00:09:15.429 --> 00:09:18.549 some of the conflict they have was just a conflict 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:23.190 of opinion on what is right. It's not necessarily 00:09:23.190 --> 00:09:27.129 that they were selfish, no. It was their passion, 00:09:27.409 --> 00:09:29.950 their display of passion for the work of God 00:09:29.950 --> 00:09:33.990 can bring conflict and friction. So it is not 00:09:33.990 --> 00:09:38.750 something new to find offense even in our midst. 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:43.440 because Jesus has informed us. He has taught 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.860 us in the Word. The Word of God is very explicitly 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:49.539 clear about our relationship and what will happen 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:54.700 within our relationship with one another. So 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:58.100 don't be surprised if someone that is a believer, 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:00.059 that is born again, that even carry the Spirit 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:03.320 of God, you know, do something that offends you. 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:07.590 These are things that... are bound to happen 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:09.549 in the course of our interaction with one another 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:13.330 because we are humans. But the word of God went 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:19.330 on to teach us that we are obligated to do what? 00:10:19.950 --> 00:10:23.649 To forgive. Alright? And when a relationship 00:10:23.649 --> 00:10:27.549 gets sour, we have obligation to forgive and 00:10:27.549 --> 00:10:31.490 to reconcile our relationships. Because we are 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:34.110 members of God's family, we have a responsibility. 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:39.620 To protect our relationship. To guard our relationship. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.399 You know, we live in a world where people don't 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:46.220 regard relationships. And whenever they relate 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:47.840 with people, it's all about what they will get 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:52.740 and then that's all. But God wants... See, the 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:58.179 Christian faith is a relational faith. And God 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.919 has high value for relationships. For family. 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:07.210 Hallelujah. So reconciliation, forgiveness and 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:11.129 reconciliation is very, very integral part of 00:11:11.129 --> 00:11:15.289 your faith. If you're a believer and you don't 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:18.009 forgive, you find it hard to forgive. It means 00:11:18.009 --> 00:11:23.289 that you're not living out your character. Amen? 00:11:23.649 --> 00:11:26.309 So forgiveness and only forgiveness, reconciliation 00:11:26.309 --> 00:11:30.330 is very, very important. Without forgiveness, 00:11:30.549 --> 00:11:32.830 without reconciliation, forgiveness is not complete. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:39.899 Without reconciliation, forgiveness is not complete. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.120 If you say I forgive but I don't want to talk 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:47.080 with this person, that is hypocrisy. Because 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:49.480 without reconciliation, forgiveness is not complete. 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:56.480 So we have a duty to not only forgive but to 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:01.620 reconcile the relationships. And we say that 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:04.600 the most important goal In the course of reconciliation 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:08.940 is that we what? That we gain the brother or 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:13.100 the sister. We are not trying to reconcile the 00:12:13.100 --> 00:12:15.440 point to prove ourselves right or the other person 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.120 wrong. But the most important thing that we value, 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:21.620 we have high value for the relationship. So the 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:23.500 relationship is more important than the offense. 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:30.799 Hallelujah. The relationship is more important 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:37.259 than the offense. And God has set us an example 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:40.419 in the word of God. And we are saying on Wednesday 00:12:40.419 --> 00:12:44.940 that Jesus Christ or Christmas or the most, that 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:48.000 the message of Christmas is actually the message 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:50.700 of forgiveness and what? And reconciliation. 00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:53.860 Now we read in Matthew 18, verse 15. Matthew 00:12:53.860 --> 00:12:58.019 18, verse 15, the key scripture. It says, moreover, 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:03.389 if your brother sins against you, Go and tell 00:13:03.389 --> 00:13:09.970 him his fault between you and him. Between you 00:13:09.970 --> 00:13:13.409 and him alone, if he hears you, you have deigned 00:13:13.409 --> 00:13:16.649 your brother. But if he will not hear, take with 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:19.730 you one or two more, that by the mouth of two 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:23.250 or three witnesses, every word may be established, 00:13:23.490 --> 00:13:27.029 and if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the 00:13:27.029 --> 00:13:30.799 church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:34.659 let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 00:13:36.059 --> 00:13:38.580 And shortly I say to you, whatever you are buying 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:42.360 on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:45.639 you lose on earth will be lost in heaven. Again 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:49.500 I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:54.000 concerning that anything that they ask, it will 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.559 be done for them by my Father in heaven. For 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:01.259 where two or three are gathered together in my 00:14:01.259 --> 00:14:07.179 name, I am there in the midst of them. So these 00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:10.240 were the words of Jesus to the disciples, especially 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.980 those who are his, that he has called them out, 00:14:15.019 --> 00:14:17.940 not only for salvation, but he has called them 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:20.899 forward for the work of ministry. All right? 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.899 So Jesus is giving an instruction, and we'll 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:28.190 read further, we'll see how. Peter responded 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:42.110 to this from verse 21. Matthew 18, 21. Then Peter 00:14:42.110 --> 00:14:44.409 came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my 00:14:44.409 --> 00:14:46.590 brother sin against me? Since you've told us 00:14:46.590 --> 00:14:48.590 that if our brother sins against us, what should 00:14:48.590 --> 00:14:52.029 we do? We should go and tell him and reconcile 00:14:52.029 --> 00:14:54.610 and all those things. Then Peter said, how often? 00:14:56.490 --> 00:14:59.889 Shall my brother sin against me and I forgive 00:14:59.889 --> 00:15:07.269 him up to seven times? Then Jesus said to him, 00:15:07.350 --> 00:15:09.450 I do not say to you up to seven times, but up 00:15:09.450 --> 00:15:13.870 to 70 times seven. And then he began to explain 00:15:13.870 --> 00:15:18.590 to them how the relationship happens in the family. 00:15:18.730 --> 00:15:21.389 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain 00:15:21.389 --> 00:15:23.870 king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 00:15:24.649 --> 00:15:29.309 So Jesus here gives a parable to explain or to 00:15:29.309 --> 00:15:31.570 teach further what he has said in the previous 00:15:31.570 --> 00:15:37.029 verses. Now we establish that whatever God will 00:15:37.029 --> 00:15:41.909 tell us to do, he himself always set the example 00:15:41.909 --> 00:15:45.889 for us. And God cannot tell you to do something 00:15:45.889 --> 00:15:49.190 that he himself has not worked out the pattern 00:15:49.190 --> 00:15:52.909 for us. And we say that the birth of Jesus Christ 00:15:54.440 --> 00:16:00.620 Is actually God in Christ reconciling the world 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:05.679 to himself? 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 and 18 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:12.639 tells us that God, he's a pioneer of reconciliation, 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:14.700 forgiveness and reconciliation. Therefore, if 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:19.320 anyone in Christ, he is a new creation. All things 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:22.600 have passed away. Some of us, when we forgive, 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:27.220 We see all things though. We had archives and 00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:30.860 files and folders of offenses of people that 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:33.179 once they do something, we dust all the files 00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:35.840 and we begin to open and count all the offenses, 00:16:36.179 --> 00:16:42.539 specific date and time and season. But in Christ, 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:45.639 we see that all things of God have passed away. 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:50.860 Behold, all things have become new. Now, all 00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:53.980 things are of God. Who has what? What has he 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:59.600 done? God, a Christ, has reconciled us to himself 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:05.079 through Jesus Christ and has given us also the 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:09.240 responsibility of going out to reconcile people 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:16.079 to God. So we have a ministry of telling people 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:19.809 that God... has reconciled himself, or rather 00:17:19.809 --> 00:17:22.190 the message of God being reconciled with men, 00:17:22.490 --> 00:17:26.190 that Jesus has forgiven, that God has forgiven 00:17:26.190 --> 00:17:30.049 sins through Jesus Christ. So then how can we 00:17:30.049 --> 00:17:34.529 who are ministers of reconciliation, forgiveness 00:17:34.529 --> 00:17:37.930 and reconciliation, live in all forgiveness? 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:43.049 That is hypocrisy. How can we who are supposed 00:17:43.049 --> 00:17:45.490 to be ministers to preach the forgiveness of 00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:49.369 God? To preach the reconciliation of God are 00:17:49.369 --> 00:17:51.529 not able to agree within ourselves and forgive 00:17:51.529 --> 00:17:53.930 and reconcile with one another. And that is not 00:17:53.930 --> 00:17:57.450 the truth. We can't be what we are what we are 00:17:57.450 --> 00:18:00.089 not. We can't teach or preach what we have not 00:18:00.089 --> 00:18:05.150 experienced or what we are not doing. So God 00:18:05.150 --> 00:18:07.029 himself, for him to even give us that instruction, 00:18:07.349 --> 00:18:10.170 he demonstrated it by himself and then giving 00:18:10.170 --> 00:18:13.309 us the responsibility to go out to do what? To 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:16.980 do same into the world. And if we do the same 00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:20.779 in the world, then we have an instruction. It 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:23.640 becomes an obligation. It becomes a commandment 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:27.019 for us to do what? To lift out the message. Because 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:30.920 when you forgive and you reconcile, you are acting 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:38.859 the gospel. You are acting the word of God. We 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:40.500 say that by the standards of God's perfection, 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.809 all men have what? We have all trespassed against 00:18:44.809 --> 00:18:49.789 God. We have transgressed. Romans chapter 3 verse 00:18:49.789 --> 00:18:54.170 9 talks about transgression of all men. All men 00:18:54.170 --> 00:18:59.329 have sinned by the standards of the law. What 00:18:59.329 --> 00:19:02.630 then are we? Better than they? Not at all. For 00:19:02.630 --> 00:19:04.990 we have fiercely charged both Jews and Jews that 00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:09.250 they are all under sin. The next verse. As it 00:19:09.250 --> 00:19:11.690 is written, there is no unrighteous, no not one. 00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:14.609 There is none who understands. There is none 00:19:14.609 --> 00:19:18.829 who seeks after God. They have all torn aside. 00:19:19.069 --> 00:19:22.509 They have together become unprofitable. There 00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:27.250 is none who does good, nor not one. Their throat 00:19:27.250 --> 00:19:30.089 is an open tomb. With their tongues they have 00:19:30.089 --> 00:19:33.009 practiced deceit. The poison of abscess is under 00:19:33.009 --> 00:19:36.190 their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and 00:19:36.190 --> 00:19:39.490 bitterness? Their feet are swift to shed blood. 00:19:40.670 --> 00:19:43.910 destruction and misery are in their ways, and 00:19:43.910 --> 00:19:48.329 the way of peace they have not known. Now this 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:52.569 is describing a man that is under sin, a man 00:19:52.569 --> 00:19:56.029 that has not experienced the salvation and the 00:19:56.029 --> 00:19:59.410 forgiveness of God. And the way of peace they 00:19:59.410 --> 00:20:01.690 have not known. Yes, the next verse. There is 00:20:01.690 --> 00:20:06.589 no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know 00:20:06.589 --> 00:20:09.430 that whatever the law says, now this is the description. 00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:17.539 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:20.380 to those who are under the law, that every mouth 00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:24.240 may be stopped and all the world may become guilty 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.599 before God. So by the standards of the law, all 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:31.700 men are what? We are equal. We are all falling 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:35.460 short of the standards of God. Verse 20. Therefore, 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.619 by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:43.380 in his sight. For by the law comes what? The 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:47.220 knowledge of our shortcoming. By the law comes 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:49.819 the understanding that we cannot meet up the 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:57.220 standard of God. Hallelujah. So none of us can 00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:04.450 meet the standard of God. Alright? But now the 00:21:04.450 --> 00:21:06.849 righteousness of God, this is how God equalizes 00:21:06.849 --> 00:21:10.130 us. Now the righteousness of God, apart from 00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:13.009 the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the 00:21:13.009 --> 00:21:17.410 law and the prophets. Even the righteousness 00:21:17.410 --> 00:21:22.130 of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and 00:21:22.130 --> 00:21:28.089 on all who have faith in Jesus Christ, who believe 00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:32.339 in Jesus Christ. For there is no difference between 00:21:32.339 --> 00:21:37.920 all of us here. For all our world in the past, 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.960 all have sinned and all have come short of God's 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:46.440 standards. Remember I was telling us, the scripture 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:49.339 says, if your brother sins against you, it simply 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:51.940 means that in our relationship there are standards. 00:21:53.140 --> 00:21:55.519 And we in the course of our relationship can 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.819 fall short of our standards. The expectation 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:03.079 that is needed in our interaction every day, 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.180 we can fall short of the standards of our interaction 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:08.920 together. I can offend you, you can offend me. 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:11.299 In the course of even correcting, I can offend. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.180 For all have sinned and all have fallen short 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:21.680 of the glory of God. Be justified, how? Free. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:28.160 Free. By His grace. through redemption that is 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:32.720 in Christ Jesus. So God reconciles himself, right? 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:37.240 Three, whom God set forth as a propitiation by 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:39.980 his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:44.259 Because in the forbearance of God, God has passed 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:46.759 over the sins that were previously committed 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:51.440 to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:56.750 that he might be the just. the just and the justifier 00:22:56.750 --> 00:23:00.710 of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. 00:23:01.930 --> 00:23:05.029 So by the standard of God's perfection, all men 00:23:05.029 --> 00:23:08.170 have trespassed. By the standard of God's perfection, 00:23:08.349 --> 00:23:11.609 all men are worthy of condemnation. And we see 00:23:11.609 --> 00:23:18.089 God coming to us, isn't it? Coming to us and 00:23:18.089 --> 00:23:21.849 then dealing with the transgression that we have 00:23:21.849 --> 00:23:25.740 transgressed. And we see God, coming to us in 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:29.819 the form of Jesus Christ, isn't it? Jesus was 00:23:29.819 --> 00:23:34.720 born in order to reconcile us. So it would be 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.680 fitting for Jesus to say, if your brother sinned 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:40.500 against you, do what? Go to him. Because when 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:44.720 we sinned against God, God came to us. And what 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.059 did he come to us to do? He didn't come to give 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:50.039 you a better life. He didn't come to make you 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:53.539 financially rich. He came fundamentally toward 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:56.059 to reconcile with you because there's a problem. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.839 There's an offense problem. There's a relationship 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:02.799 problem. So God in Christ came to us to deal 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.700 with the issue of sin for us to be forgiven. 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:08.779 And when we are forgiven, did God cease to communicate 00:24:08.779 --> 00:24:12.539 with us? Did he say, okay, the world have died 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:15.099 for you. Henceforth, I don't want to talk with 00:24:15.099 --> 00:24:16.900 you again. I don't want to relate with you again. 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:21.400 No. He lived in us in the form of the Holy Ghost. 00:24:22.470 --> 00:24:25.450 He inhabits us. He lives in us permanently and 00:24:25.450 --> 00:24:30.970 forever. We have union with him, eternal relationship 00:24:30.970 --> 00:24:34.130 with him. We have this union that is eternal 00:24:34.130 --> 00:24:36.710 that we can communicate, we can come in, we can 00:24:36.710 --> 00:24:39.210 enjoy fellowship, we can enjoy his leading, we 00:24:39.210 --> 00:24:44.329 can enjoy his preservation by the Spirit. So 00:24:44.329 --> 00:24:46.369 not only that he forgave us and reconciled us 00:24:46.369 --> 00:24:49.730 to himself, he brought us into an eternal union. 00:24:50.730 --> 00:24:53.529 That is why we are committed to telling you that 00:24:53.529 --> 00:24:59.349 you cannot, we repeat, you can never be separated 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:03.690 from the love of God. Because God himself has 00:25:03.690 --> 00:25:07.269 committed himself to your redemption, to your 00:25:07.269 --> 00:25:09.890 reunion with him, to the forgiveness of your 00:25:09.890 --> 00:25:12.690 sins. Therefore, he has brought you into this 00:25:12.690 --> 00:25:16.289 eternal relationship with him. So therefore, 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.299 We on our paths have an obligation. And what 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:23.059 is our obligation? That when a brother sins against 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:25.420 you, what do you do? You do what God has done 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:31.420 for you. Because you cannot outdo what God has 00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:40.519 done. What Christ has done has eternally reconciled 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:45.160 you to God. What Christ has done has forgiven 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:52.220 all your sins, past, present, and future. So 00:25:52.220 --> 00:25:56.500 you cannot see, your sin cannot overdo what God 00:25:56.500 --> 00:26:05.200 has done in Christ. And this places us in a position 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:10.700 to always forgive one another. Consequentially, 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:13.970 it means That there's no sin that a brother can 00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:20.329 do to you that you cannot forgive. Because there's 00:26:20.329 --> 00:26:24.569 no sin that you can do, right, to God that God 00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:29.589 can never forgive. As a child of God, you are 00:26:29.589 --> 00:26:36.910 eternally forgiven. And it comes with a consequence. 00:26:37.230 --> 00:26:39.730 And the consequence is that what? That you also 00:26:39.730 --> 00:26:52.029 forgive. Always. And that is our heart prayer 00:26:52.029 --> 00:26:54.910 that this message of love will be rooted in our 00:26:54.910 --> 00:26:57.029 heart. That God's love will be rooted in our 00:26:57.029 --> 00:26:59.190 hearts. That we will understand the depth, the 00:26:59.190 --> 00:27:04.069 breadth, the width, the length, the height of 00:27:04.069 --> 00:27:09.380 the love of God towards you. And by that understanding, 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:13.259 you begin to live this kind of love towards people. 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:17.059 This is how people will know that you are a child 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:20.039 of God. It's not in how many times you give prophetic 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:22.799 words. It's not in how many times you prophesy 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.720 or you pray in tongues and then your words are 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:29.759 sanctimonious. That is what makes you a believer. 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:31.759 That's not what makes you a child of God. That's 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:35.740 not what makes you spiritual. The spirituality 00:27:37.930 --> 00:27:41.829 will be seen in your demonstration of love towards 00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:46.329 people, especially, especially the people of 00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:51.430 God. So God in Christ has reconciled us to himself. 00:27:52.210 --> 00:27:56.650 Similarly, he laid down a pattern for us that 00:27:56.650 --> 00:28:01.589 in our relationship with one another, we can 00:28:01.589 --> 00:28:05.430 forgive one another. Verse 15, Matthew 18, 15 00:28:05.430 --> 00:28:08.359 says, if your brother sins against you, Go and 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:10.680 tell him his fault between you and him alone. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:13.220 If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:16.279 And then we discuss that the instruction for 00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:20.279 the believer is to be quick. The instruction 00:28:20.279 --> 00:28:23.640 for us is to be quick to forgive and to seek 00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:26.480 reconciliation. Whenever a brother sins against 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:29.259 you, we'll know how mature you are. Spiritual 00:28:29.259 --> 00:28:33.200 maturity now. Spiritual maturity. We'll know 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:36.920 how spiritually mature you are. to the speed 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:43.579 at which you forgive and reconcile. If it takes 00:28:43.579 --> 00:28:46.500 you years to forgive, it means that you don't 00:28:46.500 --> 00:28:48.140 understand the things of God and you are still 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:54.940 a bit. The speed at which you respond to offenses 00:28:54.940 --> 00:28:58.420 in the sense that you respond. What is our response 00:28:58.420 --> 00:29:03.039 to offenses? Forgiveness. Forgiveness shows the 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:07.150 level of maturity in the things of God. Now, 00:29:07.170 --> 00:29:08.890 when we are offended, it's not enough to pray 00:29:08.890 --> 00:29:12.769 for the person. Because oftentimes, we pray for 00:29:12.769 --> 00:29:16.130 people when we are offended. We must also talk 00:29:16.130 --> 00:29:19.230 to them. You don't just have the liberty to solve 00:29:19.230 --> 00:29:21.210 the problem the way you like. You know, some 00:29:21.210 --> 00:29:23.029 people come to us and then when there's an offense, 00:29:23.150 --> 00:29:25.150 we say, see brother, there's a need for you to 00:29:25.150 --> 00:29:27.210 reconcile with this brother or with this sister. 00:29:27.390 --> 00:29:29.930 Say, no, me, that's the way I feel. That's the 00:29:29.930 --> 00:29:34.500 way I do my things. You don't have an exclusive 00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:38.299 way of doing things in the family of God. You 00:29:38.299 --> 00:29:40.799 don't define the rules in the family of God. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:43.619 You don't determine how relationships are led 00:29:43.619 --> 00:29:47.460 in the family of God. You follow the rules as 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.500 given within the family, within the kingdom of 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:54.039 God. So you don't just have the liberty to solve 00:29:54.039 --> 00:29:57.599 the problem your own way. The Bible is clear 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:02.140 about what you should do. Forgive. Go to the 00:30:02.140 --> 00:30:05.259 person and seek reconciliation. And I can feel 00:30:05.259 --> 00:30:07.859 in my heart that last week, Sunday, and even 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:09.579 Wednesday, there are some people here that are 00:30:09.579 --> 00:30:12.539 battling with reconciliation. And they feel, 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:15.299 you know, at least I have forgiven the person. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:19.900 But instruction for you, number one, is not just 00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:22.720 to forgive the person in your heart. What do 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:25.720 you do? You must initiate conversation concerning 00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:28.859 the offense. And you must speak the offense. 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:32.680 reconcile with the person because the Bible is 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:37.220 clear about what you should do. Go to the person 00:30:37.220 --> 00:30:40.920 and seek reconciliation. You can't just say, 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:47.900 I don't feel like doing it. Your love work will 00:30:47.900 --> 00:30:50.000 be tested by how many relationships you have 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:57.079 restored. Some of us, every... Every city, every 00:30:57.079 --> 00:31:00.720 town, everywhere we go, there are relationships 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:05.039 that end in crisis. And we are so used to it. 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:08.960 People know us with relationships. Every relationship 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:12.319 you have with people always ends in chaos. People 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:14.579 are always the ones that are offending you. People 00:31:14.579 --> 00:31:16.200 are the ones that are always doing you wrong. 00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:17.859 People are the ones that are always taking advantage 00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:20.279 of you. People are the ones that are always... 00:31:20.279 --> 00:31:23.019 Anywhere you go, your first speech is like, everybody 00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:27.240 just ends up offending you. Don't you think that 00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:32.839 there's a problem with the way you live? So we 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:38.980 can't accumulate offenses. Our love will be tested 00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:44.940 by how many relationships we have been intentional 00:31:44.940 --> 00:31:50.460 about restoring. Verse 16 went on to say, but 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:53.339 if you will not hear, take with you one or two 00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:56.049 people. that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, 00:31:56.309 --> 00:31:58.930 every word may be established. First step is 00:31:58.930 --> 00:32:02.089 that you go, all right, and you may share reconciliation. 00:32:03.789 --> 00:32:05.789 Now, if you need help to do that, we are here 00:32:05.789 --> 00:32:08.569 to always help. We'll teach you what to do. We'll 00:32:08.569 --> 00:32:11.170 teach you what to say. We'll teach you how to 00:32:11.170 --> 00:32:12.890 say it because there's wisdom in reconciliation. 00:32:13.789 --> 00:32:16.390 But if the person refuses to hear you, the person 00:32:16.390 --> 00:32:18.349 is not interested in hearing you, especially 00:32:18.349 --> 00:32:20.900 you are in church here. And then you try to reconcile 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:22.940 the pain with the person. And the person say, 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:26.019 I have forgiven you. But when they see you, they 00:32:26.019 --> 00:32:28.940 change what? When they see you, they don't even 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:32.160 want to greet it. They don't even want to. When 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:34.019 they say, look for a neighbor and hold the neighbor, 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:36.680 and you are coincidentally seated around the 00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:38.099 same seat, the person will go and look for another 00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:40.859 person. Because they don't want to look at your 00:32:40.859 --> 00:32:43.839 eyes. They don't want to bless you. They don't 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:51.200 want to pray for you. The Bible says, take with 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:53.819 you one or two that by the mouth of two or three 00:32:53.819 --> 00:33:02.279 witnesses, every word may be established. Now 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:07.900 the individuals that you take, the one or two 00:33:07.900 --> 00:33:09.960 that you take must be the family of God's people. 00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:16.359 Hallelujah. Now this is very important. You can't 00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:19.940 have an offense with a brother in church. And 00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:21.400 the person that will help you reconcile with 00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:23.420 the person is Mehmet in the class, from your 00:33:23.420 --> 00:33:33.619 class, or Selçuk. You can't have an offense with 00:33:33.619 --> 00:33:36.480 your brother in church. And the person that you 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:38.519 take, the one or two people you take is police. 00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:47.460 The one or two that you take to the person's 00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:57.079 door for reconciliation is police. 1 Corinthians 00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:09.159 6, verse 1. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 1. There any 00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:12.380 of you, the way Paul is speaking here, he says, 00:34:12.460 --> 00:34:15.570 there any of you, Having a matter against another, 00:34:15.769 --> 00:34:17.909 go to the law. Which law? Is it the law of God? 00:34:18.230 --> 00:34:22.550 Go to the police or to the court before the unrighteous 00:34:22.550 --> 00:34:28.449 and not before the saints? Do you not know that 00:34:28.449 --> 00:34:31.869 the saints will judge the world? And if the world 00:34:31.869 --> 00:34:35.570 will be judged by you, are you unready to judge 00:34:35.570 --> 00:34:40.010 the smallest matters? Do you not know that we 00:34:40.010 --> 00:34:43.760 shall judge angels? How much more things that 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.719 pertains to this life? How much more carnal things? 00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:52.360 If then you have judgments concerning things 00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:55.320 pertaining to this life, do you appoint those 00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:58.980 who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:05.920 I say this to your shame. That is, if you are 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:07.599 the one that will call police for your brother 00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:11.099 and sister in Christ, shame on you. Paul is saying, 00:35:11.159 --> 00:35:15.840 shame on you. Is it not that there is not a wise 00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:18.820 man? Is it so, rather, that there is no wise 00:35:18.820 --> 00:35:21.780 man among you, right, among the family of God's 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:25.199 people? Not even one. Who will be able to judge 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:31.539 between brethren? But brother goes to law against 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:36.280 a brother, and that before unbelievers. Imagine 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:39.929 a believer that professes Christ. goes to report 00:35:39.929 --> 00:35:42.469 another believer that professes Christ before 00:35:42.469 --> 00:35:44.889 an unbeliever that does not know God. And he 00:35:44.889 --> 00:35:47.170 knows the two of you are believers. What gospel 00:35:47.170 --> 00:35:52.289 are you preaching? Is there an opportunity for 00:35:52.289 --> 00:35:53.969 this person to understand? Imagine you coming 00:35:53.969 --> 00:35:55.710 together tomorrow to tell the person about the 00:35:55.710 --> 00:35:58.590 love of God and the forgiveness of God. How will 00:35:58.590 --> 00:36:01.670 you correlate the issue that happened between 00:36:01.670 --> 00:36:07.050 the two? This person... So, you people that know 00:36:07.050 --> 00:36:09.250 the love of God and the forgiveness of God can 00:36:09.250 --> 00:36:10.989 do these terrible things one to another like 00:36:10.989 --> 00:36:20.650 this. It is now therefore it is already an utter 00:36:20.650 --> 00:36:23.389 failure for you that you go to law against one 00:36:23.389 --> 00:36:25.929 another. Why do you not rather, this is what 00:36:25.929 --> 00:36:31.630 it says, rather accept wrong? Alright? Why do 00:36:31.630 --> 00:36:34.130 you not rather let yourself be cheated even if 00:36:34.130 --> 00:36:37.190 it's been a business? I'd rather allow my brother 00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:43.789 to take advantage of me than to sue him. I know 00:36:43.789 --> 00:36:47.650 this seems hard and difficult. You know, when 00:36:47.650 --> 00:36:48.809 they are preaching these kind of things, people 00:36:48.809 --> 00:36:52.670 don't shout glory. People don't rise up and rejoice. 00:36:57.869 --> 00:37:03.110 It may not seem juicy, but you know what? We 00:37:03.110 --> 00:37:06.030 will face it with the truth. All right? Because 00:37:06.030 --> 00:37:08.949 this is the counsel of God's word. I don't have 00:37:08.949 --> 00:37:12.690 an opinion. If I have an opinion, maybe I would 00:37:12.690 --> 00:37:17.489 have done it another way. My human mind and wisdom 00:37:17.489 --> 00:37:20.809 and intellect wouldn't be far from doing what 00:37:20.809 --> 00:37:29.750 I do. You know what I'm saying? There's a law 00:37:29.750 --> 00:37:36.920 of physics. Equal, false, What will happen? Equal 00:37:36.920 --> 00:37:40.559 reaction, right? Which law of force? Motion? 00:37:40.760 --> 00:37:45.519 Is it motion? In the kingdom of God, it's not 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:49.079 like that. It's not physics. In fact, in the 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:52.480 kingdom of God, one plus one is not two. First 00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:57.079 of all, it's above the law of mathematics. The 00:37:57.079 --> 00:38:01.440 one plus one of God in marriage is one. Hallelujah. 00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:06.559 So, Is not forced in. Then receiving equal level 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:10.380 of. Then we will be full of. Crisis and chaos. 00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:19.360 So we have an obligation. No. You yourself do 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:22.380 wrong and cheat. It is a believer. Say you yourself 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:26.099 do wrong and cheat. And you do these things to 00:38:26.099 --> 00:38:27.940 your brethren. To your brothers and your sisters. 00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:30.340 Some of you in this house cannot even do business 00:38:30.340 --> 00:38:37.199 together. People cannot even sit together and 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:40.059 say, okay, let's pay house rent. The house rent 00:38:40.059 --> 00:38:45.760 is £2 .56, for example, now. We are supposed 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:53.019 to £2 .56 divided by two is how much? 120 what? 00:38:53.519 --> 00:38:55.820 Point something, something, something. You will 00:38:55.820 --> 00:38:58.099 not even allow your brother to carry one point 00:38:58.099 --> 00:39:03.449 something, something, something, something. Your 00:39:03.449 --> 00:39:11.869 account was balanced to the latter. Habba. Carnal 00:39:11.869 --> 00:39:18.730 things. Material things. You always want to exhaust 00:39:18.730 --> 00:39:26.489 every privilege in every relationship. You yourself 00:39:26.489 --> 00:39:29.510 do wrong and cheat. And you do these things to 00:39:29.510 --> 00:39:31.630 your brethren, to your brothers and sisters in 00:39:31.630 --> 00:39:37.019 Christ. You know, some of you... See, let me 00:39:37.019 --> 00:39:40.420 say this in this house. You know, there are agents 00:39:40.420 --> 00:39:43.679 all around. And there are some of us, some of 00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:47.360 them in this house. If we hear you doing things 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:51.699 unethical, first of all, you will have us to 00:39:51.699 --> 00:39:56.099 face. All right? And then we'll deal with you 00:39:56.099 --> 00:39:59.860 appropriately. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't 00:39:59.860 --> 00:40:04.730 do business. But be ethical. Be righteous about 00:40:04.730 --> 00:40:07.650 it. Do you even know that the unrighteous will 00:40:07.650 --> 00:40:10.769 not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. 00:40:10.949 --> 00:40:13.670 Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 00:40:13.750 --> 00:40:17.250 nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, 00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:21.389 nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor 00:40:21.389 --> 00:40:27.530 extortioners. Who are extortioners? Extortioners 00:40:27.530 --> 00:40:31.570 will inherit the kingdom of God. This is not 00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:34.630 your identity, all right? And such were some 00:40:34.630 --> 00:40:37.510 of you. That is where some of us were coming 00:40:37.510 --> 00:40:42.269 from. But you were what? We were washed. We were 00:40:42.269 --> 00:40:45.670 sanctified. We were justified in the name of 00:40:45.670 --> 00:40:47.789 the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. It means 00:40:47.789 --> 00:40:49.849 that God has forgiven us. He has made us whole. 00:40:50.030 --> 00:40:54.309 He has brought us into a new life. So how can 00:40:54.309 --> 00:40:57.090 we, who have been justified and set free from 00:40:57.090 --> 00:40:58.909 that kind of life, be living that kind of life? 00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:06.460 Even in the family of God's people. So please, 00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:13.500 watch out how you live. The individuals you must 00:41:13.500 --> 00:41:15.400 carry to go to the concern must be the people 00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:18.960 of God. And I said this last week. I said, if 00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:21.380 you are the one that someone comes to you and 00:41:21.380 --> 00:41:25.440 says, see, when someone offends you and he tries 00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:29.360 to reconcile, And the person seems to be difficult 00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:31.460 in that reconciliation. When you go to another 00:41:31.460 --> 00:41:33.780 person, you're not going there to defend to, 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:36.280 you know, sometimes we want to paint a picture 00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:39.179 of ourselves as good. We are the ones that are 00:41:39.179 --> 00:41:41.139 right. We are the ones that have been offended. 00:41:41.320 --> 00:41:44.360 You know, we try to build the person. Now, when 00:41:44.360 --> 00:41:46.940 the person is on your side and you're going to 00:41:46.940 --> 00:41:49.460 meet the other person, you go sophisticatedly. 00:41:51.500 --> 00:42:00.019 And what you get is actually, So, if you are 00:42:00.019 --> 00:42:03.480 the one that is going to accompany someone to 00:42:03.480 --> 00:42:07.820 go for reconciliation, don't take sides. Agree 00:42:07.820 --> 00:42:10.900 together. Even if you know who is wrong, who 00:42:10.900 --> 00:42:13.780 is right, your goal is not to point who is right 00:42:13.780 --> 00:42:16.400 or who is wrong. Your goal is to reconcile the 00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:20.239 brothers. So, by virtue of your responsibility 00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:23.619 as a spiritual man, you are to do what Christ. 00:42:24.750 --> 00:42:28.130 What Christ? When Christ came to reconcile us 00:42:28.130 --> 00:42:30.550 to God, did he look at our sins before he died 00:42:30.550 --> 00:42:34.070 on the cross? What did he do? Even while we were 00:42:34.070 --> 00:42:36.690 in sin, he died for us so that we can be brought 00:42:36.690 --> 00:42:38.889 into fellowship with God. So you're the one that 00:42:38.889 --> 00:42:43.849 is turning the gap. You must act the way Christ 00:42:43.849 --> 00:42:50.070 will act. Your goal is the reconciliation of 00:42:50.070 --> 00:42:52.670 that relationship. Your goal is that that relationship 00:42:52.670 --> 00:42:55.510 will work. will be built up because that is the 00:42:55.510 --> 00:43:06.030 will and the purpose of God. So when a brother 00:43:06.030 --> 00:43:12.969 says against you, we look for brethren to help 00:43:12.969 --> 00:43:14.670 us in the course of that reconciliation once 00:43:14.670 --> 00:43:17.590 we find difficulty. And then the last part, it 00:43:17.590 --> 00:43:20.510 says, verse 17, and if he refuses to hear them, 00:43:20.570 --> 00:43:24.900 that is, you have made the first step. He couldn't 00:43:24.900 --> 00:43:29.099 succeed. He gathered one or two, and then you 00:43:29.099 --> 00:43:32.820 go to the person, two or three. That mission 00:43:32.820 --> 00:43:38.420 failed. If he refuses to hear verse 17, what 00:43:38.420 --> 00:43:46.619 do you do? Tell it to who? To the church. That 00:43:46.619 --> 00:43:49.739 is, the leadership of the church should now be 00:43:49.739 --> 00:43:53.659 involved in trying to reconcile. But if he refuses 00:43:53.659 --> 00:43:58.300 to even hear the church, let him be to you like 00:43:58.300 --> 00:44:02.780 a heathen and a tax collector. This is where 00:44:02.780 --> 00:44:04.500 some of us are looking. We are looking for an 00:44:04.500 --> 00:44:08.059 escape. The Bible says, let him be to us like 00:44:08.059 --> 00:44:10.280 a heathen or a tax collector. So what do we do? 00:44:11.659 --> 00:44:14.159 We treat the person like a sinner, like a trash. 00:44:16.460 --> 00:44:19.400 Is that what the Bible is teaching? How did Jesus 00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:24.420 treat publicans and sinners? That should tell 00:44:24.420 --> 00:44:27.260 us how we should treat somebody that you tried 00:44:27.260 --> 00:44:30.519 to reconcile and even in the reconciliation. 00:44:30.519 --> 00:44:32.800 Listen, you are not the one that offended this 00:44:32.800 --> 00:44:35.039 person in the first place. This person offended 00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:38.780 you. Alright? And what did he do to you? You 00:44:38.780 --> 00:44:41.280 went to him to reconcile and then he blasted 00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:45.599 you. As in the word. You went and carried one 00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:47.880 or two brothers or even three because you won 00:44:47.880 --> 00:44:50.420 a good number. You went to him and the person 00:44:50.420 --> 00:44:55.329 he... He refused to listen to you. You came to 00:44:55.329 --> 00:44:57.050 the pastors and said, Pastor, see, this is what 00:44:57.050 --> 00:44:59.789 I've done. I've done A, B, and C. And this person 00:44:59.789 --> 00:45:06.769 is not responding. The Bible says what? Treat 00:45:06.769 --> 00:45:10.030 him like a heathen, a home believer, a tax collector. 00:45:12.170 --> 00:45:13.809 Telling it to the church refers to leadership. 00:45:16.050 --> 00:45:19.670 And how should we treat the person? As a tax 00:45:19.670 --> 00:45:22.340 collector, as a sinner, Let's see how Jesus treats 00:45:22.340 --> 00:45:25.659 Republicans and sinners. I think we'll do this 00:45:25.659 --> 00:45:27.000 and then we'll stop here. We'll continue next 00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:34.039 time. How do you treat a brother? Remember? It's 00:45:34.039 --> 00:45:37.119 a brother that you're going to treat like a sinner. 00:45:42.199 --> 00:45:45.039 Amen? We're not saying the brother is a sinner. 00:45:48.019 --> 00:45:50.280 Sinner in this context is someone that is an 00:45:50.280 --> 00:45:54.780 unbeliever. He is a brother, but you have to 00:45:54.780 --> 00:46:00.380 treat like the way we treat sinners, unbelievers. 00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:03.219 Now, how did Jesus treat sinners? Matthew 5, 00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:06.900 verse 44. Let's see how Jesus disdained sinners, 00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:12.039 how Jesus was disgusted by tax collectors and 00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:16.739 sinners. Matthew 5, verse 44. But I say to you, 00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:19.480 We read from verse 44 to 48. But I said to you, 00:46:19.539 --> 00:46:23.340 love your word. Aha. This one is a difficult 00:46:23.340 --> 00:46:30.960 one. Love your word. Love your word. I want us 00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:36.059 to read this verse together. Want to go. But 00:46:36.059 --> 00:46:43.679 I said to you. Again. But I said to you. But 00:46:43.679 --> 00:46:47.179 I said to you. How do you love your enemies? 00:46:48.900 --> 00:46:52.679 Bless those who curse you. That is, you pronounce 00:46:52.679 --> 00:46:58.920 God's blessings on them. You pray for their ways 00:46:58.920 --> 00:47:03.820 to prosper. Now, this completely, completely 00:47:03.820 --> 00:47:07.539 destroyed the theology of my enemies fall down 00:47:07.539 --> 00:47:14.679 and... Love your enemies. This is Jesus speaking. 00:47:15.469 --> 00:47:18.929 Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who 00:47:18.929 --> 00:47:22.630 what? Who love you, who hate you. That means 00:47:22.630 --> 00:47:24.250 that if you have an opportunity to do good for 00:47:24.250 --> 00:47:26.210 them, what do you do? You respond by doing good 00:47:26.210 --> 00:47:31.289 to them. Pray for those who what? Who spitefully 00:47:31.289 --> 00:47:37.369 use you. They took advantage of you and persecute 00:47:37.369 --> 00:47:42.269 you that you may show that you are what? You 00:47:42.269 --> 00:47:44.369 are really the sons and the children of your 00:47:44.369 --> 00:47:49.570 father. In heaven, what did he do? He makes his 00:47:49.570 --> 00:47:55.269 son, right, to shine on all, on those who are 00:47:55.269 --> 00:47:59.250 evil and on those who are good. And he sends 00:47:59.250 --> 00:48:02.170 his reign on those who are just and those who 00:48:02.170 --> 00:48:04.789 are unjust. So in God's love, there's no selection. 00:48:05.409 --> 00:48:11.230 God's love is for all men. For he's loved those 00:48:11.230 --> 00:48:15.150 who love you, what have you. Do not even the 00:48:15.150 --> 00:48:17.389 tax collectors do the same? Who are the tax collectors? 00:48:18.730 --> 00:48:20.489 They are the people that are called sinners. 00:48:22.489 --> 00:48:25.570 And if you greet your brethren only, won't some 00:48:25.570 --> 00:48:27.090 of you even your brethren until you don't greet 00:48:27.090 --> 00:48:30.130 them? Because you have an issue, you don't greet 00:48:30.130 --> 00:48:33.630 them. When you see them, you change roads because 00:48:33.630 --> 00:48:36.309 you have offense. Let me tell you, you are living 00:48:36.309 --> 00:48:39.349 in disobedience to God's word. And I'm telling 00:48:39.349 --> 00:48:40.630 you this, we're going to look at it subsequently. 00:48:40.769 --> 00:48:42.570 God will hold you accountable for that offense. 00:48:45.529 --> 00:48:47.489 God will hold you accountable for that offense. 00:48:47.630 --> 00:48:49.150 Do you know how another God will hold you accountable 00:48:49.150 --> 00:48:51.590 for that offense? If you go to Matthew, let's 00:48:51.590 --> 00:48:56.510 look at this briefly. Matthew 18, verse 32. Matthew 00:48:56.510 --> 00:49:12.630 18, verse 32. 32. The last verse in that parable, 00:49:12.710 --> 00:49:20.909 is it 32, sir? Cat 5. So my heavenly father, 00:49:21.010 --> 00:49:26.670 right, will also do to you, to you, if each of 00:49:26.670 --> 00:49:29.769 you from his heart does not forgive his brother 00:49:29.769 --> 00:49:31.969 his trespass, which means our God will hold you 00:49:31.969 --> 00:49:36.449 accountable for unforgiveness. Are we together? 00:49:36.590 --> 00:49:38.010 We're going to study this and understand it based 00:49:38.010 --> 00:49:42.909 on the context. So, we'll stop here. I will continue 00:49:42.909 --> 00:49:45.780 from seeing how we ought to treat a stubborn 00:49:45.780 --> 00:49:48.500 brother or a stubborn sister. A brother that 00:49:48.500 --> 00:49:50.340 have refused to reconcile with us even when we 00:49:50.340 --> 00:49:52.940 make the steps to reconcile. And God will help 00:49:52.940 --> 00:49:54.900 us to live with them in accordance to his will 00:49:54.900 --> 00:49:58.000 and his purpose. That they might know the love 00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:00.460 of God and respond to the love of God for his 00:50:00.460 --> 00:50:02.320 glory and for his honor. This is what I want 00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:06.239 to matter and pray and ask God to help us. We 00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:08.960 appreciate you being here today. We hope you 00:50:08.960 --> 00:50:11.079 carry this word with you throughout your week. 00:50:11.800 --> 00:50:13.920 Don't forget to check the show notes for additional 00:50:13.920 --> 00:50:16.849 insights. Stay connected with us through our 00:50:16.849 --> 00:50:20.690 website or follow us on social media. If you 00:50:20.690 --> 00:50:22.949 are encouraged, share this message with someone 00:50:22.949 --> 00:50:26.510 you care about. Until next time, stay blessed.