Reconciliation With An Offender Brother Or Sister Is A Prerequisite To Restoring Unity And Presenting Acceptable Worship Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Gal 6:1) We Are United In Jesus Christ - https://youtube/watch?v=HQRCnhoFOCY GOD YOU ARE TRULY AMAZING. YOUR MESSAGE THIS MORINING IS ON TARGET AND POINTED. The Lord is hitting us at the core of our ineffectiveness as witnesses for Him. How can we expect the work of evangelism to bear much fruits when we are unable to reconcile with each other? How can we expect God to bring young spiritual babes in our congregation if we are unable to forgive each other and put our differences behind us? How can we expect God to accept our worship when we are unwilling to reconcile one with another? The power that we want to be effectives witnesses for Jesus will not be unleashed upon our congregations until we do what the disciples did a few days before the day of Pentecost? What did the disciples do? They went to Jerusalem and spent 10 days in the upper room in soul searching prayer. In Acts 1:13, 14 the word of God said, “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” During their prayer session, the Lord led them into confessing their faults one with another. Through their prayers of supplication, they repented of all their sins and only at the time when all the persons were in one accord did the Holy Spirit descend on the group with great power. All of us have difficulty confessing our faults one with another. All of us have difficulty accepting that we have offended someone else. God is sending this very important message to all of us this morning. If we really want to make it into Heaven, we must follow the instructions given to us by God. Although it is difficult in our own human strength to reconcile with an offending brother or sister, the Lord is reminding us this morning that He can give us the strength to do what is right. We must remember that our worship will not be accepted by God if we don’t reconcile one with another. Our ability to be effective witnesses for Him will not become a reality if we don’t reconcile with each other and put away every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us. This is a very POWERFUL and TIMELY message for all of God’s people. I pray that all of us will heed the warning of God and allow the Holy Spirit to help us to reconcile one with another so that our congregation will be united in Jesus Christ and our worship will be acceptable to God. The greater destruction included in Christs description of the destruction of Jerusalem, -- the destruction of the world, -- is at hand. Soon the history of this earth is to be swallowed up in an endless eternity. In view of this, how can the members of the church of God spend their time in dissension and strife, criticizing and condemning one another? We have no call to sit in judgment upon others. To no human being is given the work of passing sentence upon his fellow-beings. This work Christ alone can do. The Saviour has laid down the rules that we are to follow in dealing with one another. In His sermon on the mount He said, 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. If there is a difference between you and a brother in the church, go to him, and try to remove the cause of variance, that there may be a fellowship between you. This duty you are under obligation to perform before you offer your gift to God. The gift will not be accepted until this duty is done. Be reconciled to your brother. If the fault is on your side, remove the stone of stumbling that you have placed before his feet. A faithful effort to remove the misunderstanding will place you both in such relation to one another and to God that He can bless you. But you can not receive His blessing while you are unwilling to do what you can to set things right because to do this would require a humbling of your proud heart. O the little misunderstandings that arise may be so easily removed! And until this is done, we are not prepared to take part in the holy ordinances of the Lord. Are you willing to do your part to adjust the differences that exist? If you are, a vast amount of evil speaking and bitter feeling will be saved. These words I am instructed to present as a message from God. In the morning and at night let there be close investigation of self. Search the heart diligently and you will find many wrongs that can and should be made right. Put away all that hinders communion with God. Christ says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To make the confession necessary may require great strength of will. It may be as a crucifixion to say, I did this evil, and sinned against God. I am instructed to say that there are sins between man and his God that no other human being need know anything about. If the one on whom such sins rest will make his peace with God, the Lord will forgive him, and the burden will roll off his soul. He will then make confession to his fellow-men, if he has wronged them, and as he confesses, God will be merciful, and will forgive his sin. One such confession is an evidence of the presence of the miracle-working power of God, and it leads to other confessions, not general confessions, but confessions of particular wrongs that have existed between brethren. God values above gold or silver the one who makes such a confession. I will make a man more precious than fine gold, He says, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. (Pacific Union Recorder, December 1, 1904 – Ellen G. White)
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 10:46:25 +0000
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