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2 Corinthians 1:12-22 - Ministry Misunderstandings · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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Good morning. Good morning.
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Well, what a lousy day out there today.
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I mean, this is a sunshine. And I mean, what?
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You haven't seen that for a while.
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And what, 70 potential degrees today?
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I mean, we got it made right. If you're negative or upset or
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depressed a day, that should turn it around.
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Really. That's a good start.
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So the Underwood family stand up, please.
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Wanted to introduce little Brielle here today.
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Brand new little baby at Calvary Chapel.
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So congratulate them. Thank you.
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Thank you. Yeah.
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That's one of those stories, like they were working on
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babies, right, for a long time, and it's not going to happen.
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And all of a sudden it happens. Right.
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How many years you guys been married now?
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12:00 So that should give people hope.
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Never stop believing. You never know what God will do.
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Just if you're trying to have babies, keep trying to have
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them. That's a good thing, right?
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But anyway, we are in the book of Second Corinthians this
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morning. And before I start, I wanted to
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let everybody know it's my lovely wife Cindy's birthday
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today. She's she's 29, 29 years old,
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right? So it's wonderful and I'm so
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grateful to have her for 54 years.
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And I think we're heading towards 55 years anniversary
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this summer. So praise God for that, huh?
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So let's pray Father, we thank you this morning for this
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beautiful day you've given us, for the word of God, for each
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other, for the opportunity, Lord, to this be in your
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presence today worshipping you. And you're the holy and anointed
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1 Lord. And your word is like water to
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our soul, your words a lamp and to our feet.
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And we love you Jesus, and that's that's why we're here
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today. And we want your word to work on
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us, to change us, to make us more like you, Lord.
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And so Lord, again, we just commit all this to you and ask
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your blessing on everything that happens today.
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We pray in Jesus name, Amen. So we are working through the
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book of Second Corinthians and we're in the 1st chapter, we're
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picking up in verse 12 today and the title of this message is
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misunderstanding ministry, misunderstandings.
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And I wish we as people wouldn't misunderstand each other at
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times the way we do. But that's where we're normal
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human beings. We're, we're still falling
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creatures. We still have a sinful nature.
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And sometimes we get upset and uptight about things that in the
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big picture of life aren't really that important.
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But our, our pride at times and our egos and, and our sense of
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being offended sometimes overcomes the, the love of God
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and our heart and, and we struggle.
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And the Paul went through this too.
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He had struggles with even people he served with in the
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church. He had different difficulties
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with John, Mark and Barnabas in a missionary journey.
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He had arguments one time with Peter and it was public in a, in
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a meeting where Peter was trying to give preference to the the
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Jewish believers to follow tradition that wasn't necessary
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to follow anymore, especially for Gentiles.
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And so he he called Peter out on that.
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And these conflicts occur at times and and you wish they
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wouldn't they they occur in marriages, they incur occurring
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relationships with children. They occur in relationships at
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times with people at work and that kind of stuff.
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And how do we work through these kind of challenges whenever they
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occur? And I'm so thankful that God
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knows as he put his word together, that he touches on
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every issue that the human experience encounters so that we
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know how to to maneuver these things.
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So some questions I wanted to ask before I read this text is
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when plans don't work out the way you want them to work out.
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How do you learn to trust God and depend on him when life
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isn't going the way you would like it to go?
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That's a big question. What's your attitude like?
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Are you positive or negative when things go wrong?
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What's your heart like? Are you upset?
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Are you unsettled? Emotionally distressed?
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How do you deal with other people who misunderstand you at
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times? Are you humble and loving?
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Are you proud and arrogant and not Christ like?
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And I wanted to read Matthew chapter 5 before I get into this
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text because as a pastor, I've been through things as well as
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you guys at times with people. And it's never a pleasant time.
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But the older I get, the more I'm able to sort of not focus on
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the issues that the people may have with me or not with me.
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It doesn't disturb me like it did when I was younger.
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I don't think certain things are worth arguing about or fighting
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about. And whenever I have problems, I
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ask Lewis to take care of, take care of him for me and George
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and John, right? I sort of step aside.
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I don't have to be the front and center person anymore in this
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place. And many of you women and men
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who serve a Lord in the ministry here are a big help to to me and
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maneuvering, you know, whenever things are getting sort of
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challenging. But we, we've been in a good
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season for a long time here and we've had unity and, and love
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and and humility and being able to work together with one
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another so that the church can flourish and grow and, and be
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blessed. But Jesus has said in Matthew
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chapter 5, when you have challenges with people, this is
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what you got to do. He says love your enemies.
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You've heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and
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hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your
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enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
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you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute
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you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
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For he makes his Son to rise on the evil and on the good, and
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sends rain on the just and the unjust.
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For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?
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Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
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And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than
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others? Do not even the tax collectors
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do so? Therefore you shall be perfect,
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just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
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So I've learned, I've had to learn a long time ago that I
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can't make everybody like me And, and that's not my, my
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responsibility, but I certainly don't want to do anything to
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cause people to intentionally not like me either, right?
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So, but at times people just have personality conflicts or
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whatever. So what I have to do is learn to
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pray for people that I have problems with at times and ask
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the Lord to give me love for them and not judgement and not
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hatred and not attitude. And I find that the more I sense
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God working on my heart to love people, all of a sudden the the
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chaos or the distress or the unsubtleness of my heart at
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times. If maybe someone isn't there
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like it was whenever I wasn't praying for them.
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That's a big, big plus, right? And you hear this word
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irreconcilable differences. And sometimes when people get
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divorced, the court document will say the reason for the
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divorce is irreconcilable differences.
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And maybe sometimes that's a reality for a lot of people that
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in their lives, there are irreconcilable differences,
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maybe serious disturbances or situations that occurred in life
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that cause families to break up or people, you know, and, and
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careers to, you know, meltdown or people in church to leave or
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whatever. And, and those things you don't
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want to see happen. But unfortunately, because we're
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still living in a fallen world, they do.
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So our our responsibility as Christians is to to do good to
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everyone we possibly can and esteem other people more highly
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than we do ourselves. In other words, I, I can't think
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about my own feelings primarily or my own emotions.
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I got to think like, well, how's this person doing doing with
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this problem right now, this conflict and then be willing to
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listen and to hear them out and to not think anything evil about
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the person, even though I might disagree whatever to to try to
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find a way of of peace and reconciliation and that that
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honors the Lord right and in relationships whenever we can
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come together as peacemakers, then he says we're blessed.
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Blessed are the peacemakers he tells us and to be attitudes.
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So as we go back to this text in Second Corinthians, Paul's
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dealing at this time with a church in Corinth that has a lot
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of problems. Some of the leadership are
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dysfunctional and some of them aren't accepting his apostleship
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and some of them don't want him to come around the church
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anymore because he's the guy that planted it and he's the one
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that got him going and started led many of them to the Lord.
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But they're they're just some of them don't want to hear what he
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has to say. And Paul was never intentionally
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wanting to say anything to the church.
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It would be diminishing anybody or any person or anything like
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that. But whenever he saw things that
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weren't going the way they needed to go biblically and
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spiritually, he would have to speak into that situation with
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grace and with love and, and sometimes the the truth being
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straight up the way it is sometimes painful.
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Whenever someone tells you something that you know needs to
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be addressed and you're not ready to deal with it, you're
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going to have a tendency to to push back and, and respond
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emotionally and react in a uncharacteristic way because the
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Holy Spirit isn't controlling you anymore.
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Your your fallen fleshly nature is, you know, controlling you
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and you have to prove you're right and the other person's
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wrong. And, and that's not the way to
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go about it. So he starts in verse 12.
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He says our boasting is this the testimony of our conscience that
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we conducted ourselves in the world and simplicity and godly
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sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God
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and more abundantly towards you. So that's the first statement
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he's making toward these people that are really upset with him
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because he wasn't able to make it to Corinth.
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Like he said, he was going to get there because of weather
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conditions. The Lord had a different plan.
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He had to change his plans and some of the people in the church
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were upset with him because he did change his plans.
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And so he, he's, he's wanting to help them understand, you know,
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the behind the scenes things here.
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And he knew that because he was walking with the Lord that he
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was ministering to them with a good conscience.
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There was nothing in his conscience that was telling him
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that what he had done was wrong or inappropriate.
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Wasn't that He was perfect. But he allowed the Holy Spirit
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to speak into his conscience. Lord, am I OK here?
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Am I doing what it is you want me to do?
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How can I bring reconciliation to some of these people that are
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upset with me? He's asking for wisdom.
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And he said that he came to them in sincerity, godly sincerity,
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and not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God.
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So he he had godly sincerity and he had the grace of God.
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He wasn't depending on his own logic or his own thought
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processes and how to conduct this relationship with a couple
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of these people that were upset with them.
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He really was seeking the Lord and he wanted what was best for
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them. The grace of God and more
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abundantly toward you. Verse 13 for we're not writing
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any other things to you than what you read or understood now
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I trust you will understand even to the end is also you have
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understood us in part that we are your boast as you are also
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ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
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So there was another letter, we have First and 2nd Corinthians,
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but historically there was a couple other letters that were
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lost. And one of the letters was very
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strong and severe in the sense of what Paul had to say to the
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someone regarding how they were behaving in in leadership and
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how they were acting in the church.
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He was calling them out publicly through this letter.
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And so obviously the person that received the letter or the
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people that were reading it that didn't like to hear what he had
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to say were having an attitude toward him.
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And so there's this broken friendship, this broken
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relationship going on with him, the church, some of the people
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in the church and the Apostle Paul.
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But he, he was bragging though at the end of that verse there
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that he is so excited about what the Lord's doing in all their
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lives and also what he's doing in their lives that that the
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Lord's at work. Let's keep the main thing.
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The main thing is that whenever you see God really moving in
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people's lives and in the church and in the community, you can't
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focus on a couple of negative things that might occur
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sometimes because there's too much good stuff going on, right?
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And I, I was here yesterday at the men's breakfast with the
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guys. There was 21 of us there.
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And Matt that opens the back door there taught us in First
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Corinthians 25 about God examining our hearts and how
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he's always working to change us and to make us more like Jesus.
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And I, I was just so blessed looking at those guys and so
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many of the men in that group teach here on Wednesday night or
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they're teaching the men's breakfast and so much good stuff
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going on here at Calvary because of what the Lord's doing,
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because of the Holy Spirit and his word.
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And this happens in the women's fellowships too, that I, I, I
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really hate to see when people can't take advantage of that or
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be exposed to it if they want to, or come because they might
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have a ought against another brother or sister and they
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can't, they can't freely fellowship because they feel
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constrained because of a, a broken relationship.
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And So what we'll talk about how those broken relationships can
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be healed as we move toward the Lord's Supper at the end of this
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message. So he continues on.
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He says, verse 15. And this confidence I intended
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to come to you before that you might have a second benefit.
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In other words, I'm going to come to the church and encourage
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it and be a blessing to it. That's Paul's desire to pass by
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the way of you to Macedonia, down by Greece, to come again
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from Macedonia to you and be helped by you on my way to
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Judea. Therefore, when I was planning
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this, did I do it lightly or haphazardly?
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He was. This was his direction from the
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Lord. Or the things I plan to do.
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I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be
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yes, yes and no, no. So he's, he's trying to help
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them understand that the changes that happened wasn't a result of
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his own decision making. The Holy Spirit was leading him
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to do something different. And he said, whenever I tell you
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yes, I, I'm meaning yes from the Lord.
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And when I'm telling you no, I'm being sincere and honest that my
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no is a no. I'm not saying yes when it
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should be a no or no when it should be a yes, but he's
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straight up in his his communication with them.
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And he said in verse 18, but as God is faithful, our word to you
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was not yes or no for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was
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preached among you by us by me, Sylvanius and Timothy was not
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yes and no, but in him was yes for all the promises of God in
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him are yes and in him Amen to the glory of God through us.
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And so the the big picture is in regard to struggles and
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communication and relationship is not my opinion or my emotions
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or my feelings or my offenses or my hurt or my pain or my
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anguish. It really has to be focused on
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like what's the big picture in the Kingdom of God?
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And it's like his word is always what helps us to be able to be
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reconciled. If we're listening, His word is
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what calms us down. His word, as they sang in the
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worship, is a lamp into our feet, a light unto our path.
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He calms us. When you, the worship team sang
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that this morning, I don't know about you, but I just sense this
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calmness coming over me. Jesus, he's the Prince of peace.
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He's the one that can heal the most damaged of relationships
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and broken people. He he takes all of us as, as, as
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messed up, broken people and that our lives have been ruined
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because of sin. And he isn't offended by us.
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He, he doesn't write us off. He doesn't say, I don't want to
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have anything to do with you. He, he puts his arms out all the
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time and says, come, come to me and I'll, I'll make this right,
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I'll change it, I'll fix it, I'll fix you.
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And for many of us, that's our testimony of his grace and, and,
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and he makes us to be that way with one another.
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I want to be that kind of person with other people.
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I want to help them be made whole.
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I want to see the Lord transform their lives and, and take
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situations that seem impossible and turn them into wonderful,
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wonderful stories. He, he's the one that restores
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what the locust has eaten. He's the one that makes all
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things new and he can still make all things new.
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And the most broken and damage of of relationships.
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And so he continues on and and he has Sylvanus and Timothy
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working with him, which is a blessing to give him prayer and
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counsel and talk things through and also be people who will
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minister to that church in Corinth when he can't be there.
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You, you have partners in ministry, you have guys that
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help help you or women that help you or the body of Christ.
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The team I'm so thankful for, for Lewis and John and George
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and and, and Brad and Nick and Tom, the, the deacons and the
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elders. I, I don't have to, to try to do
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this myself anymore. I when I started with Cindy and
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me and I certainly had no, I, I just knew I loved God and I
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loved people and I wanted to see his word work in people's lives.
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I thought when people got together kumbaya everybody flow
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that way, something loving and joyful and peaceful.
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It didn't take too long to realize, man, it doesn't,
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doesn't flow that way sometimes, right?
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And it was, it was chaotic at times and painful and I and I
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hated it. You know, I had to go to church
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on Sunday and I didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but I
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had to because I was a pastor, right?
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And so there there I am dealing with the, the conflicts of the
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struggles that are backbiting or whatever, you know, and it
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wasn't easy, but the Lord got me through it.
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But now I have guys and gals beside me that pray for me and
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give me counsel. We have a decision to make or
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conflict that we have to try to resolve or whatever.
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I don't have to be the guy that doesn't.
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Now, I'll help if I need to, obviously, but there's other
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people and we're going to find like the biblical manner of how
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God chooses to deal with conflict and lives.
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From Matthew 18 before we take the Lord's Supper today, that's
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so straight up and clear. If we just do what Jesus says,
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there'd be no problems in, in, in relationships and definitely
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in the church. But lots of times we don't want
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to do what Jesus says, right? We want to do what we what we
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want to do and then we mess it up.
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That's the problem, right? So anyway, he continues on that.
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He says now he who establishes us with you is in Christ and as
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an anointed us is God who also sealed us and has given us the
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Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
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So the beautiful thing is everyone of you here today that
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are born again or anointed by God, you have the Holy Spirit in
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you and he's the guarantee that God is with you.
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He's a guarantee of your inheritance.
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Not any for eternity. But right now I'm in a
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situation, Lord, I don't know what to do about it, but your
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Holy Spirit's there and I'm trusting He will show me how to
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resolve whatever the issue might be.
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Now, most of my conflicts now in my life isn't in church.
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It's with Cindy. You know, Cindy, she's tough,
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man, she's wonderful, but she's tough and she will not put up
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with nonsense in my life. She she will speak to me and
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tell me like, you're out of line and you call yourself a pastor.
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I said, no, they call me a pastor, right?
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But but anyway, you know, she gets real with me and, and I've
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learned to listen more than I did when I was younger as, as
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opposed to justifying my position or that I'm right.
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Or would she say gaslighter? You know that term gaslight that
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our counselors back here know this gaslighting is something we
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all can do to make it feel like it's the other person's fault
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and not mine, right? So she knows all the terminology
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too. I can't trick her like I used to
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when she was younger that but anyway, I've learned how to, to
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deal with conflict in my home in a way that honors the Lord and,
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and ends up blessing her and blessing, blessing me too.
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I've learned how to do that more now with my daughters and my son
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in law's and my, my grandchildren and, and people.
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I work with them. And, and what's wonderful is as
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we're in the word of God and we're learning the word of God,
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he teaches us how to get through these tough times in life,
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doesn't he? He really does before you have
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the word, man, you don't know how to deal with these kind of
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issues and conflicts that happen in life.
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And you, you're trying to find books or how do you deal with
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this idiot? And how do you deal with this
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person? And, and you just can't seem to
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define a foundation. And then you get in the word and
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you find, Oh my gosh, I should have looked here the whole time.
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The Bible teaches how to dress these things and how to deal
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with them. And then you begin to get change
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you, the Holy Spirit transforms you inside and then you're able
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to begin to be a peacemaker and not a troublemaker or a divisive
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person. And so he promises us the Lord,
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this guarantee the Holy Spirit. We're not in this stuff by
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ourselves. Moreover, I call God his witness
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against my soul that to spare you, I came no more to Corinth.
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Not that we have dominion over your faith, but we are fellow
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workers for your joy by for you, by faith, you stand.
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So Paul was not a big shot. He didn't run the church in
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Corinth, nor did he run the New Testament church.
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He was a servant. He had an authority, but he
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didn't push that authority down on people and make them submit
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to him. He just LED them by love and
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grace and was there to help people.
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But it was up to them personally to hear from the Lord and deal
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with their own hearts in regard to the difficulties and
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challenges. And I don't have dominion over
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your faith any more than you. You have it over mine.
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I can tell you what the Bible teaches about certain things.
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And it's up to you whether you're going to submit and yield
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and surrender to the Lord and His will in regard to what His
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Word says, or you're going to choose not to.
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And if you choose not to, you know, I pray for you.
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I know that God will deal with you if you're not listening.
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He's patient. But it won't work out the way
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you want it to work out if you don't do it.
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Do it God's way. And so Paul in chapter 2 said, I
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determined this within myself, that I would not come again to
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you. And sorrow, in other words, he
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knew that there was some of these people there that thus
24:40
didn't want to see his face. And he knew he had to deal with
24:43
some situations, but he wasn't going to go and create needless
24:47
sorrow and pain and anguish if they weren't able to receive him
24:52
and be open to the Holy Spirit and what he had to say.
24:55
For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad
24:59
but the one who is made sorrowful by me?
25:03
So there's a sad person, there's a happy person, there's a joyful
25:07
person, there's an angry person, there's a a mad person, there's
25:11
a gracious person. You always get two sides to the
25:14
conflict. So he says in verse 3, And I
25:17
wrote this very thing to you, lest I came.
25:20
I should have sorrow over the things from whom I ought to have
25:23
joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is a joy of you
25:28
all. For out of much affliction and
25:30
anguish of heart, I write to you with many tears, not that you
25:34
should be grieved, but you might know the love which I have so
25:38
abundantly for you. So Paul had so much love for the
25:41
church and for the people in the church.
25:44
And, and what broke his heart was whenever people weren't
25:48
flowing in the fruit of the Spirit, they weren't
25:51
experiencing the love and the joy and the peace and the
25:54
long-suffering and the gentleness and the goodness and
25:57
the meekness. There was angry and outburst of
26:00
anger and, and all the works of the flesh of, of saying things
26:04
that I regret I should have said or things I know I shouldn't
26:07
have said or whatever. And and you create more of a
26:10
mess whenever you don't do it again.
26:13
The through the power of the holy of us, Paul is pouring out
26:16
his heart saying that we need to forgive the person who offended
26:20
us. That's what we always have to do
26:22
in the Lord's Prayer. It says forgive us.
26:25
You know, when the Lord tells us to pray his prayer, I got to
26:31
forgive those who trespass against me so that my Father
26:37
will forgive me for my trespasses against him.
26:41
And later on, it tells us that if you don't forgive people
26:44
their trespasses, their sins, neither will your heavenly
26:48
Father forgive you of yours. That's shocking.
26:52
And so I'm saved, I'm going to heaven.
26:54
I, I love Jesus. Well, the Lord's like, well, if
26:57
you love me, you're going to forgive people.
27:00
That's who I am. I forgive people.
27:02
And if you're mine, you're going to be like me and you're going
27:04
to forgive people for their sins.
27:08
If you don't forgive people, then I'm not going to forgive
27:11
you. And then you think, what does
27:13
that mean? Does that mean I'm not going to
27:15
go to heaven? I think that's pretty clear.
27:17
If your sins are not forgiven by him, you won't go to heaven.
27:23
So this this relationship correlates with our
27:26
relationships with one another. And he and he loved them so much
27:31
and he was grieved by what he saw was occurring in the church
27:36
at this time. And so whenever you have
27:41
conflicts and maybe you're taking some notes, I hope you do
27:45
because you can think about these and maybe pray maybe you
27:47
have a conflict with a husband, a wife, a child, a neighbor, a
27:50
Co worker, whatever. You want to be able to have a
27:56
clear conscience and how you you do what you need to do.
28:02
You want to be able to have a loving heart and esteem others
28:07
more highly than you do yourself.
28:10
So we're going to go to Matthew 18 right now as we lead up into
28:14
the Lord's Supper and the Lord's Supper here every week when we
28:17
take it is an opportunity to break bread with the Lord,
28:21
obviously, and defeat on his life with each other.
28:25
But it's also an opportunity to make amends with with our hearts
28:29
with the Lord for sure, if we're out of sorts with him, but also
28:33
how we are going to see him fix situations in our lives with
28:38
with maybe some other people we need to to get right with right.
28:41
So Matthew 18 is the teaching on how we we handle these things.
28:48
He says if you're dealing with the sinning brother or sister,
28:52
OK, maybe someone sinned against you and did something wrong or
28:57
said something that wasn't that wasn't appropriate or whatever.
28:59
And all the sudden there's this conflict.
29:02
He says in verse 15, Moreover, if your brother and sister,
29:05
whatever sins against you, go and tell him his fault between
29:11
you and him alone. That's where it starts.
29:14
If we would do this in relate, like Cindy and I talk about
29:18
short accounts all the time. If I've upset her about
29:22
something, I don't want her to come to me 60 days later and say
29:26
you said this and you did this or you acted this way.
29:30
Or I mean, there used to be a time in my life we'd be talking,
29:33
she'd be upset and she would bring things up like like 20
29:37
years ago. I don't even know what she's
29:39
talking about, right? I really don't.
29:41
But she does. She knows you remember, it's
29:44
still there, right? And, and sometimes you have a
29:47
conflict with someone and they they burst out and you're like,
29:50
have you been holding this thing for me against me for a while?
29:53
And you didn't even know you had it in your heart.
29:54
But the Holy Spirit reveals it in a in a painful way sometimes,
29:59
but it's necessary to get it out.
30:00
So you can say, yeah, I didn't realize that was there.
30:03
And I need to to see the Lord deal with this thing and pull it
30:06
out of my heart says not an issue.
30:08
So all I could say when Cindy would say that I'd say I don't
30:13
really remember that, but I can see I was wrong.
30:15
Will you forgive me? And then you know, she she will,
30:19
she'll forgive me. It's important that she maybe
30:21
talks about some of these things with me at times.
30:24
Now it's usually within an hour that I know I did something
30:29
wrong. I can just tell by the
30:31
expression on her face the way she is.
30:34
Right. OK.
30:35
You're upset. What do you mean?
30:37
I said you're upset about something.
30:38
No, I'm fine. No, you're not fine.
30:41
I don't want to talk about it. Well, we need to talk about it.
30:43
What's wrong? Well, you said this and you did.
30:47
I said, well, that isn't really what I said, but you know, this
30:50
is what I meant. No, you meant.
30:52
And then we go through all that stuff, right?
30:54
So then finally I have to like, OK, Lord, where's the truth in
30:57
this? Is she deceived?
30:59
Usually she is the one that's deceived.
31:01
But no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
31:05
I'm going to start a battle here.
31:08
It's her birthday. So I like the message.
31:10
Up until that part, Claire. But anyway, I have to listen and
31:16
all of a sudden, like I got to take what do you say?
31:18
The low, the low level thing. Maybe it wasn't my fault to the
31:24
degree that maybe she thinks it was.
31:26
Maybe, but I I just got to say you're right.
31:29
I was wrong. I mean, what do I have to lose
31:31
by admitting I'm wrong? I mean, I have everything to
31:33
win. She'll be happy.
31:35
Even if I know I was right. Doesn't doesn't matter anymore,
31:39
right? It's all it's it's already taken
31:41
care of. We move on, right?
31:43
We move on. I was wrong.
31:46
So I'm learning to say I'm wrong much faster and much quicker.
31:51
So anyway, you go to the person yourself alone and you might
31:55
think, well, if I do that, they're not going to be, they're
31:58
not going to listen to me. They're not going to want to
32:00
hear. And you know, and a lot of times
32:01
they're not, they're going to say, well, you, you were the one
32:04
that you were the fault, you were the and and then you got to
32:06
go through that. But then if you're humbling, you
32:08
say, OK, I got to hear what you're saying.
32:10
I didn't understand it what I did or how that happened came
32:14
across the way it did and and made you feel this way.
32:17
I, I had no idea. And I'm sorry that the way I
32:21
handled this with you cause problem and a conflict.
32:26
Will you forgive me? And most of the time the person
32:28
will be shocked that you are that quick to, to respond and
32:31
not need to try to cover yourself.
32:34
But you're just like, you're wanting to get it right.
32:36
You're wanting to get it out and you're wanting to get it passed
32:39
by. And if people can do that, and
32:41
it says here, if they hear you, you've gained your brother, OK,
32:47
So that's the upside. If they listen, they say, wow, I
32:50
hear what you're saying and I am sorry.
32:53
And all of a sudden the conflict is resolved and you can move on.
32:57
That's great. You've gained your brother.
32:59
But if they won't hear you, then you take one or more with you,
33:03
one or two or more that by the mouth of two or three witness
33:07
that every word may be established.
33:08
So it isn't like backbiting. I'm going to go get some people
33:13
on my side that really don't like this other person.
33:16
Like I don't like them right now.
33:18
No, that's not you. You want to get like some
33:20
impartial people to go case you to be a witness to the
33:25
conversation so they can be resolved and be taken care of
33:29
and then and then be moved on. And if you take the right people
33:32
and they're humble and they've helped you calm down a little
33:35
bit in your heart and not make a bigger deal out of something,
33:38
then it doesn't really need to be made.
33:40
Then again, the goal is the reconciliation and everything
33:44
will be resolved. But if the person refuses to
33:50
hear hear them, you with the two witnesses, then eventually you
33:55
got to bring it to the church, right?
33:56
And that's the last thing that you want to have to do in a
34:00
church. It is called church discipline.
34:03
And these aren't like minor skirmishes.
34:05
These are, these are big deals, usually someone spreading heresy
34:10
in the church or something living in blatant immorality or
34:13
someone being accused of a crime that they're not admitting to.
34:19
Or, you know, these, these, this is really the, the bigger stuff
34:22
that would eventually be brought to the church.
34:26
And and whenever the person isn't willing to repent of like
34:29
sadium or out maybe they have an adultery with someone in the
34:32
church and you got two families involved and you got to like,
34:35
OK, it's got to be dealt with. And if it isn't dealt with, I'm
34:38
sorry, you cannot come to Calvary Chapel next Sunday
34:41
because we don't condone this. We don't accept that this is not
34:44
pleasing to the Lord and this will offend and defile other
34:48
people. Or if they know what's going on
34:49
and we didn't deal with it appropriately or you know, but
34:53
the last thing you want to do is get to this point.
34:55
But if you have to, then you have to treat them, it says like
34:59
a heathen than a tax collector. And it doesn't mean you don't
35:01
love them. But in other words, if they're
35:03
refusing to get right with God, the church isn't really the
35:07
place to be hanging out. Just just don't come to church
35:12
for now. Surely.
35:14
I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound on
35:16
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is loose in heaven.
35:21
Again, I say to you that if 2 of you agree on earth concerning
35:24
anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in
35:28
heaven for two or three are gathered together in my name.
35:31
I'm there in the midst of them. So whenever the two or three go
35:34
to the person with the two people that are in conflict, I
35:38
love that promise there that the Lord is there in the midst of
35:42
this conversation with all of us together.
35:44
Jesus is like he's the arbitrator.
35:47
He's he's the the judge. Obviously we're not, but he he's
35:50
the one that sees everything. He knows the heart, He sees the
35:54
conversation. He, he knows what he wants to
35:57
see happen as a result of the meeting and that's what he's
36:01
interceding and praying for that these families, these people,
36:05
these individuals could be reconciled and love each other
36:08
and have communion and, and fellowship together again.
36:11
And, and that's, that's the purpose of, of, of these kind of
36:15
verses to, to know how to, to get through these things as the
36:20
worship team can come forward and we can pray and, and take
36:24
the Lord's Supper together. So don't you like the Bible?
36:27
It's, it's just not like happy go lucky kind of simple stuff
36:31
all the time. It gets into the nitty gritty
36:33
stuff of what we all deal with as as Christians and as human
36:37
beings in life so that we might know how to handle life.
36:42
I love what the scriptures say that God has given us all things
36:45
to pertain to life and godliness in Christ Jesus is not one
36:50
subject that you are dealing with in your life that isn't
36:54
addressed in the scriptures. And that's why it says for all
36:58
scripture is given by inspiration of God as profitable
37:02
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction of
37:06
righteousness. The word of God reproves me.
37:10
It wakes me up, it corrects me. It it, it keeps me where I need
37:16
to be. If I don't have the word of God,
37:20
I'm rebellious, I'm proud, I'm arrogant, I'm always wanting to
37:25
justify my actions or my behaviors.
37:29
But whenever the the word is open up to me.
37:33
The Bible says that the word is sharper than any 2 edged sword.
37:38
It's able to cut divide the soul and spirit.
37:42
It's it pulls everything apart in the heart.
37:44
It says it's a very discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
37:48
heart. That's how powerful this word
37:50
is. It cuts, but it cuts in love.
37:54
It cuts with grace. It cuts to change you.
37:58
And the more you submit to the Word of God, the more you change
38:03
and the more you become like Jesus, right?
38:05
And that's the purpose of the church to worship the Lord, is
38:10
that we would become more Christ like because the more Christ
38:14
like we are, the more of a blessing will be to everyone
38:18
that comes into our past. So as we prepare for the supper
38:22
today, you know, I don't know what your deals are, your
38:25
issues, you know, with people, whatever.
38:27
I know, you know, my, my challenges with, with people.
38:31
I work with some people I I prefer not to sit at the dinner
38:35
table with when I'm in a meeting.
38:37
But I got to say, OK, Lord, that's my wrong attitude.
38:40
OK, how can I befriend this person?
38:42
How can I find a way to find something in common with them?
38:46
How can I be interested in them even though everything they say
38:50
and do an act turns me off, right?
38:54
God has not called me to be an isolationist from anybody.
38:58
You know, my flesh would be able to make a decision.
39:01
I come to church and I'm not sitting next to Jerry.
39:07
Why? I have no reason not to sit next
39:10
to Jerry, right? But if I think I have a reason
39:13
to sit, not sit next to Jerry, I got a problem, right?
39:18
I should be able to come in here and sit wherever I want.
39:20
And it doesn't matter because you're my brothers and sisters,
39:23
right? I love you and I trust you love
39:26
me. And we're here to love Jesus and
39:27
we're here to love the world like he loves the world he gave
39:31
himself for. So I pray that, you know,
39:35
Calvary Chapel is a place of not posturing and and and and what
39:41
do you call cliques? And, you know, these kind of
39:45
things that can occur, you know, like in the beginning of First
39:49
Corinthians, I'm of Paul, I'm of Paula, some of Cephas, you know,
39:53
like Wednesday night. Well, Steve's teaching, I'll go,
39:57
but you know, next week someone else is teaching.
39:59
I don't want to go because I don't like that person, right?
40:02
You know it's a goofy stuff, right?
40:03
How we. Personalities, we're not
40:05
supposed to be drawn by personalities.
40:08
We're supposed to be drawn by the Holy Spirit to be mature and
40:12
be able to, to accept the ministry and the life of
40:15
everyone that God's, God's brought into this place, to be
40:18
part of it. So that that's the prayer.
40:21
And so may Matthew 18 work in our hearts today.
40:23
If we have something that we got to deal with personally with
40:27
anybody, whether it's at work or home or marriage or kids or
40:31
church or whatever, that you, you do what he tells you to do
40:34
and you go to the person and you, and you ask him if you got
40:38
to do you have a problem with me?
40:39
You know, are you upset with me about something?
40:43
And that you, you, you get it resolved, right?
40:46
It's, it's a beautiful thing that pleases the Lord and that
40:50
blesses the church. So let's, let's just take a
40:52
moment as we're silent and think a little bit.
40:55
Let the Holy Spirit speak to our heart if there's anything that
40:58
we need to think about and and deal with.
41:01
And if there isn't, praise God, that's that's the ultimate
41:04
right. I love to take the supper when I
41:06
don't have any shame or guilt about something that is
41:12
happening in my life. I try to deal with it Monday
41:16
through Saturday 24/7. You're right, Lord, wrong
41:21
thought, wrong attitude, wrong action, wrong.
41:23
Forgive me, change me work in my life.
41:27
And if you do that when you come to the supper, it's more of a
41:29
celebration on Sunday. It's not a, a big deal of
41:33
confronting some big, big sin that I've been refusing to deal
41:37
with. But I'm, I'm ready to take this
41:39
to thank the Lord for who he is. Worship him, focuses on him, not
41:45
me or anybody else. And and just being grateful for
41:50
all that he's done on the cross and dying for my sins and being
41:56
patient with me and forgiving me and being merciful to me over
42:00
and over and over again. And say the Lord's Prayer
42:23
together, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
42:28
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in
42:33
heaven. Give us this day Our Daily
42:36
Bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those
42:40
who trespass against us. And lead us not to temptation,
42:45
but deliver us from evil. For thine is a Kingdom and the
42:49
power and the glory forever. Amen.
42:53
Lord, we're thankful that you've given us your word.
42:55
It is truly the lamp into our feet of light unto our path.
43:00
Lord, I pray for all of us today, Lord, that you would
43:03
cause our hearts to be calm and to be desiring of fellowship
43:08
first with you and with one another.
43:11
Reconciliation of any kind of relationships that might have
43:14
gone awry somewhere, Lord, that can be healed and brought
43:17
together again. And love and respect, Father, I
43:21
pray for marriages. That's really where a lot of the
43:23
tensions are in many homes and families, that the marriages
43:27
would be open to you. And to be able to be reconciled
43:32
heart to heart, Lord, and the marriage and then with the
43:36
children, Lord, and then with our brothers and sisters in our
43:41
church and the people we work with every day.
43:44
We spend more time in our workspace many times than we do
43:48
even in our home or church. And sometimes that's where the
43:51
biggest conflicts occur at work. So, Lord, help us, Father, to
43:56
learn to be peacemakers, not troublemakers, not divisive, not
44:00
skiz causing schism or any of that kind of stuff.
44:04
Lord, put a watch in our mouth. Lord it we would never say
44:07
anything evil about anybody else if we can't say anything good.
44:11
And we shouldn't say anything about anybody, Lord.
44:14
So Lord, help us to be like you. That's what we're learning to do
44:18
every every Sunday, Lord, every Wednesday, every study, Lord, to
44:22
be like you. Help us to apply Matthew 18 to
44:26
our lives, Lord, a daily basis. And the night that Jesus is
44:32
betrayed, he took the bread in his hands, and he broke it, and
44:36
he gave thanks. And he said, Take, eat, this is
44:39
my body which is broken for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.
44:46
In the same manner, that evening he took the cup.
44:58
And he said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which was
45:03
shed for the forgiveness of sins of many.
45:06
Drink this in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
45:13
bread and you drink this cup, he show forth the Lord's death.
45:17
He comes again. God bless all you wonderful
45:21
people. Keep on keeping on.