For example:
• In the year 2002, many were shocked when they began to hear about some of the sinful things among the Catholic priests in America, that dealt with child molesting and homosexuality. The news was so devastating for many, that many Catholics left the Catholic church. Many others decided they would stay within the Catholic church, but they would no longer support it with their finances.
• Those who pride themselves in being Protestants can not point their finger at the Catholics, because we have had our own scandals to deal with. We all can remember the national television scandals of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swygert.
• We have HEARD and READ a great deal about some of the television preachers who have preyed on the elderly, and robbed them of their life’s savings. Some of these hucksters are now in prison where they ought to be.
We have heard about these horrible things that have taken place under the name of Christianity.
It amazes Bible-believing Christians to see all this evil we have HEARD ABOUT and READ ABOUT. HOW COULD PEOPLE DO SUCH THINGS and then go to church and expect the Lord to hear their prayers?
But, while we condemn these sinful deeds, there are sins that are just as bad in the sight of God that some have legalized and made acceptable. But I can assure you that in the sight of God they are not acceptable!
That is, there are some people who condemn others for what they consider to be BIG SINS, but when they look at the sins in their own lives, they classify them as small sins that God will overlook as they come to church and worship.
Such as:
• Some would not think of destroying someone physically, but they do not think twice about destroying someone’s character that has taken them a lifetime to build up.
• Some would not think of destroying a church with a sledge hammer, but they do not think twice about destroying a church spiritually.
We may not think the way we TREAT EACH OTHER can be a sinful thing, but the Bible has a great deal to say about it.
Did you know that you can not have the right relationship with God until you have the right relationship with a brother or sister in the Lord?
Let us look at these verses of Scripture that deal with hidden sins. Let’s look at-
I. THE SITUATION
Look at Matthew 5:23-26. “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing….”
These are the words of Jesus that He spoke during the time of the Jewish system of sacrifices.
But we need to pay close attention to verses 23-24, we read, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
Some Christians say, “I do not care what others think about me, THAT’S THEIR PROBLEM.”
Wrong! According to the Word of God, that’s your problem!
The Lord said that when you come to the altar and you remember, “…That thy brother hath ought against thee…”, you have the responsibility to go to that brother or sister and try to make things right.
Notice, the Lord did not say, “IF YOU HAVE OUGHT AGAINST YOUR BROTHER” you are to do this. He did say however, if your brother has OUGHT AGAINST THEE, you are to go to him and make things right before returning to the altar.
The word “brother” does not mean physical brother from the same father and mother, nor does it mean a spiritual brother. The word brother includes every person of the human race.
Any time we SIN AGAINST a member of the human family, if they be a SPIRITUAL BROTHER or a BIOLOGICAL BROTHER, before we can please God, we must go and make things right with those individuals.
WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME DOING THIS?
(1) BECAUSE IT REQUIRES KINDNESS
None of us have a difficult time being unkind, it is natural.
Illus: Did you ever go into a day care and watch small children? They would kill each other if no one was watching over them. Unkindness comes naturally.
Illus: As children, we used to say, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."
Many today seek a divorce from their mates, not because of physical cruelty, but due to verbal abuse. We all know people whose self-esteem has been completely destroyed by some one abusing them verbally.
Words can be weapons that we can use to destroy people. Words can be used against people and they will not be able to sleep for nights.
Illus: Suppose you walk up and sock someone in the nose, and they scream because of the excruciating pain of the blow. Then you walk away, and they say, “Where are you going?” You reply that you are going down to the church and do some serious praying. After causing that pain by hitting that person in the nose, do you think God will hear your prayer? I DO NOT THINK SO!
We can bring emotional pain that may cost a person to lose sleep for months, and we act like we can do it and get away with it.
The Bible makes it clear that before we can approach the Holy God of heaven, we first have to approach that person and make things right. In other words, God is saying to people like this, “Go and make things right, and when you have done that, THEN WE WILL TALK, BUT NOT UNTIL THEN!”
Illus: Have any of you husbands or wives done something to displease your mate, and then gone to your prayer closet to do some serious praying, and you got on your knees to talk to God and it seemed like the prayers you prayed were hitting the ceiling and bouncing back?
Look at 1 Peter 3:7, we read, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
No one enjoys saying, “I was wrong, would you please forgive me!” But one of the reasons it is difficult for us mortals to tell someone in our life that we are sorry, is BECAUSE IT REQUIRES KINDNESS. And by nature, we who live in this mortal body are not very kind to each other.
This is why the Word of God has to command us to be kind. Look at Eph. 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
But another reason we do not enjoy making things right is-
(2) BECAUSE IT REQUIRES HUMILITY
As difficult as it is to go to someone that is special in our life and make things right, it is even more difficult to go to other people in our life that we do not consider to be special, and tell them we are sorry if we have offended them in some way.
But while they might not be special in our sight, we have to remember that in God’s sight they are special. He expects us to humble ourselves and go to people that we have wronged, and make things right even if they are not special to us.
WHY SHOULD WE DO THIS? It may be that we did not do what they think we did. But if they have ought against us, it is our responsibility to go to them and try to resolve the difference they have with us.
You do not HAVE to apologize, nobody can MAKE you apologize. But you will have to suffer the consequences of not apologizing, and your prayers are not going to get past the ceiling of the room where you are praying.
There are many folks walking around who, by their own confession, will say something like this, “I pray all the time and it does not do any good!” Well, the fact is you can pray for years and it may not do any good.
When we know we have hurt someone, and we think we can get on our knees and talk to God, we are kidding ourselves.
Many folks know they have done wrong, but they think God will forget about it in a few days, and then He will hear their prayers again. I want to tell you right now, God does not forget. And He does not have Alzheimer’s disease.
Illus: God reminds me of the Indian who never forgot anything. A man was telling a friend about an Indian that the both of them knew very well. He walked up to the Indian and said, “We had breakfast together ten years ago, what did we have for breakfast?” He said, “We had eggs.” The man said, that is so common anyone could say that. He did not see the old Indian for another twenty years. When he saw the old Indian on the street and he walked up to him, he said, “How!” The old Indian said, “Scrambled!”
God does not forget. We humans forget, but God does not. And something many Christians need to do to get right with God, is to get on their knees and pray to the Lord, “I want to get my life right with you. I have forgotten all the wrong I have done to others. Bring to my remembrance those I have offended, and I will go to them and make things right, because I want things to be right between us.”
When God brings it to our attention that they have OUGHT AGAINST US, it is our responsibility to go to them and make things right.
Remember, the Lord is addressing Jews who knew that the reason they were to bring sacrifices to the altar was because of sin in their lives. But the Lord was not going to accept those sacrifices they were offering, if the individual bringing the sacrifice knew they have done someone wrong or someone thought they had done them wrong. God would not accept their sacrifice until they corrected the situation.
But did you know that AS CHRISTIANS, WE ARE TO OFFER "SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES"?
We do not offer animal sacrifices as they did in the Old Testament, but according to the Word of God, we do offer up sacrifices.
Look at 1 Peter 2:5, we read, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, TO OFFER UP SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
This sacrifice involved a self-examination of the heart, and He said that as you examine your heart and you remember that your brother HAS OUGHT AGAINST YOU, you are to go to them and make it right, then come back to the altar.
It is so important that we examine ourselves very carefully.
• Is there something we have said or done that our brother may justly be offended by?
• Have I provoked that person?
• Have I spiritually wounded that person in any way?
• Have I given them just cause to be angry?
THE PRINCIPLE OF SACRIFICE HAS NOT CHANGED. We have looked at THE SITUATION, now let’s look at-
II. THE SOLUTION
Notice, God does not tell the individual that they are to ask for forgiveness from God, they are to ask forgiveness of the person who thinks they have done some wrong.
They have sinned against this individual, and now those sins are a barricade between God and them.
• Look at Isaiah 59:1-2, we read, “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
• Look at Psalm 66:18, we read, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
There are Christians who have prayed many prayers, but the Lord has not heard one of them. Why? Because they have done OUGHT against their brother and they never made it right, and God is not going to respond to their prayers until they make things right.
Conclusion:
Look again at Matt. 5:24, "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
If we come to our place of worship and remember that our brother has ought against us, we are to make things right with our brother BEFORE we approach God in prayer.
As we go to our brother who has OUGHT AGAINST US, we have to always remember that we might not be successful in our efforts to reconcile them.
That is why Romans 12:18 says, “IF IT BE POSSIBLE, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
Sometimes it is not possible to reconcile a brother. If the effort is not successful, if we have gone to them in the spirit of love, we have done all we can do.
I. THE SITUATION
II. THE SOLUTION
