Sermon On The Mount # 3 Be Reconciled To Thy Brother

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.