Matthew 18:15-20
“If your brother
sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he
listens to you, you have gained your brother. But
if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge
may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” (Matthew
18:15-16)
How
would conflicts change in Christian fellowships if we took serious these words
of Jesus? It is a very early morning in
Ireland as I ponder these thoughts, why do you and I not obey these commands of
our Lord, could it be many in the church give little or no thought to the
written word, has it only become a book of suggestions? If that is the case, then it must be assumed such
people will never receive the things God has prepared for them. The apostle John shares these words of Jesus
with us, “If you abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
(John
15:7) Without abiding in Christ, we
would be much like a vacuum cleaner without the plug being applied to the life
of the electricity, it only goes over the surface, but it has no power, it
changes not one thing, many live the Christian life in this manner.
What
happens, when we take serious the words of our Lord, when we ask the Helper
(the Holy Spirit) to guide us into truth, the answer is simple, He will and we
soon find out that abiding in Christ is not a one time decision, not even a
weekly or daily, but a moment by moment encounter with the Spirit of God. It puts no faith in the flesh, no confidence
in your abilities, but it has the heart attitude of Christ to His Father, Abba
Father, in English, that is help daddy.
Will
you stop being worldly and act on these words of Jesus, go to the brother or
sister in Christ and before going make sure the log is out of your eye before
asking your brother or sister to remove the speck in their eye that is
bothering you. Before going ask the
Helper to give you the right heart attitude to resume fellowship that has been
broken. If after you have humbled
yourself to your brother or sister and still they refuse, go to one or two
others who are guided by the Spirit and have them also go with you to make
right this breach of fellowship, and if they still refuse, go to the
church. And Jesus said; “And if he refuses to listen even to the
church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:17)
You
and I have a choice, we can live the vacuum cleaner life of no power, never plugged in to the
source of power, or we can choose to allow Jesus to fully empower us with the
power which is only His to give, and we can be world changers, doing what we
were designed and equipped to do under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. For God has spoken these words to you, and me,
“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on
earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I
among them.” (Matthew 18:18-20)
From
the Back Porch in Ireland
Bob
Rice
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