Collierville First Baptist Church

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hope you brought your Bible tonight. We're going to use it. John, Aaron's going to lead us in our opening prayer. And then I'll be teaching tonight from Matthew chapter five, verse 21 to 26. If you're watching live stream tonight, we welcome you. You just were a part of a sweet business meeting. And that's the kind of business meetings we have of this church.

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And I praise God for that. It's not that that's not true everywhere. I promise you. And, we're going to we're going to be studying the Bible tonight. And if you're at home, just take your Bibles, turn to Matthew chapter five. I'm teaching through the sermon on the Mount. John. Erin, pray for us. Father, we just thank you for this opportunity to come together.

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Open up your word, and, just learn what you have us to know about you. Lord, I thank you that your word is living and active and sharper than two edged sword and divides even between bone marrow. Lord, so tonight I pray that as we read your word that we encounter you, Lord, that your spirit will just move within us.

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We'll just illuminate our minds. Lord will convict us of sin where we need to change and just cut us with that sword will also sharpen us in ways that we need to be sharpened, Lord, so that we can be more, in the likeness of your Son, Jesus Christ. God, thank you so much for this church. We pray that you'll continue to sustain it and use it for your glory.

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I pray that every single member will know their part in the body of Christ and that, and we will all build each other up in love. It's in Jesus name, I pray, and all God's people said Amen, amen, Amen. All right. Tonight I'm going to talk to you about maintaining good relationships. Do you have any struggles with relationships in your life?

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Maybe family relationships? Maybe. Maybe work related, relate shifts, maybe marriage relationships, maybe relationships with your kids or your grandkids. Well, we're going to talk about that tonight. Paul. Doctor Paul Young, he Cho is a famous pastor in South Korea. In fact, he's a he's a pastor of the largest church in the world in Seoul, Korea. Several years ago.

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He had said to God, I'll go anywhere in the world and preach the gospel except Japan. Now, there's a reason for that. He hated the Japanese people because of what they did to the South Koreans during World War two, and what they did to his own family. He said, Lord, I'll go anywhere except Japan. And here's the moral of that story.

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Don't ever tell God what you're going to do and what you're not going to do, right? So he received an invitation to go and preach. Guess where in Japan. And he struggled with it. And through, prolonged struggle in his own heart. People who were a part of his life who spoke into his life, challenged him to go and take this invitation.

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And there was, a strongly worded invitation again, a second one from Japan to come and preach the gospel. And with that being said, he went. His first speaking engagement was to a pastors conference in Japan. He got up to speak. He looks out there and there are a thousand pastors in this meeting.

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He looked over the crowd. He looked at his notes. He began to weep. And this is what came out of his mouth. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. And he wept bitterly. Boy, can you imagine what that was like in that room that night?

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Anger can be a destructive emotion. A lady by the name of Becky contacted Doctor James Dobson's Weekend magazine and shared how her husband was filled with anger, just like his own father was filled with anger. And her two sons were coming up, and they were filled with anger. And she asked Doctor Dobson or the folks around Doctor Dobson there at the magazine, what can I do to make sure that my sons do not deal with the same anger issues that their dad and their grandfather had dealt with?

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I'll tell you, folks, Jesus met this issue head on in the sermon on the Mount. Remember Jesus in verse 20 of chapter five said, for I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Oh strong words right now, from a Jewish perspective, you got to understand that a Jew living in Israel at that time thought that the Pharisees and the scribes were at the very top of the ladder when it comes to righteousness.

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And here Jesus said, unless you're righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you're not going to make it to heaven. Can you imagine the look of shock on their faces?

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Well, that verse, verse 20 sets us up for what we're going to see in the rest of chapter five of Matthew. Now, if you'll notice, it's like the Lord Jesus took, the scalpel of God's Word and used it to cut away the self-righteousness that had been so invested and entwined in the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees.

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He focused on six issues. Now you say, pastor, how do you know there are six issues? Why don't you look at chapter five? Just look at verse 21. You have heard that the ancients were told, look at verse 22. But I say to you, look at verse 27, you have heard that it was said, look at verse 28 but I say to you, this Jesus talking here, verse 31, it was said, verse 32, but I say to you, verse 33 again you have heard verse 34 but I say to you, verse 38, you have heard that it was said, verse 39 but I say to you verse verse 43, you have heard that it

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was said, but I say to you, hey, listen, when you say that kind of repeated action in Scripture, you see that they're clear. There's a clear division here, this chapter, there are six issues, six times that Jesus said, you have heard that it was said, but I say to you and those six issues, Jesus is explaining to the people how their righteousness could exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

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Okay. Now, now I want you to to notice that the scribes and Pharisees base everything that they believed on external righteousness. In other words, they believe that true righteousness. What if you if you kept every little jot, tittle, and letter of the law, you were righteous and you were going to heaven, and God approved of you, and you could earn your own way to salvation by keeping the law.

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But Jesus is saying here, external righteousness is not what God is looking for. God is looking for internal righteousness. Righteousness that comes out of the heart. The Bible says in Proverbs 423, watch after your heart, for out of the heart flow the issues of life. Let me tell you, you can have everything looking sharp and tidy on the outside.

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But if you're not right in your heart, you're not right with God. God looks at the heart. Not necessarily what we say, not how we measure up to some kind of religious dogma. But he looks at your heart now. We're going to talk tonight about how to maintain healthy relationships. And the first thing he deals with right out of the bat is anger or anger.

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Do you realize that anger can destroy relationships and it can poison your own heart? Anger can create a division, a demarcation between you and your relationship with God as well as other people. So if we're going to maintain healthy relationships with number one, we gotta gauge the problem correctly. We gotta gauge it correctly. Look at Matthew 521 and 22.

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You have heard that the ancients were told, ye shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. Now that that first one, you shall not commit murder, is a direct quote from the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20, verse 13. But I want you to notice something here after it says, you shall not commit murder.

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It says, whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. Do you realize that's not in the Bible? That's what the scribes and Pharisees added to from their understanding. They added it to the law, and they were really good at doing that. Verse 22. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court.

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And whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing shall be guilty before the Supreme Court. And whoever says, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Now let me tell you something. And these verses that we're looking at in Matthew chapter five, you need to understand that Jesus never, ever did away with the moral law, ever.

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Jesus did. Jesus wanted people to understand that you can't commit murder. But there was more to it than the physical act of murder. Jesus is saying, you can commit murder in your heart, but hating people. And I tell you, that is something that God will never accept. Look at Genesis chapter nine, verse six. Whoever shares man's blood by man, his blood shall be shed for the image.

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For in the image of God he made man. Now that's a very important little verse, because it helps us to understand if we commit murder, the physical act of murder, or the act of murder by hating somebody, we have marred the image of God and another person. There may be somebody in your life and you detest them. You detest them because they hurt you.

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They hurt you badly. And you've never been able to get over it. And what Jesus is saying right here is you need to understand that if you have hatred in your heart for somebody, or anger in your heart towards somebody, that you've not resolved, then you are marring the image of God. That person was created, the image of God, no matter how rascally they are.

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And that's something that's not acceptable in the eyes of God. Murder is a smear campaign on the image of God. So let's look at how Jesus clarified the meaning here. Matthew 522. Look at it again. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. And whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing shall be guilty before the Supreme Court.

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That would be the Sanhedrin in, in Israel. And whoever says, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Let's break that down for just a moment. Jesus said, but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother now, Jesus was not contrasting his teaching from the Old Testament. Not a contrast.

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He's explaining and taking it deeper than the scribes and Pharisees would ever dare take it. He was carving away the rabbinic tradition and God's truth. God's truth mattered more to Jesus than tradition. By the way, it still he it still does. Do you realize you don't have to be a part of the Jewish faith to have traditions and religious dogma?

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We even have that in Baptist Church. You realize there are Baptists who believe that if they're really good enough, they can go to heaven? Do you realize there's nowhere in the Bible that says you get to heaven on your goodness? We get to heaven on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we repent of our sin and place our faith in him, and he takes away our sin and separates us from us.

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As far as the east is from the west, we receive his righteousness. Now the word angry refers to a a brooding, simmering anger that produces a bitterness, that refuses to forgive, that cherishes resentment like a fisherman cherishes a trophy bass hanging on a wall. You know anybody like that? We all know people like that. Maybe. And I hope and pray not.

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But maybe there's somebody in this room. And you got an anger problem. And that anger problem runs deep. And that anger problem has created problems for you. It's created problems at work. It created problems for you when you went to school. It's creating problems for you and your family. And it's difficult. But look at the punishment. I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court.

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Now, here, here's the issue. You say big deal. I've got an anger problem. Understand this. Attitudes precede actions. Attitudes precedes actions. And the thing about if you don't deal with your anger, your anger is going to deal with you. At some point, it will deal with you, and it will impact people around you that you really care about.

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That's a fact. And whoever shall say to his brother shall be guilty before the Supreme Court. Raw car and the the Greek language was a slanderous and malicious attack on another person. It was like calling someone a brainless idiot, an empty head or a good for nothing. Can I tell you that anybody that has been created on this planet, you can't say they are good for nothing.

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How many times have you heard me say from the pulpit in the middle of a sermon, hey, your life may be an absolute mess, but I tell you on the authority of God's Word that he loves you and he cares about you. And he cared so much that he was willing to sacrifice his son for you on the cross of Calvary, so that your sins could be forgiven and you could have eternal life in him.

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How many times have you heard me say that I believe that I don't believe that God creates junk. Now I believe people mess up their lives, but I honestly believe that regardless of how far a person is slipped by the grace and the power of God, the love of Jesus, they can be reached with the gospel. The good news of Christ, and their lives can change.

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I believe the reason Jesus dealt with these issues. We're looking at one of these issues tonight, but the reason he dealt with those issues is because he had the power to give people victory over anger.

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Look at this next one. And whoever shall say to his brother shall be guilty before the Supreme Court. That's the Sanhedrin. Now, now look at this. And whoever shall say, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. The word hell there. The word hell. Comes from a, a word that that refer Gehenna.

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It refers to a valley outside of Jerusalem that have become the garbage dump for Jerusalem. And listen to that garbage dump. It burned all the time, and it stunk to high heaven all the time. And to call somebody a fool. That that word fool. We get our word moron from that. From that Greek word. We get our word moron from that.

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Do you see how serious Jesus is trying to communicate to us that anger really is? It's like three levels of anger that he deals with here. The thing about it, Jesus is dealing with that because he wants people to have victory over anger. Listen through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Any believer can have victory over this kind of stuff.

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Take your Bible flip over to. Let me see Ephesians chapter four.

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Ephesians chapter four.

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Look at verse 29. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment. So that will give grace to those who hear. Do not look at that. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

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Do you realize that when you and I allow anger to be so prevalent in our lives that we are grieving the Holy Spirit of God, who, if you're a born again believer, every born again believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling them. And when we do stuff like this, it grieves the Spirit of God. Look at. Go on, look.

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Look again. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all look at their. Let all burden, bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. You see, Jesus is not the only one who dealt with this. Paul took the teaching of Jesus and he made it applicable to the New Testament church.

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He said, look, there's some stuff you got to get out of your life. It'll ruin your life. It'll ruin your relationships. It'll ruin your relationship with the Lord. Get it out of your life. But there's some stuff you need to add to your life. Look. Look at verse 32 of Ephesians four. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ.

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Also has forgiven you. Let me ask you quit. Do you hate anybody? Are you angry with somebody tonight? Has it been there for a long time? Sort of festering in your heart? Jesus is saying this you need victory. You need victory before it does irreparable damage in your life and in the lives of those that you care about.

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It. Everyone notice first John chapter three, verse 15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. I'm telling the scriptures tough on this.

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Jesus smashed the self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. So if we're going to maintain healthy relationships in our lives. We've got to grasp the problem correctly. Number two, we've got to handle the problem decisively. Look at Matthew 523 and 24. Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you.

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Leave your offering there before the altar and go first. Be reconciled to your brother. Then come and present your offering. Now the picture here is of a Jewish man going to the temple to offer his sacrificial animal as an act of worship to God. And Jesus says, hold it. Stop everything. If you're going to the temple to offer a sacrifice to a holy, holy, holy God, and you've got this anger and bitterness and wrath and slander and hatred in your heart towards somebody.

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Stop. Just leave your animal right there. Go find the person that you've got this animosity toward, and do everything in your power to reconcile with them.

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Everything.

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Radical reconciliation must precede true worship. You look. You come to the sanctuary on Sunday morning to worship the Lord. And you've had, a problem with a person. This true and I'm not embarrassed. And, darling, when I say this, but do you realize there time that Darlene and I have arguments we did in any time?

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Listen, any time you have two sinners living, save sinners living in a confined space, there's a chance for trouble. And I honestly, we've had arguments on Saturday night, and we don't deal with it like we should. And I come to church and I'm getting ready to preach. And, darling, tell you this. I've called her. So, darling, would you please forgive me?

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I'm sorry I said this. I'm sorry I did this. I'm sorry I didn't do this. And she forgives me. I tell you one thing. I wasn't about to go into the pulpit and try to preach the Word of God. With that hanging over my head. In her head. That kind of stuff is important. Amen. That's what Jesus is teaching here.

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Now take your Bible. Look at Matthew chapter 15. Just a moment. Flip over to your right. Matthew chapter 15.

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Look at verses 16 through 20.

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Jesus said to Peter, are you still lacking in understanding? Also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? He's referring to a parable that he shared.

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Verse 18. But the things that this is important, but the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart.

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And those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slanders. These are the things that defile the man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. Again. He is. He's, showing the self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees as compared to his emphasis upon the heart out of the heart.

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Flow the issues of life. So? So you're there and you remember that your your brother has something get. It's not you against your brother, but your brother had something against you. Have you ever. Have you ever been going along in life? And you just know. You just sense that somebody's got something, stuck in their craw about you.

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You don't know what it is, but you know that there's a isness. Every time that person gets around, there's a iciness, and you feel you feel it in his relationship or her relation with you. You know what I've done many times? I've felt that before. And I've gone to people and I've asked him, I said, have I done anything to offend you?

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I said, if I have, I want to get right with you. And sometimes they say, yeah, you didn't do this or you should have done that. And and I say, I'm sorry. You know, what you do in those situations. You fall on your sword. You admit to them that you messed up and ask them to forgive you. Let's listen.

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One of the most disarming things you can do when people have that option is toward you is to be transparent with them. Let them know that you care about them, that you want to be right with them, and if you've done anything to offend them, you want to make it right. Right? Then.

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You know what you got to do to do that? You swallow your pride and give me. But can I tell you what the book of the Book of Proverbs says about pride? Pride comes before a fall. You know, I I'm reading through Proverbs. I'm reading the chapter that applies to the day. So, so, in other words, at the end of 2025, I will have read the book of Proverbs 12 times.

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Once a month. I read the Book of Proverbs, and here's what I'm noticing. There's a tremendous amount of emphasis upon the fear of the Lord. Reverence for God and humility. Utilize those to go hand in hand. So if you feel like somebody has something against you. Go to them. Ask them. Now let me be quick. Say this. If.

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If there's a problem between you and another person, and you've done everything you've done, you could possibly do to reconcile with them. That's all you can do. You can't fix anybody else. Let me tell you this. You will answer to the Lord Jesus for what's in your heart as a believer.

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You don't have to answer to the Lord Jesus for what's in somebody else's heart. That's between them and the Lord. I can't tell you the number of times that I've sat down with people who are in the midst of a, a messy situation with other people. And it's messy and it's hard. And we talk about this and and they say, pastor, I've done everything I know to do.

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And still that person detest me. I tell you, friend, they're here. Here's what here's what I tell people. If you've done everything you can to make it right with somebody and on their end, they don't reciprocate. Here's what you do to protect yourself. Greatest protection in the world. You take that person, you put them on your prayer list, and you pray for them every day.

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Do you know what that does that protects you from allowing the leakage of the poison of bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness into your own heart? You cannot pray for people legitimately and honestly, and still have bitterness in your heart toward them.

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But it's deathly quiet in here tonight.

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All right. And look at this now. Let's look at Matthew five 2526. I'm going to check my time.

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Look what Jesus said. Make friends. Underscore that word quickly. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you're with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly, I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

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So how long do you have to initiate this reconciliation? Here's our habit. Here's our habit. We are good at procrastinating. Within involves us getting out of our comfort zone and going to people and trying to make it right with. Have you ever done that? And you put it off and you put it off. The longer you put it off, the harder it is to reconcile with somebody, the more the enemy guessed.

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To to drop those little drops of poison in your own heart.

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These verses, verses 25 and 26, I call them God's stopwatch. Under Roman law, someone who had been wronged could take that other person before the judge. That's a part of Roman Roman law. But here's what Jesus saying. The best thing to do before you get before a judge is to reconcile to each other on the way to the judge.

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Do you realize that every unbeliever is going to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne? Judgment? You realize that every believer, every believer in this room, Rome, is going to stand before the Lord Jesus as the Bema Seat judgment. Two totally different judgments. The White Throne judgment is for unbelievers. The Bema Seat judgment. The judgment seat of Christ is for believers.

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Now, in no way am I saying that your salvation is in jeopardy. It's not. Jesus said, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. You got eternal life as a believer. But the Bema Seat judgment, the judgment seat of Christ is to determine two things to determine the level of your rewards in the Kingdom of God.

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And to determine your responsibilities that Jesus is going to give you in the new heaven and the new earth.

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So we are accountable to Jesus. You know, there's something going on in our country right now called Doge. And the government and the government agencies are being scrutinized like never before, right? It's called accountability.

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And everybody needs accountability. Everybody needs accountability. But I want you to understand that there's a born again believer. We do not have the right to free will it and do what we want to do. We are accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ for the way we thank, for the way we act, every aspect of our life. We're accountable to him.

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Do you realize that even Jesus was accountable to the father? Jesus was in Samaria. The disciples had gone into town to get some lunch. They came back after Jesus had promised the Samaritan woman living water if she believed in him. And the disciples said to him, Lord, you need to eat something. You've not eaten anything. And here's what Jesus said.

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It's a picture of accountability. Jesus said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. And you know what Jesus is saying? He said, I am accountable to God the Father to do his will and to accomplish his work. That has become a part of my prayer life. Every day I want to pray, Lord, help me to do your will today.

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Help me to accomplish your work today.

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I want to be accountable to him because I want to please him. Don't you? To understand that all this we're talking about is about accountability. So we, Jesus, say, look, the best thing you can do is when you're with your opponent on the way to the judge. The best thing to do is to reconcile with the person that you're at odds with.

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Before you ever get to the judge.

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Now. How do we maintain healthy, Christ honoring relationships in our family, within the church and then with even with those we work with? Number one, gauge the problem correctly. Number two, handle the problem decisively. That's what we've got to do. It's not complicated, but it is hard. Reconciliation is hard work. Listen, if you're married in this room, if you're wearing one of these things on your finger, you know that you and your spouse go through times where it's hard.

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And you have to reconcile with each other. You have to make that call like I have to make to Darlene from time to.

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That's important. We took vows, didn't we? For better or for worse. And the same thing goes if you're in a relationship with somebody at work. Maybe. Maybe it's your boss. Maybe it's a coworker. Maybe it's a fellow church member, and you're sort of at odds with each other. Man, don't don't let that stuff fester.

00;40;49;28 - 00;41;24;20
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This week. I sense that there was something in a relationship with another former member of this church. And I texted that person, tried to call it got did get an answer. And I just reached out to them. You know, I reached out to them because the Holy Spirit laid them on my heart.

00;41;24;23 - 00;41;28;27
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I wish I could tell you that.

00;41;29;00 - 00;41;48;29
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Everything turned out great. I'm heard from them. But let me tell you this. Let me make this very clear. I'm free. Amen. I am free because I've done what the Lord led me to do.

00;41;49;01 - 00;41;59;01
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Reconciliation is a two way street, but I am accountable to the Lord Jesus for my heart.

00;41;59;03 - 00;42;28;25
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Not for anybody else's heart. That makes sense. Well, listen, let me tell you. Finish a story you heard. The rest of the story, you know. Well, here's the rest of the story. Paul Young eco. South Korean pastor before a thousand Japanese pastors.

00;42;28;27 - 00;42;58;24
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First words out of his mouth. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. And he just started weeping. And one of those Japanese pastors got up, walked up to the platform. Got on one knee before Paul Young eco said, I'm sorry.

00;42;58;26 - 00;43;14;16
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Before it was all over with, all 1000 pastors came before Paul Young Show. And told him they're sorry.

00;43;14;18 - 00;43;34;13
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After Paul Young Cho composed himself. He opened his Bible and the first words out of his mouth with tears streaming down his face were these I love you, I love you, I love you.

00;43;34;15 - 00;44;09;12
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That kind of reconciliation. Is only possible through the ministry of the spirit of the living God. But that's the kind of reconciliation that you could have if you're at odds with somebody. Now, don't give yourself a pass. Well, that sounds good, pastor, but that was 2000 years ago. Let me tell you, this is as as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus spoke it.

00;44;09;15 - 00;44;45;22
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You know what? Because people still get mad at each other. People still have falling out with each other right? And we got to do this now. We got to do it. We got to make sure that our righteousness comes out of our heart. Not some kind of external. Well, I went to church. I read my Bible. I don't know if you don't get it on your heart.

00;44;45;25 - 00;45;09;10
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It's never going to be what God wants it to be. All right. I got to land this plane. Sometimes as a pastor, you you keep coming in for a landing and you think of something else and just come to point. You got to land the plane. So I hope and pray you've heard from God tonight. Now we're going to continue this.

00;45;09;14 - 00;45;41;26
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I encourage you study the sermon on March 1st. It's the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever preached. I promise you that. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray that you would help us. Oh God in heaven, help us to take these words seriously. I pray, Lord, that we would be reconciled with those that we struggle to have a relationship with.

00;45;41;29 - 00;46;06;13
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I pray we would forgive those we need to forgive. I pray the Spirit of God would drain all of the poison out of our hearts and spirits. And that we would have a heart that's pure and holy and set aside for your glory. Lord, we love you. Help us to be the men and women you've called us to be.

00;46;06;13 - 00;46;10;27
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In Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. God bless you.