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Has the Minister Given
Me a Club to Beat You With?
MP3
Not infrequently, you will hear an ICG minister give a sermon
outlining some sort of spiritual pitfall or problem such as bitterness,
greed, envy, lust or hate. He might discuss neglect of the faith
or of prayer or Bible study. The question is, "Can I now use one
of these sermons as a club to beat my fellow brother about the head and
shoulders? I had a case recently where a member listened to a
sermon on the subject of bitterness and hate between two brothers in the
faith. This member then used the sermon to accuse his brother of
being bitter and hateful. Was this the intended response the
minister was looking for? Was this the purpose of his sermon?
Answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT!!
When a minister comes forth with a sermon on some spiritual pitfall, it
is his intention that one take the information to examine him or
herself. The Bible instructs us to examine ourselves, not our
brothers and sisters in the faith. Notice...
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. –Psalm 26:2
Note: David is asking God to
examine himself, not his brother.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and
drink of that cup. –1 Corinthians 11:28
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye
be reprobates? –2 Corinthians 13:5
Note: Both of these scriptures
describe one examining himself to determine whether he is in the
Salvation Process or not. We have no mandate to go about the
congregation examining others to see whether they be in the faith.
We cannot listen to a sermon on the destructiveness of adultery and then
use it as license to go about finding or accusing people of adultery.
Same goes for envy, greed, bitterness or hate.
Clearly, if a member offends you in some way, the Bible gives us the
Matthew 18 process as a recourse. Even then, we cannot use a
sermon or the Bible as a club to hurt, accuse or destroy our brother or
sister in the church. Besides, the Matthew 18 process is a process
of last resort and should only be used rarely. It should never be
used to accuse a brother or sister of some perceived short-coming in
their life but only in cases where they have specifically offended you.
Even then, shower them with forgiveness before going to the trouble of a
Matthew 18 process.
Jesus Christ is not about accusation and this is not a church of
accusation. This is a church of forgiveness and peace through the
power of the Holy Spirit working in each of us. If we are
examining ourselves, we are ridding the church of these spiritual
pitfalls without causing a commotion in the Body of Christ. The
problems are worked on individually before the throne of God in the
quiet solitude of the Salvation Process. I liken the Salvation
Process to a room in which only you, Christ and God, the Father are
present. No other human can be there. When you come before
God, you really have no mandate to be accusing your brother or sister
before God. Forgiving, yes, but accusation, no. Satan is the
accuser, not the brethren.
We work out our Salvation before God. We do not work it out by
using these types of sermons or the Word of God as a club to beat our
brother and then to bring him before the throne of God for his just
punishment or destruction.
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