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- [00:01]
A
Come on, let's clap our hands for all that God is doing. All right, family, where? Well, we've been in a series called Alterations. Go to it. Volume four for this is week nine. And I'm going to end this series today. I'm going to do a standalone message next week before we start a new series of teachings. But I want to, I want to kind of set some expectation for today. The I'm going to read this text. Today's presentation is going to be a little bit different. Everybody look at Pastor. The text determines how you teach it. So some texts lend themselves to more presentation and inspiration. And then there are some texts that lean, that lean toward more reflection and self examination. And that's this passage today. So I need all my 1230Amaners. Yeah, I need you up and ready today because I think the Holy Spirit is going to challenge us in a unique way. Matthew chapter 5, verse 23 reads like this. It says, therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you. It's quiet already. Leave your gift there in front of the altar first. Go and be reconciled to them. Then come and offer your gift. Which section is going to help me so I know which one to preach to today? Okay, I want to tag this title to this text in our time together, family. Get it straight before you celebrate. Clap your hands 12:30 if you're ready for God's word. I want to start this sermon today with a statement that many may find shocking, but I do think it's significant and salient for today's sermon. The statement is as follows. Just because something is offered doesn't mean it should be accepted. And just because something is given doesn't mean it's God. The only individuals that accept any and everything with no examination are individuals who think they have no options. Or, which is worse, individuals who have options but don't have standards. The absence of standards suggests the presence of confusion. The absence of standards is an indication that an individual doesn't have a revelation that they are made as an image bearer of God. It means that they are objective, operating without a divine appraisal of who they are, whose they are and what they carry. Standards are always a reflection of how you see you. Standards aren't the most you desire, they are the least you will allow. Standards aren't the ceiling. Standards are the floor. Standards aren't what you want to have. Standards are what you won't live without. Standards are not arrogance. Standards are awareness that God has given me responsibility to properly steward that which he entrusted into me. And stewardship requires standards. Without standards, we become victims of our own impulses. Slaves to circumstances and casualties to compromise. Therefore, I'm arguing that standards are one of the most under emphasized spiritual assets. They are not human hubris. But standards are spiritual scaffolding that is necessary for spiritual growth. Standards are what the Hebrew boys had when they looked at an individual who was threatening to throw them in a fiery furnace. And they said, my God is able to deliver, but even if he doesn't, we still will not bow. When you have standards, people cannot dangle opportunities in front of you like a carrot. Silly rabbit. Tricks are for kids. I believe there's a God who does not require me to sacrifice what he wants in order to get what I want. And if I've got to sacrifice what he wants in order to get what I want, I don't want it because it means it's not what he wants for me. Am I talking to anyone at the 12:30? Who's at a season of life where you are tired of chasing what does not belong to you and you are ready for God only to send to you what he wants for you. What God has for me, it is for me. And if it ain't God, I don't want it. Can I get an amen in this place? Somebody shout standards. Come on, somebody shout standards. Yes, standards. Standards, family standards are important for us to understand and embrace because. Oh my, I can't believe this is the 1230. Let me say it. They're important because standards teach people how to love you. Did you hear what I just said? Standards don't change people. Standards change how people handle you. I don't know what you're doing with everybody else. Well, such and such. Let me do this. Well, whoop dee doo. I'm not such and such. I don't care what you do with them. Standards teach people how to love you. So understanding and embracing standards because standards are stewardship, not only helps you relate to people, it also helps you relate to God. Because God is a God of standards. And because God has standards, just because it's accepted, just because it's offered, doesn't mean he accepts it all. Throughout Scripture we see examples of God not accepting what's offered cause it doesn't meet God's standard. We see it in the book of Beginnings. Are y' all here in the book of Genesis with Adam and Eve's two sons, Cain and Abel, when they both are instructed to bring God an offering. And Abel brings the first and the best Cain brings from among. And the Bible says God looks favorably. Am I in the book? God looks favorably on Abel's offering and and does not look favorably on Cain's offering. And Cain starts. Cain is the first. Cain is the first, at least the first recorded human in history. That's a hater. I'm in the book. Wait a minute. I'm in the book. The Bible says. Come on. Genesis, chapter three. In the course of time. Genesis chapter four. In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. Abel also brought an offering, fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering. But on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, why you mad? Why is your face downcast? If you would do what was right, you would be accepted. You want Abel's results without Abel's work. If you will put the energy into working that you're putting in the hating, then you would get the different result. Because just because it's offered doesn't mean it's accepted, because God has standards. We see this not only in Genesis, we see this in the book of The Bible called 1 Samuel, where God gave a king named Saul instruction. He gave him very specific instruction to handle an enemy of Israel called the Amalekites. The Amalekites were a generational enemy from the days of Moses. They were opposing and attacking Israel. As a matter of fact, some of you may be familiar with this story in the Bible where Israel is fighting in the valley and Moses is on a hill. And the Bible says as long as Moses hands were up, Joshua led Israel to victory in the valley. But when Moses hands came down, then Israel lost momentum. Here's the principle, guys. Even when you're in a low place, learn to keep your hands high. Because if you can keep your hands high even when you're in a low place, you can win even while you're low. So here's what happens. For generation after generation after generation. They would not leave Israel alone. They just wouldn't stop. So at some point a just God has to intervene. So he tells Saul, I need you to handle the Amalekites, because here's the promise he made to Moses in Exodus. I'm going to blot out Amalek's name from under heaven, he says, because they're not going to stop. So if I don't put an end to this it's going to end you. So what happened is when God gave instruction for Saul to handle the Amalekites, he didn't give him the context of Exodus. He just said, handle that. Because God is not obligated to give explanation when he give instruction. And just because he doesn't give an explanation doesn't mean there isn't an explanation. Sometimes you got to do what God says do when it doesn't make sense. And you know what Saul did? Saul partially obeyed. He didn't completely disobey. He partially obeyed. He spared the king. It's like, why you spared the king? He spared the king and he spared some of their animals. And so God speaks to Samuel and says, this Samuel was a prophet that provided some leadership and counsel to Saul. He says to Samuel, I regret I picked Saul. I never want God to regret his choice. I'm not. I'm not going to bother this. Yes, I am. I'm going to bother a little bit. Because even when God corrects Saul, here's what he. Here's. Here's what he says. He says, saul, when you were little, in your own eyes, you were more faithful. Did you hear what I just said? He said, when you were little, in your own eyes, you were more faithful. But there's something about this throne that caused you to forget I'm the one who's supposed to be sitting on it. That I didn't put you there for your agenda. I put you there for my agenda. And he says. He says, I regret. So, Samuel, go to Saul. Say, man, what happened? Did you do what the Lord said? He said, praise God. Yes, I did. He said, well, what's this? I hear sheep. I hear cattle. I hear goats. What's this I hear then? I hear the king alive. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I kept. I'm going to take. I'm going to take these sheep, goats. I'm going to sacrifice this to God. I'm going to offer this as a sacrifice. And here's what Samuel says to him. Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Here's what Sam is asking. Do you really think God want them sheep? It's not the sheep. It's the obedience. He says, you want me to accept your sacrifice, but obedience is better than sacrifice. I don't want the sacrifice. God is saying, if it's not obedience, you want me to take what you want to give me when I'm trying to teach you how to give me what I want. So Saul wanted to offer it, but it wasn't accepted because just because it's offered doesn't mean it's accepted because God has standards. We see this in Genesis. We see it in First Samuel. Can I argue my case? We see it in Genesis. We see it in First Samuel. We see it in the last book of the Old Testament, the last prophetic voice before 400 years of silence, called the Silent years. Meaning after this prophetic voice, there is no prophetic voice that shows up until John the Baptist. This prophet is Malachi. And Malachi. Although parts of Malachi address people, many pulpits have used Malachi to address the pew. When Malachi is really a corrective polemic against the priest, part of what God is using Malachi to do is to correct spiritual leadership. Here it is. Here it is. It's Malachi. Chapter one. God says, okay, a son honors his father, a slave, his master. If I'm a father, where's the honor due to me? If I'm a master, where's the respect due to me? Says the Lord God Almighty. It is you, priest, who shall contemn to my name. But you ask, how have we shown contempt for your name by offering defiled food on my altar. But you ask, how have we defiled you? By saying that the Lord's table is contemptible. Now watch what he says. When you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? Let me contemporize the text. He said, you know you wrong when it's time to sacrifice to me, you go in the backyard and you find the ghost that's blind and running into each other, and you bring that to me. He says, you know you wrong when you find the. The sheep that got three legs, and you bring that sheep to me, and you take the sheep that's got four legs down to the market because you can get most for it. He says, and the reason I know you know you're wrong because you wouldn't try that with your governor. I'm the best to you, but I get the least from. Just because you're offering it doesn't mean I accept it because I got standards. Pastor, where you going with this? You cannot understand the essence of what Jesus is saying in our foundational text on the Sermon of the Mount. Sermon on the Mount, about altars and offering without understanding thematically what I've just laid before you. Here you see this trend and this theme of. Of offerings being offered to God as an expression of worship. And you see Jesus directly addressing this in Matthew, chapter five. Matthew, chapter five is what's called the Sermon on a Mount. Jesus is not on a literal mountain. It's a high heel. And it's one of his most comprehensive set of ethical New Testament teachings. And the Sermon of the Mount is what I call healthy. Somebody say healthy. Come on, say it. Say healthy. Healthy deconstruction. The Sermon on the Mount is a systematic deconstruction of religious misinterpretation of divine intent. This is why Jesus would say, you heard it said. But I say, you heard it said. But I say, because Jesus is exposing the difference between what people say God said and what God actually said. This is healthy deconstruction. It is deconstructing tradition from truth so you can align with truth. Unhealthy deconstruction wants to redefine truth. He's engaging in healthy deconstruction. He wants them to see the difference between what they think God wants and what God actually wants. And he gets to the latter part of this text, and he has this conversation about. About altars and gifts, which is an expression of worship. And we've been talking about worship for nine weeks, and I can't be a responsible pastor. It'd be a dereliction of my pastoral responsibility to do all this teaching on worship and ignore what Jesus says here in Matthew, chapter number five. Let me summarize and Danielize what Jesus says here in Matthew 5. God not only looks at what we are bringing in worship, God also also looks at what you're carrying in your heart. Unaddressed mess with people impacts the way you meet with God. Did you hear what I just said? Jesus is deconstructing the compartmentalization that people have when they think they can carry hate in their heart toward people and then offer up pure praise to God. He's saying it's offered, but it's not accepted. Come on, church. Because we look at what we're bringing, he looks at what we're carrying. And we may be bringing adoration, but he sees we're carrying anger. We may be bringing praise, but he sees we're carrying pride. We may be bringing gifts, but he sees we're carrying grudges. And if we try to engage in the bringing but refuse to address what we're carrying, then the worship is offered, but it's not accepted. I'm in the text. I said I'm in the text. Because in verse 23, Jesus begins with this one word, therefore. And therefore is therefore a reason he's connecting what he's about to say in verse 23 and 24 to what he has said in verses 21 and 20, and in verses 21 and 22, he's talking about anger and how anger leads to assassination, not just literally, but metaphorically. And what Jesus is saying, hey, you cannot be exalting the Creator and then assassinating somebody's character. At the same time, he is addressing spiritual dissonance, which is when there's a disconnect between what we profess about God and how we practice toward people. It's what James refers to in James 3. 9, when he says, with the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth, come praise and cursing, my brothers and sisters. This should not be so. And this kind of dissonance hardens the heart. It allows us to feel spiritual, spiritual while staying spiteful. It allows us to feel holy while staying hateful. And eventually it makes worship mechanical because your heart becomes hardened, and a hardened heart can't be compartmentalized. And you'll make other people do time for a crime somebody else committed. So Jesus says, if you're offering your gift at the altar, go watch this. Excuse me. Offer your gift at the altar. And remember that you give me the text, guys, okay? They got up there. And remember that your brother or sister. Look at the text. Has something against you. Wait a minute.
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Is it up there?
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Y' all see it? And remember, in the Greek, in the Hebrew, in Ebonics, in Swahili, your brother or sister has something against you. Now, here's what the word remember. The word remember. Without understanding what this word remember means, you're going to misunderstand what Jesus is saying. The word remember here in the Greek is not a. Not a word that means human recall. It's a word that speaks to divine enlightenment. It is when God brings to your memory. You got me a grievance that someone's carrying as a result of a legitimate wound you caused. He is not saying you should become obsessed with trying to figure out everybody that's offended with you because some people's offense is rooted in their filter and not fat. Y' all miss this? Y' all miss it? Oh, my coach told me something. It told me something like two years ago, it changed my whole life. He said, darius, remember when you're talking to people, you're never talking to people. You're talking to their filter. And the filter is going to determine how they interpret what you say. And the filter is going to determine how they interpret what you do. And the filter is Something they accumulated before you. So he is not saying, try to go around and figure out every day who mad at me. Because some people watch this are angry over perceived offense. They confuse feeling wronged with being wronged. I got Bible. This is John 6. Jesus makes a statement to a group of believers, disciples at that time. He said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no parts in me. The Bible says many left that day to follow no further. They got upset because they thought Jesus meant he want them to chew on their calf muscle. He says, I don't mean eat my flesh literally. I'm not telling you to drink my blood. It's a metaphor for oneness and common union. When we have communion, we receive his body. That's the bread, the juice, a metaphor for his blood. He is speaking to oneness with him. That's what he's saying. Unless you're willing to become one, you have no parts in me. So people got upset and walked away from a relationship they needed because they misinterpreted what Jesus meant. And all they had to do was ask a question and they could have got. It's quiet, it's quiet, it's quiet, it's quiet. All they had to do was ask a question. So Jesus isn't talking about that. You will literally be unable to accomplish your assignment if you're trying to figure out who's upset. He's saying, when the Holy Spirit brings to your remembrance someone who is dealing with a genuine grievance because of something you legitimately contributed to, don't you sit there and just worship while they wounded. It's quiet Christian. He said, you happy and holy and they still hurting. And God's like, you told me you were sorry. Okay, I'm getting the love over here, right? God's like, you told me you were sorry, but you didn't. And so Jesus says here, if you remember that this has happened, leave the gift in front of the altar first. Go and be reconciled to them and then come and offer your gift. And if you're really honest, when you're harboring something in your heart, it impacts your ability to engage with the Father. That's a fact. It's not that you can't engage, but you don't engage the same because God's like, you're trying to disconnect things that I don't disconnect. Now, here's what I call daeshun, a logical exegetical conclusion. It means it is not that the scripture explicitly states this, but we can logically Apply the scripture to more than what's stated. Because if we look at something like the Bible saying, don't be unequally yoked, that's not talking about romantic relationships. But if it is talking about platonic relationships, we can logically conclude if it applied to a friend, it definitely applied to a spouse. That's a logical, exegetical conclusion. Right? Okay, so if Jesus says, if you remember someone has offense against you, you need to deal with it logically, we can say, if I also am carrying offense with someone, if something's in my. Come on here. Not just if something's in their heart. If something is also in my heart, I need to go, is that a logical conclusion? See, and some of you. Here's where I'm going with this. Some of you got to understand this. You got to understand this. My authentic encounters with God alter me, but offense alters my ability to authentically encounter God. The enemy goes after my alterations by going after authentic encounters with God. And one of the ways he goes after my authentic encounters with God is by inflicting me with chronic offense. So what some of you have to understand is that the reason you're being always tried is not coincidental. Is what we would call. It's what I would call spiritual warfare. What most people call spiritual warfare is extreme instances of, like, demonization or something like that. That is the culmination of spiritual warfare. By the time there's demonization or anything like that, you've been in spiritual warfare long before that happens. And so the enemy uses the accumulation, accumulation of little things. And some of you feel like all of the betrayal and all of the exploitation, you feel like that's coincidental when it's really a satanic attack to pervert the purity of your heart. Because he knows your heart is required for your assignment. The devil can't take your gifts. But if he changes your heart, you show up with your gift differently. And so he arranges a fence because he wants offense to take hold of your heart. But I came to remind you today, in the words of Grandmama, the devil is a liar. You can't have my heart. We done, Taryo? You think it's coincident? It is a satanic scheme. The people with the best hearts are people that will be betrayed the most. The devil don't like that heart. Hallelujah. That heart makes you selfless. That heart makes you generous. That heart makes you sacrificial. That heart makes you a servant. And the enemy doesn't want you to be generous and to be a Servant. So he wants to infect your heart with offense. But he can't have it. I wish I had a war in church right here. I said, but he can't have it. Not another day. Devil. I see your scheme.
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I see your plan.
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You want my offense to be a fence. But I'm getting ready to get a breakthrough at change church. You can't have my heart. Hallelujah. Gifts and callings are without repentance. He can't get that. But you can't have my heart. I wish I had a war in.
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Church.
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That will let the devil. Devil.
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No, not another day. Sa. You can't have my heart. You can't have my family. Somebody make that decoration time. It's the last day. It's the last. We declare it Come on. We declare it today. Hey, say it's the last day. Oh, say it's the last day. It's the last day. Say it's the last day. It's the last day. Somebody praise him if you believe it Praise him like you do. I'm prying my last here in the I cry my last year I've heard my last sleepless night over that issue. Whom the son sets free Whom the son sets free Whom the son sets free Is truly free. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last hey. It's the last day. It's the last I decree and declare it's the last day. I'm not crying anymore I'm not worried anymore I'm not gonna lose my mind I'm not gonna go crazy why? Cause it's the last day. It's the last day. Say it's the last day. It's the.
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Shout if you can't have your heart.
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Say it's the last day. We've been making do for night. We've been making do for night. We've been making do for. Coming. Char's coming. How you know how you know what? Cuz it's the last day. It's the last. It's the last day. It's the last. Yes, it's the last. Say it's the last. I'm not stronger than with that anymore. I'm not holding down anymore. You got 20 seconds. Praise him like you know it's the last day. I said open up your mouth. Open up your mouth. Open up your mouth. Open up your mouth. Open up your mouth. Open up your mouth. I dare you to praise him like you know it's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. I'm not crying about that anymore. And you can't have my break through. Can I tell you why? It's the last day. It's the last day. W. It's the last day. It's the last day W. You can't have my s. W. You can't have my increase. You can't have my breakthrough because it's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. It's the last day. I want it. It's the last day. It's the last. I want it all back. It's the last day. It's the last. I want it all back. It's the last day. It's the last. You can't have it devil. I'm covered by the blood. I'm cover by the blood. I'm the blood. You can't have my breakthrough.
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This means. This means war.
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This means more. Yes sir. This means war. I'm ready. I'm ready. This needs war. Hey, this. This means war. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to fight. This means war. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to fight. This means. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to fight. Cuz this means war. This means war. This means war. This means war. This means war. I'm putting on the comment of praise. This means. This means war. You can't have my heart. You can't have my heart. You can't have my heart. You can't have my heart. This means. Well.
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You got it. I said you got it. I said you got it now you ready now? The devil got a problem on his.
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Hands now I got my heart back.
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So father today for unaddressed bitterness offense heart wounds that were carried. Would you be a heart surgeon in this house? Glory to God. And would you heal the brokenhearted. Bind up their wounds? I pray for supernatural extraction of the roots of bitterness. Come on out of there. Glory to. I said come on out of there. Come on out of there. What mama did. Come on out of there. What the wife did. Come on out of there. There what the husband did.
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Come on out of there.
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What church did.
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Come on out of there.
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Would you extract every bitter root and set the hearts of your people free in Jesus name? If you're here today and you've never surrendered your heart to the leadership of Jesus.