Mid-Week Bible Study (March 3 2010)

The Living Rock Church of Iloilo City
MID-WEEK BIBLE STUDY
March 3, 2010

Text: Matthew 5:23,24

Series Title
THE COMMANDMENTS OF CHRIST

Bible Study Lesson
COMMANDMENT #6 – BE RECONCILED

by Pastor Norman S. Lao


Introduction
Commandment #1 – REPENT
Commandment #2 – FOLLOW ME
Commandment #3 – REJOICE
Commandment #4 – LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE
Commandment #5 – HONOR GOD’S LAW

Tonight we are going to cover the Sixth Command of Christ found in Matthew 5:23,24:

23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

I. Understanding the Command

Before we can obey the Command we need to understand it first.

A. The context of the command (Matthew 5:21-22). A discussion on ANGER precedes (goes before) the Command to BE RECONCILED.

1) Not all anger is sinful.

Anger is a natural human emotion placed by God in us for a purpose.

a) Jesus was angry at the people selling and exchanging money in the temple (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15)
b) Jesus was angry at the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees and religious leaders (Mark 3:5)
c) Paul was angry at Elymas because he was hindering the Gospel (Acts 13:8-11)
d) Moses was angry at the Israelites for making and worshipping the Golden Calf idol. (Exodus 32:19)
e) Parents get angry with their children. When children disobey parents have the right to get angry.
f) A pastor may be angry at members who are trying to divide the church. (Read 3 John)
g) A parent may be angry at a teacher who slaps his/her child.
h) A customer may be angry for receiving damaged goods or a faulty service.
i) A teacher may be angry at a student who is caught cheating.
j) A man may be angry at the drunk driver who killed his son.
k) _________________________________
l) _________________________________

2) Anger is sinful when:

a) The motivation is selfish and self-serving.
b) The mouth begins to spit out evil and hurtful words. This is the context of our text: “Raca!” and “You Fool!” Raca is a Chaldean word meaning “O, you empty-headed one.” The Greek word for “fool” is MOROS and it means “dull or stupid, a blockhead.” (This could be where the English expression “You moron!” comes from.)
c) Anger turns to hatred and vengeance.
d) Permitted to linger. The Bible says, “do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Ephesians 4:26)
e) It is done quickly and frequently.
f) It is out of control and involves physical contact.
g) One refuses to forgive even when the other has made steps toward reconciliation.

3) Identifying Steps to Anger

a) It always begins with an offense – a wrong word, a wrong action, a wrong look, a wrong actuation etc. The offense may be real or imagined, sometimes it is simply misinterpreted.
b) This results in a hurt feeling. The steps/stages/ levels of anger depends to a large degree on the initial offense.
c) Bitterness. A lingering hurt feeling.
d) The desire to get even. This results in actions or words that is designed to hurt the person who has offended you. Do not forget “vengeance” belongs to God. (Hebrews 10:30)
e) Verbal exchanges/abuse. This happens when anger is met with anger. This may involve belittling comments, accusations, labeling, cursing, etc. (That’s why the Book of Proverbs gives us a very effective advice: “A gentle answer turns away wrath [anger].” Proverbs 15:1)
f) Physical contact. Perhaps this is the highest level in anger when one person begins to physically hurt the other or both do so to each other. Some, in so doing end up killing another.
g) Breaking up of the relationship.
h) Hatred a feeling of hostility.

4) What the Bible says about Anger:
a) A person who hates his brother/sister is a murderer and has no eternal life in him/her (1 John 3:15).
b) Frequent anger is a sign of a fool (Ecclesiastes 7:9).
c) Anger does not glorify God (James 1:20).
d) You can be angry without sinning (Ephesians 4:26).

B. The original word for “Reconcile” here is DIALLASO and it means “to change thoroughly.” It involves the restoration of a relationship that was broken. Two other Greek words which are translated “reconcile” are KATALLASSO, which means “to return to favor” (that is, from disfavor) and APOKATALLASSO, which means “to bring back a former state of harmony.”

Synonyms/Related Words: settle, patchup, reunite, bring together, ending of conflict.


It is because of anger that the command to reconcile is given. Since no one is perfect our relationships can get into trouble once in a while due to anger. The antidote to this is RECONCILIATION.

C. God is more concerned with your relationship with your Brother/Sister than He is with your Gifts to Him.

1) We cannot offer an acceptable offering if we are angry with our brother/sister. Remember Cain?

2) Our relationship with one another is the reflection of our relationship with God (1 John 4:20)


II. How to Apply the Command

When relationships grow sour or are broken, there are a couple of ways they can be mended. One of these is through TIME. We have a saying, “Time heals all wounds.” Every saying has a weakness and the weakness of this saying is that it does not apply to all situations and to all persons. So, it may be true to some, but not to others.

Healed through TIME? Time may help make one forget the gravity of the offense or the initial feelings that one felt when the offense was fresh, but time settles nothing. In fact, Time avoids the settlement.

The command to be reconciled DOES NOT leave the reconciling to Time but to the OFFENDING party.

Listen to the Word of the Lord:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,...” (Matthew 5:23)

“leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:24)

The steps are:
1. If you remember someone who has something against you. Notice: It is not YOU having something against someone -- it is the other person having something against you. What does this mean? The Bible says, “As long as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18). You can ignore your own feelings, but you cannot ignore other people’s feelings. For their sake you have to go and be reconciled with them.

2. Go to him and be reconciled. In other words, go to him and settle matters with him/her. Important: the verse says nothing about the reaction or response of the other party. The important part here is that YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT IT. That part is the only part you can control. You can never control the reaction/response of the other person.

3. Then return and offer your gift.

In Matthew 18:15-17 we find the following steps:

15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault , just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Conclusion
The relationship between God and man was broken by sin. The relationship was severed. The first one to make a move toward reconciliation was God, not man. (Romans 5:8-11) To make the first move is to be mature, spiritual and better.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE TO WHOM YOU NEED TO BE RECONCILED TODAY? GO AND BE RECONCILED!