<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

David Wright

Care Enough To Confront

4 men found themselves late 1 star-filled night staring into the campfire and just kind of chatting about life.

And 1 of the men, as they were talking and engaging, said, you know, we've been friends for some time.

All 4 of us, what if we started our own accountability group?

And a couple of them nodded and said, yeah, I think that would be a good idea.

And another 1 chimed in, we could start tonight.

Yeah, we could talk about some of the issues that we're struggling with and keep each other accountable and okay, well who wants to start?

And the first 1 spoke up and he said reluctantly, well, I hate to share this, but I've had a problem drinking.

I'm a closet alcoholic, and I've been working at beating that for some time, and I just can't seem to get the victory.

And they did their best to encourage him and help him along and so forth.

And the second 1 took his turn and he said, well, my issue tends to be more on the sides of gambling.

And there's so many things on the internet now and I just keep getting sucked in and that's a problem that I'm facing.

And the third individual, he started talking about, you know, I hate to have to share this as well, but there's some lovely lady at the church that I keep spending a lot of time with, and she's married, and I'm married, and of course they all gasp, and they try, and then finally they get to the fourth friend.

And they say, do you have anything that you want to share with us?

And the fourth friend said, well, actually, if I have to tell you, I'm an incurable gossip, and I can't wait to get home to my computer and share all of this information with our church members.

Aren't you glad that fourth man doesn't belong to this church?

Now as you figured out, that's a made-up story, a parable if you will.

But you can only imagine the pain and the hurt that that would cause if something like that really happened.

And sometimes people say, well, I know for sure that it's true.

But that doesn't act as a good way of defending a mass email.

That doesn't give him the right to just voice all of his concerns, even if the story is true.

And we know that if that were in fact to be carried out that that would probably mean the loss of several church members and their families with the pledge never to return again.

So The question I want to pose to us today is, what do we do when we see someone we care about, somebody that we love, that we respect, making a poor decision?

Pastor Ferguson has been talking about the emerging church.

And I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree, and I am myself concerned.

What do we do with that type of information?

Do we just blast it all over the internet?

Do we give voice to anybody that will listen?

What should we do and we're concerned with what we see and what we hear?

What do we do when others hurt us, hurt me?

And oftentimes in the church setting, very quickly and flippantly, someone says, well, Matthew 18.

And so I want to take some time to look this morning at what Matthew 18 says off the lips of Jesus of how to deal with issues that oftentimes are difficult and complex and easier to just leave alone maybe.

So if you have your Bibles, we're in Matthew chapter 18 beginning in verse 15 and there we read, moreover, if your brother sins against you, "'go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

"'If he hears you, you have gained your brother.'" Step 1.

Step 2, verse 16, but if he will not hear, take with you 1 or 2 more, that by the mouth of 1 or 2 more, sorry, that by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses, every word may be established.

And if he refuses to hear them, step 3, tell it to the church.

But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Some say this is the greatest test of Christian character for the disciple of Jesus Christ.

The very greatest and most challenging are our human relationships.

And Typically it's those human relationships that are close to us.

The text itself quotes our Lord and the severity of the issue.

Listen to the critical importance of the matter.

Jesus says, whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven.

Whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven.

Jesus takes relationships very seriously.

I think far more seriously than you and I tend to.

Now it's much easier to try to fulfill the first great commandment, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

I mean to surrender the heart, the soul and the mind to Jesus can be very difficult to say the least.

But as far as loving God, God's easy to love, isn't he?

You never have to worry about catching him in a bad mood.

I can't think of anybody in the universe that is easier to fall in love with.

And that while God has a very high standard of holiness, He relates to us with patience and compassion.

He's understanding, long suffering, and we can always go to him and he always accepts us even when we're having our worst day.

This command makes us responsible for how we treat other people.

And you know how people can be, including church people.

Or should I say, especially church people?

You already know that the number 1 reason people leave the church is not because of God or doctrine but because of us, church people.

We can be selfish, proud, deceitful, petty, need I go on?

We'd much rather let them go their way while we go ours.

Jesus will not let any disciple of his be unconcerned about people, including bad people.

Conflict resolution in the body of Christ.

Nothing proves or disproves the love of Christ in us more.

It's the second great commandment, which the Bible even makes the test of the first great commandment here in 1 John.

Chapter 4 we read, if we love 1 another, God lives in us.

If we love 1 another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.

For anyone who cannot love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

And he has given us this command, whoever loves God must also love his brother.

So Matthew 18 confronts us as the great test of our Christian character.

We must love 1 another or we cannot belong to Christ.

You love God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind and the second great commandment bears testimony to that fact but Matthew 18 states very clearly a standard, not for the world, but for the church.

So before we look at Matthew 18 more closely, I'm gonna look at how do I know when it's appropriate to use Matthew 18.

Some of you are just getting stressed with the word, right?

When is it appropriate to confront another person?

Should I act upon what has happened and what I know?

Let's look at some basic biblical principles when dealing with sin.

The first, the first thing I wanna know before I approach anyone, am I thinking true and accurate thoughts?

Now we could spend the rest of the day right there.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, just, pure, lovely, good or poor, but the first 1, whatever is true, think on these things.

Back to Menu

Care Enough To Confront

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Marriage Heart to Heart

Forgiveness

54m

The Power of God's Forgiveness

1- Our Need to Forgive

39m

Choose To Forgive

37m

The Cost of Forgiveness

52m

To Forgive Is To Benefit

36m

Repent the Right Way and Be Forgiven

47m

Plenary

Why We Must Love God

1h 1m

The Parables

The Unforgiving Servant

39m

Let the Words of My Mouth

Let the Words of My Mouth- Part 1

30m

The Cries of the Cross

03 Forgive Them

22m

2019: Motivations of Bible Characters (Noon Meetings)

Ransom and Reunion

32m

Forgiveness: The Power of Letting Go

38m

Sound Doctrine