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Mills River SDA Church

The Church

Cory Reeves

Forgiving Your Brother

The first of this series we looked at what is the church.

Some of you might have been here, but we looked at the church always being God's people, God's chosen people.

They're organized to share his love, and I would say his love is truth, so they're organized to share his truth as well.

And then we do that as a church, we come together, not to tear each other apart and tear each other down, but lift each other up, right?

And we do that in formal worship and communion.

And then I broke out the second of this series into 2, the first 1 being loving your brother.

We are called to love our brother by reflecting Jesus to him.

And I would add, yes, even the church, and I would add another point, yes, even in your home, you're to reflect Jesus to each other.

Sometimes the place we show our face the most, right?

That doesn't mean we leave doctrine and good biblical principles at the door.

We don't help our brother along in a brotherly way, but we're accepting of each other.

We are also loving of each other and we also remember the wheat and tares?

We spent a lot of time talking about the differences of real wheat and tares, and we talked about not pulling those out, just ripping out everything we can and doing the damage we can do.

We avoid causing conflict just like Jesus did.

And the last in the study for today is to forgive.

We're gonna spend a little bit more time on forgiveness today.

We could have spent a lot of time on each 1 of those bullets honestly, but I chose forgiveness is our main 1 for today.

And I'll tell you something, and I said this last time, it's a newsflash, that when we get to heaven, you don't get to ask for relocation because someone you don't like ends up in the mansion next to you, right?

Hopefully we all get to go to heaven together.

And if we all get to go to heaven together and you're not getting along with someone on this side, the mapes move sides, so I don't know what happened back there.

If you don't like someone on this side, then you're gonna be in heaven with them.

We've gotta learn here the art or the love of forgiveness.

That's the important thing we're talking about today.

It's going to jump 3 slides on me here in a second.

You know, in my nerdy way, like I always do, when I have a word, I have to look it up first, and I'm glad I did.

To forgive someone literally means to cease to feel resentment against someone.

And I think this is important because how many people in here have kids, have had kids, or were a kid.

So, do you remember ever being told or saying, you have to say you're sorry?

And then you turn to this 1 over here, you have to say, I forgive you.

And I think it's important to understand there's an important word in this, to cease to feel resentment.

We can force someone to say it, but it doesn't mean we cease to feel it.

So let's keep that in mind as we go through today.

Now is forgiveness just a Bible thing that Christians teach?

Now let me tell you about a few of these places.

Do you guys recognize some of these places up here?

I have Harvard, Mayo, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, and Healthline.

Yeah, they're health-related, big educational facilities, most of them, not all of them, big health facilities.

And all of them have lots of articles on forgiveness.

These aren't Christian articles, so why would they care at all about forgiveness?

There are many, and I mean many studies that prove there are huge benefits to forgiving.

The Johns Hopkins article up there is entitled, Forgiveness, Your Health Depends on It.

The article actually reads, the good news, studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack, improving cholesterol levels and sleep and reducing pain, blood pressure and levels of anxiety and depression and stress.

As research points to an increase in the forgiveness health connection as you age.

This is opposite of a lot of other things in your life that we talk about.

The older you get usually things get worse right?

This 1 the more you forgive the older you get the better it is for you.

There's an increased benefit as you forgive as you get older.

And this is from a non-Christian perspective.

But I think it is important to know that holding onto frustration or upsetness at times creates health issues.

And like we trained our kids, when you force forgiveness and you don't really feel forgiveness, the studies are showing it does you no good.

Just saying I forgive you doesn't do anything for your health.

You have to actually mean it as your mom might have said.

It is also important to remember that the definition is to feel resentment, to cease to feel resentment, right?

And my clicker does not wanna work today at all.

So our first point is regardless if you are a Christian, forgiveness is being proven to be a healthier way to live.

Did God place, I believe God created forgiveness and that process in us, but did he place it there just to make us healthier sinners?

We should understand the Christian perspective on forgiveness.

You remember Jesus is getting crucified and in Luke 23 34, then Jesus said, Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.

And they divided his garments and cast lots.

Do you remember at this point, why did Jesus die?

Our sins, our broken heart, yes, a broken heart and our sins.

So Jesus being the man who he is, looking down through history, sees you.

Can you think of all the things you've done to push God away?

And Jesus is looking down and saying, Father, Forgive him.

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, page 116.

Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin.

If we had to bear our own guilt, it would crush us.

Supporting The Church

Dearly beloved Lord, as we have explored the church and what it means, Father, give us strength and wisdom.

Father, help my words not to be my words, but yours.

And if I slip up or say anything or do anything, help it to clearly to the ears.

Help the angels to take it clearly into the ears of the people here today.

Father we love you and praise you in Jesus name, Amen.

So I'm excited to be here 2 weeks in a row and we are on a series, What is the Church?

And we talked the first time that it is God's chosen people.

He's always had a people throughout all of history.

And I believe I am a member of God's last day church.

The second sermon we learned about loving your brother.

And remember, I keep reminding you of this, but when we get to heaven, you don't get to pick your neighbor in the mansion next door.

You're going to be stuck with whoever's there.

And so you better learn how to get along with each other here.

We need to work on the logs in our own eye and not so much worry about the dust in others eyes.

You remember forgiving people, forgive people, forgiving people, forgive people.

You remember this pile of sin over here, our sin, our individual sin.

And then we sometimes get so caught up, even if it's a big pile that someone has done against you.

We get so caught up in this pile of sin that we forget the mound we have been forgiven.

And it's not in our power when we allow Christ to dwell in us, the hope of glory, it is in His power we can forgive that sin over there.

It is in the power of forgiveness in our own lives, allowing Christ to dwell in us, that we can forgive.

Today we are going to look at supporting the church.

And I want to remind you, the reason I keep going through is these sermons somewhat build on each other.

Loving and loving others, supporting others.

Who has your heart will build in today as we talk about living a Christian lifestyle, supporting God's people.

We are called to be a light to the world, to reflect Him to the world.

But we're also going to look at another touchy subject.

Freely as you have, as we have received, freely give.

Matthew 6, 21 tells us, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.

I'm fearful that the treasures in our lives are not just riches at times, right?

We've talked in here that even sometimes good things can become a millstone when we put them above God.

It's what's building the school across the street.

Friends, today's focus in the end, and I'm giving away a lot of the end.

It's the question is, who has your heart?

We've talked as well in here that a lot of times our hearts are almost a house.

And we had a few friends stop by last night, and when they come by, Sometimes there's certain rooms your wife will hit you if you show them, right?

We don't want to show them that room because it's not the way you want to show someone.

Each and every 1 of us has done the same to Christ.

I'll give you my devotion time in the morning if you're doing good, right?

But then there's other things where like, you know what, God, I love you, but this room is messy, you can't come in here.

Friends, it is about who has your whole hearts.

It was 1 of the safest banks in the world.

It was known as Lloyd's Bank on Baker Street in London.

Anthony Gavin was a career criminal, and he had read a short Sherlock Holmes book entitled The Red-Headed League.

The book described criminals who tunneled underneath the ground and popped up right into the bank.

What was later known as a well-known heist under several names, And there's actually a movie featuring this.

The Baker Street robbery was the largest safety deposit box robbery in history.

The gang, if you can kind of see, let me set a point with this thing.

You can kind of see right here, they tunneled all the way under 40 feet underground.

They couldn't rent the shop right next door.

They had to tunnel underground all the way.

It was a leather goods shop 2 stores down from the bank.

The interior of the vault was mapped out.

1 gang member would take an umbrella, and I don't know how he conspicuously or inconspicuously did this, but he would measure the umbrella across the bank to figure out how far in umbrellas they needed to dig.

Road workers nearby, by then, these banks in the 70s had tremble alarms of some sort the road work next down the street was sending it off and so they had they paid off a alarm company 1 of the guys that worked there and said tell us when to turn it off.

And so they kept turning it off and so on the weekends it was quiet they have a security company under wraps and they dug on weekends.

Gavin is said to have lost 28 pounds leading the dig.

Now I don't want any of you to get any ideas on a weight loss plan.

Shaken but Not Shaken Out Part 1

So we've gone on quite the journey, and I decided not to torture you guys this week and have you here for like 5 hours, because that's probably between a baptism communion and the full shaken but not shaken out sermon I plan to preach, we would have been here for a while.

So I broke it into 2 parts, and I maybe could have changed the name to shaken, this first 1, and then not shaken out next time.

And so today's isn't, is, I'm gonna give you, I can't help myself, I am gonna give you some of next week's because I've got to share Jesus, amen?

So I've gotta do that, but, but we're gonna spend a little bit more time on what is the shaking.

Now, our series so far, we looked at what is the church.

It's been a while since I've been up here to talk about this, so I want to just do a brief overview.

It is God has always had a chosen people.

The second sermon, we learned that we are to love 1 another.

In heaven, I've said this so many times, in heaven, you don't get to pick your neighbor.

There isn't a 1-800-ANGEL-MOVING-SERVICE.

Friends, we've got to love each other here, so when we get to heaven, we're just ecstatic to see everyone.

And then we talked about forgiving your brother.

We talked — it's apparent in common health that forgiveness does something for the forgiver.

Isn't God amazing when he does things like that for us?

When he creates something that makes the person that does the gift, it makes health benefits for that person.

It's true in our health message, it's true in forgiveness, it's a huge thing.

We also talked about the speck, remember?

We have this pile, remember the 2 piles of sin?

Our pile of sin that we have been forgiven from God.

Imagine your sin sitting up here in a pile, if you could pile it up.

And some of you probably don't want to imagine the whole thing because it might be a little overwhelming.

But this huge pile of sin, God has forgiven.

And over here, someone does the worst thing possible to you, but it's a pile of sin.

And we are looking at the huge log, we're trying to see through this log in our eye to point at someone and say, I don't know if I can ever forgive you.

We also talked about the wheat and tares growing together.

We're gonna talk a little bit more about that story today.

The third, well that was the third, I'm getting too excited here.

So the fourth, We talked about giving our time, our tithe, our offering, because tithe is a, is what is required.

So when God says, I still want 10 percent, that's His already, friends.

When you feel good about paying tithe, you're just returning what is asked of you.

So I would encourage you not just tithe, but offering, and your time.

And last, in that sermon, we hit on that God just wants your heart.

Why would you not return and do the same beautiful thing back in this plan of salvation?

So that brings us to part 1 of a six-part series that doesn't really make sense, so forgive your pastor.

But number 5, shaken but not shaken out, part 1.

Friends, I think if you look around the world today, there is so much going on.

We've heard testimonies from Papa New Guinea, and I heard that today, but yesterday for, for Papa New Guinea, that the Pope went to Papa New Guinea.

The president of the country decided not to show up because he wanted to honor the Sabbath instead.

Mass baptisms, people coming awake, presidents of countries.

Friends, And we're sitting here in this country kind of staring at each other.

Friends, and, and Ellen White even said in her day the shaking was starting to begin.

We haven't seen anything yet to where the shaking is going.

So we're first gonna define what is the shaking.

But there's a text, I'm gonna start out with Ezekiel, that tells of a physical shaking before the coming of God.

Ezekiel 38, 19, for in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken, surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

But this isn't the shaking we're talking about.

This is not going to be a physical shaking, even though there will be a physical shaking, this is something different, something more.

Now, like I mentioned, we've looked at Matthew 13 earlier in the series, and I'm not gonna read it again today.

If you want to turn your Bibles, that's fine.

You have it in your study guide so you can go back to it.

But if you remember the story of the wheat and tares.

And as a farmer, when they're young in particular, we looked at pictures in that sermon.

If you didn't see it, you can go on YouTube and watch it.

And they, they almost grow in similar ways.

The other danger is when I start pulling things — I don't know if anyone — how many gardeners do I have in here?

You get excited and plant too many seeds and they get too old and you try to pull 1?

Sometimes what happens to all the ones around it?

The good fruit, the good grain is the people written in the book.

The Tares, while they are part of the church and could even help lead out in church, in the end, sadly, they are not a part of God's people.

Selected messages, second selected messages, 114, drives home this point.

The wheat and the tares grow up together for the harvest.

10 years ago, you might have said, I don't know how that's gonna happen.