And that's why over and over God warns those who would destroy the unity of a family or a church. The goodness of living together in unity is so good, that the psalmist says, Behold! It is a statement of undeserved, unearned love that affirms to an offender that there is no anger, no hatred, no desire for vengeance, no retaliation because guilt has been removed, blame has been removed. That's one metaphor. You say, "Well how do you know that?" He's too indifferent. We find a similar image of hospitality and refreshing in Psalm 23:5: You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:5). Do you have a right to hold your hostility and your anger that God doesn't have? We are to forgive because the most holy forgives, shouldn't we the least holy also forgive. And yet, verse 23, "While being reviled He didn't revile in return, while suffering He uttered no threats, He just kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." Number one, and time will dictate how many I'll be able to give you tonight, but number one, and this is really right where it belongs at the beginning of the list. Hebrews 12:11 says: No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. He forgives them. All the self-esteem cult does is feed this monster by giving permission to have an elevated view of themselves so that anything against them in any way, shape or form, however trivial or minimal, is cause for great aggravation and justifiable offense. It is forbidden not to forgive in the command not to murder. So shall My heavenly Father also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from the heart.". Psalm 133 tells us three things about living together in unity. We are to forgive because we have been forgiven the greater sins against God, should not we forgive the lesser ones against us? Now there are some compelling biblical theological and spiritual reasons why we are to forgive and I want to talk to you about them tonight. When you won't forgive you are sentencing yourself to go through life feeling as bad now as you did in the past when the offense was committed with no end in sight. c. And then arrange your busy schedules so that you can be there for the activity. And so in this section the psalm is telling us that God is the source of living together in unity. That is, by the way, Paul's salient point in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32, "Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you," chapter 5 verse 1, "therefore be imitators of God." You choose to love hate and cultivate it through your life. If they commit an armed robbery, they might be there for five years. Forgiveness is a verbally declared, personally granted promise. Scriptures: 1 John 3:11-18 Introduction 1. Walking Together In Unity (Eph. 4:1-6) | Bible.org We read in 2 Corinthians 1: Now it is God who anointed us and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). God gives his blessing where believers live together in unity Sermons about Familiarity - SermonCentral.com And we think about that as a serious crime. The good blessing of Christian unity flows from the head to the beard to the robe. Number nine, and just one more after this, number nine, not to forgive is to usurp the authority of God. You must remember, thirdly, that whoever has offended you has offended God greaterwhoever has offended you has offended God greater. Look at the rest of verse 3: For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalm 133:3b) This verse teaches us two vital truths. There's no credit for people being patient with your sinor rather there's no credit forfor you suffering for your sin, there's no favor with God in that. Those are just some of the word pictures in the Bible about forgiveness. You understand that? He just wanted to say what a bum he had been and ask if he could be a slave. That's exactly what happens in the parable of Matthew18. That is characteristic of God. We should leave church energized, encouraged and renewed charged up, revved up and ready to go! And one of the main contributors of that self-destruction is a disdain for forgiveness. ET on EWTN: Holy Mass and Rosary on Thursday, June 22, 2023 [Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas. Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:2-3; James 1:9-10. This lesson will discuss some of the challenges of living together as families. III. Of David. He had the right perspective. Sermons about Unity - SermonCentral.com Mount Hermon is located in the northern part of Israel extending also along the border of Lebanon and Syria. The fact that the oil is poured on Aarons head also points towards Christ. Registered User We have talked about the goodness of living together in unity. Register. And God, who is so severely offended, forgives so readily. Throughout these chapters we find the proper foundation for marriage and family . Mount Zion is located in the southern part of Israel. For example Ephesians 4 tells us: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. They couldn't believe the guy would do this, they couldn't believe such unforgiveness. See the image of God in that person. 1. He had offended the nation over which he was king. Ephesians 4:3 calls us to be "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.". Forgiveness is the most godlike act a person can do. I'm out of this thing." It is precious, it is refreshing, it is a gift from God, and God is generous with his gift. Now this, I know, if you think about it, will bring to mind Matthew18, so turn to Matthew18. Harmony is Well-pleasing (Psalm 133:1) " How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!" (Psalm 133:1, HCSB) Firstly, David affirms the beauty of. Amen. You leave that to God. In a few moments we will be sharing the Lords Supper with each other. Unforgiveness imprisons you in the pain of your past. Every conversation becomes a forum for slandering the person you hate or defamation and even for lies. Today we consider the third option. We have a number of those kinds of curses that we put on people when people are angry. You know what happens? But if you want the epitome of testimony to the forgiveness of God, you need only to read the story of the prodigal son in Luke15. Only as we focus on Christ the head of the body, and only as we yield to the Holy Spirit within us can we know the sweet goodness of living together in unity. This suggests that all of us have periodic challenges in establishing and maintaining love and unity within our families. You've destroyed your relationship with the church. Second Corinthians 12, just an absolutely magnificent portion of Scripture. That's the attitude of God toward those who have put their faith in Him. The Practical Message: Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ Let us start by listening again to the first verses of this scripture: I, Paul, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a Some people are brought in before the king. 2) Living together in unity is a foretaste of heaven. Psalm 133 - Living Together in Unity | Ray Fowler .org Living together in unity is good, it is pleasant, and it is appropriate for us as brothers and sisters in Christ. Notice there is a downward movement in both of these images. Thats another reason Aaron is pictured here. As James 1:17 says: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father. (James 1:17). Look at verse 3 with me now: It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. (Psalm 133:3a) So lets talk about this image. And it's becoming more common now than perhaps it used to be as this hatred runs unchecked and is fed by the culture. It is an image of the whole body of Christ united together with Jesus as our Head. Jesus, you see, when He said if you even are angry, if you even say a curse word toward someone or call someone a fool, you are a murderer at heart. In Jesus Christ's his life, death and resurrection, God has broken the dividing walls of selfishness, greed and pride and sin, uniting us into God's family means our relationships with God and each other are completely transformed, WHY? Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave even as I had mercy on you?" You spiraled down into iniquity. He doesnt hold anything back. Let me tell you some of the things that unforgiveness does. It is godlike to forgive. Go down to verses 14 and 15, "For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Click here to return to the Sermons page. (Proverbs 25:16), So some things are good but not pleasant, and some things are pleasant but not good, but when youre living together in unity, you get the best of both worlds. God alone is able to deal with sin. Now I said this morning that I was going to continue in our discussion about the fulfilled family and talk about the most important virtue in any relationship, the most important ingredient in holding a marriage together or keeping a family united, something that is absolutely crucial to the success of a marriage and a family. He has put his stamp of approval on it. We find many examples of this in the Bible. And you remember when David was reciting before God his penitence, he says in Psalm51, "Against You and You only have I sinned." What audacity it is for you to take the sword. It is only reasonable that those forgiven the greater sins forgive the lesser ones. Now imagine instead of just your family if you packed in all your relatives and neighbors, too. It solicits love. The one who does not forgive will not be forgiven. No, unforgiveness is a very, very severe thing. Loving the Family | Balanced Spiritual Growth Sermon Series - Lifeway As long as you are unwilling to forgive the offender and the offense, you keep it alivethe pain is there, you're picking at an open sore, keeping it from healing. Dr. Philip W. McLarty The concept of family goes back to the origins of creation. What's that? First Peter 2:19, "For this finds favor," of course with God, "if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly." From time to time we hear about marital murder, we hear about a wife who kills her husband, a husband who kills his wife or has her executed, or concocts some supposedly accidental death. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. The unity at the Tower of Babel ( Gen. 11:1-9 ), or between Herod and Pilate ( Luke 23:12 ), shows us that unity is a vehicle used for good or evil purposes. Aarons robe is significant here because the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were sewed into the high priests robe. PDF "WALKING TOGETHER" Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together except they be agreed It is a much smaller mountain with an altitude of only 2400 feet above sea level. He buries them in the depths of the sea. Unity in the Church (Ephesians 4:1-16) | First Baptist Church Sir Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor of England, after having been tried at Westminster and condemned to death with no just cause, said this to his judges as he stood before them, and I quote, "As the Apostle Paul held the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death and as they are both now saints in heaven and shall continue there friends forever, so I verily trust, shall therefore most heartily pray that though your lordships have now here on earth been judges to my condemnation, we may nevertheless hereafter cheerfully meet in heaven in everlasting salvation," end quote. Forgiveness is the image of God. What's it saying? It will be our hearts' cry and our prayer that we might have the grace to forgive like this. You imitate God when you forgive. Went out living with those who exploited him and left him in the misery of his own sin. Beyond the sheer virtue of it, beyond the sheer nobility of it, let me show you a few of the compelling motives for forgiveness. It's the opposite of self-esteem. Shall we not forgive the small debts that others owe us? Never are you more like Him than when you forgive someone who has offended you. Oil in the Bible is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. PDF The Practical Message: The Spiritual Message: One God and Father of us The end of verse 20, "If you do what's right and suffer for it and endure it patiently, this finds favor with God.". You may think you have a difficult situation, young people with your parents. For any web postings, please link to the sermon directly at this website. "I'll give that guy what he deserves. If someone commits a misdemeanor, they might go into jail overnight. He had offended his own friends. Verse 32, the king or the lord calls him in, "You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you asked me. And the fellowship, as it were, goes to heaven to turn you in. Somebody offended you, your husband offended you, or your wife offended you, or your parents offended you young people, or somebody else offended you. The sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," involves much more than just the idea of murder. Temporal forgiveness we need in our sanctification and that settles the issue of our blessing in the present. Well in ancient Israel, you might offer them something to drink, but you would also offer oil for their head. Christian fellowship is unique. PDF 4 The Key To Unity - saccentral.org Secondly, unforgiveness inevitably produces deep bitterness. It's hard to destroy a relationship if you continually forgive every offense. You can tie two cats together by their tails and hang them across a fence - you will have union but by no stretch of the imagination will you have unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard .read more. Forgiveness is a verbally declared, personally granted promise. God has been overtly, blatantly, unjustly offended, blasphemed and dishonored and yet longingly, eagerly forgives just for the sheer joy and glory of reconciliation. Living together in unity is a foretaste of heaven. Erwin Lutzer unveils the theme of Fighting for Your Family with an investigation of God's original arrangement of creation found in Genesis 1-3 . Jesus said, "Love your enemy as you love yourself." "Blessed are the merciful," Matthew5:7, "for they will obtain mercy." It wasn't like the judge saying, "Well you deserveyou deserve 20 years but because it's your first offense I'm going to put you under probation and I'm going to put you in a sort of half-way environment," it wasn't that at all. So you have to go back to remembering what you have been forgiven in Christ. The climate was hot and dusty, and oil on the head would be a welcome relief. Somebody else might say, "Well 50 million years in hell might be enough to pay for my sin." But whenever there's an offense and immediate forgiveness, it's disappearing, it's gone. We are united with Christ, and therefore we are united with each other. And I want to remind you of something that you and I both need to be reminded of periodically and that is this, that when we stand before God before our salvation, we are worthy of eternal hell, right? Only in unity are we able to carry out these relationships successfully, and in ways that are pleasing to the Lord. Alienation from others in the life of the church results in serious sin. And I suppose this is the ultimate ego trip. And you remember the story. Guiding Family Relationships through Trials and Hardships | Book of Ruth That's godlike, to have such a forgiving spirit toward your executioners. The worse case, of course, is those kinds of vengeance which takes lives. But God in His mercy forgives us damning iniquities. Matthew chapter 5, listen to verses 21 and 22. INTRODUCTION: We are nearing the end of our series on the Psalms of Ascent, and today we come to a psalm that speaks about living together in Christian unity. The Key to Maintaining Family Unity - Grace to You And in the midst of the suffering, never retaliated, accepted it and just committed Himself to God for the purposes which God had in mind. All he wanted was a roof over his head and a little better food than the pigs were getting. And so Christian fellowship is like oil poured on the head, running down on the beard. They prayed, literally, they enacted church discipline, they turned him over to the Lord who then turns him over to the tormentors. Psalm130all throughout Scripture we read of God's forgiveness.
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