I. A pause in our study.
A. Recap.
1. Last week: the power and authority that God has given us in Jesus, the Lord.
2. Our fighting identity. As Sons & Daughters in the power of Jesus and in His authority.
3. Our opponent will try to make us angry or afraid to keep us from fighting in our identity.
B. This week: Friendly Fire.
1. This is another tactic of the evil one, he tries to get us angry and afraid of each other.
a. 2 Cor 2:11 “…we should not be ignorant of the schemes of the devil.”
a. When we are angry or afraid of one another, we fight each other instead of him.
b. How can we fight the enemy if we are fighting one another?
2. This week I had planned to teach about knowing our enemies and the specific tactics that God has given us to engage them and win.
a. There are different enemies and each requires a different tactic.
b. Jesus gave us authority to trample on serpents and scorpions.
c. Ephesians 6 we wrestle with various spiritual forces in heavenly places.
3. But we need to pause and address some things in our community before we can talk about our enemies and how to defeat them because there is no point training to fight our enemy if we are constantly fighting each other.
C. We are at war.
1. The NT consistently reminds us that we are soldiers and we have an enemy.
a. Imagine that you are inside a military compound and the enemy outside the fort is shooting at you from all directions.
b. But instead of trying to locate the source of fire and take it out, you turn and start shooting at your brothers and sisters in arms who are inside the fort with you.
c. Is that a winning strategy? That is what the evil one is trying to convince us to do.
2. You might say “But they’re shooting at me! They shot at me first!” Maybe they did, but if you shoot back, you will be just as guilty.
3. We have to remember that the evil one has been working against all of us. Remember that the addiction, dysfunction, anxiety, anger, etc. in them is a result of the evil one’s attacks on them.
II. The Word of God is a mirror and a washcloth.
A. The Word discovers our condition & washes us clean.
1. James 1:22-26 The word is a mirror.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
a. If we are going to hear the command of Jesus to love one another and not do it, we deceive ourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
b. We can always tell the condition of our heart by the words we speak. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)
2. Are we willing to look into the mirror this morning by considering what it says about us, and not about someone else in our life? Can we listen and ask the Spirit if any of it applies to us without immediately thinking about how it applies to someone else?
a. And when we see ourselves in it, will we let it wash us by doing what it says?
b. Remember the vision of TRC, it’s right over the door.
c. Will we hear the Word and integrate it into our lifestyle?
3. The Lords will wash us with His Word tis morning if we will let Him
a. Eph 6:26
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
B. If we really want to be holy like Jesus, we will be disciplined by the Lord.
1. Hebrews 12:5-11
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
2. If we truly want to experience the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our life, our marriage, our family, our household, etc. then at some point we will have to embrace the discipline of the Lord and let it train us in righteousness.
III. Key scriptures.
A. We have been carnally minded. 1 Cor 3:1-3
1. 1 Cor 3:1-3
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
a. carnal: human nature instead of spiritual nature, the nature of the soul, the flesh
b. with the idea of depravity, the seat of emotion and lust
c. ‘behaving like mere men’ like the unsaved, as if you are not a new creation
2. The symptoms of carnality: envy, strife and division
a. envy: heat of anger, jealousy
b. strife: contention, wrangling
c. division: standing apart instead of together, standing at odds, as opposed to one
3. Division in the body of Christ.
a. Rom 16:17 “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
b. Gal 5:20 division is a work of the flesh
c. Prov 16:19 lists seven abominations that the Lord hates, the seventh one is “…one who sows discord among the brethren.”
4. I submit to you that many of us have been carnally minded, thinking and acting from the flesh and causing division in the body of Christ. Some of us are doing this in our own homes.
B. We have been abusing the other sheep. Ez 34:17-24
1. Ezekiel 17:1-10 deals with the shepherds. (The Lord will judge them.) It’s not hard for people to recognize and agree when pastors and leaders need to be disciplined by the Lord.
2. Ezekiel 34:17-24 the Lord deals with sheep who abuse other sheep.
17 ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. 18 Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”
3. Application: This speaks of a saint who has tasted and seen that the Lord is good. BUT… their attitude towards the other sheep is so harsh and abrasive that it taints the experience of the people around them. They might be enjoying times with the Lord in the Word and in prayer, but they are so nasty to the other sheep that it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.
a. The others are eating and drinking a mixture of God’s word and our flesh.
4. Vs 20&21
20 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. 21 Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad,
a. Maybe your spiritually fat because you’ve eaten more of the Word than them, but you’re acting like a spiritual bully to the weaker sheep.
b. Have you feasted on the mercy, kindness, patience, forgiveness and grace of God and then fail to serve the weaker sheep the same feast?
5. Vs 22-24
22 therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
a. The Lord will judge and look after His weak sheep.
b. Then might be weak now, but Jesus will feed & shepherd them.
6. We always like to think of ourselves as the one sheep that was lost and Jesus left the 99 tocome to get us and bring us back.
a. Yes, we were. But don’t forget we were lost, we had wandered away.
b. Now that we’re back in the flock, we need to stop bullying the other sheep.
C. We have been unmerciful servants. Matt 18:21-35
1. Vs 21&22
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
a. Are you done forgiving? Have you reached your limit?
b. Jesus didn’t pick this number at random, it comes from Genesis 4:24 where Lamech said he would avenge himself 77 fold, or 77 times.
c. Jesus is specifically addressing our tendency to exact revenge on those who have wronged us.
d. And He tells us to forgive as many times as we are wronged.
2. Vs 23-27
23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
a. Jesus is the King Who came to settle accounts.
b. He settled our account with His own blood.
24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
c. This is a picture of every believer.
d. Lest we forget, our sin was affecting our whole family in a negative way.
e. We like to think that our sin was between us & God and now that we’re good,
they are the messed up ones.
f. But we forget that OUR sin was harmful to THEM.
3. Vs 28-31
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
a. This is what unforgiveness looks like— even though we have received God’s forgiveness for our sins, we demand payback form those who have sinned against us.
b. When this attitude prevails in a family or in a church community, it grieves the other saints. It brings a heaviness on the body of Christ.
4. Vs 32-33
32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
a. Matt 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
5. Vs 34&35
34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
a. Some translations say “tormentors” rather than torturers
b. I like that because we seem to get mentors or tormentors, depending on the condition of our heart.
c. Unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, etc. all have their own torment, they steal our peace, hinder our relationships, obscure our vision (“Blessed are the pure in heart…”)
6. People love to argue with me about this passage. But Jesus said in Matthew 6:14&15…
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
D. Recap of these three strongholds.
1. We have been carnally minded by allowing strife to cause division in the Lord’s body.
2. We have feasted on the grace of God and instead of sharing that grace with weaker saints, we have bullied them.
3. Although we have received mercy from the Lord, we have been unmerciful to those who have offended us and demand an accounting from them.
IV. How do we respond to this?
A. There has to be an encounter with the truth. (We have to be held accountable.)
1. John 8:31&32
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
2. If we want to be part of this work of restructuring that the Lord is doing, we have to encounter the truth. (In our finances, with our time and in our families.)
a. We can’t start to heal until we get an accurate diagnosis.
3. Ask the Lord to show you the truth about each situation.
B. Humble yourself.
1. Can we lay down our ego so that God can move in our lives? In somebody else’s life?
2. Forget demons and unclean spirits, does God have to deal with us so that someone else can get free?
3. 1 Peter 5:5-7
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
C. Restore them in a spirit of gentleness.
1. Galatians 6:1&2
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
2. OK, so you’re the more spiritual one, the more mature one, you now have a job to do. The Lord says that you are to restore the one who is caught in trespass in a spirit of gentleness.
3. The Lord has born your burden of sin all the way to the cross, now it’s our turn to bear one another’s.
D. We have one job, to love God and love others.
1. John 13:34&35
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
a. This is agape love, unconditional love, it means the will to do good to someone.
b. This means that we love someone for who they are to God.
c. God sent His only Son to die for them, that’s how much He loves them.
d. He showed us the way that He are to love one another, without condition.
e. So we don’t wait for them to meet our standards, we just love them.
2. 1 Peter 4:8&9
8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.