Give It Away

Matthew 18:15 "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. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' 17 And if he refuses to hear them, 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. 18 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. 19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." 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. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 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. 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. 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?' 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."

Whatever God gives you is His to use and not yours to keep.

As The Creator of All Things, God has rights which we are not capable of infringing upon. When we make the attempt, it becomes harmful to our well-being.

Forgiveness is little thought of as something God has provided, but it is patently obvious it is once even a moment to contemplate the origin of forgiveness is spent.

When we receive His forgiveness and keep it for ourselves, our lives become bitter and petty and small, and we lose the sense of being forgiven by Him.

When we receive His forgiveness and give it away, we discover it does not run out. The more we give away forgiveness the more we discover we have to give. We cannot give so much forgiveness that we run out, it is an infinite resource.

What of giving forgiveness to one who does not deserve it? This is an absurd question because no one does. Were you to wait to allocate God’s gift of forgiveness to find the one deserving of it, you would never give it at all – and then you would discover you have none to give.

-Pastor Bill

Childlike Faith

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. 6 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! 8 If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. 10 "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Certainly, by now Peter has established himself as the pre-eminent apostle. An argument could also be made for James and John, since they were among the only three apostles taken to the top of the mount of transfiguration to see the revelation of Christ’s glory.

It would be a natural assumption on the part of some - and perhaps all - this sort of personal hierarchy established by Jesus here on earth would carry over into His heavenly kingdom. After all, isn’t that what hierarchy is all about – and hadn’t Jesus Himself indicated that what took place here in His earthly kingdom was a clear indicator of what would take place in His heavenly kingdom as well?

While it may seem strange for Jesus’ apostles to argue among themselves, I think it is entirely natural for them to at least speak about these sorts of things, which could easily lead to arguments.

The problem is it is entirely natural to argue about these sorts of things, and the heavenly kingdom is not natural at all.

To settle the issue Jesus had a little child brought to Himself and then pronounced some very profound words using the child as an example. He said, “…unless you are converted and become as little children you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” And then He said, “…whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Wow. Did you see that coming? It is the childlike nature of faith that makes brings about conversion and greatness. That degree of faith is to be protected at all costs, and anyone who would damage someone’s childlike faith is in serious trouble with God.

-Pastor Bill

Go Fish

Matt 17:22 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. 24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?" 25 He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

The Son of God IS the Son of God.

That may sound a bit redundant, but the understanding of Who Jesus is seems to dawn on man rather slowly.

Here we have Jesus, once again explaining to His own disciples, (and I emphasize His own,) that He is on His way up to Jerusalem to suffer and die, and yet His own disciples could not seem to either grasp this point or even begin to celebrate it.

The reason seems to be because they heard, “suffer and die,” but did not hear, “and the third day He will be raised up.” Oh, they heard Him say it, but they did not hear Him. They did not fully understand Who He Is. And so they were VERY sorrowful about the thought of His suffering and death because they did not understand the necessity of it according to scripture.

To emphasize the point, Jesus allowed Peter to be placed in a contentious situation regarding the Temple, and the tax congregants were required to pay. Peter was caught in one of those classic ‘Peter-type’ situations, (feeling the need to give an answer when he didn’t have a clue what the answer was.) Ever been there?

“Does YOUR Teacher NOT pay the temple tax?” Peter was asked by those who collected the temple tax. Yikes! What to say here?

Knowing he could not say, “No, my Teacher does not pay the temple tax,” (after all, Peter had never seen Him pay it,) Peter gave the only answer he knew to give – which was to avoid any possible indication of law-breaking or contention and say, “Yes.” (Of course He pays the temple tax. How could He not?)

When he gets back in Jesus’ presence, an amazing thing happens. Jesus begins to speak to Peter about what just happened, (even though He wasn’t there, and even though Peter hadn’t told Him about it.) Now He calls Peter ‘Simon’ once again. The reason is because he has reverted back to his old self.

“Who do kings collect taxes from, strangers, or their sons?” The answer is obvious. Kings do not require their own sons to pay taxes. (Do you now see why you have never seen Jesus pay the temple tax?) (Jesus is saying, “I AM the Son!”)

To emphasize the point even further, Jesus tells Simon the fisherman to go fish.

-Pastor Bill