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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, June 10, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :If Your Brother Sins Against You Bible Verse:Matthew 18:15-20 (ESV) "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” " Message:
This little section contains three important concepts:
The first seems straightforward enough. It is what an attorney would call a “rule of procedure,” telling us how to proceed, what to do, when a fellow Christian has committed a sin against us. First, talk to him about it in private. If that doesn’t work, take one or two other people with you and go talk to him a second time. If he still will not relent, involve the entire church. And if he is obdurate in his sin, “treat him like a Gentile”, i.e. banish him, consider him unclean, refuse to enter his house or take a meal with him.
(Notice the bit of irony in the gospel, written by Matthew, stating “let him be to you . . . as a tax collector”!)
Jesus rescues drowning man
Comparing the exclusion of a person to the treatment of Gentiles sounds a bit odd. Christ has already shown that his salvation will include the Gentiles, specifically when he traveled outside Judea to a Gentile country and healed the daughter of the Samaritan woman in Matthew 15:21-28. Not to mention, his destiny has been frequently prophesied to bring salvation to the entire world, e.g. Isaiah 42:1 or Isaiah 49:6. But He is talking to Jews here, as a Jew himself; referring to Gentiles in this manner is simply a shorthand expression that the listeners understood immediately. We should read this as saying, “let him be to you as a Gentile is to the (unconverted) Jews.”
The concept of saving the Gentiles is still in its infancy, though. Even though the word Jesus uses is translated as “church” here, the “church”, as we think of it, will not exist until after Christ has ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit comes upon the handful of true believers. We must understand, perhaps, that a church existed during Christ’s life but would necessarily change after he ascended to heaven. The immanent* power of the church today rests with a different person of God, the Holy Spirit, and so underwent some transformation at the time of the Pentecost.
We actually have discussed the commission to Peter to “bind and loose” on earth in reading Matthew 16. Because of space limitation, we don’t have room to flesh it out here; if you want to read about it, you might want to see the discussion there. In today’s Scripture, Christ extends the power given to Peter to the other apostles, as well. And we will indeed see the apostles healing, casting out demons, etc., after Christ has ascended. (E.g., Acts 3:1-10)
anonymous charity
The final promise, that where two agree and ask for something, God the Father will grant it, causes considerable embarrassment to churches, which seem to avoid explaining why parishioners who engage in group petitionary prayer do not get what they asked for. For the purposes of this verse, it is sufficient to say that the promise was made specifically to the twelve apostles. The promise that when two or three gather together in the name of Christ, He will be there among them, however, is made generally to all believers.
There is a long discussion to be had about God answering prayers, or not. So let us end with two quotes from the Epistle of James: The effective prayer [or supplication] of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives [or wickedly]. (James 4:3)
Meditation : Prayer : The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, this day and evermore.........Amen |
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