Feeling Guilty?

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. What do we need to do? We need to learn from Christ. It's a daily thing, step by step. Prayer, partaking of the ordinances of the church, corporate worship on Sunday, being around other believers, receiving that encouragement and strengthening.

Even a rebuke, even an admonishment from someone else sometimes does us good. We are busy doing good works, being faithful in the little things. And then we grow and God will entrust us more in the big things.

But it often happens slowly. It's a process. But the more we grow, the more we understand. So, the more we understand, the more we grow, the more we realize that the commandment is just the headline. We need to read the article.

The Sixth Commandment and Its Deeper Meaning

Thou shall not kill. Got that. I'm a righteous person. I've never done this. I've never done that. You don't get it. You need to see the deeper meaning. Just like thou shall not commit adultery is the headline.

All sexual behavior outside the confines of marriage falls under that banner. These are the deeper implications of the law that Jesus is teaching on. Now, one thing the law does, it brings the knowledge of guilt.

It brings the knowledge of guilt. And this is one reason why people don't go to church. I understand why they don't go. Because some people, they don't go to church because when they get to church, just sometimes being there makes them feel what?

Guilty. I heard of someone, they were an Episcopalian and someone asked, what are the Episcopal churches like? They're like, we're like Roman Catholics without the guilt. So, it's like, what? But they recognize that guilt is something we don't like and we don't want it in our church.

That's what they said. But admittedly, the law of God, even going through the Sermon on the Mount, it brings the knowledge of guilt. And if a person does not know Christ as their Savior, this is needed.

A person needs to understand their guilt before God. Might not be what they want, but if they're not a Christian, ultimately that's what they need. Now, for the believer, there might be times where I need to realize that I'm guilty of something so that I can correct my behavior.

Of course, I don't want to live in guilt all the time. But you know, when you do things wrong, you feel guilty about it, don't you? But for the believer, you know, there's another source of guilt. You know what that is?

Satan. Do you realize Satan can take things that you did in your past and constantly throw them in your face? Do you realize that Satan also wants you to feel guilt? There's a godly form of guilt, but then there's the guilt that comes from the enemy.

You know, this is the guilt that Satan brings. And you know, Satan views human beings as trash, by the way. We talk about Gehenna and the garbage dump and how you talk to people. You realize Satan views human beings like trash?

And when you think about yourself that I'm no good, nobody cares about me, I'm trash, I'm garbage, when you have those thoughts, that does not come from God the Holy Spirit. You understand that. Well, I'm not good enough.

I'll never be good enough. Where does that come from? That comes from the enemy. And the enemy wants us wallowing in our shame and in our guilt. So all of that so far, talking about the law of God, how it brings guilt, and that's needed for some, but there's another type of guilt.

As Christians, we want to move beyond that. And Jesus is teaching his disciples how to walk with him and how to live a blessed life. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 1, so let's move even beyond that. Another purpose of the law is to teach and to instruct in a better way.

Accepted in the Beloved Through Christ

So when we are overflowing or when we are filled up with guilt, oftentimes we're paralyzed. A person who's weighed down by guilt really is going to be ineffective for the Lord, right? God wants us to be overflowing with his grace and with his love.

We'll look at Ephesians 1. So how are we able to have right relationships with one another? A person living in guilt is hindered from having right relationships, not only with God, because they view God as an angry judge, which you may be if you're lost.

He's also a gracious and compassionate Savior. So we want to have that right relationship with God, and we want to have those right relationships with one another. It has to start with our relationship with God, though.

Look at Ephesians 1, starting in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him.

In love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us, what? Accepted in the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. One thing that harms earthly relationships, human relationships, is the feeling of not being accepted.

Some people feel they're not accepted before God, and they're never going to go to church. They're never going to seek the Lord. They don't feel accepted. That's going to be a hindrance. Other people, they don't feel accepted with other people, so they're never going to reach out.

They're never going to put that effort in. They feel rejected, and that just stops everything. But in Christ, we have been made acceptable. We have been accepted in the beloved. So all of this, every spiritual blessing is because of what?

It's because of what Christ has done. You know, in the new heaven and the new earth, there's going to be nothing but right relationships. Why are relationships strained today? Why is there hatred and discord today?

Because of sin. But once that's removed, there will be that right relationship with God and then with one another. But we can have a level of that. We can have that now. It's possible to have that right relationship now.

Let's turn back to Matthew 5, and we'll close. But we've been accepted according to the riches of God's grace. So grace is where it all starts. The fix, the solution is grace. God's grace made us accepted in the beloved.

Amen? How is a person going to receive acceptance? How can you feel accepted? How can you accept someone else? Grace. It's all about grace. When Jesus died on the cross, we can learn from him. He put the Father's will above his own.

And when he died for us, he put us above himself. How do we have a right relationship? Because the problem is pride, right? That's another problem, another cause of relationships going bad. Pride. So we put God first.

We put others ahead of ourselves. It's all grace. Grace, by very definition, you know, it's something that cannot be earned. So we need to show others grace just as God has showed us grace. Oh, yeah, but you don't know what they did to me.

You don't know how they hurt me. God knows. And if you want to talk about that, what have we done to offend God? You know, add up all the things we've said and done. Imagine if that was God's attitude.

Look at him. Look at her and what she's done, what she's said. He covers that all over with grace. That's what we need to learn to do. Look at verse 23. So on that point, grace, reconciliation, right relationships.

Jesus says, still expanding on thou shalt not kill. He says, therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way.

First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. You know, we don't have an altar. We don't offer gifts and sacrifices like this. We have the communion table. That would be the best parallel I could draw.

When we come before the Lord at communion, what do we do? We pray. We self-reflect. We want to make sure that there are no issues between us and fellow believers as much as is possible. If we can solve that before you take, that's my interpretation of this.

Before you take communion, make that right. If you know communion is on Sunday and you have this issue between you and a brother or sister, make it right on Saturday, amen, before you approach the Lord's table on Sunday.

But seek reconciliation. So God isn't as interested in sacrifices as much as he is interested in the heart attitude of the one making the sacrifice. Jesus says in verse 25, Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison, and surely I say to you, you will by no means get out of there, till you have paid the last penny.

So Jesus gives an illustration of how it can go bad for a person who may be wronged someone financially in this life, how much more serious when we talk about eternal things, or God forbid the worst situation of all.

I want you to think about this, and maybe we'll close on this point. Is there somebody right now, a fellow Christian, or maybe they're not even a Christian but there's an issue between you and them, and it's over or something, done.

Or maybe it's serious, but you know it's possible to be resolved, you just haven't tried yet. Do you realize that they could not be here tomorrow? What if something happened to them, and you have to live the rest of your life knowing that's the way it ended?

You have this strife between this other person, and then they pass away, something like that happens. The guilt that you'll be dealing with, right or wrong, that happens to people. What's the point? Work towards those right relationships.

If there's something between you and someone else, resolve it today. Maybe you've been withholding forgiveness. Well, what if God withheld forgiveness? God showed us grace, he forgave us. Forgive the other person.

So in conclusion, how do we work towards right relationships? We should treat others the way we want to be treated. And more importantly, we should treat others the way God in Christ has treated us. So seek reconciliation, have a forgiving spirit, put away pride, put away selfish ambition, put others ahead of yourself, and always be gracious in the words you speak.

That's all under the sixth commandment. Did you know that? Well, according to Jesus, that commandment deals with right relationships. Let's pray. And Heavenly Father, I thank you for this word that Jesus gave, that the commandments are so much more, and they instruct us.

And Lord, I just pray if there's somebody that I need to make something right with, if there's someone I need to apologize to, that you would make that known to me. And Lord, if each one here, if there's something that can be done, we know that if it depends on us, as much as depends on us, we should live peaceably with all men.

So Lord, teach us through your word, teach us mercy, and teach us grace. Help us to work, to fix relationships, and to keep right relationships before you and before and with one another. We ask all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.