There is a lot we could talk about in Matthew 18 today, but one thing is needful! I have been in many discussions in the last year with believers who have taken on themselves to operate in a "ministry of correction"! I say taken upon themselves because that is exactly what they have done! We are told this in John 14:12:
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. KJV
Those who truly believe in Jesus are called to DO the same works that Jesus did! What did Jesus do? Matthew 9:35:
35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. KJV
Acts 10:38 tells us this:
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. KJV
God anointed Jesus and Jesus anointed US! AMEN! What did Jesus NOT come to do? Look at John 3:16-17:
16 For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. AMP
Jesus was NOT sent into the world to judge! Neither were we! What were WE sent to do? Look at Mark 16:15-13:
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. KJV
WE were anointed by God to do THIS, and to do the other works that Jesus did! What about the correcting of others? We read what Jesus has to say about that in today's Bible Reading Plan! Matthew 18:15-17:
15 If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 17 If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.
How are we to treat the pagan, or heathen, and the tax collector? We share the Gospel with them! AMEN! What do we NOT do? We do NOT set up websites correcting them, write blog posts correcting them, or write books "correcting" them. I have seen all of these, done supposedly in the Name of Jesus, when HE has nothing whatsoever to do with this mess! The world needs the Gospel and other believers need the Lord Himself to deal with them by His Spirit. MOST of those who have set themselves up in this fashion are actually off base themselves! Pray for them! Allow God to deal with THEM and YOU do what HE has called YOU to do! AMEN! Here is Hillsong Chapel with "Lost Are Found":
Shalom in Him!
