Bring Proper Gifts with the Proper Heart

(Christ 6th Public Command)
By Brother R. Michel Lankford

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Matthew 5:21-26 (ESV)

 

A Quick Review

Christ's 1st Command: "Repent" (Matthew 4:17)- In order to be ready to live in God's Kingdom we have to change our mind, change our purpose and change our actions and lifestyle AWAY from what God calls sin, and we must turn around and walk TOWARD what Almighty God considers righteous. Beloved, the principle is that if we do not repent to agree with God, then we cannot live in His Eternal Heavenly Kingdom.
Christ's 2nd Command: "Follow Me." (Matthew 4:19) - In the original biblical languages, to follow someone meant that you 'came along behind, and 'walked after.' So in practical terms to, "Follow Jesus Christ,” means that I cooperate with God to train my mind to believe and think as He thought, to speak as Jesus spoke, to choose as Jesus chose, and to live a lifestyle that is agreeable to the way that Jesus Christ lived and walked before Almighty God. If I do not truly learn to do that, then I am not in reality following Jesus Christ. In that case I would be following something else (1 John 2:1-6).
Christ’s 3rd Command: "Rejoice when you are persecuted for righteousness sake." (Matthew 5:12) - In order to obey this Commandment successfully, we must have a Holy Spirit brain transplant. That's why this command is listed at the end of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). People whose mindset is still controlled by the sinful nature will not be able to obey this command or any other command of God and Jesus Christ successfully (Romans 8:5-8). So only truly born-again, Holy Spirit regenerated people can successfully do these Commandments with God's help. One of the reasons that we are called to rejoice when the wicked persecute us for doing the right things is because this is glaring evidence that we do belong to God and not to the sinful world which loves evil.
Christ's 4^th Command: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (NKJV). This Commandment is surrounded by the idea that "We are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16)." That means that God places great value upon us as His creation, and being greatly valued by God is a terrific blessing. At the same time, being highly valued by Almighty God also comes with greater responsibility to choose and to do the things that bring honor and glory to God, and not shame to Our Heavenly Father’s Name.
Christ's 5th Command: "Do not think that I have come to abolish or do away with the law or the prophets. For I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill. (See Matthew 5:17-20)- Since Jesus NEVER failed to speak and to do exactly what Almighty God told Him to do, then there is NO WAY that anything which Jesus Christ accomplished by His Life, Death, and His Resurrection would have ever undermined, abolished, done away with or removed any of God's Laws Commandments or Instructions. This conclusion is not based on my own personal preferences. It's what Jesus Christ the living Son of the Almighty God Who made heaven and earth has already spoken. If I speak contrary to Almighty God's Laws and Commandments, then I would be speaking directly against what Jesus Christ said He came to do, and what He said He did not come to do. If He is truly going to be my Lord, my Master, My Savior and my King, then I dare not continue to speak, and or support ideas that are the direct opposite of what He specifically said. If I do speak the opposite of Him and what He specifically said, then I am violating every Commandment we have studied so far, and I would NOT be living my life as a citizen of His Kingdom. I would then be following something else, and I would not following Him. So I cannot speak contrary to what Jesus already spoke, and remain a true and loyal subject of the KING. Do not be deceived and do not deceive yourself.

 

 

Messiah's 6th Command

Immediately after telling us that He would not remove one jot or one tittle from God's Law, Messiah wastes no time in teaching people how to obey God's Law MORE excellently. We see clear evidence throughout the rest of Matthew chapter 5. Messiah does not cover every aspect of the Law in this first sermon, but he highlights what most people consider the big stuff.
It's intriguing that Messiah's next command in the New Testament is actually sandwiched in the middle between two guiding principles:
Guiding principle #1: We must keep a right heart before God and our neighbor. That means that we must get rid of anger and hatred which is akin to murder (Matthew 6:21-22).
Guiding principle #2: Resolve conflicts, reconcile with your neighbor quickly before things have a chance to fester into anger and hatred (Matthew 6:25-26).
Sandwiched right in the middle between those two guiding principles is the command:

Matthew 5:23-24 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24 ESV)

That's the imperative. Beloved, isn't it interesting that right in the middle between two guiding principles on how to keep a right relationship with our fellow man is the command on how to bring an offering before the LORD?
The idea that we need to be right before God and our neighbor before bringing our offerings is not a new idea. Messiah was not teaching anything new in the so-called New Testament. What He was teaching in Matthew 5:23-24 is a principle as old as the Torah itself. It goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 4. In order for Cain to have brought a proper substitutionary animal sacrifice which God would have accepted Cain would have had to put away his jealousy, humble himself before his brother Abel. He would have had to admit his need in order to obtain an animal that he could properly offer before God. Instead Cain chose to offer only when he desired. When God tried to show him that his heart was not right, Cain rejected God's correction (Genesis 4:6-7). Cain chose the harbor jealousy against Abel in his heart instead of humbling himself and repenting, and it led to murder.
Guiding Principle #3: Almighty God is HOLY and He DOES NOT automatically accept everything and anything that we bring to Him, in whatever manner we choose to bring it, just because we bring it, "In Jesus Christ’s Name. This guiding principle is absolutely critical, because it corrects one of the greatest heresies and false teachings in our modern church age.
Over and over again I have heard preachers LIE from the pulpit in the name of Jesus Christ, and folks we need to repent. Over and over I have heard preachers say, “You know God's just happy that you showed up here in church today. He is happy to see you. The false impression that this teaches is that God is happy just because we simply showed up in one of His congregations and gave Him an hour of the day that He gave us in the first place. We are not doing God a favor by showing up. Almighty God is doing us a favor when HE shows up! We have got to get our heads screwed on straight.

 

 

Let's tell the truth, shall we?

Fact: If you are walking in a lifestyle of sin and lawlessness (1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4; Matthew 7:21), then your only purpose and intent for showing up in the midst of God's congregation had better be to be about begging God to help you to turn your heart your mind and your lifestyle around toward what truly pleases Him; because if you are walking in sin disobedience and Lawlessness, and your chief purpose is not begging God to change you into what truly pleases Him, in that case, then God is decidedly NOT HAPPY TO SEE YOU. That's not my opinion. It's Scripture:
Psalm 7:11-12 God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. If he [referring to the wicked person] does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. (Psalm 7:11-12 NKJV)
Yes, God is Love (1 John 4:8), and yes, God Loves us (Romans 5:8), and yes, God does not want us to perish or be condemned (John 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4), all of that is absolutely true. At the same time, all of God's Grace notwithstanding, God is equally deadly serious about our turning away from what He calls wickedness and our turning toward and choosing doing what He defines as good and righteous. God will not change His Standards to accommodate us, so we had better cooperate with God and let Him change us so that we come into agreement with Him and what He says is good, because if we do not, we will surely perish right along with the wicked, whether we claim to believe Jesus or not, (Hebrews 10:26-31).
Fact: Every one of us who prays to the Almighty God of heaven has at least some desire for God to favorably hear and respond to our prayers, do we not? Of course we do. Otherwise, why bother to pray? Did you know that Almighty God directly links His willingness to hear our prayers right along with our willingness to hear and listen to His Law?
Proverbs 28:9 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9 NKJV)
We have to face up to a question. Do I want God to be favorably disposed to hearing my prayers, or do I want Him to look at my prayers as though they were an act of sin and an abomination deserving of His fierce wrath anger and punishment? My attitude and receptiveness toward His Law, Commandments, and Instructions has a direct bearing on how receptive God is to my prayers. If for some crazy reason it does not matter to you whether God is favorably disposed your prayers, or He finds them to be an abomination, then I suppose you can continue to ignore God's Law at your own peril, but as for me, I need God to hear and be favorably disposed to my prayers. I need and I want Him to see and receive my prayers as a delight and not as something deserving His wrath. That being the case, I desire and I am continually begging God to change my being so that I am more open, more inclined, more receptive and more obedient to His Laws. There is simply no other sane and rational choice; (contrast: Luke 18:10-14). So, NO, Almighty God in fact does not hear, neither does He accept every single prayer brought to Him. Leaving people with the impression that He does, is to enable them to be deceived. Preachers, this surely was not your goal when you went to seminary, was it?! Can we not at the very least be bold enough to tell the Whole Truth, even in God's own house, while we claim to be speaking in the Name of the One Who Is the TRUTH?!! Can we not at the very least quit tickling people’s ears, and stop teaching contrary to God's Commandments in His Own House?! Come on, where's your backbone? Preachers, do you really and truly care if people are authentically saved and right before Almighty God Who will judge the living and the dead? If you do, then PREACH the WHOLE TRUTH, not just some of it.
Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (Psalm 66:18 NKJV)
· God does not accept the prayers of the wicked (Proverbs 28:9; Psalm 66:18)
· God does not accept the sacrifices of the wicked (Proverbs 15:8-9; Proverbs 21:27)
· God does not accept those who call good as though it were evil, and evil as though it were good (Isaiah 5:20-24).

 

 

The Bottom Line:

1. Even under Grace, God still cares about us getting it right when we bring our offerings to Him. Ananias and Sophira happen after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so they were in the so-called age of Grace. Did God accept their gifts and offering (Acts 5:1-11)? God should not have to do it again, should He? Shouldn't we be wise enough to read the text, learn from their mistakes, and walk before God carefully? (Romans 15:4).
2. In fact, the reality that Jesus Christ suffered so much in order to buy our right standing before God ought to make us MORE CAREFUL about what we bring before God, and how we bring it, NOT LESS.
3. In order for our prayers, and the offerings of our time, our talent, and our treasures to be acceptable and pleasing before Almighty God, our attitudes toward God and His Commandments, Laws and Instructions, must be biblically correct.
4. In order for our prayers, and the offerings of our time, our talent, and our treasures to be acceptable and pleasing before Almighty God, our attitudes and dealings with our fellow men (and especially fellow believers) must be correct and in good standing to the best of our ability.

5. If our relationships and attitudes towards God and His Law, and if our relationships with our fellow men are not in good standing, then we are wasting the offerings of our prayers, of our time and the offerings of our talents and treasures when we offer them, because God does not accept them unless and until our vital relationships are right first.


6. Every sin and transgression of God's Law begins with thoughts that run the opposite or contrary to God's Word. If we learn to arrest these things while they are still merely thoughts, then they will not be allowed to settle into our hearts and they will not blossom into attitudes which then become sinful behaviors (2 Corinthians 10:4-5; cf. Joshua 1:7-8; Psalm 1:1-3; Psalm 19:7-14; Isaiah 26:3; Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 4:8).
Brother Michel Lankford