Seeking harmony touches the heart of the Father

Let's open the word to Matthew 18, beginning with verse 18. And while you're looking for your Bible, I need at least three volunteers with the message tonight, and basically your role is to read that word as a Pentecostal preacher, which there are quite a few here, I know. Amen. Well, I need someone to find this text. Keep calm. And in due time I will tell you. I do not doubt that there will be many pleasures when reading this biblical portion again. Matthew 18, verses 18 to 20 read like this.

“…Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I tell you, if two of you agree ─ say they agree ─ if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven, because where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them..."

My brothers, powerful is that promise, right? But there is something very important that we have to have in front of us that we have to pay attention to. If we want this promise to be fulfilled, we have to see it in its context. And that is what the Lord wants us to see.

Look at this, my brothers, I don't know if you realize but this promise is embedded in the recipe that God gave us, what the Lord gave us to resolve conflicts between brothers. What begins with verse 15, Pastor Omar in his message a couple of Sundays ago, referred to this biblical issue. Do you remember that text? How to resolve conflicts within the house of God.

By the way, if the Jesus is sharing it as any student in my discipleship class has discovered, it is because there will be conflict within the body of Christ, it will happen. And this promise is embedded in that recipe, that formula that the Lord left us to be able to resolve our conflicts, verse 15 to verse 17, and then follows the parable of the two debtors.

see that? The parable of the debtors that was inspired, by the way, by the question of the Apostle Peter, who apartly asks the Lord, well Jesus, then how many times should I forgive my brother? Seven times. 70 times seven, says the Lord. Between those two biblical portions is this promise.

What do we get out of this? First, a legal notice to all of you. You know, many times before a product they will tell you something, many times the lawyers require that there be a notice. Here is a notice with this message. Your God loves you. There is a reason why the Lord shares this word with us. He loves us. And the Father's desire is to answer our prayers, the Father's desire is that there be nothing that can hinder his prayer from being answered by a holy God who, despite our lack of holiness, loves us, even as fallible as we are. , He loves us. He wants us to keep this principle in mind. And the heart of it is this: we want to touch the heart of God.

Jesus knows that we want to touch the heart of God. He wants to share with us precisely the way to touch the heart of God. You wouldn't be here if you didn't want that, would you? on a Wednesday night, what are you doing here? If your desire is not to touch the heart of God. I don't know about Sundays, but those who appear in the house of God on a Wednesday night, it is because they are part of the elite troops who want to touch the heart of God.

But you know, here Jesus reveals to us an insurmountable principle of heaven, an inevitable principle of the Kingdom of God, and it is this: if we want to touch the heart of the Father, let us seek harmony. I'm going to repeat it. If we want to touch the heart of the Father, let us seek harmony.

Let me put it another way. If we want to touch the heart of the Father, let us seek harmony. I said the same thing but I said it in a different way, touching my [inaudible] the only thing I changed. We have to seek harmony.

Brothers, by agreeing let's say, the prayer of agreement, God does not look for a formula, by the way, God does not look for a formula, it is not a mere geographical circle. My original intention tonight, but the spirit of God allowed this thing. We have done it many times here, pray in circles, pray in chains, make prayer chains, one touching the other in a symbolic way, we did it tonight. And we call that in English, that is called the prayer of agreement, the prayer of agreement. When the sister declares, this is my need, and the two or three brothers around her say, amen, we agree and pray with her, we call that the prayer of agreement.

But know, my brothers, there is more behind that. And that is what the Lord is trying to tell us. That is nice, beautiful and we have to practice it, but there is a heart that the Lord is looking for behind those words, and there is an attitude that the Lord is looking for behind those words. Likewise, neither praying two or three in a Congregation, if two or three are gathered in my name, firstly, my brothers, this is not a spiritual quorum. I have heard that, I grew up in the church, in churches of forty, 30 brothers, it was very frequent, we used to say, well, Samuel arrived, brother Perencejo arrived, here we are two and three, amen. We have a quorum, let's begin the service.

It is not talked about. First of all, merely because there are two or three people... or, by the way, you well know that if you are here by yourself and have this entire sanctuary with a capacity of 600 souls to yourself, and there are some brothers here who have had that privilege, know my brother, you alone here in this temple do not believe that the spirit of God is not here. Maybe it's even more palpable when you're here alone with him.

Just because we are two or three together does not mean that we are congregated. You can be right now in the summer visiting Faneuil Hall, or Quincy Market with your family and there can be thousands of people there. That does not constitute a congregation. Merely because there are hundreds of people in a building, that does not make it a Congregation. Even if they are together for a single purpose, a Congregation does not do that. There are 60,000 in Faneuil Park and they are all there for a purpose, to see Big Papi hit the ball hard, to see the Red Socks hit the Yankees again, my brothers from New York we still love you. Believe it we love you.

But you know what? That night in Faneuil does not constitute a Congregation even though thousands are together for the same purpose. What moves the hand of the Lord is that these people are together even if they are two or three in the name of Jesus. But my brothers, that is not a formula either. Because Jesus said again, we are receiving a report directly from the throne of God. What else do you want? Jesus has just arrived, released as a reporter, a journalist from the Father's throne. He is not saying, you do not have to guess, the Father is not saying what he wants and Jesus, as he told the Samaritan woman, what my Father is looking for are worshipers who adore him, how? In true and spirit. And that of gathering together in the name of Jesus still requires a heart, it requires that we come together in spirit and in truth. and that means certain things.

First, the Lord seeks a harmony. Now what does that look like? It is a constant part of this, it is as a Congregation and that is difficult as a Congregation. That is why not every Congregation achieves this. The desire of our senior pastor, Pastor Roberto, is that we reach the height of this. Are you ready, brothers? Because this requires work, this requires constant work, this requires vigilance on our part, for the Lord to work miracles here, for the hand of God to move, for an anointing to be unleashed on this place that spreads like lightning in the midst of darkness , and may Boston fall to the knees of a living Christ. we want that. We want that but it requires work, it requires vigilance, an environment where we wonder, would the spirit of God feel comfortable here?

Seeing our hearts and measuring each other's abilities, would he feel comfortable here? we want a place where they prefer each other, mind you. Such an environment is a perhaps an index that people prefer each other, such an environment is known for the absence of grudges, discord, gossip, the demoralization of others and their hearts, an awareness of the weak in the faith of those who arrive tied up.

My brothers, an environment free of people in authority, lording it over those they lead. And also those who serve, love, pray for, raise their hands and do their best to make up for the faults of those in leadership, especially pastors.

Brothers, this is not easy. Achieving such an environment is not easy. But my brothers, that is why the Apostle Paul declares, he writes:

“…I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to walk worthy of the vocation with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, bearing with patience, bearing with one another in love, attentive ─ attentive means actively watching for the other, each other. Solicitous is an active and intentional attitude to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. In other words, holiness.

You know, holiness is not merely vertical. The Lord requires that of us. The angels are going to keep me, here the promise will be fulfilled. If I stumble, boom, there's the angel. The camera just goes from here to there. Amen.

What does that mean? Holiness. Holiness is not merely shielding our hearts from the sight of a holy God, we hope we are walking like that. You know, our hearts are open to God. the Lord sees the nakedness of our hearts. If you know that, I hope you're saying, whoops, so if you are, let me straighten it up a bit. If the Lord is looking at me, it is better that he fix me a jean, if I am in front of his presence. But holiness is also horizontal. It talks about our way of treating each other, and my brothers, I leave you, with at least these two examples.

By the way, this is not the only one in Scripture where these promises are seen. The word is mined from this principle. The Gospels, the letters of Paul, the letters of Peter, the letters of John, the book of Revelation, all speak of this principle. We take this seriously, how many want to take this seriously and have this place be such a place?

Number 1, let's beware of this: grudges and roots of bitterness. Who is the preacher who has Matthew 5 from 22 to 24? Amen, my sister. Please stop.

“…But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother will be guilty of judgment and whoever calls his brother a fool will be guilty before the council, and whoever calls him foolish will be exposed to hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and walk. Be reconciled first with your brother and then come and present your offering…”

First of all, my brothers, by the way, if that didn't scare you, you didn't get it. If that didn't scare him, you didn't get it. Do you know what anyone says to their fatuous brother, anyone who grew up in the house of Samuel and Carlos and Raquel, my God, how many of you had brothers? How many pulled your brother's hair? Now, how many of you are now trembling in the presence of a living God?

Thank God we have a God of mercy and grace, but if he, like the judge, wanted to throw the book at us, that holy judge, where would we end up? Not in a good place. Knowing that we are before a powerful God who has forgiven me, maybe he has forgiven you two or three, like this. What does the word say? You come with your offering and your offering can be anything, what you brought to the house of God, your worship, your request, your service, if you serve here in any capacity. The Lord tells him, look, son, put that away for a moment. This is blocking, hindering, prohibiting my grace from flowing to you the way I want it to flow.

Sir, I didn't do anything to that sister or that brother. What does the word say? If you offended your brother... so if you remember that your brother has something against you, you seek harmony. grudges My brothers, perhaps you are looking for how far this is going, Pastor Samuel. Perhaps you… there are many things that perhaps we want the Lord to remove from our lives, there are many things that we want the Lord to do in our lives, and we don't see why, and at the same time, there are things that perhaps you are loading, there are some of us... there are small grudges, bring this to the Lord because it will give the Lord the same. Like those, look, 5, 10, 15 years have passed and you continue with that brother, that sister, or that parent who just passed away, whatever, still locked in a classroom, in the basement of your heart, offending the Lord And poisoning your heart, poisoning it.

And brothers, I'm sorry, you arrive here... it's impossible, don't try, love your brother and deny him the greeting, deny him the eye. This is not of God. And do you know why I'm saying it so loud? It affects the Congregation and our longing to gather together in the name of Jesus. That is a community, whether it is from our León de Judá Congregation or not, it is the body of Christ. Let's leave these grudges.

Second, abuse of authority and with this I also include disharmony in the home. I think someone has Matthew 6, 14 to 14, right? please my sister

"...For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses..."

That is the next Chapter, part of the same message, the Sermon on the Mount. Lord, if you didn't believe it, in Chapter 5, believe it in Chapter 6, he's saying it again. I want to forgive you. I want to remove this stone from the road. The only thing I ask of you is that in the same way that you want my forgiveness, like the parable of the debtor, you owe me a few quarters, millions and millions. Pay him the 50 cents that you owe that person, forgive him, let him erase.

First Peter 3:7, please.

"...You husbands likewise, live with them wisely, giving honor to the woman as to more fragile vessels and as joint heirs of the grace of life so that your prayers are not hindered..."

By chance that text happened to a husband. It was not on purpose. It happened to happen to a husband, but very appropriately. And here, spouses, let's put on the shoe that fits.

Look how interesting this is. The Lord is telling you through the Apostle Paul, you know, love your wives, as he declares in Ephesians, as he declares in Colossians. But here the Apostle Peter is adding a truth that should shake us.

Brothers, love your wife. So that? There is a very interesting why. So that your prayers have no hindrance. What does this mean? The Lord cares how we treat each other. The Lord cares if the husband abuses his authority. The Lord cares if children stop respecting their parents or people in authority. Over and over again the Lord says it, this should not surprise us, it is part of the 10 commandments. The Lord, again, he repeats it, is a central truth.

They know recently in the academic resource center... and maybe you don't even know where to start. Start with your own life and your own universe. Start with your parents. Start with your husbands, your wife. Start with your children. Start with your boss. Start with your supervisor. Start with those who work with you. I had to start at the academic resource center, an experiment. And recently we wanted to reach another level. The first thing we did was pray every day, we prayed once a week. Now we pray even 5 minutes every day. and the Lord showed us this, that we had to have a policy of zero tolerance for injustice, and dominance over one another.

We have seen how the grace of God has opened in that place. We have a long way to go, but start there. Let's stand up, my brothers. We want the grace of God to flow freely.

My brothers, in this you have a lot of authority. You know, they say that each member of a church is important and now you are seeing how important each heart and each member is. This is a body. We all depend on others. And we will bring our hearts before the Lord.

And I ask that… praise God, accompany us. We are going to bring our hearts and I ask that Sister Vivi join me for a moment. We go before the presence of the Lord.

Lord, search our hearts that is what we want. Search our hearts. Examine our attitudes. Lord, there is so much that we want from you, so much that we want to see you do, so many desires, we want to touch our hearts with our prayers and we do not want anything to impoverish your image in us.

My brothers, if there is someone you have to forgive, give your offering to the altar and now in your heart ask the Lord for an opportunity for reconciliation. Maybe it's so, so, so buried in your heart that it requires the Holy Spirit to pamper it and get it out of there, where you've buried this thing. I'm not talking about repressed memories or something from Freud, I'm talking about simple grudges that have been left unresolved and it's poisoning your life, the harmony in your home, it's poisoning the waters of your prayers. Ask the Lord for a reconciliation, give me a chance, Jesus, give me a chance to settle this account.

Lord, I promise you open that door, give me the door, give me the words, Lord, when I dial the number that you give me the words, when I call my brother, to call my sister, to call my uncle, to to call my cousin, to call my father, Lord, give me those words to solve this and bury this once and for all.

Lord, if I have used authority in a way, if I have treated others as I would not want you to treat me, Jesus, forgive me. If I have not treated those that you have placed in authority over me in the way that I should treat a father, a mother, forgive me, Lord. I do it for you, for your name. Lord, we do it for your name, because we want your name, that nothing here impoverishes your name.

We want to see feats and we want to be that type of Congregation where your name is glorified, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Lord, and in this way we prepare ourselves, Lord, to depart not from your presence but from this place. We want your harmony to reign wherever we enter and if everything is chaos, for a child of God to arrive, harmony has already arrived for the glory of the Lord we ask. Amen.

What's more, my brothers, greet two or three around them, the most Dominican, most Colombian, most Puerto Rican, most Venezuelan greeting that you know how to give someone, the cutest smile you can give someone, give it to them. The hug, oh my brother! God bless you. Amen.