Pastor Marty Sloan | Jan. 30 & 31, 2021

It’s Time to Stop Being Offended

The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. - Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 (NKJV)

It’s time to stop being

.

“The most effective way for the enemy to blind us is to cause us to focus on

.” - John Bevere, “The Bait of Satan”

Christians cannot remain in an offense because

is the epicenter of the

Reveal Answer

.

Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:25-32 (NKJV)

What is an offense?

From a biblical point of view, we define an offense as “anger, resentment or a stumbling block.”

Our response to offenses reflect our

depth.

Offenses are the

of Satan to pull down a believer and lock them behind self-imposed fortresses known as

Reveal Answer

.

Offenses are

in life.

Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no[a]offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should[b]offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sin against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day return to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” - Luke 17:1-5 (NKJV)

Why do we get offended?

1) Offenses are a

of the End Times. (Matthew 24:4-14)

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. - Matthew 24:4-14 (NKJV)

2) Offenses are a result of

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! - II Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)

Offenses

our faith because they turn our focus to ourselves and away from God.

An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars. – Proverbs 18:10 (NLT)

“If we do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless nation.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Next Steps
• Search your heart for offenses. (Psalms 51)
• Choose to forgive offenses and remove things that cause you to be offended.
• Remove points and people of offense.

Resources
• Bible reading: Matthew 18
• “Increase our Faith” by Claude Houde
• “Bait of Satan” by John Bevere