Thank you so much. Just a moment, we're going to be turning to Matthew 18, but I think many of you are in the Christmas spirit. How many of you are in the Christmas? I thought so. My daughters were in the Christmas spirit in July. I walked into a convenience store just a couple of weeks ago, and they were playing Christmas music even before November came around. And I thought this may help you get in the Christmas spirit. Now, these are bulletin bloopers. that are put in the Sunday bulletins. Now, if you're blonde, you may have to have somebody explain these to you. And I don't know, maybe somebody has to explain these to Brother Spencer, too. But it is entitled, Church Ladies with Typewriters. Which ought to be computers, huh? It says there back, those wonderful church bulletins. Thank God for the church ladies with computers. These sentences with all the bloopers actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services. All right? Number one, the fasting and prayer conference includes meals. Number two, the ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. Don't let worry kill you off. Let the church help. Miss Charlene Mason sang, I Will Not Pass This Way Again, giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs. Next Thursday, there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get. Irving Benson and Jesse Carter were married on October 24th in the church. So ends the friendship that began in their school days. Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones. That would be people in my age group, I'm sure. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want to remember. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super-entainment, and gracious hostility. Potluck supper, Sunday at 5 p.m. Prayer and medication to follow. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for pancake breakfast next Saturday. Low esteem support group will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. Please use the back door. The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 p.m. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. Now, here's a good one. Wait watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double doors at the side entrance. And those actually appeared in bulletins. That's not made up. Now, my prayer for this message this morning is this. that it will be a life principle that you will follow. I believe that if the average fundamental Baptist church would get a hold of Matthew 18, 15, it would save the pastor probably 75% or more of the counseling that he has to do. So I'm praying that when you leave here, this will be a life principle that you'll follow all of the rest of your life. All right, let's stand please, Matthew 18 and verse 15, and I'd like for us to read this all together, Matthew 18 and verse 15 all together. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. And I think you could add, and protected the cause of Christ. Thank you. You may be seated. Matthew 18 deals with several spiritual principles. First of all, in verses 3 through 5, it talks about coming to Christ with simple childlike faith. Now we've got it mixed up. We think that a child has to become adult-like in order to be saved. No. An adult has to become childlike in order to be saved. You come to Christ with simple childlike faith and He saves you. Then you go down to verse 6 and He talks about offenses to one of these little ones. It's just better for him that a millstone were tied around his neck and he were cast into the depths of the ocean. I wonder if that could not apply to the abortion crowd. Better for that crowd that a millstone were tied around their neck, and they were cast into the depths of the ocean. Now you go down to verse 7, and he talks about offenses from the world. And young people, we can expect that. II Timothy 316, Yea, and all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now, I've told our preacher boys through the years, if there's something about my personality or my mannerisms that is offensive, I can do something about that. But if there's something offensive about the message that I preach, I can't do one thing about that. I Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 18, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1, 23 and 24, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block to the Greeks foolishness, but unto us which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. So you can expect offenses from the world. John 15, 18 and 19, Jesus said, if the world hates you, He know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own. But I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. I John 3 and verse 13. It says those who will live godly will have persecution from the world. You've got to make up your mind, young people, who you want to please. Galatians 1 and verse 10, For do I now persuade men of God? For if I seek to please man, I should not be the servant of Christ. And I made up my mind 66 years ago this month that I was going to be a friend of God and not a friend of the world. James 4 and verse 4, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore shall be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. So you've got to make up your mind who you want to please, whose friend you want to be. Now, you go down to verses 21 and 22, and he talks about forgiveness. Notice verses 21 and 22, Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? "'Til seven times Jesus saith unto him, "'I say not unto thee until seven times, "'but until seventy times seven.'" Hey, you know what Peter's doing in that passage? He is strutting his spirituality. In other words, he came to Christ and he said, Lord Jesus, the Jewish rabbis say, oh, forgive my brother, three times. But I'm a good Christian. I'm not going to forgive him three times. I'm going to forgive him seven times. Aren't I a good Christian? Jesus said, No, Peter. You're not a good Christian if you can forgive him seven times, but rather seventy times seven or. an innumerable amount of times. That brings us back to our text. I'm speaking this morning on this subject, Protecting the Cause of Christ. Now young people, I'm not important, you're not important, but the cause of Christ is all important. And if you and I will live to protect the cause of Christ, when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, we shall hear well done. Now we're going to dissect this verse into three parts. Number one, there is a problem, a damaged relationship. All right, notice please verse 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee. Now obviously this is talking about a brother to a brother. But, the bottom line of the Bible is, Romans 12 and verse 18, if it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. So you see, I'm not only to live at peace with a Christian brother or sister, But I'm to live at peace with an unsaved neighbor, so I will not be a stumbling block in trying to win him to Christ. But this is talking about a brother to a brother. It has two aspects to it. I'm going to give you two passages, and I want you to see if you can tell the difference in these two passages. All right, keep your finger here. Go to Mark chapter 11, please. Mark chapter 11, verses 25 and 26. Mark chapter 11, verses 25 and 26. We're talking about a problem, a damaged relationship. All right, notice verses 25 and 26. And when you stand praying, forgive. if ye have ought against any, that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you your trespasses. All right, look this way. Let me ask you a question, young people. How many of you have a friend or a loved one for whom you are praying to be saved? Would you raise your hand, please? That's almost everybody. Now here's my next question. Is there anybody on the face of God's earth with whom you're bitter? If there is, save your time. Don't pray. God's not going to hear your prayers. Somebody has said this, adultery has slain its thousands, but bitterness It's tens of thousands. I believe that with all my heart. Years ago, I was in a meeting in Lima, Ohio. Pastor picked me up at the airport at Dayton. On the way to Lima, he said, Brother Comfort, I had a man on my staff who was an Absalom. He showed discord among my people. He said it split my church right down the middle. Before we got to Lima, he said, Brother Comfort, I had another man on my staff who was involved in child molestation. He said, tonight he is in prison for being involved in child molestation. I said, Preacher, for the sake of illustration, which one of these men did more harm to your church? He said, no comparison. No comparison. He said, everybody knew that child molestation was wrong. He said, that didn't hurt the unity of my church one bit. But he said, the man that showed discord 12 years later, we're still paying for that. You know what that is? Bible. Hebrews 12, 15, bitterness defiles many. Hey, this man can't be bitter without affecting Ambassador Baptist College. I can't be bitter without affecting Ambassador Baptist College. You can't be bitter without affecting your roommate. Your parents can't be bitter without affecting you. Bitterness is a cancer that infects and affects everybody you get around. Somebody says, well, if you knew how they treated me, you'd know I have every right in the world to be bitter. Where do you read that in the Bible? There is absolutely no justification for bitterness. Here it is, Ephesians 4, 31 and 32, Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Listen, there is no way that you could do to me what I did to Jesus Christ for 15 years of my life. And I don't have a right to be bitter about anything or anybody, and you don't either. All right, so here's what it says. If I'm bitter toward you, I ought to go to you and I ought to say, listen, I've been bitter toward you. Would you forgive me? All right, that is the guilty going to the innocent. Everybody knows that. God amplifies that one step further. Take your Bible and turn to Matthew 5. Now I want you to see if you can tell the difference in these two passages. Mark 11, The Guilty Ought to Go the Innocent, Matthew 5, 23 and 24. Notice please, it says, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee. Leave there thy gift before the altar, go thy way, first be reconciled thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. All right, look this way. Do you see the difference in those two passages? Mark 11, the guilty ought to go the innocent. Matthew 5, the innocent ought to go the guilty. In other words, if I know that Brother Hankey is bitter toward me, and I don't feel that way about him, if I'm right with God, I ought to initiate the reconciliation. I ought to go to him and I ought to say, now, Brother Hanke, I know how you feel about me, and God knows I don't feel that way about you. But maybe I've done something to create this barrier between us. Is there anything I can do to remove the barrier and to protect the cause of Christ? Now, I'm convinced of this. It is not the sins of the flesh that are keeping us from having revival. It is the sins of the Spirit. Hey, you take the prodigal son, what sins was he guilty of? Sins of the flesh. But you know how the story ends. Prodigal son's back at his daddy's house. All right, on the other hand, you have the elder brother. What sins is he guilty of? The sins of the Spirit. You know how the story ends. The elder brother's not back at his daddy's house. And I am convinced with all of my heart, it is bitterness. and hurt feelings, being offended, that are keeping us from having revival. I many times will ask an evangelist this question, Brother Spencer. I'll say, what message do you preach where you have more results than any other message at the invitation? And almost invariably they will tell me the message on bitterness. Hey, evangelist students, no matter where you preach, no matter what the color of their skin, no matter what language they speak, bitterness is universal. And you can preach bitterness anywhere around the world and get results. It is the sins of the Spirit that are keeping us from having revival. Do you know Psalm 19, 165? You ought to memorize it if you don't. Great peace have they that love thy law, and what? Nothing shall offend them. Hey, if I get offended at you, my problem is not you. My problem is I have an improper attitude toward this book and toward the cause of Christ. Now there are two places in that verse. Here's a place of living with great peace. Here's a place of living easily offended. Which place are you living in? You're not living in both places. If you're easily offended, you've forfeited the place of great peace. If you're living in the place of great peace, you're not easily offended. If I get offended at you, my problem is not you. My problem is I have an improper attitude toward this book and toward the cause of Christ. All right, go back to Matthew 18, please, in verse 15. Number 1, we've noticed a problem, a damaged relationship. Now notice please number two, a procedure, a direct reminder. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, here it is, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. Look this way. Do we do that? No, here's what we do. If I have a problem with Brother Ream, instead of going to Brother Ream, I'll go to Brother Doyle and I'll say, do you know what Brother Ream did to me? Now that's wrong. You see, he's not part of the problem, nor is he part of the solution. And when I go to somebody other than the one that's involved, I make the chasm greater. I make the situation almost irreconcilable. All right, look this way, listen. When should I go to Brother Ream? Immediately. Immediately. If I wait a month to go to him, everything he does is suspect to me. And I keep heaping reason upon reason why I should not go to him. So I'm to go to him. I'm to go to him alone. I'm to go to him immediately. But you know what the devil whispers in my ear? Well, if you go to Brother Ream, he won't listen to you. Excuse me. That would not be my problem. That would be his problem. How many of you have tried to reconcile with somebody and they would not listen to you? Raise your hand. Sure you have. Sure you have. Now when you do what Matthew 18, 15 says, you've delivered your soul. The ball is in their court. And I'll tell you what. I am convinced with all of my heart, this is a hard principle to follow. And there have been times in my own life when I have violated this principle much to my embarrassment. I remember right after I started Ambassador Baptist College, I was down in the West Indies for meetings. And I stayed in a missionary's home, and I saw something in that home that I thought was going to hurt his testimony. But, instead of going to him, I thought, now Don Sisk is at a BIMI. He's preaching at Ambassador. And when he's at Ambassador, I'll share with him about the apprehension I have with these missionaries that are under his board. So I did. And Brother Sith said, Brother Comfort, I'm going to be down there in the West Indies in a couple of weeks. I'm going to be on that island. And when I'm down there, I'll look into this problem in the missionary's home. And he did. When he got back to America, he called me up. He said, Brother Comfort, I approached the missionary that you had the problem with. And you know what the missionary said to me? Why didn't Brother Comfort come to me rather than go to you? I said, Don, he was right. I was wrong. I said, I violated a principle that I preach in my own ministry. I said, first of all, I've got to apologize to you. I said, now when I hang up the phone, I'm calling down in the West Indies and I am going to apologize to that missionary couple. So I did. I called down to the West Indies, and the lady answered the phone. I said, Ma'am, is your husband available? She said, No, sir. We had a hurricane come through the island, and the church building was damaged. He's working on repairing the church building. I said, Well, I really would like to talk to your husband, but since he's not available, I'll bear my heart with you. I said, when Don Sisk was at Ambassador Preaching, I shared the apprehension I had about something that may hurt your ministry down there in the West Indies. And when Don Sisk approached you folks, your husband said, why didn't Brother Comfort come to me rather than go to you? I said, ma'am, I want you to know your husband was right. I was wrong. I violated a principle that I preach in my own ministry. And I said, I am calling to apologize to you and your husband. She said, Brother Comfort, I assure you, we will forgive you. This was 1992. I said, I'm sending a personal check for $500 to help repair your church building. Now listen to me, young people. You know what I believe? most of our divisions are caused from basic misunderstandings. Did you get that? You see it from this perspective. The other person sees it from this perspective. And if we can just get together, we can clear up a misunderstanding. about obeying Matthew 18 and verse 15. Years ago I was in a meeting in Massillon, Ohio. Bruce Cummins was a pastor. He pastored for over 40 years. He's in heaven now. And I was preaching along this line in the meeting. Brother Cummins came to me and he said, Brother Comfort, He said, God's been dealing with my heart for some time about going to a former deacon. He said he and I used to be as close as brothers. I would share things with him that I would not share with anybody else in the church except my wife. He said something happened about 12 years ago to break that relationship. He said, I don't know what it was. And he said, I'd like to go to him and see if we could get to the root of the problem. He said, Would you go with me? I said, I'd be glad to. And folks, this is classic. So we went to the man's garage. He was retired working on his car. And the pastor struck up a friendly conversation. After a while, he turned the conversation. He said, Brother, something's bothered me for a long time. And I wonder if we can get to the root of the problem. He said, You know, you and I used to be as close as brothers. I would share things with you that I would not share with anybody else in the church except my wife." And he said, something broke that relationship. Can you tell me what it was? And the man said, well, preacher, you asked for it. He said, I'm going to tell you. He said, on a Saturday before we left the church on Sunday, you officiated at a wedding of my daughter and her fiancé. He said, Pastor, you did something in that wedding that offended everybody in that wedding party. It offended my wife and me, and I made up my mind that if you would do that, I could never hear you preach again. He said, that's why I left the church 12 years ago. He said, Brother, do you want to know why I did what I did? He said, if you'll tell me. and he went on to explain it so logically anybody could have understood it. When he got through explaining it, the former deacon stood there with his mouth open and he said, Preacher, for twelve years I've been backslidden, and it's all because of a basic misunderstanding. Hey, the average person who leaves the church will never go to the pastor and say, Pastor, this is why we're leaving. And if we would apply Matthew 18, 15, it would eliminate a lot of division and a lot of heartache. All right, number one, we've noticed a problem, a damaged relationship. Number two, we've noticed a procedure, a direct reminder. All right, finally, number three, a product, a desired response. All right, notice the last part of the verse. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. And I think you could add, and protected the cause of Christ. Now, do you know why a good fundamental Baptist church exercises church discipline? It is not to kick a person while he's down. It is not to exert our authority. but it is Galatians 6,1 to restore the fallen brother. Now I'm going to summarize what I have preached this morning by a passage in Romans chapter 12. Turn please to Romans chapter 12. Number 1, we've noticed a problem, a damaged relationship. Number 2, a procedure, a direct reminder. Number 3, a product. a desired response. Notice Romans 12, 17 through 21. It says, Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. All right, look this way. You know what we do in the Christian life? We play hit last. Have you ever played hit last with your brother or sister? You hit him, he hits you, you hit him, he hits you. What happens if in the middle of that game you say, Brother, I'm tired of this game, I'm black and blue, let's go to McDonald's and I'll buy you a milkshake. All right, that ends the game. Now here's what we do in the Christian life. Brother Beale does something to Ron Comfort. You know what my flesh says? Alton Beale's not going to get the last say. Ron Comfort's going to get the last say. But you know what his flesh says? Uh-uh. Ron Comfort's not going to get the last say, Alton Beal's going to get the last say, and we play hit last. What happens if he does something to me and I say the cause of Christ is more important than my getting my pound of flesh and my getting even? I'm going to do something kind for him. I'm going to buy him a Bible. All right, that ends the game. Here's the principle, young people, you do not return evil for evil, you return good for evil. I have in the front of my Bible four words, God help me to live by these four words, no attack, no defense. Did you get that? No attack, no defense. You return good for evil, not evil for evil. When I graduated from college in 1961, that's when kids still had dinosaurs for pets, but that first fall I was in a meeting with Larry Brubaker in a church, and I'm not going to locate the church because that that, that wouldn't be good. But we had a tremendous meeting in this church. This was in November. By April, the church had billed because they had grown so much, they had doubled their attendance. And so through the years, I have had many meetings in this local church, probably 12 meetings. And there are many, many people that have been saved under our ministry. Well, Larry and I were back there in 1986 for a meeting. And I thought we had a good meeting. It was a different pastor. I had never been with him before. And so I thought it was a good meeting. But I was told by a pastor who grew up in this church, and he pastored in the area, he said, Brother Comfort, you think you had a good meeting in this church. Well, let me tell you the results of that. The pastor got up before his people, and he listed 13 things that he did not like about the evangelistic team. Now most of them were about Brother Brubaker. No, no, most of them were about me. But anyway, I said, you know, Pastor, I said, my goal when I go into a church is to be an encouragement to the pastor. And I said, from what you have told me, I was not an encouragement to the pastor. So I am going to write him a letter, and I'm going to send the love offering back. When I wrote him a letter, I said, Pastor, my goal is not how many people come down an aisle. but to encourage the pastor. If I have not encouraged the pastor, then I failed." I said, I feel like I've failed because I heard what your response was after the meeting. And because you were not encouraged, I don't deserve the love offering. I remember 1986, it was $1,305, so I sent the love offering back to him. But when he got the letter, He wrote me a letter in response. He said the love offering was not given to the general fund. If I put that in the general fund, the people would not understand that. And so therefore the love offering is yours. Now ladies and gentlemen, that was in June. When December came, I got a Christmas card. And I wrote him a letter and I said, I love you, I love your church. We have so many people that have been saved in that church through our ministry. And I'm praying for you and for your church. And I want to give you a gift so that you can buy your wife some food at a restaurant or you can buy something for her. I sent him a $50 bill. You know what the result of that was? He put us on His missions giving. They still support us on a monthly basis. If you went to this preacher and you said, preacher, what is the best preacher's training school in America? He would say Ambassador Baptist College. Now let me ask you a question. What would have happened if I had written those people that had been saved in my ministry in his church and said your pastor was unjust in what he did? He should not have stood before the congregation and told them the things that uprooted the foundation of the meeting. You know what would have happened? I'd have split that church right down the middle. I'd have gotten my pound of flesh, but I'd have hurt the cause of Christ. My good friend Ed Nelson is having his 95th birthday. this month, and he pastored in Denver, Colorado for years. And in the early 70s, he was preaching on 1 Corinthians chapter 6, where it is wrong for a Christian, 2 Corinthians chapter 6, for a Christian to take another Christian to a court of law and hurt the cause of Christ before an unsaved world. When he got through preaching, one of his men came to him, and he said, Brother Nelson, So-and-so in our church has defrauded me of $10,000. He said, I have already started legal proceedings to get my $10,000 back. He said, you know what? After your message this morning, I realize that the cause of Christ is a whole lot more important than $10,000. And if I never get a penny of that money back, I will not go to a judge before an unsaved world and hurt the cause of Christ. Young people, let's live to protect the cause of Christ. Let's bow our heads in prayer.