In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of relationships and how they are judged by God. He emphasizes that self-righteousness and pointing fingers at others is not the way to live a righteous life. The speaker also highlights the need for Christians to be different from the world and to prioritize forgiveness and reconciliation in their relationships. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of supernatural relationships and the power of prayer and love. The sermon references Chapter 7, verses 1-5 and Chapter 6, verses 14-16 in the Bible.

Sad to say, Peter did not stand near the microphone which had been set up for the recording, and the result is that there is a heavy echo all the way through this message. We hope you will be able to cope with it. Now, I'm going to speak to you tonight on the subject of relationship. I'll begin by telling you what I said to the field leaders at the end of my little report, so that four or five weeks before the field leaders' meetings, I can gather information from prayer lessons and aerial video reports and so on, and give a report of what's been happening around the oil world. And I began by giving facts and figurative information and so on, and I ended it like this, and I bring to you what I have for me, particularly the highlights of the year. The highlights are, in a sense, the best parts, but I've been spending more of my time on broken relationships than I can remember in previous years. Leaders not getting on with senior men. Basic principles, which we have taught for many years, being forgotten. The unwillingness to pay the price of walking in the light. Gossip, commenting on leaders behind their back. Leaders unwilling to admit error and failure. And I said, if we were to go forward with all our meetings, which I was enumerating for you this morning, I feel we need a fresh commitment among us to live up to biblical standards on relationships. Without that, all of our great friends will certainly fall in patterns of remnants. We will find ourselves expending all our energies working on damaged and broken relationships, and there must be much left for the electoralization of the world. With that in mind, I'd like to turn to the fifth chapter of Matthew's Gospel. What did we begin reading? In verse 38. Leaders are now ready for this last sermon on Matthew. Matthew 5, verse... You have heard that it was said, eye for eye and hook for hook, but I tell you, do not do this at the evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other will serve. If someone wants to sue you and take your gimmick, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go it two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, love your enemies, hate your enemies. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the sons of your father in heaven, because it takes time to love and then pray on the length of time. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Far more than even the tax collectors do that. And if you love only your brothers, what are you doing to more than others? You do not even pay them to do that. Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your holy word. A revelation from you to us. You have not left us alone. Without you, we have no will for our lives, or no will for our living together. You have given it to us all in this book. We want all of you together tonight, Lord, to examine our lives in the light of the mirror of your word. Help us to pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I think if you look at the ministry of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's without question that one of the things Jesus concentrated on in his ministry to his disciples was this whole idea of love and his seek to build the kingdom of God. When you come to that great prayer, I think this prayer of John 17, there's only one particular, as I'm sure you realize, that Jesus repeats. And the other particular is just mentioned once. But the particular that those who he has to leave behind might remain in the ministry means that Jesus can't handle the idea that he is the only one in the world, and he alone can handle the man in the ministry. that you are my disciples, by your love for one or the other. Tonight, what I want you to do is to look at how Jesus takes a group of men, a group from very, very diverse backgrounds, and he rolls them together into a mighty force that will bring glory to his name within a few years around the world. I want you to look at how Jesus went about that. How he went about building the unison amongst those disciples. Firstly, I want you to notice just how diverse this group was. Let's look at the two of them for a moment. First of all, St. Matthew. He, as we know, was a tax collector. Everyone thought that he regarded Matthew as a traitor. He wanted to be sentimental to the people of the earth. He explained to them that Abraham was an incomplete master and going for his own personal gain. If anyone knew the reverse of a traitor, it was Matthew. Now, look at the other men. 500. The Devil. They can't drive down the road of war, and they were prepared to face any kind of death for their country. They did not want to die in the struggle for freedom. They refused to give any earthly man the name or title of king. They, as you'll see first, were true patriots. Patriots par excellence among the Jews. The most nationalists of all the nationalists. The point that is, though, is St. Basil had Matthew the tax collector in any other government that accompanied Jesus Christ. He was not to accept his dagger and plunge it into Matthew's back. That was the kind of animosity there was really between those two men at this period of history. But Jesus brings this diverse group of men together and welds them into a mighty force. A force that very soon were going to be on their own, carrying everything that they had, so that they could support those who were in need. Well, let's look through the Gospel of Matthew and particularly at Matthew 15, as Jesus did it. Now, if you will just turn on the map, and I trust you'll go on a regular basis, doing nothing in your fundamental, to our literal reserve, number six, you'll live a month without reading this sermon. I think that's quite clear. You should read this sermon on a regular... I want you to notice, next time you read this sermon, just how large a part relationships has to play in this sermon. It's really all about relationships. I want to take you to a few of the sections where relationships are highlighted. First of all, in chapter 5 and verse 21. Matthew 5, verse 21. You've heard it said to the people long ago, do not murder. Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And anyone who says he's not a murderer will be fooled into a man's fever. But anyone who says he's a fool will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you offer your gifts at the altar, and there will be individuals there and something will happen to you. Leave your gift there in front of the altar, go and be reconciled with him in the very time after your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary, with second course. Do it while you are still within your way, or he may know you as a judge, and the judge may have you as the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth. You'll have the answer until you have paid the last penny. If you look at this section of scripture, you can see that the Pharisees got up to their old tricks again. The trick of the Pharisees was to take from the Lord God, which they studied so deeply, or subtract something from the law in order to let Him in. 5.3 The Pharisees took the law from their neighbour, and they added to it. They're not your neighbours, therefore, you have to work with them as your neighbours. So the Pharisees came to this stupid idea again. They added to the law, or they subtracted from the law, to let them in. I don't care. We are your people. We don't care anymore. Murder and murder, as well as sin, it includes anger, also, as well as the act of murder itself. So Jesus said, I tell you, we'll be subject to judgment. Then on his death, he was brought a lacquer in answerable to the standing room. Now there's been great discussion over the years concerning the precise meaning of the term lacquer, and fool, and so on. They're obviously derisive, insulting, belittling expressions. And such thought, says Jesus, such angry thought, such insulting words, what they may not mean ultimately to the act of murder, are tantamount to murder in the eyes of God. That's what Jesus is saying here. The angry thought, the insulting words, they are in the eyes of God, will be tantamount to murder itself. And therefore, John wrote, along exactly the same lines, that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Now let me quote you from the start. Anger and anger, though, are only the means of a desire to get rid of someone who is standing in your way. Anger, are looks, are words, are images, are images, and we can't even dare to think of or think. We can't even dare. Such an easy way is a direct risk of mistake. Now, if anger and hate both are so serious, anger and hate, you can be serious and you can look at the first line, punishment. Anyone who is angry, can't even do it, he'll be hanged, he'll have to fight a battle. That's what anger is. So he continues, logically, therefore, if it's so serious, if you're offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother has something against you, leave the gift there in front of the altar.