.  Living Hope Fellowship Church....Sermons by the Pastor 

STUMBLING BLOCKS

by Associate Pastor Sam Bowles, 11/09/08

            Children stumble a lot as they learn to walk.  In our Christian walk there comes a time when we need to quit tripping over the least little nothing. 

Sometimes we place stumbling blocks in front of others.  The pencil a child trips over got there somehow, whether by accident or intention.  We need to pick up after ourselves so we don’t leave anything laying around for other people to fall over and get hurt! 

Many people don’t take responsibility for their actions.  You need to quit blaming everyone else for your faults.  If you made a mistake, grow up and move on. 

Romans 14:10 says, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”  For what purpose do you judge your brother or sister?  Paul says no one shall escape the judgment seat of Christ. 

Romans 14:11-12 says, “. . . As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”  All excuses will be eliminated when you stand before God. 

Romans 14:13 says, “Let us not therefore judge one another any more. . . .”  [That means some judging was going on already!]  “. . . but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” 

Paul says to stop it.  Quit causing your brother to fall.  Don’t judge each other.  Judge what you are doing to one another.  You can destroy each other.  You can trip over a little bitty rock that seems like nothing and bang yourself up.  It is also that way spiritually. 

David and Bathsheba committed adultery and David had her husband killed.  God was gracious to David, but there was a recompense.  Nathan the prophet came to David and gave him a message from the Lord. 

2 Samuel 12:10-11 says, “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. . . .”  Verse 12 says, “For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”

2 Samuel 12:13-14 says, “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”

Psalm 51 tells of David’s repentance.  He realized what God had taken from him, but also what he had saved him from.  Yes, the blood of Jesus can wash away sin.  Yes, God forgave David’s sin when he repented.  However, God had to remove the potential stumbling block that was coming to a whole nation. 

If I place a stumbling block in front of my marriage, I may recognize it, sidestep it, and move on.  I may look back and see my wife behind it!  I may not understand why she can’t see how to get past it.  If I created that stumbling block, I have to deal with it.  I can fuss and say, Come over the top of it or walk around it.  What is your problem?  Why can’t you do this?  It causes a separation between us.  I have to go back and remove it.  If I try to walk on, I will be dragging something behind me. 

It is not normal to serve God with weights attached to you.  You may get to where you don’t care, or you may have self pity for the “load” you bear.  Repent for the stumbling block you have left for your family.  Pray that God will help you remove it and get it out of their way!  Then you can come back and get your spouse and go on together!   

Perhaps it is the people we work with or church people on the other side of that stumblingblock!  We wonder why people are tripping and falling as we go on our way and forget what we have done.  No matter who has stumbled at the stumbling block you created, you have to go back and deal with your creation. 

Matthew 5:21-24 says, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.  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, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

The altar is a place of sacrifice, a place where you GIVE to God.  When you remember that someone has ought against you, you are to go to them.  It doesn’t say to discuss with them who’s right or wrong.  Don’t say, Now brother, you ought not to have said what you said.  I ask your forgiveness, and let’s clear this thing out, but you know you were wrong!  Don’t discuss whose fault it was, or each other’s status in God.  Just go make it right.  At whatever price you have to ask, ask forgiveness and get it out of your head and your system.  True forgiveness means you don’t ever want any repercussion for what has happened.

Oh, the freedom and joy of salvation within you because the stumbling is over.  The hardship you’ve endured and the tears you’ve shed over it are gone.  You can freely praise God!

We need to quit tripping over the least little things.  If you created a stumbling block, go back and remove it.  Who’s right?  Jesus is right.  Who’s wrong?  The one who refuses to do what Jesus wants to do.  What are you going to do to change?  The anointing will destroy the yoke.   You know what you need to do.  Make things right, and move on with God!