16/04/2020
ARE YOU OFFENDED?
TEXT: LUKE 17:1, ACTS 24:16 & ROMANS 16:17.
BY: PASTOR J. F. ODESOLA
*THE MESSAGE*:
*Luke 17:1* "Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!"
*Acts 24:16* "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men".
*Romans 16:17* "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them".
We will start from the loving Master Himself; the Truth and Life, John 14:6. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the One who mentioned to us specifically in the book of John 8:32, Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. He is the One who said to us that offences will come.
Have conscience void of offence before God and man; we have seen people that said, it doesn't matter if God is not offended. Paul admonished the church in Rome not to live in offence.
THE STORY OF A FAITHFUL DOG
A woman has a faithful dog, the dog was so faithful that the woman will leave her child with the dog and the child will still be playing or sleeping when she returns. One day, the woman went to the supermarket to get groceries, when she came back, it was an horrible sight; the napkin and the floor were stained with blood, she started crying because of her child as she was doing that, the dog came from under the bed and was licking the mouth as if it has just finished a meal. The woman beat the dog to death with a rod, after that, she saw her child playing on the floor unhurt and saw a snake that was bitten and killed by the dog. Now she realised that her action was too rash, the faithful dog is dead, she wished, she took time to find out what happened before killing the dog and that is exactly what we do in our day to day life; we judge issues before we know the foundation of the matter. We criticize others before we evaluate the situation by presuming things in our own way. A little patience would have saved us a major crisis in our life.
Don't think what you think others are thinking, take time to find the foundation of the matter; some said, I think they are thinking like this but you are not in their thoughts.
DEFINITION OF OFFENCE
To offend is a verb, it means to strike against, to transgress, to cause difficulty or discomfort or injury, to cause dislike, anger or vexation. To cause one to feel resentful.
According to American Heritage Dictionary, the word offence is a noun, the state of being offended and violation of moral hectic code.
It is possible to offend intentionally and unintentionally. When a person is offended, they take it in a personal way and it becomes an offence.
Every christian should be offended by sin because sin offends God; what grieves the heart of God must grieve us.
When Jesus was preaching to His disciples, the people said what He was teaching was too hard. John 6:60-71, He lost some of His disciples.
Offence is a state where a person or group of people become dissatisfied with an action or inaction of the other who could be a friend, boss, leader, parent, spouse, senior pastor over you, or anyone in authority.
Proverbs 18:19, A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Taking offence is the major problem among many brethren, ministers, leaders, associates and coworkers. Inability to deal with it has been responsible for most disintegration, breakaway, and outright rebellion in an organisation.
Offence is terrible, it is evil; it is a cankerworm. Jesus said in Matthew 18:7, Woe unto the world because of offences! Offence creates stagnancy and disorder, it is very deceptive; it is hidden, as I'm speaking now, there may be people who are offended by another person in the same room or in the same place, husband and wife for example; one has picked offence and he will just smile and put on a hypocritical smile but waiting for an opportunity to strike.
AN EXAMPLE OF AN OFFENCE
The spirit behind offence is satanic, the example i can pick is the case of Judas Iscariot, Matthew 26:10-16, verse 16, And from that time he sought an opportunity to betray him.
WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION?
The foundation was that somebody brought a very costly Alabaster Box of ointment and poured it on Jesus and He said, why this waste? but Jesus said, leave her alone, the man must have felt offended openly. Those who are offended are looking for an opportunity to hit back.
They may tell you that you are crazy and stupid but move away from it.
YOU ARE LIKE OTHERS
A man was coming to church one day and the pastor said he has not been seeing him over the time and he said, there is too much gossip in the church and the pastor said what he said is gossip; there is still room for one more people, what you said others are doing, are you not doing it?
ARE YOU OFFENDED?
In Romans 16:17 mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
The source of offence is the devil, Matthew 16:23 “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Anything that causes offence, division, confusion, destabilization, disunity and distraction is from the devil.
John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might receive life, and that they might receive it more abundantly.
Unbrokeness and Pride provoke offence in people.
THE ROOT OF PRIDE
Pride has its root in satan; the same reason he was sent out of heaven is the same reason why people are offended. Satan said how can God alone be the God of heaven, let Him dwell where He is and I will put my tent on the other side but God heard, the Almighty that is Omniscient; all knowing.
In Isaiah chapter 14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
There are so many similarities between what happened to the devil and people who take offence in others.
SEVEN THINGS ABOUT OFFENCE
1.Those who take offence think they know better always.
2. They think they are better and should be accorded better honour.
3. They have an insatiable appetite for glory.
4.They always covet what belongs to others.
5.You can hardly please them; when you have done the things you know how to do, they will still not be pleased.
6. They are selfish and self centered.
7. They are known for the slogan “I and Me in their speeches”.
Every time you allow offence, you are yielding to the devil, don’t do it, whether it's minor or major. People may tell you that you are crazy and stupid but they will soon discover that you are not.
Don't ever give room to the devil.
TEN MAJOR SCRIPTURES/WORDS OF GOD ABOUT OFFENCE.
1.The world was cursed because of offences, Matthew 18:7, Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
2. Satan is an offence, Matthew 16:23,Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me.
3. Anyone who engineers offence is cursed, You and I will not be cursed in Jesus’ name. Matthew 18:7, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
4.Doing anything with offence is evil. Romans 14:20, "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence."
5. We must not give room to offence,1 Corinthians 10:32, Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
6. Avoid those who cause offence; don't be their friends, if they are your neighbours, relocate. Romans 16:17, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
7. Walk towards having a conscience free of offence, Acts 24:16, And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men. Somebody said, it is God that matters, human beings matter also; only God sees your heart but humans want to see your reaction. God sees your heart because He is the all knowing God but your brother and wife can’t see your heart.
8. Live without offence, Philippians 1:10, That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.
9. Those who commit offence have no place in the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 13:41, The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; Jesus mentioned iniquity before offence.
10. Is it a blessing not to offend the Lord, Matthew 11:6, And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
WHY ARE PEOPLE OFFENDED?
PRIMARY REASONS
1.When something expected never happened, Matthew 11:1-6, John the Baptist sent his disciple to enquire from Jesus if He is the One or we wait for another. The same John in John 1:29, said, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. In John 1:36, he said, behold, the Lamb of God, the same man that Jesus gave testimony about in John 11:11, there is no one born of women that is as great as John the Baptist but He was offended in Jesus. He sent his disciple to enquire if Jesus is the One to come, Jesus didn't answer but said, look at the miracles.
2.When something not expected happened, Matthew 16:23, Peter was rebuked and He was offended, many people don't know why he went back to fishing when Jesus died, He did not want Jesus to die, Jesus rebuked him and when Jesus finally die, He decided to go back to fishing; while I was talking to Jesus, nobody supported me, he was offended in his master. Your leader can also offend you.
SECONDARY REASONS
1.When people feel they are not appreciated enough.
2.When someone expected to be introduced to some people in a way that never happened; they ought to introduce me as a pastor and they are calling me brother, how can they do that to me? they don't know the title I carry, why are you demoting me?
3.Misconseption about a matter.
4.When a person felt he should be handling a certain assignment and it never happened; i should be handling that, i know about it, i studied it, ...
5.Reacting to correction.
6.Feeling bad that your suggestions are not used.
7.Feeling bad that some decisions are taken without being consulted.
8.Feeling uncomfortable that they are not given enough room to use their talents.
9.Transfer from one place to another.
10.Listening to disloyal elements in the church and in an organisation.
11.Believing unfounded rumour about leadership or someone.
12. Sitting arrangements in an organisation.
13. Reading ungodly meaning to messages preached in a gathering; I'm the one they are talking to.
14. Getting angry that one’s spouse is not well treated; how can they treat my husband like that, don't they know the type of things he carries.
DANGERS OF OFFENCE
1.Offence will lead you to spiritual error any day and anytime. 2 Kings 5:20, But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. Leaving the assignment God has given to him to run after something that God has not given him.
2. Offence will lead you to say things that you shouldn't have said. Absalom says, Oh that I were made a judge in Israel 1 Samuel 15:4, He was a prince, he didn't know what he was saying because he was offended in His Father.
2 Kings 5:20, Gehazi said what he shouldn't have said, he said I will run.
James 3:5, Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth all.
3.It will lead to seeking association with wrong people. Mark 4:6-10, Judas was seeking occasion to hand Jesus over. Matthew 26:14-15.
4.It will cause an individual to abandon his/ her divine program. 2 Kings 5:21. Gehazi was to carry double anointing of Elisha but he carried leprosy; he ran after money and became a wealthy l***r and could not enjoy the money among the people.
5.It will cause you to lose your privileges, as soon as Lot separated from Abraham because of offence, he pitched his tent in S***m and Gomorrah and he lost everything.
6.Offence can give birth to strange and deadly diseases if not dealt with, Gehazi became a l***r because of offence. 2 Kings 5:27
7.It will push one to run ahead of God and the person will miss it in destiny. Gehazi was an example, 2 Kings 5:21.
ANTIDOTES TO OFFENCE
1.You need to instruct yourself on this subject and take time not to fall into the trap. Proverbs 27:23.
2.Pray against the spirit of offence. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
3.Resist temptation of offence; people will offend you but don't let it lead to error. Matthew 6:14-15.
4. Find out the truth and encourage others to do so because misrepresentation, misinterpretation and assumption are the major causes of offence. John 8:32, Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
5. Call the attention of those living in offence to it. Matthew 18:15-26
6. Do not be under pressure to do things you are not led to; die to self daily. 2 Corinthians 15:31.
7. Pray for the spirit of discernment.
BENEFITS OF OVERCOMING OFFENCES
When you are not offended:
1.You will experience freedom in Christ that results in joy, peace, love and harmony.
2.You will experience openness in relationships.
3.You will experience growth in christian maturity and character.
4.You close the door to satanic oppression and repression.
5.You will enjoy good health; physical, emotional and spiritual.
WHAT DO WE DO?
WE NEED TO DO WHAT PAUL SAID:
Acts 24:16 "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men".
Declare to yourself “I refuse to be offended”
I will not be offended, God will help me.
The only way you will not pick offence is that God will help you to develop a thick skin when you develop your relationship with God, if you are born again you need to develop relationship with God, if you are not, it's a good time to build relationship with God, it will help you. That doesn't mean you won't be offended but it wont get to your heart.
There are many cases of those who are offended in the bible but they still get to where they are going; what Mordecai said to Esther offended her, but she was able to get over it, there are many people like that and you can overcome it.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Bow your head and pray that God will deliver you from the monster of offence.
If you are not born again, ask the Lord to save you.
If you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, put your right hand on your chest wherever you are watching and pray.
