Beware of Offense
About this sermon
In “Beware of Offense,” Pastor Dean Odle warns that wounded feelings can become a spiritual trap when they harden into division, unforgiveness, and bitterness. Beginning with Jesus’ own sharp rebukes of religious leaders, Odle argues that biblical love does not avoid difficult truth and that Christians must remain humble enough to receive correction without abandoning fellowship. He contrasts direct biblical preaching with a church culture that can prize emotional comfort over repentance.
Chronological teaching outline
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Prayer opens the service before Odle introduces the warning “beware of offense.” He says every believer can be provoked and must deliberately refuse the offense that would weaken fellowship and spiritual usefulness. Remaining usable by the Holy Spirit requires refusing to nurse the hurt.
Using Matthew 23, Odle shows that Jesus loved perfectly while publicly calling religious hypocrisy by name. He argues that truthful correction may hurt without being unloving, and that hearers should not equate gentleness with avoiding all rebuke.
John the Baptist’s question and Jesus’ response become a test of humility: disciples are blessed when they do not stumble over Christ’s words or methods. Odle applies this to plain preaching about repentance and holy living.
Paul’s instructions to rebuke error sharply lead into a discussion of criticism surrounding Odle’s prior teaching. He distinguishes truthful doctrinal correction from slander and urges listeners to care more about truth than personalities.
From Matthew 15, Odle contrasts God’s commandments with human tradition, then briefly addresses reactions to his critique of preterism and speculative historical claims. His central point is that offense must not replace careful biblical examination.
Odle recounts how a direct warning about drunkenness helped bring him to repentance. He argues that comforting a person in ongoing sin is not love, because the gospel calls people out of the “pig pen” rather than affirming them there.
The sermon traces a progression from offense to division, unforgiveness, and finally a root of bitterness that can defile many. Odle warns against grievance communities that continually rehearse resentment instead of seeking reconciliation.
Practical examples show how assumptions and jokes can create unnecessary conflict. Odle appeals to Matthew 18: speak directly to the person involved, listen to the explanation, and resist the temptation to recruit others into the dispute.
Odle tells families and church members to protect covenant relationships from outsiders, gossip, and strife. Receiving correction, admitting “I was wrong,” and asking forgiveness are presented as simple acts that can stop Satan’s attempt to divide.
Personal deliverance stories illustrate Odle’s belief that entrenched unforgiveness can produce severe spiritual bondage. He closes by calling hearers to forgive, address bitterness honestly, and refuse every offense before it becomes an open door.
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Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
- 0:00:03
Lord, that's our prayer right there. Holy Spirit wants you to rest upon us. I want you to lead us and guide us into all truth. Holy Spirit wants you to anoint us with power and let your gifts flow through us so we can minister to others more effectively. We need your power and anointing to be witnesses, to win the loss to you, to bring the backslider and the prodigal home. Lord, I just ask for your guidance today.
- 0:03:59
I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated this morning. Well, how is everybody? Y'all doing good? Well, I stayed up till about 3.30 in the morning finishing a PowerPoint for part two of Preterism, debunking that nonsense. But I think we're going in a different direction this morning. So I hope you have your Bibles with you. We're going to go through Scripture this morning, but I have a word to share with you from the Lord this morning because this not this past Wednesday night prayer meeting, but the Wednesday night before, after we had a season of prayer, I had the Holy Spirit speak to me very clearly. And he said these words to me. And I think now I was wondering when he was going to have me share it to our church here and those who watch and listen, our extended church family out there. But it's it's an important word that we need to get a hold of all of us, especially in the days ahead. Because the Lord just simply said to me, he said, beware of offense. And let me just go ahead and tell you right now, if you don't think you can be offended, trust me, the devil can find a way to see to it that somebody rubs you the wrong way, says the wrong thing, doesn't do what you think they ought to do or say something the way they ought to say it. But something's going to happen to make you get offended and you have to choose that you're not going to allow yourself to be offended. And it's this is just I can't stress this enough because. If we want the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our lives, then we cannot be easily offended. A lot of times we need to just let some things just run off our back like water off a duck's back, right? But let me tell you when it's really, really easy for church folk to get offended with their leaders and with pastors real easy. Now, you know, James said, look, we're going to offend people, people who are teachers and leaders, body of Christ. There's no way that you're going to teach the truth of God's word and do it boldly and not offend somebody. Now, I'm just going to tell you this morning, I've already offended some folks last week because I said I was just too harsh, just too harsh sometimes.
- 0:07:04
And I want to deal with that because that's something that you can get offended over is when somebody you feel like somebody is rebuked, corrected, said something a little too strong. And look, I'm I really understand that some of you watching. Listen, I got your emails, some a few emails this week. I understand that some of you are on the more sensitive side. I understand that. OK, and you're used to Joel Osteen type preachers. That's all you've said under. It's all you've ever heard. I understand. I do, but I ain't that. OK, now let me explain something to you is also about this. Jesus, how many of it we know we believe Jesus Christ, the Jesus of the Bible, God in the flesh who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. That Jesus, we believe the Bible teaches very clearly that he never sinned that he always did the will of his father and if his two commandments, top two commandments, love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbors yourself. If Jesus never sinned, that mean he kept those two as he walked this earth to be an example to us that he kept those two commandments without fault. My correct. Everybody agree. Jesus never sinned. OK, but I can tell you right now, if Jesus came in here today disguised as someone else and I say a guest preacher, I was going to have. And if he did and said some of the things that he did and said in the New Testament, you would be offended. Some of you might even get up and walk out. I've got a little list for you. I want to deal with this this morning. Go to Matthew. Let's put up Matthew chapter twenty three first year, because let me just tell you getting rebuked and corrected even sharply, even firmly is part of being a Christian. Now, I know that this is not commonplace in most churches because most churches go. Their goal is we don't want to offend anybody. So we want to keep things is watered down as shallow as possible so that we can keep as many people in the seats and giving in the offering as we possibly can. And so there's very little rebuke, correction, instruction, even rebuke to the point of really hurting your feelings a little bit. And this is where, again, you're going to have to be careful because if if you want to be people all the time to, oh, we want to be in a church like yours.
- 0:10:11
I'm like, do you do you really? It's easy to be a church member from afar. Isn't that right, Jordan? Jordan's being corrected a time or two, right? But Jordan's still here, not offended. Right now, let's look at this. I want to show you something. This is Matthew. I guess I ought to turn there because I'm completely changing the message today. But I want to show you some. This is Jesus. Let's go to verse one. This is Matthew twenty three verse one. Then speak Jesus to the multitude. Was he in private? No, he was in public. Then speak Jesus to the multitude into his disciples saying describes in the Pharisees sit in Moses seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe and observe and do. But do not after their works for they say and do not for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born. They lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves would not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylactries and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the upper most seats at the feast and the chief seats in the synagogue and greetings in the marketplaces and to be called of men. Rabbi, Rabbi. He says, but be you not called Rabbi for one is your master, even Christ, and you're all brethren and call no man your father upon the earth for one is your father, which is in heaven. Neither be called masters for one is your master, even Christ, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, he calls them. Hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against man, for you need to go in yourselves, neither suffer them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows houses and for pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you can pass sea and land to make one proselyte, that's a convert. And when he is made, you make him two fold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, you blind guides would say, whoever so swear by the temple is nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Jesus calls them here, you fools and blind. For whether is greater is the gold of the temple that sanctifies the gold. And whosoever shall swell by the altar, it is nothing, but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon the altar, he is guilty. He said, you fools and blind, whether is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift. And he just goes on and on. This keeps going. He calls them blind. Verse 24, blind guides. He said, he tells them in verse 25, you may clean the outside of the cup, but your inside is filthy.
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Read and search the complete transcriptThe summary and overview attribute the sermon’s interpretations to Pastor Dean Odle. Historical, medical, political, institutional, and deliverance claims reflect the speaker’s presentation and were not independently verified.