 Today we're in Matthew 18. We're going to look at verses 15 through 20 and I'll read beginning at verse 15 read to verse 20 we'll get into our study what we're looking at today And you'll see this as we go through this passage is Related to dealing with conflict in a in a church between believers And so I chose to entitle this particular installment of our study of Matthew Protecting unity, but if you had a subtitle it really is relating to in terms of the the doctrine the theology that it pertains to It's really relating to what is called church discipline You'll see that as we get into this study, but let's begin reading in Matthew 18 at verse 15 I'll read to verse 20. We'll get into our study Matthew chapter 18 beginning at verse 15. Jesus says Moreover if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault Between you and him alone if he hears you you have gained your brother But if he will not hear you hit him in the head No, but if he will not hear you take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established and if he refuses to hear them tell it to the church But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax Collector Now shortly I say to you whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven again. I say I Say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask it will be done for them by my father in heaven For where two or three are gathered together in my name. I am there in the midst of them Let me begin by simply pointing out something that's obvious and yet it doesn't seem to be as obvious as it would At first appear and that is this when Jesus in verses 19 and 20 speaks concerning Agreement when he says for example, I say to you that it if Two of you agree on earth concerning anything when you look at verse 20 where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there in the midst of them. Let's remember the context a Lot of times people will use these verses out of context and so they'll use them for for Encouragement to pray I see it all the time But Jesus is not speaking concerning agreeing in prayer The context of this is dealing with disorder in the church And what Jesus is saying here is when the church leadership gets together to adjudicate a problem He is the one who has overseen that elder and and remember the church kind of working together and He is the one who is present in the Bringing peace and so this is dealing with church discipline again a lot of times You'll you'll have somebody on on Facebook saying you know Well, let's pray wherever two or more agree Well, the context of that is related to dealing with conflict in the church and that's what we're going to look at today Protecting unity and I have to begin by saying to you that one of the joys of and the responsibilities of teaching the word of God from Chapter by chapter verse by verse from book to book is that you cover the entire counsel of God and What we're going to deal with today is something that I normally would not simply wake up in On a Monday and say okay Lord. What can we speak about next week? What can I say that that I really want to speak on and and then oh, yes, let's talk about church discipline What a great subject. It's a difficult subject to deal with and you'll see why in just a moment as we look at it you see This particular topic isn't one that is necessarily taught in the average church service And that is because the average church isn't teaching through the Bible verse by verse But that's how you learn the instructions of Christ That's how you learn to live lives that are pleasing to God. It's by going verse by verse You see in Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20 Jesus was giving what is called the Great Commission And he says go therefore and make disciples of all the nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always Even to the end of the age so Jesus said teach them everything I commanded you And so that's what we attempt to do We attempt to go through the the Bible book by book chapter by chapter verse by verse So we get the entire counsel of God and that's what we're doing here in the gospel of Matthew as we have come to this particular portion of scripture We're going into a portion of scripture that deals with Protecting unity dealing with disorder But that is a foreign concept today What I'm going to do is I'm going to lay a foundation a prolonged introduction In order that we might be able to see the context and understand the purpose of this passage so I'll begin by saying the church is made up of People and because the church is made up of people conflict with others is inevitable So you have a church family and it is inevitable that you will the more you're involved The more you will have opportunity to have conflict with somebody else. It just happens and I've discovered that for many Christians The easiest way for them to deal with friction and disagreement is to simply leave and So rather than dealing with the problem They just leave and take the problem with them and what happens is Two basic things one is when they had a conflict with somebody and they decided just to up and leave because they're not going to resolve it It makes for very awkward moments Should you run into them somewhere? Because you never doubt with the conflict and a second thing that I've seen that's a result of people that don't deal with conflict Is that they have a habit of finding another place to go to and then inviting their friends out of the place that they're Presently in and bringing them over with them and saying that you know I found the promised land and it's a lot better over here than it is over there And so they invite people out decide with them because they never resolve their conflict as mature adults and as mature believers and so what happens is instead of Unity being protected disunity begins to and to occur and so Paul when Paul the Apostle was writing Paul would give commands to the church In order that we might be able to make an effort to maintain peace amongst ourselves for example in Ephesians 4 verse 3 Paul wrote that believers are to be endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace He wrote to the Romans in chapter 12 verse 18 and he said to them if it is possible as much as depends on you live peaceably with all men and So we endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and as much as lies within me I make that effort. That's what we're supposed to do So since conflict is inevitable what can believers do to promote peace in the church? Now as we've been going through Matthew remember with me We were in chapter 16 and in chapter 16 Jesus revealed to his disciples that he was the one who was building the church The Apostle Peter had made a confession of faith thou art the Christ the son of the living God and Jesus spoke to him and it said to him I say to you are Peter and Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it And so I'm going to build something called the Ecclesia the church and The gates of hell will not prevail against that and so it's been pointed out that in the New Testament The word church is used 110 times to refer to believers It's a word that can be used to speak of believers throughout the world speaking of church universal But primarily the word is used to speak of local congregations or a group of local churches That's why when you're looking in 1st Corinthians chapter 16 or 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 Galatians chapter 1 or Galatians 1 22 you'll see that it speaks of churches the churches of Asia the churches of Macedonia Churches of Galatia the churches of Judea So the word can speak concerning a community of believers in geographic Area your universal if you will but it also speaks of what would be called local congregations And so it would speak concerning a group or groups of believers that are located in a community It doesn't refer to a building It refers to a congregation an assembly of people And the church another basic thing is made up of all people who have faith in Jesus Christ We become part of the church When we're born again, so attending church services We all know this but i'm laying a foundation again attending church services Does not mean that we're going to church by entering a building It simply means that the body of Christ the church is assembled in a location We by one spirit have been baptized into one body according to 1st Corinthians 12 13 So the church exists not only universally geographically but also Locally and the local church the church fellowship like we're in right now Is spoken of very often in scripture now Going a little bit further with that laying some more foundation The way that we enter into that church Life is not by anything other than faith in christ We gave ourselves to god by the holy spirit God has convicted us by the word of god. He's explained to us So as he's explained to us, this is how you become my child The holy spirit has convicted us That that is true And so we have believed in christ as our lord and savior Like it says in in romans 10 9 and 10 if you confess with your mouth Jesus is lord in believing your heart that god raised him from the dead you'll be saved For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified And it's with your mouth that you confess and are saved So jesus christ brings us into his church through faith in him The church belongs to him He purchased the church with his own blood He purchased it when he died on the cross and poured out his blood for us Acts 20 verse 28 says take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the holy spirit has made you overseers To shepherd the church of god which he purchased With his own blood In Ephesians 1 7 it says in whom speaking of jesus in whom we have redemption Through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace So obviously because he purchased the church the church belongs to him And we have been brought into his body We have been bought like paul says in first carinthian 6 20 at a price And he went on to say therefore glorify god in your body And in your spirit which are gods which belong to god So You have been redeemed by the blood of christ He purchased you out of the marketplace of slavery You the bible says you and i we were enslaved to sin But jesus christ Ransomed us. He did it by his blood. He purchased us We heard the message of freedom and forgiveness in him and we came to faith in him We believed in him that he came died on the cross was buried raised the third day We've confessed to salvation these things and now because he purchased us we belong to him Now because the church belongs to jesus we have certain responsibilities One responsibility is to accurately represent the intentions of god and the intent of god is that we be one in him You see god intends to end hostility between god and man and between man and man And that that hostility there is a declaration of peace That has been given that will cause that hostility to cease And the declaration of peace is called the gospel of jesus christ So god has given a declaration of peace and he's given to us terms of peace Terms of peace found in the gospel would be unconditional surrender That's what he calls us to It's like when the united states was at war with the sovereign nation of japan in world war two And at the conclusion of that war We were there on the missouri represented by douglas mccarthur And terms of peace were offered to the japanese and it wasn't a negotiated peace where they get this and we get that It was unconditional surrender The united states was regarding itself as the victor and japan was regarded as the vanquished And so we can understand that when we think of war and hostility the gospel is god's terms of peace He is saying i want You didn't You want a relationship with me? You surrender and you don't negotiate your surrender. You unconditionally surrender And that's called the gospel of reconciliation in second carinthians 5 19 and 20 god was in christ Reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses to them And has committed to us the word of reconciliation Now then we are ambassadors for christ as though god was pleading through us We implore you on christ's behalf be reconciled to god give up Yield to him. He owns you now if you've done that Another thing about our god is that we know god is holy and because god is holy The children are like their parent If god is holy, we too are to be holy 1st peter 1 15 and 16 just as he called you as holy So be holy in all you do because it is written be holy for i am holy Every father in this room understands what it means to To when that baby is born if you had the ability to be in that room when the child is born Every father in this room will understand this illustration I I I did it four times When my four babies were born How that the baby is born they take the baby and Put it in that little warmer there You used to putting Tacos in Then they bring that baby to you And you look at that baby What are you looking for Does it look like me better look like me? We look for that in our kids We look for something in our children That we can identify with That's one of the things when you're raising kids That's one of the things that helps you as you're raising your kids because you will see things in your kids That you recognize from yourself You do don't you you're not always happy when you see that But you see it And that's what helps me and helped me To understand my kids When my david would act in a certain way or karin or whomever would act in a certain way Very often I would see that sinfulness and I would recognize it. I'd say oh man, you're like your mom You know and I would see that And I tell marie do better. No, you'd see yourself. You see yourself And that's how you eventually stop worrying. Have you noticed that sometimes if you're a parent sometimes the kid that's most like you Is the one you butt heads with the most? Have you noticed that? Yeah, because you see yourself And and you're going about it backwards instead of arguing them out a bit What you need to do is you need to learn to flow with that knowing what would have helped you Had it been done in your you have rather than arguing with them. You understand them. So what are you looking at? You're looking at The father in the child Because there are earmarks birthmarks. There are things about you That you see in them Do you know that the lord can't in a way look at us and say I am holy Therefore you be holy be like your father Be like your father God is holy. No, that doesn't mean we go out and construct our own holiness It simply means that we fall in love with the holy god and become more like him because we're his child We allow that goodness to come out because god has that within us We simply begin to yield to the spirit and love of the word pray for obedience and pursue him and the lord works in that way It's much more simple than we make it God is holy And so as a community of redeemed sinners As much as we desire to do that we just please into him. We will all still fall short of the glory of god Yet We've been called and equipped by god to live as those who have been saved And so the quality of our lives indeed will be visibly different now One of the things we resist is the temptation to become self-righteous like a Pharisee We need to always be aware of our own failings our own shortcomings We need to guard ourselves against judgmentalism We don't want to run around removing sawdust from a brother's eye while we have a two by four in our own And yet And here's the rub We cannot ignore obvious sin Either as if it's going to go away You see if unrepentant sin is practiced in the church It infects the life of the church When paul was writing to the Corinthians the Corinthian church had a real problem. It's interesting when you look and read and study First Corinthians the first several verses of the chapter is filled with commendation And then after around the eighth or ninth verse or so in first Corinthians chapter one the rest of the book 16 chapters is correction You have commendation in the introduction and correction for the rest of the chapters Because there were so many problems that were in the Corinthian church It's a great book to read It's a great book for you to go and begin to read and then you'll see what i'm speaking about There's a lot of problems in the Corinthian church that paul had to deal with But it's interesting now paul made it very clear that it had been reported to him by the household of chloe that there were problems And so he begins to correct those problems and one of the problems that he corrects is the fact that a man Is having physical intimacy with his father's wife And paul says and instead of you dealing with it and being humbled by it You've actually begun to boast in it He said this is a sin that even the Gentiles are ashamed by but not you You think it's the grace of god to allow sin to continue. He said you can't do that He said in 1 Corinthians 5 6 and 7 your boasting is not good Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast That you may be a new batch without yeast as you really are Deal with it is what he's saying you can't allow sin to fester there. It can't be 11. It'll it'll leaven the entire lump of dough So this is what the lord jesus is actually speaking about and laying the foundation for Is something that we refer to today as church discipline In effect what it is is to protect the unity of believers And so we're going to look at a few things here in In matthew 18 and we're going to see how jesus presents five elements involved in godly disciplining of sinning members of the body We're going to see the person who is to receive church discipline The person who initiates church discipline the purpose of church discipline The process in place for it and the proper authority for it. We're going to see that in these verses before us So we'll begin where it says Where I where I mentioned the person who is to receive church discipline notice verse 15 That was your introduction. Let's get into the passage Moreover If your brother sins against you Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone if he hears you you've gained your brother So we begin with the person receiving church discipline your brother If your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault So who is the person? Any christian male or female Who's part of the local community of believers in christ? What he's dealing with is dealing dealing with sin in the body Of christ, I'll say this very briefly, but it's important to say at this point In today's current Church life throughout this nation In today's current church life throughout this nation church discipline is almost a forgotten subject When you study church discipline, I'll say it this way very briefly. There's basically two elements of what is called church discipline One is called preventive Preventive church discipline is simply the teaching of the word of god So if you're in a bible study and the word of god is being taught That is called preventive discipline. What that means simply is it means that you're hearing the word of god And you're through faith receiving the engrafted word of god, which is able to save your soul You're being instructed by god's word and so it's preventing you By obedience and faith It's preventing you from getting to the second aspect. The second aspect is called correction or corrective So preventive is intended to keep you from coming to corrective Corrective is what jesus is speaking about here and he's speaking concerning people in the body of christ who are professing believers And he's saying that these people are to receive correction when they've sinned again because there is a and There's an attitude and I I want to speak of it without coming off Improperly or give you the wrong impression. It's difficult to do this And to make the point as clear as I would like it We live in a time where the concept or the idea that a person actually Calls a church their home Well that home church That definition has has changed See when I first got saved and I called Coastal Mesa my home church. It's because that's where I went Yes, I did attend other studies on occasion, but my church was Calvary Chapel Coastal Mesa but today one of my friends for example who was Leading a ministry and another fellowship Was wanting to put together the worship team and he he had people come and they were filling out you know their application to be involved in And he asked the question is this your home church? And he said, Dave, you can't believe it. He said the answers I get He said it's been more than once where someone will say this is my home church on sunday morning But I have another home church on sunday night and I have another home church on a wednesday night He says they don't understand actually being rooted and grounded They don't understand having a home fellowship because what they are is they're the church on wheels. They're nomads They go to one church this day and then two weeks later They're in that church that day and then they argue by saying we're all the body of christ So they're never rooted. They're never grounded. They're never known And if they should sin And confronted they don't stay they just move and take whatever it is that they've been doing They take it someplace else And so this kind of study Is is in many people's minds today an outdated study because they have taken the concept of the church And they don't understand What the church actually is Because in their mind the church is the church universal You know I can go to this church today and that church tomorrow and nobody's saying you can't visit But where are you rooted and where are you planted? Where are you serving? Where are you giving? Where are you accountable? and many christians Many christians have no place that any of that's really taking place Because they'll stay for a certain amount of time and go someplace else Is that good for the church? No Not at all Why because you can't hope to be able to build a ministry that actually reaches the unsaved When you have people who are part time at best and not committed at all And that's just a fact and so when it comes to issues related to dealing with sin Well, people have a tendency of just walking out saying I don't need to hear this. I'm not part of that It's interesting if you look at the book of acts Jesus said you shall receive power after that the holy spirit has come upon you And you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem jadea samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth He said that in acts chapter 1 verse 8 and chapter 2 The 120 were up in an upper room They were in an upper room when the day of pentecost fully arrived And the holy spirit fell upon the 120 they began they were baptized in holy spirit The church was birthed they poured out of that upper room And they began to speak with unlearned languages magnifying and glorifying god When people who were there for the pentecost Season and festival Heard these people they began to mock them saying these people are filled with new wine The apostle peter stood up being filled with the holy spirit and said these people are not filled with new wine These people are not drunk as it seems But these are those who have spoken of concerning this event through the prophet joe who said in the last days I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh And he explains what took place He's saying the church has been birthed the prophet joe had had given word concerning this and this is what you're seeing take place No, they're not drunk with new wine as you suppose These are people who are actually baptized in the power of the holy spirit and they're glorifying and magnifying god So as you go through chapter 2 you get to verses 42 following to verse 47 And when you get to acts chapter 2 verse 42 it speaks about them continuing steadfastly Continuing steadfastly in the apostles doctrine And fellowship the breaking of bread and in prayers Which gives to us the insight into the elements that made up the early church And the first thing that is mentioned is that they remain constantly steadfast in teaching It's interesting to note. I encourage you to do this doesn't take more than three minutes You can do it when you go home Just one thing Look in the book of romans chapter 16 And start looking about third down and see how many people the apostle paul greets by name It just goes on and on and on all the way down almost to the conclusion of the book How could you do that paul because these people stuck around and we got to know them And today a lot of people don't and nobody knows them because they're not accountable They have nobody that that they could actually have an honest conversation with Where they can say pray for my soul I'm going through a tough time at the job right now They can't say there's somebody hitting on me or I'm hitting on somebody and I don't want to fall or I don't want to pursue This anymore pray for me. They don't do that What they do is they keep it to themselves. They keep it secret They don't say that when someone's gone and I've got my computer and it's on it's just me and the And the mouse there and I go to this site. I don't want to do it. They don't say that They keep it to themselves Because they're not accountable to anybody because they don't know anybody because when they're found out they move someplace else And yet in church discipline It's in order to it's in order to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and restore fallen brothers or sisters That's what it's for So there's an accountability. So somebody knows your heart And they know Your soul As far as you're willing to reveal to them. It's very important that we see that You see In this particular case, it's the lord is speaking This sin that he's speaking about Is a sin that is a continuing sin. It's a sin that is is unconfessed It's a lifestyle of sin. That's not consistent with Christian living You see for many sinful living is so normal that the idea that it is not Is almost foreign to them Much has to do with the lack of bible reading in bible teaching And just misunderstanding As I was driving here this morning I I have a christian music station that I listen to As i'm coming here i'm listening to the music and We used to call them the disc jockey. I don't know what they're called now The guy talking says um He said something like if you're going he said it's sunday. It's a day to worship and praise the lord If you're going to a church that does not say Neither do I condemn you You're going to the wrong place now. He says that And I listen to him And then he goes on to spinning some more music and all that But I turned the radio off And I started thinking because i'm one of these people who actually listens to what i'm being told So I turned it off And I started thinking about that. Is that right? Neither do I condemn you how many of you recognize that phrase raise your hand I want to know who i'm talking to neither do I let me tell you the story many of you don't know it So you'll know it once I start saying it you go. Oh, yeah, of course. I understand it Jesus is teaching Some men bring a woman Throw her down at the feet of christ master This woman was caught in adultery in the very act Moses in the law says that such should be stoned What do you say? And you know the story How that jesus bends down and begins to ride on the dirt at all and how he stands up and he says Let the one who is without sin let him be the first to cast a stone at her You remember that story now, right? We all know it And what happens you know what happens all the men who are holding these stones Just let them fall to the ground From the bible says beginning from the oldest to the youngest they fade away until it's just the woman Jesus and maybe a few of his apostles and all Woman Where are your accusers? I have none lord Neither do I condemn you We all know that right? Do you remember what else he said? Go and sin no more It isn't neither do I condemn you alone Neither do I condemn you go and sin no more So yes God's grace god's mercy god's compassion. We ought to walk out with that of course Go and sin no more is something we don't want to say today Because if you stand up and say go and sin no more people say you're judging me Right am I wrong? I'm not wrong. No pastor. David. You're not wrong. Thank you That's true. It's a fact It's a fact You're judging me Jesus said Neither do I condemn you Let's finish that Go and sin no more It's not that he's giving you permission to continue in sin He didn't say go back to the guy you were just sleeping with the guy you just caught with He didn't say that did he? He said i'm not going to condemn you You see they they brought this woman based on moses and the law Moses in the law said such should be stoned is what they say to him Well, yes, if you want to appeal to the law, where are your accusers? It takes two or three according to the law of deuteronomy As a matter of fact, you'll see that again. It'll be repeated here in this in this passage It takes witnesses. You want to be judged according to the law? Where are your accusers? I have done Then the law in this particular case. He didn't circumvent the law. He simply applied it. They want to apply the law That's what the law says, but then he went beyond that And he said go and sin no more I'm not giving you permission to continue in sin. I'm telling you to flee it to get away from it See so what we have today is permission to sin But nobody's saying but go and sin no more And the one who says but go and sin no more all your self-righteous You're judging me. You're pointing your finger at me No, no Correction is brought in order that you might experience God That you might you might know him And that you might have fellowship with him and be used by him and that's what the lord is teaching us here So if somebody is sitting continuously, it has to be dealt with it cannot be allowed to fester You see the bible makes it very clear that when we're really saved We no longer long to sin It's not that we won't sin And it's not that we don't sin But the lifestyle that we have is not going to be airmarked by unrepentant sin People won't know us for the sin. They'll know us for the grace of god In first john chapter three verse nine John said it like this. He said no one who is born of god will continue to sin Because god seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning because he's been born of god. Listen. You got saved Maybe you got saved like I did. I was an alcoholic. I got saved When I get saved I You know, I don't have a taste for alcohol And one day I go through Like I used to I'd go in my ups and downs and I was a new believer and I I go through one of my downs and the only way I knew how to deal with down times was to drink So I drink And after drinking I wake up the next day And I feel bad I feel bad I don't know what I'm feeling. I'm a new believer, but it's called conviction You cannot sin. It's not that it's not possible for you to go out sin You cannot sin without a sense of remorse and a desire to repent Listen the dog returns to the vomit and the pig returns to the mud Because the dog Is a dog And the pig is a pig A believer might go back to the vomit may go back to the mud but can't stay there Because they're not a pig and they're not a dog. They're a son of god And so what happens is you're under conviction and so that's what john is saying you can't go back And continue sinning because there's no pleasure in anymore. God's holy spirit convicts you So instead of ignoring sin It is to be dealt with and it should be dealt with quickly because if you allow it to continue It it gives it time to fester and the person in sin can harden In ecclesiastes 8 verse 11 it simply says because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily Therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil And so if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault It's interesting. It doesn't say if your brother sins against you go and tell everybody on facebook Tell him his fault you speak to him about it You see The person who has had the problem initiates the restoration He said if he sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone So you deal with it one on one You take care of it in privacy Because if you approach him lovingly and privately They're more likely to repent Galatians chapter 6 verse 1 says it like this Brothers if someone is caught in a sin You who are spiritual should restore him gently But watch yourself or you also may be tempted So the key to proper restoration is is instead of being proud boastful arrogant and harsh It is it is humility and it is a life that lives up To what you're telling somebody else. It's practicing what you preach In romans 15 verse 14 paul said like this. He said I myself am convinced my brothers That you yourselves are full of goodness Filled with all knowledge able also to admonish one another Because you're good And because you have knowledge You're able so it's living it out Now as you've come and you've spoken to this brother or sister and you've said this is something going on I need to speak to you about If he hears you he says in verse 15 you have gained your brother So the purpose of this is to restore somebody To bring them to restoration. It's not it's not to get them thrown out of the church It's to win them back to the lord But what happens if they won't listen verse 16 But if you'll not hear you Take with you one or two more that By the mouths of two or three witnesses every word may be established And so what do you do while you bring a witness what you do is you bring a witness to help them He didn't listen to you So there are others who are aware of this and more than likely have been concerned over it And if you're aware of some that are well, you bring it you bring them You bring them along with you and then that way you can say bro Gotta talk to you again. You didn't listen the first time you're thinking i'm judging you I've got another brother here another one here who who want to share the same thing with you And then they begin to share listen we're concerned for you and that's what's supposed to take place now As that is going on and they're refusing to hear and if they do refuse to hear He says in verse 17 if he refuses to hear them tell it to the church at that point you bring in leadership in the church You've already spoken personally you brought witnesses And now you let the leadership of the church know now It's interesting once again. We're living in a in an interesting time an interesting Time in the history of the church where people Feel bad about um dealing with things like this read your bibles The apostle paul in the book of philippians in chapter four verse two actually calls out two members of the church iodia and syntakii two women And he says you got to get along He says that openly in the church when you look in the book of galatians in chapter two The apostle paul speaking in that portion verses 11 through round verse 15 paul there says that the apostle peter had done something that paul himself had to confront him before witnesses And so that's what the apostle paul did and that's what he had to do When he dealt with the problem in the church of corinth as i mentioned He spoke concerning the household of cloy who have informed me So he dealt with these kinds of things and so you have to deal with it in order to preserve the holiness Of the church and its testimony And so leadership in church is is not simply there to organize the church for activities The leadership in the church actually adjudicates problems Elders are to be able to teach the word of god as well as to enforce and exercise it If you take notes he verse 13 verse 7 says Remember those who rule over you who have spoken the word of god to you whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct He goes on in verse 17 of the same chapter to say Obey those who rule over you be submissive for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account Let them do so with joy not with grief for that would be unprofitable for you Not many people realize that a pastor teacher in the church has the authority to say this is what the word of god says We need to enforce it because a lot of times if they don't like it. They just leave They just take off they don't want to hear it Because they don't really care and then they'll say who are you to dominate my faith who gave you the right to do that I still remember somebody many years ago over 30 years ago now who wrote me a letter telling me You my friend are not jesus. You didn't die for this church. He did And I wrote back and I said Amen to that Amen to that Because if I were the ruler of the church, you'd be dead. No, I didn't say that But amen to that but I've been given authority here in the church to exercise When it comes to matters of Restoring those who have fallen and to bring correction You see if he refuses correction, how are you to treat them? So we'll put it like this Somebody goes to another brother. We'll keep it in from man to man Brother goes to another brother. Hey bro I gotta tell you I'm concerned for you Because this this and that the guy responds and says That's that's your opinionist So he says no, this is what god's word says it says this this and that that's what you say all right He stays in that brings a couple people bro. I have to just second what you've already been told What you're doing is wrong. He says That's what you guys say. You're all just against me. You know just piling on Now you're concerned. He's unrepentant His leaven is spreading in the church people are becoming aware of what he's doing You now bring it to the leadership the leadership approaches and says listen. I've been told this I'm concerned. Can I hear from you? Yeah, I'm doing that. So what's no big deal smoking a little pot isn't bad or whatever And you say well bro, I have to be honest with this is word god says related to our behavior and testimony and this is I don't really care at that point. You treat them as a heathen in tax. I know what is that? What's that mean? How do you treat heathens and tax collectors? Well, they're unsaved So you love them You don't you know judge them. You don't expect people who don't know god to act like christians But you don't welcome them in as members of the body of christ either because they're not They're heathens and tax gatherers And so what you do is you give them the message of reconciliation and encourage them But they're not to be back in that church in that church fellowship because they are Unrepentant and that's where people have their problems and that's when people have been confronted and in this church We have on occasion had to exercise discipline like this. That's when they normally just float out the door and go someplace else Because they don't want to be judged and you're being harsh And that's when they begin to call their friends and say they judged me you ought to come over here There's a lot of grace and mercy in this place But that's not how it's supposed to happen the reason that church discipline is enacted is to restore a fallen brother or sister It's not a self righteousness on the part of the individuals whatsoever. It's a desire to see them right with god It isn't gracious to act as if someone is saved And not to be encouraged enough to encourage them to repent and if they Refuse to be corrected you treat them as if they don't know the lord you treat them with love But they're not to be treated as if they are still walking right with the lord No christians do not self-righteously judge, but we can't give a false assurance either In 2nd Thessalonians 3 14 and 15 if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter take special note of him Do not associate with him in order that he may feel ashamed Do not regard him as an enemy warn him as a brother You see non christians And biblically immature believers don't understand discipline There was a just this happened this just happened recently. There was a a member of a christian worship band Who recently declared himself to be homosexual? And was part of a worship of a band that was at a festival up north And because he had declared himself to be rejecting what god's word says concerning that sin He still went to this particular festival expecting to sing The people who were working in the stage said to the one who organized the festival this brothers in this person's an unrepentant sin And to have him come up and sing Is to give a seal of approval on his sin But the organizer Felt bad because he didn't want to judge him. This just happened a couple weeks ago He didn't want to judge him and so There was another band playing who invited this guy an unrepentant man an unrepentant sinner to come up and sing Thus giving a a sense of Recognition and they said well that was the grace of god So let me read to you Amos 5 23 Where it says take away from me the noise of your songs For i will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments When you are mixing sin with worship god said in the book of amos I don't receive it as worship because it's compromised and tainted by sin and here we are As christians say oh let him sing he's got so much talent And the world sees that and says there's no difference between you Who profess to know the lord and me because we both accept sin Now we don't judge and we don't condemn And we don't treat with cruelty. We love But we tell the truth Because it's the truth that sets you free And it isn't true You got to understand that you got and a lot of people don't And they thought you're judging your harsh. No, we're just teaching god's word which has been lost in this generation People do not see the holiness of god So as this is taking place in conclusion Versa 18 and closing with verse 20 i'll summarize Jesus said Assuredly i say to you whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything That they ask it will be done for them by my father in heaven for where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there in the midst So it's not speaking of a green in prayer But a green in the enactment of discipline and jesus is revealing the proper authority to do this The authority comes from him He's saying I am there in the midst of your decision as you bring discipline When you sincerely and lovingly seek to maintain the purity of the body of christ You have my presence and my approval in your decision And so that's how church discipline is to be enacted Jesus's presence is there because his word of god is being enacted And that's his presence there in that matter God's word says this we line up with it again People say well who can line up perfectly the answer is no nobody But he's not speaking about somebody who stumbles and falls. He's speaking about somebody who continues unrepentantly And that is how church discipline is enacted You see it safeguards holiness within the church according to heber's 1214 where he says follow peace with all men and holiness Without which no man shall see the lord and it protects the unity of the church Rather than dividing we are united in truth Tied his three 10 and 11 worn a divisive person once worn him a second time And after that have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful He is self condemned What you do is you deal with it lovingly and firmly with the hope that the person who's being Disciplined will say I miss the fellowship. I used to have I miss my friends I miss my walk with god. They never accepted my sin though. They have always loved me I need to get right with god And when that happens you warn your brother He came back And he can be used by the lord again because they repented church discipline It's something we don't talk about But it's something that needs to be enacted