Should We Practice Church Discipline?

hey everybody I'm pastor Jeff Durbin with apologia Church I want to thank you all so much for watching the content right here on apologia Studios channel what you're about to watch is a sermon a message from apologia church's worship service and again I want to thank you all so much for watching for liking for commenting for sharing the sermon itself we truly believe that it's important for the Christian Church to have an engagement in the public square with the Word of God so we thank you so much for partnering with us to send this out across the world I just wanted to say something before you actually watch this and that is that I'm not your pastor though I'd love to be I am NOT your pastor and it's very important as you're watching this you know that it's God's design for individual Christians to be part of a local Christian Church under the care of qualified faithful biblical elders and so as much as we love all of you watching these sermons and we're thankful to God that God uses them to bless you to encourage you I do want to encourage you as a minister of the gospel to get plugged into a local body of believers particularly I think important a Reformed Church would be it would be best but we want to encourage you to get plugged into a solid biblical church where you can fellowship where you can worship where you can serve where you can be connected that is vitally important and actually a biblical command and so as much as again as we love for your participation your partnership and we are so thankful to God that he's using these in your lives we want to encourage you to get plugged into a local church you can though actually partner with apologia Church as we proclaim the gospel and provide a defense of the biblical gospel all around the world you can do that by going to apologia studios.com you can partner with us by becoming all access when you do you help to make all of this possible and you get all of our TV shows our after shows and apologia academy all of that and you're a part of all that God is doing with us in the world to proclaim Herald the gospel of the kingdom you can partner with us and I want to say one last word about that do make sure that none of your giving and partnership towards apology a chirp Church interferes with your giving your worship your tithes your offerings to a local body of believers your area so thank you again so much for watching these and sharing them god bless you constable according to Matthew chapter 18 Gospel according to Matthew chapter 18 that is the first gospel we have lined up in the New Testaments so if you're new to the Bible not quite halfway through but right after that white page in the middle Gospel according to Matthew chapter 18 now I've actually come pretty far I've told you over the next couple of months you're going to see this hitting its climax the peak where you're gonna start to see all of the early promises of the Lord Jesus of judgment impending judgments actually escalating now promises made direct promises made to that generation about what was about to befall them as the people of God as the Covenant people of God we chose the Gospel according to Matthew as you get there because we wanted to do a gospel that would give you the greatest connection to the Old Testament so if you look at your Gospels you have the Synoptics Matthew Mark and Luke that means seeing together you can line them up side-by-side sometimes Luke will use more Gentile terminologies for those who aren't familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures sometimes Markel's shortening accounts or give a little more detail and of course you look at John and John is completely unique and not in the line of the synoptic so they all have their oh they're all they all have their purposes and their audience and they're all a little bit different and they give us this beautiful complex amazing picture of Jesus truly is amazing multifaceted but Matthew in particular is the gospel primarily written towards the Jews in a Jewish context so Matthew uses the most Old Testament connection he'll quote directly from the Old Testament it uses Old Testament symbolism and imagery so if you want to get the Old Testament connection to the Lord Jesus in a gospel Gospel according to Matthew but what's interesting is that as you get into Matthew chapter 18 it some it might seem kind of hodgepodge but it's not it's all very much connected we're in Matthew chapter 18 now starting in verse 15 and as we are opening our Bibles and getting there I want you to know as I said ahead of time that this is a finally controversial section of Scripture not because it ought to be not because it's difficult to understand what's happening in this passage it's controversial and the light of the current context that we live in today in terms of evangelical churches professing Christian churches who actually don't practice this regularly on a large scale so Matthew Gospel according to Matthew chapter 18 verse 15 here now the words of the living in the true God if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone if he listens to you you have gained your brother but if he does not listen take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses if he refuses to listen to them tell it to the church and if you refuses to listen even to the church let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector truly verily I say to you whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven again I say to you if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask it'll be done for them by My Father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there am i among them as far as the reading of God's holy word let's pray together as a church father where we all come before you right now Lord with fear and trembling Lord we know that your word is a gift from your mouth we thank you that we're holding it that we have access to it we know that just are having your word as a gift from you and we know Lord with your presence within us we have the ability to understand your word to be taught by You Spirit of God you are the teacher you guide us into all righteousness and we just pray God you teach us now convict us lower challenge us reveal or wrong laying us each of us Lord if it's a lack of desire for holiness and sanctification lord I pray that you change us there if it's an obsessive obsession with nitpicking other people's sins in the body I pray that you fix that let love cover a multitude of sins in us and pray Lord you help us to be a church that loves you first and foremost and loves one another the way that you love us help me to teach now Lord as a pastor of this church I pray that you get me out of the way I pray that Lord people would leave here remembering your word and Lord not anything in me guard my lips from error we pray that you bless us and teach us now by your spirit in Jesus name Amen so this is interesting I remember a story of something that happened really only a couple of years ago it was a woman who was a professing believer in a local Christian Church she was a member of that church and she ended up in an adulterous relationship while in that body the church tried to win her back the church followed Matthew chapter 18 they went to her patiently they went to her with wisdom they went to her and took time and they actually were pleading with her to turn away from this lifestyle and to come to Christ and be healed they were trying to win her back they were not heavy-handed they were gracious and they were patient with her and when she would not turn and heed the counsel of her local body many believers within that body when she wouldn't turn the church decided it was now time to obey Jesus and to bring her before the church and to put her out of the church to exercise church discipline as commanded here in Matthew chapter 18 well so upset was this woman this adulterous woman with what the church was going to do by bringing it before the entire church to expose it and to actually tell her she could no longer fellowship in the church until she repented she was so upset that the word was gonna get out about what she did that she went to the media to tell them how upset she was about the church exposing her before the church think about that one so now instead of just being exposed in her local Christian body she went to the national media to complain that this church was going to out her in public and she told the media that so now more people knew about it but that goes to tell you sort of the the problem that we have today in Christian culture in the West another example how many guys saw recently that church where was a baby was it was at Kentucky was at Tennessee it was was it Kentucky yeah it was the church in Kentucky that recently sent out letters to I think 60 maybe more members who hadn't shown up to church for over a year they hadn't shown up for church they're members of the church hadn't shown up for worship services they weren't participating in the body and the church finally actually sent letters to everyone saying how much they cared about them and they loved him but they were officially removing them from the membership role because they had been not been there for over a year they weren't worshiping they weren't on the Lord's Day receiving sacrament they weren't participating at all and so the church said well we love you and you're welcome back at any time but we're gonna remove your name from membership and the fallout from that was fantastic it was amazing how dare you as a local church tell some money that they're no longer a new membership role because they haven't shown up for a year I mean come on I mean shouldn't you just be gracious since you just leave it open to whoever to whatever they want to do we live in that kind of era right now where we don't quite understand the meaning and the purpose of the church I'm gonna talk about that just at the beginning of this I want to let the text text speak for itself but I want to lay down some foundations if you look in your Bibles I want you to see Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 go to the book of Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 Hebrews 12:14 I know that I've always encouraged my family to give you more time to get there so I'm going to do that right now if you haven't read the book of Hebrews encourage you to do so as soon as possible very very important work and in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 it says something powerful here to the church I want you to see it for yourself in terms of what the Bible says about our sanctification our life of holiness as those who have turned to Christ in faith and are being transformed by God it says this strive for peace with everyone strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord it's compelling really to see where we are now on a popular level with the gospel we understand the gospel in this way I think primarily today in the West we understand the gospel to mean that there's someone named Jesus who claimed to be God he lives of course a perfect life he was righteous and blameless he died for sins and he rose from the dead he was a sweet man he never really judged or condemned anybody he was all about love and he never really would have said anything harsh or difficult and this is the message of the gospel if you want to go to a place called heaven one day and not a place called hell then this is this is what you do you just say this prayer read the prayer and the back of this book or on this paper read this prayer and if you have said that prayer at some time in your life that means that your ticket has been punched for heaven one day you will go to heaven one day and not to hell why because you've prayed that prayer you read that tract you prayed that prayer you wait you had and you acquiesced to the facts of Jesus that's all that's necessary you acquiesce and you say all that's true and because of that acquiescence because you've said that that means now you are going to heaven one day and not to hell that's an a popular level what we understand the gospel to be of course that's not how you will find the gospel annunciator to proclaimed in the New Testament record you will never find the apostles for claiming the gospel in the sort of way I just described to you you actually have the gospel being talked about as the gospel of the kingdom the good news of the kingdom you hear the good news being proclaimed as repent and believe the gospel turn from your sin to the Living God be reconciled to God Jesus talks to massive crowds of people he turns and says to them things that talk them out of coming to him and following him he says if anyone comes to me and is not hate and he names the most popular people in your life the closest people to you he says and even your own life you're not worthy to be my disciple he says counts the cost to come to me he says you must come to take up your cross and follow me which in that day meant come and to the death march you are at letting go of your life you are denying yourself you are coming to Jesus in faith in Him to receive the gift of eternal life and righteousness and here's what's distinct very important it wasn't a message proclaimed like some day do you want to go to heaven pray this prayer the message was do you want heaven now and by heaven I mean God Christ him his righteousness forgiveness eternal life salvation the Spirit of God do you want to be born again do you want to be made alive and the gospel was proclaimed turn from sin be reconciled to God be saved today today is the day of salvation salvation the gospel was about peace with God today it was about eternal life righteousness of God credited to me through faith in Jesus through his work alone not my righteousness all those are filthy rags not my works of obedience not in the past not present not ever it was about Jesus working righteousness and you receive him through faith but the call of the gospel make no mistake about it was to deny yourself to come and die to put your faith in Christ to be made new to be made alive Paul describes it in Romans chapter 6 he says this what shall we say them after it just explains the gospel as a gospel of grace and faith apart from any works all through cry work alone him being the propitiation the diversion of wrath in our place the full absorption of wrath Jesus displayed publicly so that God may remain just and the justifier the one who has faith in Jesus and it's all by God's grace it's all faith it's all a promise through Abraham and his descendants and it's all God credited me righteousness apart from works of law and not counting my sins against me and it's all Jesus no work circumcision works of law nothing it's Jesus alone and Romans 6 comes Paul anticipates he anticipates the objection of the cult's when they hear about the grace of God and faith alone in Jesus no works of law all Jesus all to his glory all to his name they say so what you can just continue in sin because you believe in Jesus because you say you trust in Jesus now you can do whatever you want Paul anticipates the imaginary objector and he says this what shall we say then shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound he says what God forbid may it never be he says how shall we who died to sin continue to live in it and he says I want you to count yourselves dead to sin and alive to God that's how the gospel interacts with the believer when they turn to Christ in faith and make no mistake about it this needs to be said hebrews 12:14 says what it says it says very clearly strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord make it very very clear with the scriptures the Bible teaches that if somebody has been born again born from above if they've been in dwell by the Spirit of God if they've been made alive and renewed in Jesus if God indwells that person then that means listen closely here's the hope that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ it means that you've been made alive you're no longer the same if any man is in Christ he is a what new creation the old things have passed away new things have come and the call to the church is strive for peace with everybody and for the holiness without which nobody will see God nobody knows God who is not striving for holiness let me say it again if you are not striving if you are not I'm not saying perfection I'm not saying falling into sin I'm saying if you are not the kind of person who's living in constant repentance and pursue all of the glory of God and His name being magnified if you're not pursuing holiness and righteousness then here's to here's what needs to be said I want to say it with love and compassion because I'm a wretch I am a wretch I am no good in myself I am not righteous I want to say it if you are not pursuing holiness you are not a believer you are not a Christian just because a person has affections for the Word of God and Christian culture and what it means to be in the church just because you like to listen to sermons just because you appreciate Bible studies just because you like Christian Fellowship it does not mean that you know God because you're comfortable with the Christian culture the Bible teaches that if a person is in Christ they are new they are seated with Christ at the right hand of God they are raised up with him their life is hidden with God in Christ and they have now a new nature born from above and now their heart has gone Ezekiel 36 from a heart of stone to a heart of what everybody flesh a heart that was once hard towards God is now malleable it's soft it actually is workable in God's hands and I want to say if that hasn't happened to us fundamentally change from the bottom up I'm not talking about perfection I'm not talking about your now no longer struggling with sin if it hasn't happened though to where there is now a struggle with sin I have no basis to say that I know God Hebrews says strive for holiness without which no one will see God those who know Christ who have been truly redeemed through faith alone by grace alone are people that pursue holiness that's foundational okay now go back to Matthew chapter 18 with all that said in terms of foundations what does the Bible say I want to remind you as you enter this text to some things we've already read in in Matthew I just want to point you back to it's really important and I love this text not just because it gives us a strong position to as a church grow together and to love one another and it properly actually be sanctified together as a body but I love this because if something that happens in this text that's compelling in terms of Jesus relationship to the law of God very important text here you'll remember that we actually spent a lot of time in Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 through 19 I want you to keep a finger here and I want you to see how Jesus relates to the law of God which shows that he is the suffering servant he is the Anointed One the Messiah the Promised One the deliverer because how he uses the law of God you need to see it so keep your finger here and go to Matthew chapter 5 just briefly I want you to see it Matthew 5:17 Matthew 5:17 Jesus says this do not think that I have come to abolish the law of the prophets I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them for truly I say to you until heaven and earth pass away not an iota not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished therefore what's this whoever relaxes one of the least of these Commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven that's the kingdom of God that's Christ rule 4 I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you we'll never enter the kingdom of heaven they had a righteousness that was a self-centered righteousness it was a man centered righteousness it wasn't God's righteousness you need Christ's righteousness or you don't enter the rule of God but note what Jesus says here the words in the Greek if you want to write it down do not think that I have come to abolish for all the prophets I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them the wording there in the beginning is this may nama cetain and the Greek language may nama set day actually is a way to express in the strongest possible terms listen watch it's not this stop thinking hey guys stop thinking that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets he actually says this may nama set day means this don't even begin don't let it enter into your mind don't let the seed start to grow in your mind that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them may nama set day don't even begin to think don't even start don't even think about this in your mind I have not come to do that now you see jesus in matthew 15 10 chapters away in a conflict with the jews of his day who had erected a tradition alongside scripture and they said watch this watch they said this scripture is God's Word it's his divine word and rule in law we we observed Torah we observe the Tanakh we have all of that we respect it but we have this divine tradition here that you must follow God gave that too we got to follow that now in Matthew 15 go there Matthew 15 chapter 1 you see Jesus appealing to God's law over against their tradition notice Jesus says don't think I've come to destroy the law or the prophets I haven't come to destroy them but to fulfill them and in Matthew 15 Jesus now confronts them when they say this the Pharisees scribes came Jesus from Jerusalem and said why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders for they do not eat they do not wash their hands when they eat he answered them and why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition for God commanded honor your father and your mother and whoever a viols father or mother must surely die but you say if anyone tells his father or his mother what you would have gained from me is given to God he need not honor his father so for the sake of your tradition you have made void the Word of God follow me on this follow me Jesus says don't even begin to think that I've come to abolish the law of the prophets I have not come to abolish but to fulfill and then there's an instance where Jesus actually has the law of God lined up against their tradition and he says woe to your tradition woe to your tradition you've called this divinely inspired tradition essentially he says you voided the Word of God because the law of God says this but you say this and you voided God's law woe to you there's Jesus upholding law of God and now Matthew chapter 18 before you again Jesus says if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone if he listens to you you've gained your brother but if he does not listen take one or two others along with you that here it is every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses here's Jesus now taking the law of God it's actually a law of justice this is in the law of God in terms of how are you to receive accusations against anybody in a court of law how do you actually charge somebody as guilty and the law of God condemns outright condemns the practice of indict incandescently nurse and testimony and so what God does here Jesus does here is he actually goes back to the Old Testament law of God not to the Ten Commandments he goes to actually God's judicial law you have more along God's law you have ceremonial law you have civil law in God's law and in this case Jesus appeals to a standard in God's civil code which is not to receive an accusation unless it's on the basis of two to three witnesses two to three independent lines of witness notice what Jesus does here very important follow me on this this is critical today when so many tried to deny that the Word of God the law of God has abiding relevance today Jesus does not say oh well guys you know that we're the new covenant new covenants coming you know that things are going to change and I just want you to pull this one law over make sure that you have two or three witnesses he just assumes the continuity of God's standards of justice into the new covenant he just assumes the continuity now get me on this this is really important are there things in God's law in the Old Testaments that we are not to observe today yes if you are erecting the dietary restrictions of the Old Testament law you are in big H heresy big H if you are erecting symbols and pictures and anything in the Old Testament that was pointing to Jesus that was meant to fade away dietary restriction dress code all those things if you are erecting that that is dangerous however the law of God is assumed throughout the New Covenant and in this instance Jesus tells us through the life of the church how are you supposed to actually employ this issue of sanctification and working together to grow and to heal and church discipline what does he do he assumes God's judicial standards of this you don't accept a charge against anybody unless it's on the basis of two to three witnesses I can ask you a question this is just we pull out for a second and just get like personal do you as believers today do you hold to that in your own personal lives what I mean by that is this say for parents parents now say you have small kids and let's say you have small kids who get into a fight with each other right I know it's unusual but let's pretend to happens you have children they get in a fight with each other and then they come running into the room and making accusations to one another let me ask you a question do you pick right there the the the issue of justice do you pick say the younger child because they're just so sweet and they couldn't possibly be doing what this person is saying or do you pick the older child because well I know them and they wouldn't usually lie or do you actually try to observe God's judicial standards of receiving accusations do you just make a decision willy-nilly based upon guts as a parent or do you do what Jesus does here and actually appeal to the law of God in terms of there must be two to three independent lines of witness and testimony proof of something are you being just in your personal relationships Laura how about this ladies if you're in a group with some women from church and you guys are you guys are talking and then somebody actually enters into the conversation and talks about a sister in Christ and starts making accusations or they claim things about this woman something she's done or something she said do you receive that just instantly because you like this sister you trust her because she's your close close friend or as a believer do you actually do what Jesus does here and appeal to the law of God as the standard in terms of how we receive accusations or actually confront sin or crimes have we held to that as a church and you might be saying well Jeff that's it that's a heck of a lot to pull off of one passage I'm gonna just suggest to you that it's not one passages throughout the entire Bible both old and new a couple examples ready to write just a couple examples I'll try to go through this quickly because there is so many with me fast here forgive me if I go real fast I just want you to see them keep a finger in Matthew of course 18 and I want you to move here to Deuteronomy chapter 19 numbers Deuteronomy first five books of the Bible are known as the Torah the law and Deuteronomy 19 is a deuteros means second namasté uh so Deuteronomy means the second giving of the law deuteros namaz Deuteronomy second giving in law it's a restatement in many ways of the law of God itself it's an unpacking of the law so Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15 I want you to see it with your own eyes it says a single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed only on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses shall a charge be established so in God's judicial law notice here we are not in the Ten Commandments we're not even 10 commandments we are in God's judicial law here how are you to receive charges against anybody how are you to make your mind up about whether a crime or a sin has been done but can I show you something else that's powerful boy we live in a time that is so sad you know it's interesting so many times we've been asked as a church why do you guys why are you like the Puritans why do you care so much about the law of God and culture and society why do you care why don't you just want to preach the gospel and we say well we're doing that and when people love Jesus their hearts are changed and God's laws put within them so that automatic Ahn's law actually saying but you know one of the things that has settled my heart and my soul on the law of God and its importance its abiding relevance today is the times that I have seen people that I love destroyed in our corrupt courts today I've seen lives literally destroyed because our judicial system does not hold to God's standards about what is just about receiving accusations there are people who are brought before the courts who are condemned and sentenced listen on the basis of 0 witnesses and our culture and zero evidence you have people in our nation whose lives are permanently destroyed by the magistrates with no witnesses no evidence based upon purely circumstantial evidence and hearsay lives utterly destroyed and God says this receive no accusation unless it's in the basis of two to three witnesses to watch what else happens here this is powerful you've heard about perjury in court that's where somebody lies in court God had a protection in his judicial law even about the false witness in court and here's what it is I want you to see it because it is powerful it says this in the same text you gotta have two or three witnesses look at verse 16 if a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days the judges shall inquire diligently and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother so you shalt listen to it here it is so you shall purge the evil from your midst underline highlights get that passage because that relates directly to church discipline you want to see this as a restatement of what's throughout Scripture purge the evil doer from among you from your myths listen what that says did you catch it if somebody goes to court and they give false testimony in court what does the law of God say happens to that false witness whatever punishment was going to be meted out for the defendant is now going to be given to the person who bore false witness in court they get what would have been coming to them just consider how that would actually preserve the civil magistrate today if we in America said God's law is just God's law is true it is righteous if you come into a court and give false testimony whatever was going to happen to the defendants will now be given to you just consider it if a person bears false testimony in court about rape about murder then the judge would give to the person who bore false testimony the actual sentence that would have been given to the defendant just imagine how that would preserve the civil magistrate in terms of people not wanting to give false testimony you've got to have two to three eyewitnesses two to three independent lines of testimony and no false witnesses or what would have happened to the defendant happens to the false witness these are God's standards this is what Jesus held - now back to Matthew chapter 18 Jesus tells the church if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone can I just point us to something really really important here if you've checked out at all I need you to come back for a second this important you'll notice two things at least two things but what Jesus says about church discipline very important one it's slow slow its patient it's wise slow church discipline is not quick it's not with your gut it's not with your emotions you're not trying to win something other than your brother or your sister church discipline is slow number two church discipline is about winning your brother or sister back to God it's not about you and your personal likes and dislikes it's not about you and I and what makes us comfortable in terms of who's around us it's about winning a person back to God so it's slow and it's about winning your brother and not arguments notice what it says if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone if he listens to you you've gained your brother so you'll notice that it's completely private if there's an issue of sin in the body and we're talking about sin that's destructive sin that is defined by Scripture not by you this is something that is totally private what I'm not called to do by the Lord Jesus is actually go and talk to six other people in a Bible study about this person's sin before I go and approach them you know what that's called tell me gossip gossip what I do first is I go completely privately to this person to try to win that person back to God so that's what you need to recognize what I need to recognize about church discipline is this is not something that is done willy-nilly notice also in the spirit that it's done it's done very cautiously I'm trying to win this person back I go to them first to try to call them back and how is the spirit well I want to point you to attacks just go ahead and just write it down first Peter chapter 4 verse 8 just write it down first Peter 4:8 it says Peter says above all love one another get it ready and get it into you let's get it into us right now got this ready the Apostle Peter Thor inspiration says this above all above everything above everything else I've written to you ready love one another you can talk about your theology you could talk about eschatology you could talk about mercy and sacrifice you can talk about the spiritual house of God being built up Peter says this ready above every love one another everything else and then he says this love covers a multitude of sins love covers a multitude of sins get this ready we are all sinners in this room got you got to everyone good with that yes you're all sinners I'm a sinner your leadership we're sinners we're all sinners in this room captured by the love of God and Jesus God chose before the world began to save us in Jesus and to call us together in this body and I want to warn you about the future are you ready somebody in this body is going to sin against you you guys got that you ready so then when it comes you don't think it's strange what it does ready somebody in this body is going to rub you the wrong way you guys are already thinking about that person right now in your minds right somebody in this body is going to tick you off somebody in this body is gonna be so different from you you're gonna struggle you're gonna strive and maybe you even see each other in the hallway a church and you know and they know that there's something between us right and we're gonna keep it cool and chill because we love Jesus and all but just so you know I don't like you and I don't like you that's there let's get it out on the table we got that are you ready for this ready love one another above everything else love covers a multitude of sins there are sins here that happen in the body it's gonna happen Jesus saves a bunch of sinful people and then they start hanging out with each other what do you think happens when sinful people hang out with each other all day every day all week Bible study advanced theological training missions work what do you think habits to do what do you think happens with sinners hang out what happens sin sin and you know what you near emember above everything else is love covers a multitude of sins most of the stuff that happens in terms of sin between one another in this body little failings here and there little differences in personality all these things you know what most of that has to be let's love cover it let love cover it above all love each other let love just cover that someone gave you a little side eye someone talked to you the wrong way someone said something that nod at you love covers a multitude of sins let love cover it however however sometimes there are sins defined by scripture that happened within the bonding that Jesus says when they happen go win your brother go win your sister it's thoughtful its prayerful its patient it's slow and you go to that person it's quiet so you know what the first rule is when you see a brother or sister falling slipping check your heart check your heart why do I feel like I need to talk to this person about something they need to be saying to find out why is it because they're really gonna destroy themselves is this an issue I do see God sanctifying in them in I just feel like I need to say something I just gotta get one end so I feel like I'm spiritual above them and I need to help guide them and lead them in the righteousness and so it's up to me to sort of confront or do I see this person with the eyes of Jesus am i walking to them with humility and truly desiring to see them one back to God do I see them going on a course and a life that will destroy them and maybe even other believers within the body of Jesus what's your motivation what is the motivation Jesus says go to H write it down Matthew 7 3 through 5 it's the favorite passage of unbelievers atheists agnostics everywhere what does it say why are you trying to take out the speck in your brother's eye when you got a what log coming out of your own we love that passage when we're unbelievers don't we but you notice the point of that passage is not to never bring righteous judgments it's not never confront because Jesus says here in Matthew 18 you confront it point is is if you're dealing with that sin if you are struggling with outward overt sin in that area then don't you go swinging your log around to pick the speck out of theirs first deal with the log that's in your own eye so when I'm ever gonna go talk to somebody about personal sin I need to check my own heart in my life and ask this question what's my motivation right now for doing this am I trying to love this person in my humble before God desiring God's glory and their good so I want to see them 1 to God or do I in some perverse kind of way want this conflict to happen I want them to get in trouble I want them to be hurt in some way what's your motivation for confronting sin in someone's life and are you quiet about it you know one of the first ways you can discover whether or not your motivations are pure in this issue of church discipline is this ready have you told anybody else except that person because if you've talked about it with somebody else then your motivations are off because you're not discovering what's best for that person in their relationship with God you've told other people before you've actually talked to them but Jesus says this he says you've gained your brother if if he has does not listen take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses Jesus now is going back to the law of God you use God's judicial standards you bring people as witnesses to this person and whether they're in a repentant state of mind whether there is actual evidence that they've done this is there a confession you bring witnesses to get testimony that yes this person is in this lifestyle yes they're doing this yes they're unrepentant you bring witnesses and what's the purpose of the witnesses the first time was to win the brother or sister what's the purpose of the witnesses what is it to win the brother or the sister so Jesus appeals to the law of God again I pointed you to Deuter on in 1915 two to three independent lines of witness and testimony I want to give to you as a church a couple more examples if you want to take notes take notes I'm not going to go to all these flippin today I'm just going to read them to you write them down so that was Deuteronomy chapter 1915 another one is numbers thirty five thirty numbers thirty five thirty if anyone kills a person the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness that's an example from numbers thirty five thirty this standard now also runs to the New Testament you have Matthew 18 two to three witnesses another example is 2nd Corinthians 13:1 Paul says this this is the third time I'm coming to you every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses I want you to notice in a timeline where Paul said that when he said it Jesus comes dies rises a sense dies Rises a sense he's seated on his throne now and years later the Apostle Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 3:13 1 he says every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses question is Paul now telling us we all know the law is gone we all know that is now defunct and over with but I'm going to go ahead and pull this one verse over from the Old Testament no no what does he do he assumes God's judicial standards in the New Covenant time period another example John 817 in your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true first Timothy 5:19 New Covenant now death resurrection ascension of Jesus after that do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses notice even in the book of Revelation the highly symbolic book of Revelation revelation 11 11 3 God says and I will grant authority to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth another example in Hebrews 10:28 anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses we could go on but I wanted to point you to this standard being a standard in both old and new testaments back to the text Matthew chapter eighteen patient when your brother quietly go to them if they listen you gain them if they won't listen take one or two others along with you that every charge would be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses Matthew 18 17 if you refuse it to listen to them tell it to the church and if you refuses to listen even to the church let him be to us a Gentile and a tax collector notice if you refuses to listen to the church let him be as a Gentile and tax collector can I ask you guys a question the Gentiles were seen as unbelievers they don't know God tax collectors were seen to be swindlers people who are corrupt people who abuse their own people they were abusing them they were seen as people who are not consistent with God's Word his law they were seen as unbelievers so when Jesus tells the church in this sanctifying work of church discipline he says you go quietly yourself then with two to three witnesses then you bring them before the church if they won't listen then then you have to treat them like a Gentile or a tax collector can I ask you a question do you abuse unbelievers in your life can I ask you this this premier question how do you and I treat unbelievers in our lives what's your what's your first pass and goal with the unbeliever in your life is it to abuse them is it to condemn them is it to make them feel low and hurt how do you view the unbeliever next to you say at work or in your family how do you view them you view them as an object of mission you view them as a person who needs the Word of God and the gospel you view them as somebody pro-clinton proclaimed the good news - the call to repentance and faith so what Jesus is not saying here is that what you do to the person that's on a church discipline is you now become abusive to them now you put the hand up now you don't try to reach into their life with love he's saying that you have to at this point now no longer affirm their salvation you can't affirm the salvation of a person who was walking an outright blatant unrepentant sin it means that you treat them as a person that you don't know if they know God or not all you can say is that now you're an object of my love and evangelism I want you to turn to God in faith I want you to know Jesus I want you to come back to God it's assuming at that point as a church that this person we don't know where their heart is with God we don't know I'm going to treat them like they're an object of my evangelism now and the call to come to Jesus in faith now I want to show you this it's really important remember and Deuteronomy chapter 19 just a bit ago I pointed you to the passage where it says in the law of God that you are to cast out the evildoer from among you that's when the law of God then Jesus says here in Matthew 18 you bring it before the church and then you treat them like a Gentile and tax collector they are now put out of the fellowship and an object of your evangelism I'm gonna give you another passage from the New Testament after the cross and resurrection and ascension go there quickly and we're gonna wrap up here soon in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 1st Corinthians chapter 5 that's to the right you're gonna pass Romans you're gonna pass Romans there and then you're gonna go to first Corinthians chapter 5 can I show you just an instance of this happening in the early church here's an instance in the early church where the Apostle Paul has to deal with an issue of sin within a body in Corinth and he's now speaking to the church with apostolic authority about how to handle this here it is I can't unpack the whole thing today but I want you to see it after the resurrection and ascension we're still maintaining this standard from the law of God here's what it says verse 1 it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans Paul saying this stuff happening even the pagans they don't put up with this for a man has his father's wife and you are arrogant ought you not to rather mourn let him has done this be removed from among you notice what Paul is saying there in terms of church discipline he's saying your arrogance what's I mean you're boasting what do you think they are boasting in they got a guy who is sleeping with his father's wife and these Christians in Corinth are so next-level right so gracious that they're arrogant they're boasting in their grace we know this is happening among us we know this guy's sleeping with his father's wife we know that it's happening but we're a community of grace we're a community of love in Paul actually confronts that he says ought you not rather to mourn let him always done this be removed from among you he says for though absent embody I'm president spirit and if presence I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing when you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord your boasting is not good do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump that's a little bit of a little bit of yeast will make its way throughout the entirety the dough he says cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you as you really are unleavened for christ our passover lamb has been sacrificed let us therefore celebrate the festival not with the old leaven the leaven of malice and evil with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters since then you would need you would need to go out of the world but now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he's guilty of sexual immorality or greed or as an idolatry revile or drunkard or swindler not even to eat with such a one for what have I to do with judging Outsiders is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge God judges those outside here it is here's the quotation from the law of God purge the evil person from among you that's the Apostle Paul dealing with an instance of sexual morality within the church and he says it approached the evildoer from among you but of course it has to come with witnesses of course this process of church discipline has to be worked through by guys this question have we understood the meaning of church discipline it's for that person to be one to God I have good news by the way that was first Corinthians chapter 5 in 2nd Corinthians the guy comes back and Paul's answer is he's already taken enough you're just a love this guy it's really a beautiful heading to that story but the point of church discipline is sanctification the point of church discipline in the local body of the church is to love one another and to be conformed to the image of Christ together can I say what church this is what is not about just quickly it's about nitpicking over your personal likes and dislikes church discipline is not enacted because somebody is different than you because somebody rubs you the wrong way church discipline happens over defined biblically defined issues of sin an example is like that there this man is living in an unrepentant sexual relationship with his own father's wife and he refuses to repent of it in that case unrepentant sin like that you cast that person from among you and you pray ultimately for their salvation that their spirit might be saved so let's finish the text here truly I say to you verse 18 whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven what's that about well Jesus already said it who did he say it to recently we just read about he said it to Peter whatever you bind on earth bound in heaven loose on earth loosed in heaven it's also said to all the Apostles right here to the followers of Jesus what is it referring to ready the declarative power of the church meaning as the church comes together and declares things based upon God's Word they can make declarations about God's truth and his promises for example if you're in here right now and you've repented and trusted in Jesus listen closely if you are in Christ right now I say before God bound in heaven right now you have eternal life in Jesus Christ you are forgiven you belong to God you have the gift of Christ's righteousness God will never hold your sins against you that's the declarative power of the church based upon God's Word in this case of church discipline the church also has declarative power to remove a person from fellowship who's living in open unrepentant rebellion Jesus says this again I say to you here it is listen to one of the most misinterpreted passages yeah again I say to you if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask it'll be done for you them by my father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there am i among them how many of you have heard that passage quoted about Christians getting together for Bible studies right we say hey guys there's two or three of us here that means Jesus is right now with us I Got News for us as a church good news Jesus is the omnipresent God he is always present with you always when you're hiding alone in your closet with your face on the ground and tears Jesus is right there with you in that moment you don't need to call your two friends over to make sure he shows up he's there I promise you he's omnipresent watch what's powerful when Jesus says where two or three are gathered in my name there am i with you checking out that's Jesus as the Covenant lord over his body promising that when you go through this very difficult task of sanctification in church discipline he says this I'll be there with you I'll be there with you that's specifically about the issue of church discipline as hard as it is as soul wrenching as it is as heart breaking as it is Jesus says I will be there in your midst that's why when we've had church discipline an apology a church I'm telling you there is something that happens in those moments that you cannot describe with words there is a fear that comes over me has come over your pastors as we have done church discipline an apology a church over the years that I honestly I can't describe the feeling because there is a promise of a special covenant presence of the Lord Jesus in those moments of church discipline Jesus says I am there with you and your midst when you do this I'm gonna just tell you an encouraging story about it so when Pastor Luke and I planted apologia church about a decade ago we had this amazing church that was we never planned it we didn't know this was gonna happen we had a whole different thing in our mind about where we're going and God just called together this church in this ministry and we're like okay God will be faithful to it and we will serve you with this and we'll give our whole lives to it and we're in and so we were in and we had these amazing moments where it was just all inspiring I mean you saw people that were new believers in Jesus covered in tattoos and gauges on their faces they used to have like um like two weeks before they were out shooting heroin and out like having sex at raves and clubs and the lives were a mess and then two weeks there in Christ and now they're at these weird all-night prayer things that these people used to call together it was crazy you got people all tatted up and in love with Jesus torn pants on their knees and faces before God all Friday night not going out getting high not going out and partying now for them the most amazing thing to do on a Friday night was to stay up all night and worship God and fellowship and I get up in the morning and I I turn my social media on and I'd see pictures of the Sun just coming up and all these brand-new baby believers like with their arms around each other or on their faces reading their Bibles that's what they were doing all Friday night I mean glorious we would have no air-conditioning in this family building you have people on their knees on their knees worshiping God to a projection screen because we had no band and they're just in love with Jesus and lies being transformed you just see it happening over and over and over and there was moments of just awesome it just blew us away and yet these were new believers almost all of them new to Jesus new to the church and there were people that went back to their lives of sin and rebellion there were people who were married and left their wives to go live in a sexual relationship with another woman these things started happening as the church started to grow and pastor Luke and I had to make decisions early on are we gonna be faithful to God and his command to us as Shepherds to live in accordance with Jesus commands us in Matthew 18 so in the first three years of church I think we had somewhere around eight instances of church discipline each one of them so painful each one of them we went through with patience we went through with wisdom we went through trying to put away our emotions we went through with faithfulness to God trying to call that person back to Jesus do you know what what we actually did was when we knew we had an issue of church discipline say on one example wait a man who had left his wife was now living in an adulterous relationship with another woman we offered to actually get him out of the apartment that he was in because he was making excuses saying now he had no choice because he's now living with this woman we said we'll pay we had no money we said we'll pay we will pull together money to get you out of that apartment in your own place please repent please turn away from this relationship and he refused we were in tears pleading with this man please turn away from this relationship come back to Christ come back to the potty we will love you we will serve you please turn away from this God calls this sin it's gonna destroy you and he refused up until four o'clock we've always had evening services up until four o'clock before we started service I was calling him pleading with him on the phone please don't make us do this please come back to Christ please turn away from this we will be here for you and he refused it was always so heartbreaking one night baby church there's probably somewhere between 30 or 50 people at apology a church at this point all of them come out of addiction to drugs and alcohol and one night after fighting for people's souls for weeks pastor Luke and I had to bring three three people up for church discipline and I got to tell you what our experience was before we did that we had fought for their souls for weeks begged them pleaded with them called them to Christ and pastor Luke and I had this conversation before church service that day we thought that was it we thought apologia Church was over it would not survive this we're gonna bring three people before this small baby growing church and do church discipline on three separate people who were like pillars in the church and we made a decision before a church that day if God only had us plant this church for what we had done thus far then that's what God did and that's what we were called to do but we must be faithful to God now and being faithful to what he calls us to in Matthew 18 and so we went before this small church and we came before the church crying telling them about the first person they didn't know was coming and so the whole churches in tears everybody's crying I'm crying we're broken pleading for this person's soul and then as soon as this was over I said now everybody I have to tell you about something else and then I brought the next one the church is just crying and broken because now we've taken in the second person and as soon as that was over I said and now I have to tell you another one and the church by the end of this we thought there was no way we're gonna recover from this no way we're gonna cover from this pain and I got to tell you brothers and sisters the next week our church was deeper in love with Jesus than we had ever been before and more closely connected and more pursuing holiness than we had ever before people hadn't understood of what it meant to follow Jesus and to be sanctified and to be here for one another it transformed us as a church and I have good news I have good news because of the discipline that God brought through apology a church people's lives were literally saved and those people many of them came back and stood before this body and praised God for pastors and a church that loved them enough to say something and to try to reach them and win them there are people an apology a church today that will tell you that is because of God's discipline in his church that they are here in Christ today they were won back because of the process of church discipline it's a powerful thing but it's also a thing we have to enter into with fear and with trembling because God commands us to do it with the aim to win that person so can I ask you this as you think about church discipline last questions as you think about church discipline are you are you challenging yourself or allowing yourself to be challenged right now in terms of how you view your brothers and sisters in Christ do you feel challenged about the idea that you should let love cover a multitude of sins do you need to repent of being nitpicky with brothers and sisters in Christ and condemning them for things maybe you ought not to condemn them for you just need to let love cover it are you convicted at all today did it stick that there are times when you've seen a brother or sister doing something maybe you thought it was happening and you talked about it with somebody else before you talk to them is that ever happened to you last let's let this change us as a church they become the kind of church that says we take this seriously and we love one another with depth that divine love that seeks to restore and not to hurt but there's another aspect of this here's the final one this is the final one and I want to challenge myself on this as well have we lived it in as a church in a state of mind where we haven't taken holiness and sanctification seriously where we have people in our midst who are living in flagrant biblically defined unrepentant sin and we have been so timid so cautious that we're afraid to confront them and even when it's in our midst what the Apostle Paul say to apology a church why are you boasting in your grace you ought to be Mourning do we live the kind of lives where we love God and love people enough to actually say the truth and do we deal with motivations that are pure that aim to glorify God that's my hope brothers and sisters we are a church that I would consider as a sanctified sanctifying growing church we are a church that's committed to biblical church discipline I pray with all my heart for the future if there's ever an instance where God calls us to exercise church discipline that we would experience the power and the sweetness of his covenant presence when we gather together to do it and I pray that all of us would be transformed by these truths in Scripture that this is how you're supposed to manage it this is the motivation you're supposed to have and this is the end goal of church discipline let's pray as a church father I pray they bless us now as we finish this message on church discipline that you would sear it to our minds and our hearts I do pray God for two things now as a pastor I pray that you purge us as a church purge us now of our nitpicking and our backbiting and our gossip please purchase of this false piety that acts like I care for a brother or sister when I talk about their sins in front of other people before I've ever tried to win them please forgive us God if that is in us if we've ever had the kind of false piety that looks like that purge us and God also I pray that you give us a strength as a church to have pure motivations to love a person enough to point out sin that is destructive and I do pray Lord if we ever have to do this if we ever have to confront sin as a body like this I pray that you would give us unity and strength and courage and peace in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Apologia Studios

Views: 7,800

Rating: 4.8301888 out of 5

Keywords: jeff durbin, apologia church, apologia studios, best sermon ever, shocking sermon, shocking youth sermon, paul washer sermon, sermon jam, matt chandler sermon, john piper sermon, church discipline, Don't waste your life, joel osteen sermon, steven anderson best sermon, t.d. jakes sermon, kenneth copeland sermon, paula white sermon, tim keller sermon, tim keller marriage, justin bieber, tim keller justin bieber

Id: l1Nk7WKV-a8

Length: 73min 21sec (4401 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 26 2018