Amen. And please be seated. If you have a Bible, let me invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. We continue working our way through this gospel.
And today we've arrived at verses 18 through 20. Matthew 18, as we have noted, time and again now, is about our relationships in the body of Christ, about how we treat one another as children of God in the Kingdom of God, how we get along together as brothers and sisters in the visible church on earth. This morning, we have a word for church members and church leaders who are involved in the process of private and personal or even ecclesiastical church discipline, which could be a really difficult and at times painful, certainly humbling and potentially unsettling and isolating process. And Jesus wants to encourage his people as they're engaged in that together.
He wants us to see how the grace of God is at work in the church, even among her people, and among people that are a mess. And so our focus will be verses 18 to 20 this morning, but let's pick up at verse 15 for the sake of the immediate context. What does the king and head of the church, our Lord Jesus, want his people to know in matters of church discipline? Let me invite you to hear this.
Matthew chapter 18, beginning of verse 15. 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 he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, 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 will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. Amen.
This is God's Word. May he write it on our hearts. Let's look to him in prayer. Our Father, teach us your Word.
By the work of the Spirit, point us to Christ, point us to the truth, make us more truthful and gracious in our dealings with one another, help us to be people that repent of sin and quickly. And are ready and eager to forgive sin even when we've been sinned against. Help us in all these ways. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. Well, as we've said, this is a really remarkable chapter about relationships. And there is a coherent flow in the logic of passage after passage, which I had never seen before in studying these passages.
And in fact, some of the commentators I've read had not noticed either and thought particularly the passage before us in verses 18 to 20 are just some sort of random disjointed add-ons that don't make sense in the logical flow of the argument. But actually, contextually, they're very much a part of the thought of Jesus as he's moving from verse 1 all the way through to the end of the chapter. And so just by way of reminder, all the way back in verses 1 to 4, the disciples have been bickering about who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And I guess at some point they just had forgotten or didn't realize that, well, Jesus is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
But also he knew that they were proud men at this point jockeying for position and status and honor. And he had to say to them, y'all are asking the wrong question. The question is which of you is the greatest in the kingdom? The question is, are any of you in the kingdom?
How do you even get into the kingdom? And he said to them, y'all need to become like little children. You need to become poor and needy. You need to be dependent, not independent.
You need to be not self-reliant, but Jesus were quiet in order to be part of the kingdom. And then we saw in verses 5 through 9 that the concern became one of stumbling or of causing others to stumble. We all need to be careful that we aren't the cause of others in the kingdom stumbling or that the world doesn't entice us into stumbling or that we aren't the cause of ourselves stumbling. So be careful.
And then that led, of course, from verse 10 to 14 to Jesus telling us that we ought not to despise other people in the kingdom. Because you can imagine some will stumble and some will stumble badly, even publicly, scandalously at times, genuine brothers and sisters in the faith. And Jesus says, don't you despise them? It would be a temptation, perhaps.
You've known this temptation to look down your nose at those people and then sort of write them off, dismiss them. Maybe they've gone astray and we're tempted to think much too lightly of them. But Jesus in that passage has said, but don't you forget that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father and that I am as a God? Well, like Jesus, the good shepherd.
I'll leave the 99 and go find that one lost ring sheep. And don't you forget as well that it is not the will of my father in heaven that any of these little ones should perish. And so I don't despise them. Don't you despise them?
Which then brings us to verses 15 to 17, which we looked at last week because in the process of someone stumbling and going astray, they may have not only sinned against the Lord and badly, but they may also have sinned against us and badly. What's our responsibility then? What should we do? And Jesus we saw last week sets a place, a process of pursuing people who have sinned against us or maybe drifting away from the Lord in the sinful rebellion.
And now in this morning verses 18 to 20, Jesus having given us that process gives an encouragement to his people in that process that he's with us, that God is for us. Next week then we're going to hear him tell a parable, that's the rest of the chapter, a parable about mercy at work in our relationships and the obligation of forgiving one another from the heart. So he's really going to hammer this home today then in verses 18 to 20, Jesus speaks about the process of pursuing reconciliation with other believers and seeking to restore other believers. And what he wants to do is fortify the backbone of his people to actually engage in what can be a difficult at times very humbling and painful and even potentially very unsettling and isolating process.
So let me point you to four big things today and we'll look at each of them in turn. The first is by way of reminder of the details of the process in verses 15 to 17 which we looked at last week but we want to see that process of personal and private as well as ecclesiaestable church discipline for the purpose of reconciliation. Then in verse 18 let me point you to the responsibility and authority of the church in cases of church discipline. Thirdly verse 19 the assurance we have of God the Father answering the prayers of his people in cases of church discipline and finally in verse 20 the presence of Jesus with his people in cases of church discipline.
We're not alone. So the first thing the process of reconciliation in personal and ecclesiaestical settings verse 15 to 17 what do we do if somebody is is is is is you know really maybe sinned against us and it's not just something that we love covers a multitude of sin. Sometimes we you know we we don't always have to confront everybody about everything all the time but there are things where it rises to the level of you know we need to talk about this because well you need to repent I need to forgive you or I need to repent you need to forgive me. So step one is what verse 15 if your brother sins against you go and tell him his faults between you and him alone.
You know one of our elders said to me last week after the sermon you know that's the hardest step to do. This is really actually the hardest step in a lot of ways to go and seek to reconcile with a brother or sister in Christ or to go and confront a brother or sister when you see them they're going wildly astray. Instead of speaking to them directly in love we shy away or we we go to someone else and say would you deal with that person and I don't know if you know this about them but let me tell you what's going on and if you could just take care of that oh pastor or elder or some other person but not me anybody but me this is the hardest part when they've sinned against you the first thing you do is you go to them yourself. That's the most loving way to handle sin when it's been sinned against you.
Go to them privately don't expose them publicly don't shame them publicly seek to seek for resolution and Proverbs 27 if somebody comes to you Proverbs 27, 5, 6 says well better is open rebuke than hidden love faithful are the wounds of a friend. Profuse are the kisses of an enemy. It is a faithful friend who will call you on the carpet if you're out of line and the goal here of course is what let's not to make life more difficult for them and it's not to guilt on them or shame them it's it's what it's not to punish them the goal Jesus says end of verse 15 if he listens to you you've gained your brother he listens to you he repents you reconcile you move on together the goal should be to gain them step two 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 bring others one maybe to not to pile on and point fingers but to seek to emphasize on the one hand how how serious and important the issue is that there's really been an offense against peace and it needs to be restored and and and the goal here is what it's actually to be fair to the accused and that is not to well you didn't get attraction one on one now I'm gonna make wild public accusations which perhaps actually have no basis in reality it's possible that with that small group they may look at the issue with another set of eyes and they may say yes there's an issue here you were sent against and you two need to reconcile here's what you need to do it's also possible they might say you know you're making a mountain out of a ball hill here this is not the issue that you think it is and again it's to be just then to the accused but step three it's a real issue they refuse to repent if he refuses to listen to them tell it to the church here a private matter becomes not necessarily public in terms of telling everybody we don't think that that's the next step but but it becomes an ecclesiastical matter I mean if you get no traction with the offender and go to the shepherds and elders of the church who got as appointed to care for and look after the spiritual and moral well-being of the people of God and ask them to get involved I mean don't just shout everything to the rooftops so that you know we publicly shame people in as many little years as possible here what's being said but get the shepherds involved and and they'll bring the truth to bear Lord willing and grace as well and pray and seek to help and but what if still the offender will not listen will not repent what do you do step four end of verse 17 if he refuses to listen even to the church let him be to you as a gentile and tax collector now we don't think that means be mean to them or punish them or kick them in the shins on their way out the door the goal is not to play games about the serious matters and and don't let someone go on self-deceived as if this belief or behavior is okay as a Christian when it is clearly and we're talking about high-level stuff here when it is clearly utterly unacceptable to the Lord and puts their soul in danger or perhaps the souls of others if they propagate these things I mean the people of God then should treat the offender like a gentile tax collector you remember it's Matthew the tax collector who's writing this Jesus found him lost and said come follow me and I do think this is what he's getting at you treat them as a person who needs to be be told come follow Jesus genuinely it appears you know man looks on the hour to be honest on the heart but it certainly appears to us as elders of the church that you are not a person who's genuinely and sincerely following the Lord let's not pretend but come come follow the Lord now now this process can be wonderful I mean from start from the very earliest stages of it even all the way up through to the elders being involved it could be wonderful God uses people who love us enough to say something to speak the truth in love to us and oftentimes God's humble people respond well we repent we say I'm sorry please forgive me for what I did or what I said or failed to do and we reconciled and then we were joyous we're knowing that it's the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin and we we walk together under the cross so to speak but in some cases of course when people sin against the Lord and against others sometimes the heart grows hard and they aren't soft when they're confronted and or maybe they're sinned against and then their heart grows hard and that eventually needs to be confronted and love sometimes grows cold and the peace and the joy of the gospel diminishes in the experience of those involved and and that hard-heartedness may be an indication that they well possibly don't actually have any experiential acquaintance at all with the grace of God and Christ and because their sin is so scandalous and their unwillingness to repent is so firm they may need to be barred from the Lord's Supper and even perhaps excommunicated from the church you can read of that in 1 Corinthians 5 but the purpose of all these steps of discipline which should be handled with great patience and prayerfulness is threefold the goal is threefold first it's to reclaim the offender you want to win your brother back to walking with Jesus genuinely not drive them away not to bring retribution to bear but loving discipline second the purpose is the glory of God to honor the Lord among his people by seeking the reflection of his character in his people as we're being transformed after the likeness of Christ and not then to be hypocrites bearing his name on our lips but nowhere at all sincerely in the heart so the reclaiming of the sinner and the glory of God and thirdly the purpose is the protection of the people of God for new believers and young immature believers and believers who may have similar temptations might be tempted to go the same road as the original offender and be deceived into thinking well it's okay I mean nobody said anything about it and we're running here seems to think this is just fine I guess I can believe that or do that too and that could be a train wreck for other believers now at this point you may be saying okay but what about verses 18-20 the focus of our text well back to that these verses here then put steel in the backbone of God's people by way of giving encouragement and strength that Jesus isn't asking us to be involved in a process that he himself is unwilling to be involved in oh no he is right there in the middle of it when he calls and invites you to take part likewise in the process he doesn't just leave us to fend for ourselves and that's so important for us to hear on the front end of these things the Richard Baxter a pastor in the 1600s recognized as he said ministers of England were reluctant to exercise church discipline because of the difficulty of the work and quote the trouble or suffering that we are like to incur by it we we cannot he says publicly reprehend one sinner but he will storm at it and bear us a deadly malice we can prevail with very few to make a public profession of true repentance if we proceed to excommunicate them they will be raging mad against us but then he asks what is it but hypocrisy to shrink from sufferings and to take up non but safe and easy work no some things are hard but they're worth doing and when the elders are engaged in church discipline with a hard hearted unrepentant person it's no easy matter for anybody I think all of our elders who've been involved in situations like this would tell you it's the hardest thing we do one of the questions we might have then though whether if we ever would happen to be involved in a setting like that or we're just aware that the church practices church discipline we might ask by what right to those elders get involved in things like that I mean where do they get the authority to make pronouncements about whether a person is believing or or living like a Christian or not and can come to the table or not or be a member or not well they get it from God and that's verse 18 in our passage the responsibility and authority of the church and cases of church discipline verse 18 truly 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 we met this language previously some of you will remember in chapter 16 just a page over verse 19 it was in the context there of Jesus saying he will build his church in the gates of hell when I prevail against it and he said in verse 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whenever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven whenever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven their identical expression their the expression is about entrance in the kingdom of heaven opening the doors for instance that's what he does open the door of entrance into the kingdom through preaching the gospel as people hear the gospel and respond to the gospel and trust in Jesus they walk through the door of salvation if they refuse if they say no then well the door is it where remains shut to them and so if the door opens they are in the language of this passage loosed they're loosed from their sins in the kingdom of darkness and they are free and they enter the kingdom of God's beloved son but if the door is closed they are bound that is their sins cling to them like a great weighty chain that holds them captive to sin and judgment and death and hell well that's how he used it in chapter 16 about the preaching of the gospel which opens wide the door of salvation now here in verse 18 the identical expression is about the opening and closing not this time in the context of preaching the gospel but in the context of church discipline which is also declarative I mean just so you're clear we don't believe that the church has the weapons of the civil government not the weapons of war or the weapons of prison or the weapons of chains though at times in the history of the church to our shame together as the people of God the sword and the chain and the prison has been used by the church but we do believe that what we have is declarations of the truth and it is about a ecclesiastical discipline here in the kingdom of heaven the idea is well the church might receive after the process of step one two has gone to step three they might receive a complaint about somebody for unrepentant sin and they just the elders then would do what well they they try to meet talk it over here both sides say of an issue and seek where appropriate repentance and mutual forgiveness but if the accused is is well in the wrong and what repent the elders then will do what well they'll pray and they'll give time to see if the Lord will soften the heart I mean we don't rush either to judgment nor rush to impose church discipline the elders might warn them that their soul is in danger if they continue down this path certainly they can't keep going down this path and have the church pretend that they are in fact in good standing you know with the church or with the Lord or perhaps maybe not even genuine Christians and so so to loose in this context that is to declare a center to be a genuine to believer in Jesus that's what it means to lose them and so to admit them into the visible church and and and into into church membership but in some cases we might be with somebody and just as we're examining people maybe not not because of an issue of sin but just because they've asked to join well we might be with them and they're not really ready yet it does not appear that they understand what it means to trust in Jesus for salvation well in that case the elders might work with them and nurture them and help them but in some cases we might be dealing with a member of the church who's gone astray and the elders might need to say it appears that you're not genuine because the fruit is bad fruit and after a long and patient process the elders might need to actually dismiss them from membership in good standing in the church of the Lord Jesus and in that case we're not loosing them we're binding them declaring them to be out of fellowship with Christ and his people and so the elders have a responsibility of loosing and binding of receiving and dismissing of admitting or forbidding and Jesus says well the elders take this judicial action they're actually carrying out the judicial actions of God in the court of heaven for the language of verse 18 is not is not that what they bind shall be bound in heaven that's future tense someday it will be bounded heaven no but that what they bind shall have been bound in heaven is the Greek and that's a future perfect so that whatever you lose on earth shall have already been loosed in heaven the ministry in other words of elders accomplishes what it does because of the prior decision of heaven it's not that the decisions of heaven await the accomplishment of the ministry of elders the church has a responsibility and an authority to function as the earthly instrument of Christ's heavenly rule for Christ has appointed elders and undershepherds in his church to carry out his heavenly rule now some of you are immediately asking the question so you think you do that infallibly you think you get this perfect and every decision elders might make in the church is certainly exactly what the the court of heaven itself has decided and I would say to you know we're not so arrogant we ought not be we're fallible men elders are sinful men certainly capable individually of viewing a situation wrongly again it's the Lord who looks on the heart man looks at the hour appearance certainly in the history of the Lord's church too often a believer has been excommunicated by an ungodly church authority acting vindictively or by an unwise church authority acting mistakenly it's possible for fallen men even working together to make fallible decisions the nice thing about our system of government if I can commend it to you is that as a Presbyterian is that we're connectional we're mutually accountable across pch churches and presbyterians local and regional bodies so if somebody for instance would doesn't agree with a disciplined decision that elders might have made in a local church setting sitting as a session it can be appealed above them to the regional church body called the presbyterian and we get all the other churches and their elders involved and looking at the issue was this right or not and if you don't like the decision of the regional presbyterian you can take it all the way up to the general assembly of the PCA the entire PCA functioning through its elders and officers churches and pastor teachers can look at an issue and say did the presbyterian get this right or wrong and take corrective action where needed if need be so that a final decision isn't left in the hands of just the local church and that's a protection for you final decisions about things like this aren't ultimately my hands together with the the other elders of this church we're mutually accountable all of us are mutually accountable individually and mutually accountable as a session to the body of Christ and that's one of the ways that the Lord loves us and protects us from the whims of other sinners so that we're also up to church discipline because God disciplines those he loves now Lord willing with y'all and all y'all Lord willing and ordinarily this this kind of discipline remains at the level of personal correction personal rebuke personal seeking of reconciling forgiving repenting that's the first level and that's Lord willing wear whatever land we do believe that the Lord is given to his church authority and responsibility in church discipline then notice also in verse 19 the assurance that we have of God the Father answering our prayers in cases of church discipline verse 19 again I say to you if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask it will be done for them by my Father in heaven now here we have the promise of an answer from God the Father when two of us people agree on earth the context is vital here it's still church discipline in fact the Greek word behind the word anything in anything they ask isn't so much absolutely anything as much as it is any matter or any case it is courtroom term language it refers to matters or cases before the elders to consider in the courts of the church and by the way our courts aren't civil and they're not criminal they're royal we have royal courts because we sit under king Jesus but it's not a blanket promise this little verse right here it's not a blanket promise of God giving you everything you ask for every time you ask if you could just get one other person to agree that yes a new Corvette is what you need and so name it and claim it because look the passage though it does not the context is of someone sinning another confronting of one believer repenting another forgiving so that they might be mutually reconciled and with at peace the context of what they are asking for if they agree together well then obviously the one needing to repent is repenting and the one needing to forgive is forgiving if they're not agreeing that's not happening if they are agreeing that's happening and in that context they obviously ask the Lord for forgiveness for the sin and help in forgiving the other and God to light to give them what they ask for God the lights to help his people be forgiving as he is as well as to give us a repentant heart which can only come from him we seek the help of the spirit of Christ and we're given a wonderful reassurance here that in the process of discipline whether privately or with others involved we don't need to wonder if we reconcile if we were repent and forgive we don't have to wonder yeah but I don't really know I mean does the Lord really forgive you don't need to wonder well these people may forgive me the church may have welcomed me home and said be free but yeah I don't know about the Lord of the church no no no Jesus reassures you that the Father does so he speaks to our fears here our anxieties our guilt and our shame Jesus says you go ahead and reconcile with one another you ask God for forgiveness and help to live a peace with one another and you may know that the Father don't like to give what you ask of him then finally notice the presence of Jesus in cases of church discipline verse 20 we're not alone verse 24 where two or three are gathered in my name there am I among them Jesus it's interesting does not say I will be among them but I am among them I am there says Matthew Henry as if he came first is ready before them and they shall find him there this is the confidence of the church we're not left to ourselves and this is so important for us to know because being involved in these difficult and painful and humbling and at times situations where you get a cold shoulder and it can be isolating and lonely you can feel a great weight of being rejected as a shepherd as a group of shepherds and it can be lonely and especially for elders as leadership often is you you hear and know things that others don't know you're called upon for wisdom and really trying situations you may have to render judgment that bar someone from the Lord's table or even church membership your your decisions may not be understood by all they may be misunderstood by others you've only heard half the story and you can't tell them the other half of the story it's not yours to tell and so it can be isolating and lonely in church leadership and Jesus says but don't you think for a minute that you are ultimately alone I am always with you I will never leave you nor forsake you and wear two or three have gathered in my name to carry out these difficult responsibilities I especially remind you I am there also among them why the expression two or three well because you just mentioned the issue of confronting a brother or sister over saying cues or two cues that's two and then taking one or two more with you that's three or four you might have a little group there right and Jesus says and if you all agree together you know you get what you ask from the father and and as you meet together and greet or not I am right there with you now this then I think it makes it impossible to imagine a more straightforward declaration of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ without him actually saying I am defined right how can Jesus promise to be with his people even in little groups of two or three all over the world throughout all generations except that he is God because God alone is infinite and eternal and is being and everywhere present all at once all the time and especially present to grace and less and help and sanctify his people that's our Jesus our God king and head of his church which is his body his beloved bride whom he delights to be present with so matters of church discipline the church's responsibility and authority from God we have assurance from God from Jesus that God the Father answers our prayers and we have the promise of the abiding presence of Jesus with his people and so do you see how Jesus loves sinners like you and me help you do God disciplines he loves let's pray father thank you you know our mass you know the mess of others and father you know the ways that in that we have offended you or offended others hurt others even and maybe even now you know ways that we know we ought to ask forgiveness and seek reconciliation and give forgiveness and so we pray that you would help us by the work of the spirit because Christ loved us and gave himself for us in Jesus name I pray amen