Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 22. A Church with Integrity part 3. A Church with Integrity part 3. Matthew 18, 15. When you get there, if you're able, please stand for the reading of God's Word. Matthew 18, 15. The Bible says, Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three gather together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. You may be seated. Thank you. May the Lord bless the reading. the receiving of His Word this morning. We'll wrap up our brief study on church discipline this morning. I know there's a lot more obviously we could go into, but we've looked at the qualifications of a pastor, we looked at what a church is, or who a church is, and what we do as far as our gifts that God's given us and how that is shown in and through the local church. And something else that we're having to look at is church discipline. You may ask, why are we going over this? We've been going through the book of Luke and the Lord willing this coming Sunday we'll be back in Luke starting in chapter 3. I'm excited about that. So why are we going over these qualifications? Well it's important that you know the qualifications of a pastor. It's important that you know that the church is bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, and that it's His church. He's given His church gifts. It's also important that we understand how the church is to conduct itself. We've heard so much about church discipline. We've heard horror stories about church discipline. And the fact of the matter is that, according to the Bible, a church with integrity does practice church discipline. And we're actually in the process now of doing church discipline on some members. Something that we don't like to do, but we have to. If we love them, we'll do it. And if we love the Lord, we'll do it. Amen? Last time we looked in verse 17, about the one being disciplined, not repenting. after much time and many people going to that person in love with the spirit of meekness. Galatians 6 says, you who are spiritual, go to that person in the spirit of meekness. Amen. That's power under control. And the result is that fellowship is withdrawn from that person by the church because that person refused to repent from their sin. The church did not go to that person with the end goal to kick them out or to excommunicate them. No, the church went with the end goal and view as being restoration after they repented. But in verse 17 that person did not repent, so therefore there is no restoration and there must be excommunication. And of course the church is grieved over that. And if that person continues to live in a lifestyle of open on sin, if that person lives non-repentant, then at that point you have to question whether or not that person was truly ever saved to begin with. And we'll see why here in a little while. We are constantly repenting. of our sins after the Lord saves us. Not to remain saved because we are saved. We know that no one can earn salvation. But what do sins do? Unrepentant sins for you and I. They hinder our fellowship with the Lord. Not our relationship that is secure that has been secured by the blood of Jesus Christ. He saves our souls and we are from that point forward in right relationship with God. What IS hindered by sin is our fellowship. If you wonder if a man or a woman can lose their salvation, if you read Romans 8, 28, through 39 we will see from the Word of God that that's not possible. Once we are saved we are secured in Christ Jesus. Let's go ahead and turn there. Let's read that. The Lord has given us a beautiful day today so I know that we're not in a hurry. Romans chapter 8, we'll start in verse 28. Romans 8, 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are called according to His purpose. Verse 29, from whom He did foreknow, this means to love beforehand. He also did predestinate, this means to predetermine beforehand, to be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Period. Amen? Only God can justify. Who is he that condemneth? Now, if God justifies us, who can condemn us? That's the question here. It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. And His intercession will never end. The Bible tells us He ever lives to intercede for us. Verse 35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That's settled, isn't it? We are secure in Jesus Christ. Nothing and no one can unsecure us, not even yourself. very comforting scriptures. But the fact of the matter is this, also, I should say, though we are secure in Christ, we are still robed in flesh. And our flesh, this fleshly body is not redeemed. It's not going to heaven. All of God's people said, Amen. This fleshly body, its members, is drawn to sin. Each particular member of our body is drawn to sin. It wants it. It desires sin. And therefore we must continually beat our bodies to bring it under the subjection of the Word of God and walk with Christ. So in a sense we could say that we must do church discipline on ourselves every day. We could go as far as to say that each church service is a form of church discipline. Say, wow, each church service? No, it's not a form of it. Let's go to 2 Timothy 4, look in verse 2. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. The Bible says in 2nd Timothy 4 to preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season. Notice this. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. We could say that is a form of church discipline. Why? Because by the Word being preached, we are being reproved and rebuked and exhorted. by the teaching from the Word of God. Another reason it's so important that we teach and preach the Word of God, not man's traditions or opinions. We could go further and say simply by reading the scripture is also a form of church discipline, which may be a reason why our flesh hates getting up and reading scripture. It's so weary to us. We fall asleep. We get tired. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, again we see all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. What are we seeing here? A form of discipline. simply by reading the Scriptures. I think this helps us see how beneficial it is for us to gather together for every church service as much as we can. Because do you know what we need? We need discipline. We need to be held accountable. We should put forth much effort to gather together. Those who are faithful to come and hear the Word taught and preached and are obedient to what they hear are less likely to be one that has to be gone to and confronted over sin in their life. I thought about what Cain, I mean what the Lord told Cain in Genesis 4-7. He says, If thou doest well, shalt not thou be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. James 4, 17, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not to him, it is sin. There is usually a pattern with those who will be next for church discipline. Oh, come on, now you're profiling. There's usually a pattern. Their prayer life is lacking. Their study time is lacking. And even though that you and I are not in their home to see this, we see the results of it. Where there used to be a crucifying of the flesh and telling the flesh no, now they start to cater to the flesh. Their attendance to gather with the brethren is no longer a priority. Other things are more important. Other things come up. And if they have nothing else to do, then they'll darken the church door. They begin to lower their standards and sin slips right in. Sometimes they even welcome sin in. We have seen this time after time after time. The sad part is when you see this and you know where they're going, amen, you see this, it grieves you. You know the end result. And you go to them and you say, Brother, Sister, this is where you're headed. This is what you're doing. The majority of the time, they're offended. Who are you to come to me? I can't believe you would do that. You're trying to single me out. I heard what you preached last Sunday. That was all about me. No, we go verse by verse. So they're offended easily when confronted, but yet it's beneficial for them and the church that they are confronted. Sin is sin in the eyes of God and there are different consequences for different sins, right? Some sins are worse than others. So after you have gone to the brother or sister in Christ in sin, what's next? Let's go back to Matthew. You've gone to them in two things. Either they have repented or they have not. So what's next? Again, last week we looked in verse 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let it be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. What do you do? You put them out. You excommunicate them. You still love them. You don't hate them. Your hearts grieve for them. You beg God for them. But you have to excommunicate them. from the church. What's next? Well, here in the scripture, verse 18 through 20. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And if we keep this in context, this is speaking about church discipline. I know we've probably all heard people take these scriptures out of context. Oh Lord, you made us a promise where two or three are gathered together, there you are in the midst of us. Well, hang on a second, that's about church discipline, not a prayer meeting. Because if that was the case, if you had less than two or three gathered together, then there'd be a problem, wouldn't there? Got it! God can't make it tonight because there ain't but one! But that's not what the Bible's teaching. And then verse 19, I've seen people who are of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel take this verse out of context and beat people with it, where it says, again I'm saying to you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father which is in heaven." So they'll pray and say, OK, y'all, I need y'all to agree with me because if you agree with me then God has to do this. I saw where a young family, they had a newborn baby and it was in the NICU department And that may not be correct terminology, forgive me if I say that wrong, but the baby was struggling, so they had it in a special department hospital and working on it. And this was back whenever I was on Fakebook, and the father put this verse out there, verse 19, and says, I need y'all to agree with me. And I almost wanted to respond and say, are y'all already doing church discipline on that little boy? Not the place, right, to do that. Not the time. Because they misunderstand what the Scriptures actually say. But because they're not keeping it in context. See what we're doing here is we're keeping the whole text in context, which means we're getting the right understanding, the right interpretation of what this verse actually means. So let's look at it. If the person refuses to repent, and the church has to withdraw fellowship from them, or if they repent, either way, the action on earth is bound in heaven. Notice the words bind, bound, in verse 18. saying to you that whosoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whosoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This bind and bound, this speaks of the ancient manner of binding together the doors of houses with a chain to which a padlock was sometimes suspended. Now picture that. What is bound on earth figuratively, with a chain and lock, is also bound in heaven. Figuratively, with a chain and lock. This analogy is kind of scary. If the church does church discipline biblically, then in the end the person who refuses to repent is figuratively locked out of the church. Again I want to stress that this person is truly saved, his relationship is not hindered, but his fellowship is. He is kept outside of the doors of blessings and protection of a church family. Isaiah 59, 1 and 2, the Bible says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. This takes us back to what we learned last week from 1 Corinthians 5 and 11. 1 Corinthians 5 to deliver such and one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. That person is put outside of the protection and blessing of the local church. This act that's binded on earth is also bound in heaven." What's the Lord saying? Church, you're doing right. And what you're doing, heaven is also going to do. Now just picture that for a second. Again, figuratively, this person is, in a sense, locked out of fellowship with who? The local church. 1 Corinthians 5 says don't even eat with that person. You don't fellowship with that person. This is not to say that we are holier than you. This is to cause them to see and understand, help them see and understand that their sin is truly sin. So if they're locked out from the fellowship of the church, what else were they locked out from if heaven is locked out to them? Fellowship with who? God. Man, that's pretty harsh. God takes sin serious. Look in 1 Timothy chapter 1. I know people say, oh, but you should not call their names out in a church service. That is so embarrassing, that is so unloving that you would call their names out and let everybody know that they're being excommunicated. We should not view the Bible from our American eyes. 1 Timothy chapter 1, look at verse 18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good war for a holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck." What have they done? They've destroyed their testimony. of whom are a couple of people that I don't want to name because it's going to embarrass them. Is that what Paul put? Of whom is Himanias and Alexander? No, Paul names them. And listen to this, this is not just the church at Ephesus where Timothy is that hears these names. You and I have been hearing these names, people have, for over 2,000 years. God takes sin serious. Whom I have delivered, notice this, unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." What happened? Church discipline. They've been put outside the Lord's church. They've been delivered over unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. So that's harsh. This delivering unto Satan is for their benefit. How can that be for their benefit? Listen, the Bible tells us in the book of Proverbs, I'm going to use our vernacular, WHOOP YOUR CHILDREN EARLY. Beat the devil out of them. And don't restrain from their crying. KEEP WHOOPING THEM. It's for their good. And this here is for the good of Hymenaeus and Alexander. Remember that Satan is a tool of the Lord. He is not just running around doing what he wants to do. We have been given multitudes of Old Testament examples of this. A simple reading in the book of Judges and we find the same principle where the nation of Israel would do good under a certain leader. And that leader would die and then they would dive off into sin. And as a result of sin, God would put them under bondage of someone else who would afflict them and persecute them. And through that, over time, then they would cry out, Lord, deliver us. So God would send a deliverer to them, deliver them from the oppression of whoever it may be. And while that person was there leading and guiding and directing them, they would do good. As soon as that person would die, back off onto idolatry and sin again, they'd go. Process over and over and over and over. Do you see why it's so important to be under the Word of God? To be in tune, to be connected with, to be a member of a local New Testament church. We do hold each other accountable out of love, right? We must stress here again that the last thing the church does is to excommunicate. That is the last thing that we do as far as this goes. But we never stop praying for that person. We never stop begging God for that person. And like the father and the prodigal son, we're always looking for the return of that person or people. And if we're always looking for their return, when they return, we will find ourselves rejoicing, praising God that they've repented. and turn. And sometimes God must chasten and scourge them before they will do that. And if they don't, sometimes, as we learn in the Scriptures, God kills them. Acts chapter 5, 1 Corinthians 11, we see that. In Hebrews chapter 12, let's go there. Hebrews chapter 12, we'll pick up in verse 5 for sake of time. Hebrews 12, 5. Some people say, oh no, God would never do that. God is love. And since God is love, He is too loving to whoop somebody. to chasten and scourge them. Hebrews 12, 5 says, And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord, what? Loveth. It would be good to underline that in your Bible. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. He deals with you like you are his son. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Why is it that God chastens all of His children? Because we always mess up. Can you all say Amen? Have any of you messed up this week? I should say any of us. How about this morning? Isn't it good that we have the conviction of the Holy Spirit? And that we should immediately deal with that mess up and confess it? Thankful to hear the preached word which also reveals things. Scripture is light. Amen. And we see these things and we confess it. That's the chastening. What is chastening? Chastening is correction with instruction. Look, you messed up. Don't do this. This is why you messed up. This is why you don't do it. This is how to get away from that and not to do it again. It's a constant. Every day. Day in, day out. Well, some of us are hard-headed. And we don't listen to the chastening. We don't listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And we don't listen to the chastening of God. So then what's God got to do? Scourge us. That's put the hand to. Put the whip to. So what do we do? We go through the chastening. That is an evidence that we are a child of God. But look at verse 8. Before I read it, let's say this, that we proclaim to be a Christian, yet we never see God's chastening or scourging in our lives. Look at verse 8. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, or how they thought it to be right. But he for our prophet, that we might be partakers of his holiness." So why does God chase him and scourge him? Why is God always, in a sense, whipping us back in the line? That we will be partakers of his holiness. Look at verse 11. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. And we can all say amen, can't we? Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Chastening and scourging from God is profitable for the Christian. And God does this to all of his children. Why? because He loves us. Because He loves us. Now we have looked at the process and the consequences of church discipline with someone who will not repent. You excommunicate them figuratively, you put the chain and lock on the door outside the church, and what we bind on earth is bound in heaven. This is done according to the Bible. It's done, as the Bible tells us, to do it out of love for the brother or sister. And because of that, Christ says in Matthew that heaven will do the same thing. That person is in a bad place. That person is in a place where you can expect to see the chastening and scourging of God on their life. You can expect them to be the most miserable person in the world. On one hand, that should be our prayer. Lord, that they would be miserable in their sin. Miserable in their sin. But at the same time, we should be looking for their repentance and their return. So, we have looked at one who refuses to repent, but how about the person that DOES repent? Same thing. When two or more gather together in agreement concerning church discipline, the Lord is with them. If the result is the figurative change in lot, then the Lord is with them. If the result is that the person repented, then the church receives them back in the fellowship. And the Lord is with them in this also." In other words, the chain and lock is either taken down or not put up figuratively on earth, also in heaven. And that person can go and fellowship with their Lord and Savior in prayer, in Scripture reading. Amen. If the church is biblical in the way it handles church discipline, it will find that the Lord is with that church, and that is very comforting. Why, listen, again, church discipline is not easy. Do you want to go to another adult whom you love and say, brother, sister, no one that more than likely they're going to get mad at you? Do you want to go to them and confront them over their sin? There's stress there, I'm telling you. But who do we love more? And why do we love them more? We love them more than they love their sin. We want to go to them. It is comforting for the church to know this. It is also comforting for the one or ones who have repented. Why, it is great to be back in fellowship with the brethren and with the Lord. You cannot be in fellowship with the Lord if you're not in fellowship with His bride, the church. Yes, we know that situations may arise in someone's life that keeps them from meeting with the brethren. For instance, they may be homebound or cast into prison. But they don't just get up and say, you know what, I don't feel like going today. I've got better things to do. No, if they are able, it would be meeting with the brethren. Actually, you'll see in their life that They schedule family events, other activities around gathering with the brethren. And I can remember a time when Franklinton closed down on Wednesdays at 12 o'clock. Why? Because Wednesday evenings is church night, midweek services. Saturdays, 12 o'clock, Franklinton closed down. Sundays, ghost town. Why? Because people were focused on being in God's house. How about today? Today, in Franklinton, Sunday is one of the busiest days in town. Lord help us, small town. Let me keep going. When the one in sin repents, what should the church do? Let's say that you went through this whole process and that you had to put the chains up for a little while, but then by the grace of God they repented, what do you do? Do you say, well, we should be ready and willing to forgive. And evidence of forgiveness is full restoration. In other words, they are welcomed back into the fellowship of the church. One of the things that they miss out on is the Lord's Supper. Once the Lord saves us, the first thing we are to do is to be baptized. And to be baptized, according to what we understand the Bible teaches, you must become a member of the church because there is a certain progression of baptism from Jesus Christ to today. Amen. And I'm not going to go over that this morning. There are two ordinances in the church. They are baptism and the Lord's Supper. Those who are able to go to the Lord's table are baptized believers and write fellowship with the Lord and the Lord's church. That's what we learn from the scriptures. So one of the things they have been kept out from, one of the things that has been chained from them is the Lord's table. So once they repent and come back, what happens? That chain and lock is dropped and they again have access to fellowship, yes, with the brethren, but also to and with the Lord's Table, the Lord's Supper. Ephesians 4, 32, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. We must be careful that we don't go from one extreme to the other, where they come back in and we say, no, stay away from me. I remember what you did. I remember what you said. Stay away from me. No, that's censure. That's not full restoration. But to say, though I may remember what you did, I may remember what you said. I love you." And what does love do? It covers a multitude of sins. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, in 1 Corinthians Paul wrote telling them not to accompany fornicators and adulterers that were inside the church, right? And they ended up doing that, and that person was repentant. But then they took it further and continued, continued. Look in verse 1 of 2 Corinthians 2, But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad but the same which is made sorry by me? And I wrote the same unto you lest when I came I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice. Having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears. Not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you." Why did Paul write them? Because of the sin that they were embracing. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted of many. Paul said, y'all did right. Y'all obeyed what I wrote. Paul is an apostle. He has authority, okay? And we'll learn that in Sunday school. They did what Paul said to do to that person in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. So that contrarywise he ought rather to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." What did this person do? Because of church discipline, this person repented of their sins. And if the church would have kept on doing discipline after this person repented, it would be much sorrow. Therefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward Him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive anything I forgive also. For if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ." Notice this. Why do you forgive? Why do you restore? If you do not, when they repent it, lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices." There is division, discouragement, depression as a result of a church not conducting church discipline properly. What do they keep doing? They kept doing church discipline even though the person had repented. Say, no, no, you stay over there, stay away. No. The Bible's telling us we love them. They're repentant. We love them. Full restoration. Welcome back to the Lord's table. Full fellowship. Amen. We don't want to give place to the devil, do we? We don't want the devil making a gain of us. When a person repents, we're to receive them back into the fellowship. Now, we've got to be careful. This doesn't mean the person is put back into a leadership role. That's not what this is talking about. But that they have full and free fellowship with the brethren. That is what it's talking about. Fellowship. To become a leader they had to prove themselves, so they must prove themselves again. Keep this in mind. Also, different sins have different consequences. We've learned from our study about pastors. Lord help us. There are certain sins that disqualify us for the rest of our lives. The sin of adultery. Disqualified from pastoral ministry for the rest of our lives. It's over. Done. And it's not that that person can't come back in the fellowship of the church. They can, as we mentioned, fellowship back to the Lord's table, but they can never again be where they were at as a pastor. Let me ask you this. King David. We've been looking at the life of King David. Up to his sin with Bathsheba, things were going great, weren't they? What happened after his sin with Bathsheba? He was never the same again. Never the same again. Let's go back to Matthew 18. There's so much more I could say on that, but let's go back to Matthew 18 and try to get finished with this little brief study on church discipline. Remember the title of the message is A Church with Integrity. Integrity is someone doing something that they say they're going to do. And you and I say that we're going to do church discipline, so guess what we need to do? We need church discipline. Not just because we say it, but because the Word of God tells us to. So back in Matthew 18, verse 21. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto them, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. So how do we deal with the repeat offender? When dealing with the repeat offender, our flesh wants to say that's enough. Enough is enough. But what's the Bible tell us? What does Christ teach us here? That we are to forgive. Seven times seventy, that doesn't mean that we actually multiply those numbers together. The word seven there talks about perfection, completion, the whole of it. In the book of Revelation, the seven churches speaks of all the churches in a sense. Amen. This means an innumerable amount. We keep forgiving, keep forgiving. I know we say, but come on, why? Why do you keep doing this? And as soon as we say that, we have forgotten what we're robed with. This flesh is wicked. How many of your sins do you fall to every day continually? Be honest. We must understand that all of us struggle with sin. That does not give us a right to commit sin. Some struggles are more open to censor. But no matter what, we are to be ready and willing to forgive. And someone might say, I don't think I can forgive them. Well then I challenge you to read the rest of Matthew chapter 18. I'm not going to go over it this morning, but I encourage you to read it and find out what happened to a man who was forgiven, but would not forgive others for lesser offenses. Church discipline is beneficial for the whole church when it is done according to the scriptures. Restoration is beneficial for the whole church when it is done according to the scriptures. When we obey the scriptures, we bring honor and glory to God. And we find ourselves being blessed by Him. Isn't that what we want, people? The blessings of God, not just in our lives and upon this local church. We want God to be with us, to fellowship with us. Amen. Sweet fellowship. must be sure that we don't have unforgiveness in our hearts. I understand that this is not easy. We've got to crucify our flesh, tell our flesh no. One of the things that people say is that you don't know what they've done to me. Again, read the rest of Matthew 18. What have we done to God? What have we done to Jesus Christ? Every sin is a sin that is in the face of our Heavenly Father. It's there. And when we sin, we're saying, God, I know you love me, but right now I love this sin more than I love you. How terrible is that? Remember while we do church discipline, we go to gain a brother or a sister back. And we need the Lord's help in doing this. What we've learned is if you know someone who needs to be confronted, examine yourself and then you go in the spirit of meekness to gain your brother back. If he will not hear you, take with you witnesses. If he will not repent, then you bring this to the attention of the church. The church as a whole reaches out to this person or people, and if they are still unrepentant, then you must break fellowship with them, but at the same time you're looking and longing for their return. Often it's out of sight, out of what? That should not be our heart's desire. When most people sit in the same spot, it's a habit. They come in, they'll find a pew, and then they'll sit there, and that's where they're at. When we look around and we see a spot empty, we should ask why? Where's so-and-so been? Are they sick? Are they in a bind? Let's check on them. Or are they in sin? Speak with them. Commune with them. Find out. See how we can help. The person in sin, when they repent and they return, we restore them to fellowship. We do this for all of our good, including them, but ultimately for God's glory. God's good, isn't He? Aren't you thankful that God's given this to us in Scripture, dealing with church discipline? I encourage you to pray one for another. Let us pray.