We turn in Holy Scripture this evening to Galatians 6. Galatians 6. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of his flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. You see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory. save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Notice especially the first two verses of this chapter. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. I call your attention this evening to the instruction of our Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 31, question and answer 85. The last question and answer of that Lord's Day. Lord's Day 31, question and answer 85. still concerning the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, how is the Kingdom of Heaven shut and opened by Christian discipline? Thus, when, according to the command of Christ, those who under the name of Christians maintain doctrines or practices inconsistent therewith, and will not, after having been often brotherly admonished, renounce their errors and wicked course of life, are complained of to the church, or to those who are thereunto appointed by the church, and if they despise their admonition, are by them forbidden the use of the sacraments, whereby they are excluded from the Christian church and by God himself from the kingdom of Christ, and when they promise and show real amendment, are again received as members of Christ and his church. Beloved in the Lord, to review briefly, we have taken the time to proceed through our treatment of Lord's Day 31, considering each of the three questions and answers separately. There is a need, especially in our day, to give these matters careful attention, to understand clearly what the Bible teaches concerning the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. We have seen that the keys of the Kingdom a biblical expression, represent the authority and the power to open and to shut the Kingdom of Heaven to men, women, and children. It is a power that belongs to Christ and which He has conferred upon His Apostles and through His Apostles to the Church, and particularly the elders of the Church, whether teaching elders, or ruling elders. That power was exercised through the apostles by the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit. One occasion in which that was clearly evidenced was the execution of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts chapter 5, who lied to the apostles and therefore to God Himself. When their lie was exposed by Peter, God immediately struck them dead. The consequence of which was that great fear fell upon all the church and as many as who heard these things. that the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit is no longer at work in the offices of the church, does not take away from the truth that the keys of the kingdom are exercised with authority and power through the Word of God under the guidance of the Spirit in faithfulness to the truth. So authoritative is the exercise of the keys by faithful office bearers that Christ says to them, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18, verse 18, That power, we have seen, is exercised in the Church, first of all, by the preaching of the Word. By the preaching, Christ opens and shuts the Kingdom of Heaven to all those who hear. To use the language of 2 Corinthians 2, verses 15 and 16, the preaching of the Gospel goes forth unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one, we are a savor of death unto death. To the other, the savor of life unto life. The very thought of the preaching being used by Christ in such a way causes the faithful minister to cry out with the Apostle, And who is sufficient for these things? But such is the power, the authority of that preaching. It is that which opens and shuts the kingdom of heaven. It does so by going forth as a particular promise. It is gospel preaching, good news, only to the heirs of the promise. Thus, according to the command of Christ, it is declared and publicly testified to all and every believer that when they receive the promise of the gospel by a true faith, all their sins are really forgiven them of God for the sake of Christ's merits. But at the same time, because the preaching is the proclamation of a particular promise, It is also antithetical. When that promise draws in all and every believer and only believers, it also excludes all unbelievers and such as do not sincerely repent. The content of faithful preaching makes that clear. So besides the promise of Christ to all and every believer, It is declared and testified to all unbelievers and such as do not sincerely repent that they stand exposed to the wrath of God and eternal condemnation so long as they are unconverted. According to which testimony of the gospel, God will judge them both in this and in the life to come. But besides the keys of the kingdom being exercised by the preaching of the holy gospel, they are exercised by Christian discipline. That becomes the focus of attention in question and answer 85. You will immediately sense that there is a difference between the preaching of the gospel and Christian discipline. While both are keys of the kingdom, And while both serve the same purpose and accomplish the same sovereign work of Christ, the exercise of Christian discipline is much more narrow in its application. The word preached is effectively the broad exercise of Christian discipline. In that preaching of the Gospel, Christ speaks to you and to me from week to week calling us to repentance and faith, often exposing our sins and sinful natures, and drawing us anew to the cross of our Lord and Savior. By that preaching, we all are often, even on a weekly basis, reproved, rebuked, and exhorted with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. In fact, that frequently occurs without the minister's knowledge even of the particular sins in the lives of the members of the congregation. The preaching is the key power that touches all. But the exercise of Christian discipline is the key power applied individually, personally and definitely. It doesn't touch all. It doesn't touch the hypocrite even. As I mentioned before, we can't see behind the mask of the hypocrite. It's only the preaching that exposes him to his own conscience. Christian discipline, therefore, touches only the one who manifests unbelief and impenitence. But it's touch. is just as powerful and authoritative as is the preaching. It opens and shuts the kingdom of heaven to those persons who come under its power. With that introduction, therefore, I call your attention now to that key power of Christian discipline. Its spiritual character, its spiritual process, and its spiritual fruits. When we consider Christian discipline, the first thing we must understand is its spiritual character. That such would be my first point today is not without reason. The simple fact is the spiritual character of Christian discipline is often forgotten. let alone the frequency of such forgetfulness among the members of the Church, there are times when consistories are confronted by members who have a grievance against a fellow member, which grievance they have not pursued in the biblical way, nor do they have any interest in doing so. They have come to the consistory to avenge them of their adversary. Or they come, as did the man to Jesus, recorded in Luke 12, verse 13, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. They don't come with a spiritual motivation. That is wrong. And the consistories must not enter into such cases, but rather must tell the agreed party that they are wrong. They didn't come seeking the key power, but the sword power. So and so did this. You must do something about it. No, that's not the elder's business. And that's not the elder's work. The response of Jesus to that request in Luke 12 was very short, even to the point of being misinterpreted as rude. He said, man, who made me a judge or divider over you? And then he turned and he addressed those present, saying, take heed and beware of covetousness. The idea being of which you have just witnessed an example. Christian discipline is not motivated by the desire to give out justice, let alone the desire to punish. If that's your motive, don't come to the church. That's the business of the state, the magistrate. They possess the sword power, the power to punish. That's their calling too, to punish the evildoer. The key power of Christian discipline is entirely different. You never apply Christian discipline by laying hold of the brother by his throat. You apply Christian discipline by seeking his heart. Don't forget that. And don't ever make the claim before God, I love the brother, when you seek his throat but not his heart. The spiritual character of Christian discipline is very evident when Scripture teaches us what is to be the underlying motive of that discipline. We heard it in the first two verses of Galatians 6. The calling of Christian discipline is the calling of love, that which fulfills the law of Christ. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Do you notice that calling belongs to every one of us? Christian discipline is not just the calling of the elders. It's not even first the calling of the elders. This is your calling. Love for Christ, love for His church, love for the brother required of you. So fulfill the law of Christ. That must be your approach. That must be your attitude toward a brother or sister who sins. That must be your approach exclusively. The one who takes hold of these keys, the one who would pursue discipline from any other motive than that of love, commits a sin just as great as the one who is the object of that discipline. Do you understand then the spiritual character of Christian discipline? If you take, for example, that man referred to in Luke chapter 12, who came to Jesus with that problem concerning his inheritance, it's well possible that his brother stole that inheritance. It's quite possible that this man had a case for the magistrate. But as long as he was only interested in getting his money, he had no business coming to Jesus. And we can add, because this was a Jew, one of the company, we read in Luke 12, and therefore a member by name of the church of the Old Testament, as long as he showed himself interested only in personal gain, He showed himself wicked. He had no love for the brother, which love necessarily marks the children of God. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how shall he love God whom he hath not seen? But you know as well as I that that's not easy. It's far easier to go to the magistrate than to seek the brother's soul. And when we have been wronged, it's much easier to use the magistrate to grab the brother by the throat than to go to him in love and seek his salvation. but the purpose of Christian discipline, and that is your calling when you have been wronged. The purpose is the return of the brother. Yes, Christian discipline has a deeply spiritual character. Oh, I understand in practical life that's often very, very difficult. Sometimes the attitude of the brother, as well as your own sinful inclination and sinful attitude, seems to make it almost impossible for you and for me to do anything like that. You know in your own experience, so you can say it with me, my own sinful nature is not inclined to go to the brother and love him with an active love when he has lied to or about me and slandered me and does all kinds of crooked work against me. That's not easy. And the difficulty is not so much with the brother, though that's where we like to place the focus. But the difficulty is really myself. My sinful nature. I would rather condemn Him. I would rather say, I'll have nothing to do with Him. I'll sit on the opposite side of church so I never have to cross His path. And when we fail to realize or we suppress our conscience of the truth that His sin against me has stirred up within me far greater sins, perhaps even including the sin of hatred, then we like to do away with the realization that I have become the greater sinner. And then I look at the brother, and I look at the magistrate, and I think, I'll make him pay. And I make it impossible for myself to approach Him in love and to seek His salvation. Because the fact is, I have seared that love in my own heart. It's lost. And I'm in need of the Savior. I'm the one who needs to hear the calling of His Word in Galatians 6. Remember, the object of the key power of Christian discipline is your fellow Christian, a member of the Church. Don't lose sight of the fact that Christian discipline is viewed here as a key of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is so by the very institution of Christ. The kingdom of heaven is open and shut by Christian discipline. It's a key, therefore, that determines who shall and who shall not be admitted into the kingdom. The church's membership is that of believers and their children. Believers and their children are to be admitted to the church. Admission to baptism comes by the key power. Being open only to the children of believers, members of the church. Admission to the Lord's Supper comes by the key power. So that the Kingdom of Heaven is open only to believers and their children. They are admitted into the Christian Church and therefore into the Kingdom of Heaven. For they are those who belong to Christ. All the rest are excluded. That means, on the one hand, that those who go by the name Christian, but who walk in impenitent sin, are excluded by the key power of Christian discipline. The behavior of my worldly neighbors is not my concern. You are not called to exercise Christian discipline toward your unbelieving fellow employee who may be a fornicator. You may admonish him, and should, not only by your life of godliness, but by your godly conversation you testify to him of the power of God's grace in your life, grace which alone can save But that unbeliever doesn't fall under the power of Christian discipline. There's no avenue even for such action. Christian discipline is of a spiritual character and therefore cannot even apply to him who makes no claim to be spiritual. And that we be clear on this, the Apostle Paul spells it out in the last part of 1 Corinthians chapter 5. There is a distinct difference between our dealings with those of the world and our dealings with those who are called brothers or sisters in the faith. Christian discipline has to do with those who are members of the church, believers and their children. You will notice in question and answer 85, the catechism does not make, nor does scripture really make distinction between believers and their children. That is, it doesn't make distinction between baptized and confessing members of the church. Those who are baptized are members of the church, and therefore also subject to the key power not only of preaching, but of Christian discipline. That's evident too in Deuteronomy 21, verses 18 through 21. Parents are to bring their rebellious children, that is, those who are old enough to understand the Word of God, to the elders of the church that they might exercise Christian discipline toward them. As nominal members of the church, they are subject to that discipline, and if continuing in impenitence, must be excluded from the Christian church and by God Himself from the kingdom of Christ. One more thing in connection with the spiritual character of Christian discipline. Although Christian discipline must usually begin in the way marked out in Matthew 18, a passage which we have considered in the past, with you approaching your brother and telling him his fault between him and you alone, that discipline immediately ceases with the repentance of the one who has fallen. In the way of leading to repentance, Christian discipline, you see, opens the kingdom of heaven. to the one who has fallen and reminds him of Christ's perfect sacrifice. That's why it is important to understand that Christian discipline is only carried on in the case of impenitence. Christian discipline does not exclude the sinner from the church. The one who repents must be shown in that exercise of Christian discipline, that at the head of sinners stands one who has blotted out their sin. Christ came to save sinners. The fact that you have sinned does not exclude you from the Christian church and from the kingdom of heaven. Exclusion comes to those who, having been often admonished, despise the admonitions, continuing impenitent in their doctrines or practices inconsistent with the Christian faith. Let's understand that, beloved. The person who commits a great sin one which even results in going to prison, is yet received as a member of Christ and of His Church if he repents. On the other hand, the person who speaks just a little gossip, who passes on just a little slander, and who does not repent, is worthy of exclusion from the Christian church and by God himself from the kingdom of Christ. That's the nature of Christian discipline. Because of its spiritual character, Christian discipline involves a spiritual process. being guided by love for the brother, the first step of Christian discipline is to approach him with brotherly admonition, seeking his spiritual welfare by way of his repentance. What we read in the first two verses of Galatians 6 is set forth by Christ Himself in Matthew 18. In Matthew 18, verse 15, we read, Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." Pay careful attention. That's the calling of love. And the purpose of going to call on the brother and telling him his sin between you and him alone is to keep that sin within the limits of that which has been committed. You don't first talk about the brother, because then you've already forfeited the right to go to him. You don't first trumpet his sin about. You keep it within the limits of you and him alone. The limits of privacy. in which that sin has been committed. That, first of all. Here again, you notice immediately that even the process of Christian discipline is spiritual. It attempts to protect the sinner. To keep his sin as secret as possible. That is, within as narrow a circle as the sin itself affected. In love of the brother, this is the process, to make his repentance as easy as possible. That's quite a contrast from the magistrate. The magistrate has no desire to protect the offender. In an area like this, The magistrate even gives to the newspaper for publication the names of those accused even before they are tried and found guilty. The magistrate has no concern for the name of an offender. The magistrate isn't involved in a spiritual work. You are. That is why if the brother has sinned against you, you go to him. That's your calling. That's the fulfillment of the law of Christ. Secondly, the purpose of love is to bring that sinner to repentance. The purpose is that you first stand before God yourself, examining yourself carefully, lest you be tempted to deal with the brother wrongly. You pray. Then you go to Him in the spirit of meekness. You go to Him to have Him stand before God with you. showing him his sin, bringing him the Word of God, and calling him to repent. And if he does repent, you forgive him. That's the end of the matter. No matter what has been done, you forgive him. That ought not be so difficult for us, beloved. knowing what God has forgiven us. But here again, because this is a spiritual process, it requires of us a spiritual mind. It requires that we put aside our old man of sin. That old man of sin battles us. That old man of sin wants us to remember. Wants us never to forgive. Wants us to cling to that enmity against the brother. How Satan wants that. He remembers well the words of Jesus in Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, Your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Satan remembers that. Oh, I know you want to know that the brother repents sincerely. That would make it a little easier perhaps to forgive him. Sometimes the brother makes it difficult to forgive. You can have it, for example, that you approach the brother, and you admonish him, and you admonish him again, and you go to him again, and he refuses and refuses to come to repentance, so you take witnesses along. And he refuses to repent there. So finally, you say, well, you haven't repented. I must now bring it to the church. Well, that's something else. So finally, he reluctantly, reluctantly says, all right, I'll confess. You feel in your heart that that confession is not heartfelt. And yes, what can you do? But he has confessed. He has admitted that he has done wrong. He has said he's sorry, even though the tone of voice with which he said it seems somewhat grudging. So what do you do? I tell you, you have to forgive Him. You have to take Him at His Word. Again, even that shouldn't be so difficult if you remember how God has forgiven you. You have to be ungodly not to forgive a brother. Think of what Christ has forgiven you. When you hear the Gospel every day, your sins are forgiven you. When you yourself know the life of true conversion, constantly battling your own sinful flesh, putting off the old man and striving to put on the new, when you know your forgiveness, You can't possibly refuse to forgive the brother. That's impossible. But sometimes you have one who refuses to heed the admonition. The Catechism speaks of repeated admonitions, and it speaks of the sinner having been often brotherly admonished before being complained of to the church, Taking it to the elders, in other words, is the last resort. You attempt more than once to seek the brother's repentance. And if it becomes manifest that he will not hear the Word of God that you bring to him, you must go to him with witnesses. Of course, you haven't spoken to others about the brother's sin. You haven't entered into that wickedness. But now, according to Matthew 18, verse 16, you take one or two more. Not only that they might hear your admonitions and the brother's response, but that they also may admonish as they see fit. And if he will not hear you or them, Then you tell it to the church. And as the catechism reminds us when it uses that expression, the church, from Matthew 18, verse 17, the meaning is not the members of the church, but to the elders. Those who are thereunto appointed by the church to exercise that last remedy of exclusion from the church and from the kingdom of Christ. all must be done spiritually, you see. We are to seek the welfare of the sinner, that is, his salvation and the well-being of the church, and through it all, the glory of Christ, the glory of God. That's a serious business. Just as the preaching of the Gospel is serious business in opening and shutting the kingdom to all who hear, so Christian discipline is serious business in its application to the individual, its life or death. That's exactly what we read in James 5 verse 20. Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins." That's why it's our purpose as a church not to find the sinner guilty and seek to punish him, but to bring him back. And to that end, the elders labor. patiently, step by step. Repeatedly, they will go to the one who is walking in a wicked course of life. Repeatedly, they attempt to lead the person to repentance. Again, it isn't the sinner who finds the keys of the Christian discipline exercised against him by the church. It's the impenitent sinner When one despises the admonitions of the church, thus rejecting the Word of God and Christ Himself, they may not remain in the church. Particularly, the one who has revealed to the church his impenitence may not be allowed to profane the sacraments. So the elders must forbid him the use of the sacraments. As the Catechism points out, that is principally excommunication. When one is expelled from partaking of the sacraments, he is already excommunicated from the fellowship of Christ and His Church and from the Kingdom of Heaven. But the Church must continue its labors, still seeking His return in the way of repentance. In time, again after many labors, the elders will make the decision to have the congregation get involved. An announcement will be made, not yet naming the sinner, but seeking the prayers of the congregation for him and for the elders in their labors. The labors, meanwhile, continue. To safeguard the process, the next step cannot be taken without bringing the case to classes for review. After careful review of the consistory's actions in the case, their actions in seeking the repentance, the spiritual welfare of the one who is impenitent, The classus gives approval for the elders to proceed to the last remedy. The name of the person is announced together with the sin. That isn't just put out there for information that you can talk about it among yourself. that's announced that you confirm the work of the elders by going to the center yourselves, the congregation becomes responsible for that discipline. And if there is still no repentance, rather soon afterwards, the kingdom of heaven is shut by excommunication. You ought to read that form for excommunication. It's found right after the Lord's Supper form. That's quite a form. That's a serious matter. Because Christ says to the church, "...whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." That's how serious that is. That's never rushed. If anything, elders tend to wait too long in reaching that final point. But the church must proceed carefully, step by step. Once salvation is at stake, How we must desire that the sinner come to repentance. The alternative is too horrible to dwell upon. Christian discipline, thus exercised spiritually, also bears spiritual fruit. What joy is found in heaven over one sinner who repents And Christian discipline must be understood as the means that Christ uses to bring sinners to repentance. By Christian discipline, the child of God who was living in fornication is brought to repentance. By the exercise of that love of Christian discipline, the man who was caught in the snares of drunkenness receives grace to turn from his sins. By the exercise of Christian discipline, the wife who refused to live in godly submission to her husband is brought to see the seriousness of that sin and turns from her evil ways By the exercise of Christian discipline, the man who has stolen confesses his sin and pays restitution and goes forth to steal no more. And so, God's name is glorified by the wonder of His grace powerfully demonstrated in the lives of those who are His. And so, Christ's church is preserved And the terrible reflection upon the church caused by the sinner's association to the church is remedied in the way of his repentance. The church exercising Christian discipline from such a spiritual motive and in such a spiritual way is a church that prospers and flourishes spiritually. For there the love of Christ is seen in the members of the body. But God's name will also be glorified and the church protected by that key of Christian discipline, shutting the kingdom of heaven against those who do not repent. God maintains the antithesis. He upholds His own holy name and reveals His righteousness. That is why, even though that discipline is exercised in weakness by His church, He puts His stand upon it. And that is why we recognize the discipline exercised by other church bodies, even though we may have doctrinal disagreements with such churches. A church that exercises Christian discipline is one that takes its calling seriously. And so long as that discipline itself is not in conflict with God's Word, it must be recognized as bearing the weight of heaven, binding in the sight of God. It demands of its object repentance before God, a turning from sin, and repentance also before the church. For without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." Hebrews 12, verse 14. Beloved, let us remember the significance of Christian discipline. Love the brethren. Carry out the exercise with spiritual minds always. so that if a man be overtaken in a fall, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Amen. Heavenly Father, we have heard Thy Word. and have been humbled by it. How sinful we are. We confess our sins before Thee. We plead forgiveness. We plead for grace to walk in love one toward another. Also in the exercise of Christian discipline, to Thy name's honor and glory, for Jesus' sake, Amen.