Let's open the Bible, this time to the New Testament and the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 18, verses 10 through 35. Again, Matthew, chapter 18, verses 10 through 35, which can be found on page 823, if you're using the Church Bible. Although we're still in Matthew's Gospel, we're taking a brief hiatus from our series on the Sermon on the Mount. as we stop midway through the Beatitudes and I'll explain why. Two years ago, I preached to you on the relationship between shepherds and sheep. As your elders, who are your overseers and under-shepherds, we're seeking, with the help of God's Spirit, to answer His call to faithfully care for and watch over this flock within Christ's fold, starting with you who are communing members of this congregation and your children, something we are continuing in, aiming to stick with it by God's grace. And in the last of that sermon series, we broke some ground in the heart of this passage, verses 15 through 20, as informed by the surrounding verses, verses 10 through 14, and 21 through 35. You may recall how I mentioned that Dr. Timothy Whitmer, my seminary professor, would advise us as his students to preach on what Jesus covers here to our future congregations at least once a year. it being that needful, as we'll soon find out or be reminded as to why. which is what I did near the beginning of last year, returning to this text. So here we are again, still early on in this year of 2018. By the way, the two prior sermons can be accessed on Sermon Audio. I want to revisit these things, building upon what we've been able to consider in the past. This won't all be repetition, but some of it will be, and that's okay. It's by design, intentional on my part. So, without neglecting the broader parameters of verses 10-35 as a whole, let's give our special attention to Matthew chapter 18 verses 15-20. Verses 15-20, to these words that come straight from the lips of our Lord Jesus, listening now to the holy, inerrant, and infallible, life-giving Word of God as I read it to us. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him it's false 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. Let the one who has ears to hear, hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I begin as I have in the past with a question. What do the sheep who make up the church do when they notice that one of their own number may be wandering off into danger? away from and outside of the good, green pastures of the Savior's shepherd. I'm not asking what should they do, but what in fact do they do? What do they incline towards? What is their tendency? Let me conjure up once again what you may remember from before, that imaginary instance of what I mean, not too far removed from what is real, untypical. This example I'm about to give could be men. It could be two men named Charlie Brown and Linus. So don't read into it that I'm going to instead mention two ladies. Lady number one, let's call her Lucy, church member, can at times be abrasive and has been particularly abrasive towards lady number two. Let's call her Peppermint Patty, church member. And Lucy at one point flips out. and verbally berates Peppermint Patty, calling her every name in the book, denouncing her. So what does Peppermint Patty do but tell on her by going to the pastor? And what does he do? but then get directly involved instead of first redirecting Peppermint Patty to make her own concerted, prayerful effort to work things out with Lucy. Now that illustrates what sheep all too often do to their fellow sheep. and how their leaders all too often respond. They don't follow Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 20. They may do absolutely nothing. Or they will just talk with others. about the alleged offender in question engaging in destructive criticism or what the Bible calls gossip, which again isn't something that the ladies have a corner on. Or they skip all of the preceding steps outlined by Jesus and go straight to the elders and make their case for formal church discipline to take place. Jesus is very clear, however, as to what ought to take place, which is a series of steps, starting with some preliminary steps. It's only if none of the preceding measures provokes repentance that the Church's recourse becomes excommunication. In verses 18 through 20, Jesus speaks of the church, of its leaders, binding and loosing, building on what he would say a couple of chapters back, in chapter 16, verse 19, in such a way that when they act accordingly, in keeping with the written word of God, including the teaching of Jesus here, they are reflecting the will of heaven. Jesus adds this, too. 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. This, when read in light of what has proceeded, has to do with formal church discipline, not some minimum number like a quorum that needs to be reached in order to pray together, to know that you're being heard. When formal church discipline is rightly carried out, our Heavenly Father agrees with it, blessing it, and Christ is to be understood as present, speaking authoritatively and solemnly through His church. And yet, what I wish to impress upon us all is that there can't be a rush to judgment. that these first steps must not be ignored. We can't tolerate in our leadership or in the church overall a mentality that is church discipline happy or a mentality that is somehow eager to excommunicate. The process needs to be deliberate, if not downright slow, marked by patience and long suffering and tears. It's also true that it is bedrock and foundational as this material is the church discipline. Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 20 is not the only portion of scripture that speaks to this issue. Other scriptures make it clear that this is a general pattern, not a cookie cutter, one size fits all set of steps that Jesus gives here. In some cases, in fact, When the sin is serious enough and of a public nature, like when a minister is teaching false doctrine, you don't need to take the first two more private steps detailed here, and certainly not when the situation may already warrant a more formal judicial process. However, many, many cases do start off being private in nature, requiring that Jesus' teaching, as given here, along with the rest of the Bible's teaching on the subject, be carefully, meticulously, painstakingly followed. And that's what I especially wish to hone in on this morning, to freshly instill in this congregation something I believe you are already sensitive to. Again though, nothing can be taken for granted, as harmonious and peaceful a bunch as you all are, as far as I and many others can tell. After all, as N.T. Wright says of these verses and what they teach, it is severely practical, as well as ruthlessly idealistic, not a bad combination. And I might add, it is to be applied not only as guidance for formal church discipline, which is corrective, but as a handbook for something that is preventive in nature, as we live by these words in our everyday relationships with one another. So this is how I would sum up God's word to us, Covenant Presbyterian. This is where we're going because Christ knows them by name. and loves each and every sheep within his fold, we must reflect his heart attitude when one goes astray. Yes, even if he refuses to listen to them. Three things. First, make personal care and concern your motivation. Brothers and sisters, the context of Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 20 must be given its due lest we distort its meaning and application by tearing it out of its original setting. That means examining what comes before in verses 10 through 14. In verses 10 and 11, Jesus stresses the need to have a high regard for his little ones. Then comes verses 12 through 14. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. This is often labeled the parable of the lost sheep, but should probably be called the parable of the straying sheep, reflecting the language Jesus actually uses. The straying sheep, after all, carries with it the connotation of one who already belongs to the shepherd, but still goes astray. This can apply to one who is lost, who has never known Christ, of course, but primarily Jesus seems to have in mind straying Christians. wayward, prone to backsliding, and so on. And this fits in well with what he's about to teach with regard to a brother who offends. What is the point of Jesus' parable then? It is this, that each one must be loved. You see, Jesus doesn't think like a businessman when it comes to his sheep. He doesn't rationalize and say, well, I've got these 99, so I'm not going to risk further loss and bother with that one that's getting away. No. The God we know in Christ is like the parent who knows that at times there may be one child who needs extra attention. Special attention. It doesn't mean that he or she loves the others less, but only that this one is in particular need. God's love for us in Christ is customized, you see, along such lines. Being in His kingdom is not like waiting in line after having picked a number. You are not a mere number, according to Jesus. Like I am, you are known by name. and given the personal treatment of our Heavenly Father. In His Kingdom, each and every one of His sheep matters. So, it is not the will of my Father, says Jesus, who is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. When one goes astray, God goes in search of that sheep until He finds it, rejoicing when He does so. And we need to ask the Holy Spirit to make that our heart as well. Because that's how we need to be when we are called to be one of God's vessels. When we see one of our fellow sheep going astray. If we love them with the love of this God, then we must be moved to pursue first. Make personal care and concern your motivation. Second, make Jesus' instructions your mandate, including when you move from step two to step three. Brothers, sisters, do not gloss over what is pivotal, that initial step that is all too often glossed over and disrespected as if unimportant, when everything else, should further steps be necessary, will hinge on your integrity and mine at this point. As Jesus says in verse 15, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his faults between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Which is what we would dwell on two years ago when I preached this material to you. By the way, when he says, if your brother sins against you, it doesn't mean that for you to at some point go to your brother or sister, he or she must sin against you specifically. When you're members of the body of Christ and interconnected, there is a sense in which any sin against God affects the whole body, for example, diminishing the ability of the member in question to function as part of the body, to serve the body, which means there is a sense in which it is always against God primarily, and always against you secondarily, however indirectly. Now, who is first of all in view according to Jesus? If he is dealing with widening, concentric circles, where the whole church is in the know and involved in the end, and only the church, not the general public, and only those who are members of the particular local congregation, should things need to escalate and reach that point, then who is the first and narrowest concentric circle? We might be tempted to say your brother and you, But I think we'd be jumping the gun. The first and narrowest concentric circle is simply your brother or your sister. So stop there. You may become aware of your brother or sister doing or saying something or engaging in some habit that you find questionable. And yet you need to pause and ask, is it really necessary for me to bother him? about this. Does she really need me to confront her? Is it a sin or is it just something that I find annoying? And if it is a sin, is it a serious enough sin? We need to beware of being a busybody or having a hypercritical nitpicky spirit. And in many, many cases, just let it go and move on. If it's sin, it may at the very least be something your brother and sister should be given the chance to realize and repent of as the Spirit of God works in his or her life. So how do you know if it does require, to use Jesus' words, you telling it to your brother or sister? Well, I recommend a book called The Peacemaker. In chapter 7, entitled, Just the Two of You, the author, Ken Sandy, as you may remember from before, poses a series of questions to help you and me discern whether or not we need to address the issue with our brother or sister. And I'm going to list them without comment, by way of review. Number one, is the offense in question dishonoring God? Number two, is it damaging your relationship? Number three, is it hurting others? Number four, is it hurting the offender? If the answer is a strong and unequivocal yes to some or all of those questions, then it is likely time to expand the concentric circle at this point to your brother or sister and you. Though going to him or her will take some guts, as well as a proper dose of humility, which you'll need to pray for. Just take heart and remember how often the Bible insists on this type of keeping of our brothers and sisters when one goes astray, like in Proverbs 24, verses 11 and 12, which I'll just cite for you, and James chapter 5, verses 19 and 20, which I will go ahead and quote. My brothers, James says, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death. and will cover a multitude of sins. So you've determined that you need to take this step. Try to do it in person, face-to-face if at all possible, and be willing to have more than one conversation, giving us a chance even if it means repeated attempts. So what if going this far is to no avail? Well, that's where your love like Christ, must be dogged, stubborn. And that's where verse 16 in step 2 comes in, with Jesus saying this, 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. Which is what I would preach to you one year ago. following principles established through God's law back in Old Testament times. Help, Jesus says, is to be enlisted in the form of one or two others. These would be respected friends, perhaps church leaders, or other godly and unbiased individuals to help you help your brother or sister, and maybe help you and your brother or sister be reconciled. Paul seems to have this type of thing in mind with the instruction he gives in Philippians chapter 4, verses 2 and 3, where the apostle singles out Euodia and Syntyche as two disputing ladies in the church in need of an intermediary to come alongside them that they might work things out. Sandy outlines in his book in chapter 9, take one or two others along, the various scenarios which can be sought, which I'm not going to go into right now, though I mention it in case you want to go read it for yourself. Be considerate of your quote-unquote opponent. If you enlist someone's aid, just say to the third party that you're at odds and need help. without divulging unnecessary details of the case, and certainly without taking advantage of the opportunity to tell your side of the story first, or to characterize your brother or sister a certain, possibly unfair way. Reconcilers can help. They can help the two of you take whatever steps you need to take. They can give counsel, offering solutions, though they should first do all they can to see to it that you and your brother or sister take your own voluntary steps to make peace. If the person refuses to engage with you, and the third party, or if they do but attempts to bring about repentance and or reconciliation fail, reconcilers can also serve as witnesses that this is indeed the case should things progress so that the church needs to become more formally involved. I hope you're making a connection as you listen to this. that we not only need to be those who pursue any sheep gone astray, but we also need to grow into those who can take on the role of reconciler. According to the teaching of Jesus here, such is needed to develop a culture of true peace and to keep and sustain it. And that becomes all the more paramount if step two also proves to be insufficient. As we are stretched, And as we now move on and consider what may also be deemed necessary, as it is outlined for us in verse 17, or verse 17a, and step 3 with Jesus saying this, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. Which is what I wanted to get to and cover with you in this sermon, helping to unpack and bring home what Jesus is saying here. One immediate question is, what is meant by church? Does it mean telling it to the members of the church in general, or to designated leaders? Presbyterian churches like ours take Jesus as referring to designated leaders, and yet I would say that even in more congregational churches, where there might be more authoritative involvement on the part of all the members at some point, there are procedures in place. to first divulge a concern of this gravity to designated leaders. Sandy, in the same ninth chapter of his book, addresses this, saying, this does not mean what Jesus is saying. Standing up in a worship service and broadcasting the conflict to church members and visitors alike, since unwarranted publicity is totally inconsistent with the intent of Matthew chapter 18, instead, you should inform the leadership of your church. Sandy very helpfully speaks to situations involving people from two different churches, but that's another thing beyond our present scope. We, as we pursue a biblical Presbyterianism in our form of church government, understand the leadership in view to mean the representative body of active elders. ministers or teaching elders, plus ruling elders, which on the local level we call the session, to which I'm going to restrict the domain of this sermon. By the way, I'm also going to restrict what I have to say to lay members of churches with regard to their potential need for discipline, to their membership privileges, and not deal with church officers and how they might be disciplined with regard to their offices, which would also overly complicate things. Though a future sermon in this series may cover that topic. Now, there are often layers to this in biblical churches with intermediate steps or sub-steps. First of all, involving what are known as behind-the-scenes silent censures to take before one is treated as a Gentile and a tax collector. In other words, publicly removed from church membership. That is, if there is no repentance. Our own church's Book of Discipline found within the Orthodox Presbyterian Book of Church Order, which I'm about to reference, is something we can put into your hands if you wish to read it. It is profoundly helpful, even if it is not, clearly not, the most exciting piece of literature in all the world. It draws on the wisdom of the historic church in applying Jesus' teaching and providing guidelines listing several degrees of censure or penalties, with each one becoming more severe depending upon the nature of the case and what the session believes is warranted. The session may first bring an admonition to the offender, basically a tender and solemn warning with a call and exhortation to repentance. And then if the admonition doesn't lead to sufficient change in the offender and more is deemed necessary, a second degree of censure would be a rebuke, more severe than an admonition, setting forth a serious character of the offense, reproving the offender, and exhorting him to repentance and to a more perfect fidelity to the Lord Jesus Christ. If this still doesn't stir up repentance, more action might be necessary. But anything beyond these initial steps would then require A trial, that is, unless the offender basically comes as his or her own accuser and does not dispute his or her own guilt. And a trial in turn would require that the alleged offense be deemed serious enough. If the session does conduct a trial with the one on trial being found guilty, the session will deem it appropriate to at least impose the next degree of censures, namely the suspension of membership privileges, which includes suspension from the Lord's Supper, which depending on the case may be for a definite period of time or an indefinite. One so disciplined by the church will be the object of deep solicitude and earnest dealing to the end that he or she may be brought back to his or her senses and restored. If and when the session is satisfied of the penitence of the offender, or if and when the time of suspension has expired, the censure shall be removed and the offender shall be restored with this restoration being accompanied by a solemn admonition. If all the above is attempted, however, and none of it proves effectual in producing some spirit-wrought change of heart on the part of the offender, then the session is left with no choice. If it, again, deems this situation, this sin to be serious enough, but to move towards excommunication, which, Lord willing, I'll take up from these verses next year, as it is the next thing Jesus outlines. If you are getting the impression that this is not my most favorite sermon to preach, well, wait until next year. This is not my most favorite sermon, but I do say to myself, And to all of you that we need to recognize the importance of these things and be passionate for what our Lord Himself is concerned about. And yet, on the topic of excommunication, here for now, is what our book of discipline says about that. Excommunication is the most severe form of censure and is resorted to only in cases of offenses aggravated by persistent in penitence. It consists in a solemn declaration by an ecclesiastical adjudicatory that the offender is no longer considered a member of the body of Christ. In effect, no longer considered a true Christian. First, make personal care and concern your motivation. Second, make Jesus' instructions your mandate, including when you move from step two to step three. Third, make gracious reconciliation and restoration your goal. Dear brothers and sisters, beloved, what we've seen so far from Matthew chapter 18, verses 15 and following, has already been taking us in this direction. The point is to gain your brother. or sister. You gain him or her back, and quite frankly, when there is real conflict, resolution, the bond you then have is stronger than whatever bond you would have enjoyed before, when relationships pass the test. And listen to the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 31, section 3, on the need for corrective, formal church discipline, which is one of the marks of a true church. Church censures, it says, are necessary for the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethren, for deterring of others from the like offenses, for purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump, for vindicating the honor of Christ and the holy profession of the gospel, and for preventing the wrath of God which might justly fall upon the church if they should suffer his covenant and the seals thereof to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders. Did you notice the first reason listed? For the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethren. And the clincher here... Biblically is the rest of the context, what comes after Matthew chapter 18, verses 15 through 20. Simon Peter, knowing what will make this process so challenging, asks Jesus in verse 21, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? Jesus replies in verse 22, I do not say it to you 7 times, but 70 times 7. And He does not mean you can stop once you get to 490. He's speaking in a Hebrew, idiomatic way. He's saying that there is no limit to the forgiveness that you confer. And with forgiveness so crucial to it, at the very core of it, you don't stop seeking after it, after full reconciliation and restoration, complete with repentance. Even if an excommunication should take place, it is not to be construed the end of the story. Which is the point. or among the points of the parable of the unforgiving servant that Jesus then tells in verses 23-35 that we can only touch on. Because what Jesus is saying here means Peter and the rest of us need to first receive God's forgiveness in Christ. We need reservoirs of forgiveness within that come from God and how He has forgiven us, bringing us to repentance and reconciling and restoring us to Himself. So in this story Jesus tells, a servant owes a king a huge debt, which the king forgives. The servant is then stingy towards his fellow servant, punishing him, refusing to forgive this other man's debt, though it is minuscule, chump change compared to his original debt to his master, the king. The king finds out, he's enraged, and revokes forgiveness, jailing him until the debt is paid in full. Then comes Jesus' punchline in verse 35. So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. Do Christians lose God's forgiveness? Does God renege on his redeeming love? Of course not. But to the naked eye, this is what it looks like, the way it is depicted in the story. Someone professes Christ and the forgiveness of sins, but does not extend mercy and forgiveness to others, thus showing his or her profession to be empty and false. Meaning that, More awe-inspiring, transcendent things are expected of us who are true Christians and of Christ's true Church. Whether it's a private offense we must forgive or a public offense the Church must forgive, complete with the offender's reinstatement and restoration upon repentance. which will happen in the case of every sheep of Christ, every elect soul, we must be willing to forgive. We must not be begrudging and miserly with our forgiveness. Not when a holy, righteous God's forgiveness of us cost Him everything. His own dear Son's sacrificial death upon the cross, as payment in full for it, and not when other people's indebtedness to us is nothing in comparison. Our Shepherd God's reconciling love and grace must rule over us, even if the one in question, even if he or she refuses to listen to them. Amen.