It's good to see you all and I do want to thank you for this opportunity to bring God's Word to you. I consider it a real honor and privilege to minister to you at this conference. So before we come to the Word of God for this evening, would you Please once again unite your heart with mine as we seek the face of our God. Let's pray, brethren. Our Father, we thank you for your great love and mercy toward us, your people.

We thank you, O God, for making us, who were once not a people, now to be the very people of God. And we bless you, O God, for your great love to us in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord. We ask, O God, that this night you would come. Lord, come with an outstretched arm and fill us with your Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. Oh God that you would quicken us and enable us to receive the engrafted word which is able to protect and save our souls.

Lord, we ask that you would do us good. Lord it's been a long day in your courts but Lord we're still here so we're looking to you. Come we pray oh God anoint and animate all that will be said and done we ask it only through Jesus Christ our wonderful Lord. Amen. It was Dr.

Al Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who in writing on the subject of the disappearance of church discipline, said the following words. He wrote, the decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the contemporary church, for the church no longer being concerned to maintain her purity of confession and lifestyle, sees itself as a voluntary association of autonomous members with minimal moral accountability to God, much less to each other. Mohler said, quote, This present generation of both ministers and church members is virtually without the experience of biblical church discipline. As a matter of fact, he goes on to say, most Christians introduced to the biblical teaching confront the issue as an idea they have never before encountered. Now dear brothers and sisters, without a doubt this is a very sad statement to be sure.

Dear ones, you and I live in a time when far from the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ doing what Jesus calls her to do concerning the disciplining of her wayward members. By and large the church has rebelled against this plain teaching of Scripture and has done what is right in her own eyes. Sadly, nowadays, in the broad evangelical church, most people would prefer just to ignore sin altogether in her midst. They would prefer to downplay it instead of dealing with it. And because this is the case, who could possibly measure the spiritual trouble that is in the church in our day.

Dear ones, I say that the church in America is in terrible shape and so if we in this place at this particular conference would not have this to be so of us. If we would continue to have the good smile of the Lord Jesus Christ upon us and our congregations then dear brethren, we must be committed to this practice of church discipline come what may. Dear brethren here today, for us who desire to obey Jesus Christ, God, and the Bible in all areas of life, I say there is absolutely no other option for us. And so, although it may be difficult at times to implement this matter of church discipline, although at times it might be very hard and it's very naughty as our brother was talking about in the earlier session. This is what we must do with the help and grace of God.

Now as you know, it is this specific topic of church discipline which is our stated topic for this year's conference. Each of the speakers have been given various aspects within this broad topic of church discipline to handle. And for my part, I've been asked to preach on that classic text which is found in Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 to 20. And that text focuses specifically on relational offenses within the local church. And I ask you please to turn with me there in your Bibles to that passage.

Matthew 18 verses 15 to 20. Here in this context as our Lord Jesus Christ has been dealing with the matter of relationships within the Christian community, He now turns the focus of attention to the topic of disciplining the unrepentant in our midst as we come to this particular passage which is absolutely vital for the spiritual peace and prosperity of our churches. I ask you to note with me first in your Bibles in verses 15 to 17 the procedure for dealing with interpersonal offenses according to Christ. So follow with me as I read these verses. Matthew 18 verses 15 to 17.

Jesus says, 15 And if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And verse 17, If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Now Here in these words, our Lord Jesus Christ essentially lays out a three-fold process for us to follow when someone sins against us in the church and most biblical scholars have recognized this fact. Here our Lord Jesus Christ lays out three successive stages, if you will, for how this particular matter is to be handled as we come to consider it. I ask you to note with me first verse 15, step 1. Look what Jesus says again. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone if he hears you you have gained your brother.

Now this verse is filled with much instruction for us so let me begin to open it up for you one stage at a time. So again, here in this context and dealing with the relationships between the brethren having just spoken in verses 6 to 9 of this chapter of our offending our brethren. Jesus now again turns to the specific subject of when someone sins against us here. Jesus says in our verse first, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. Now immediately we have here in our verse as we come to consider it a textual problem concerning the words against you as it reads in my New King James Version of the Bible.

As a matter of fact, if you have the NAS Version of the Bible or maybe the ESV Version of the Bible, you'll see that the words against you are missing from the passage. And this is because these words are lacking in some early manuscripts. Now of course, this poses a problem to some degree Because if we believe the Word should be retained, then the scenario before us now is that which is to be graciously worked out when a believer sins against us in the church. However, if the words against you are to be omitted, then the sense of the passage would be that we are to do what Jesus says whenever a believer sins in any particular way. Now as far as I'm concerned, regardless of whether or not the words should be in the passage or not, the words of Jesus here in verse 15 still apply in both cases.

To me, there's nothing in the passage which negates a Jesus directive in either situation and so I say again that whether or not the words against you should be in the passage does not change the point at hand. If our brother sins against us, we ought to go to him and speak to him about his sin. Or if our brother sins in any particular way, we see him sin, then the onus is upon us to graciously go and speak to our brother or our sister about the matter at hand. Now personally, I believe that the words against you as it reads in the King James Version of the Bible and also the New King James Version of the Bible ought to be retained in the text taking the sense of a personal offense being wrought against us. And my main support in saying this comes from what we read in verse 21 of this chapter and I ask you to note it with me there in your Bibles.

Here we read the words which say, Matthew 18, verse 21, Then Peter came to him, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me rather, and I forgive him, up to seven times. And so you see, friends, from Peter's question back to the Lord Jesus Christ, it seems very clear that this matter of someone sinning against you was the general thrust, the context of what was happening here. This seems, again, to make the most sense in this particular setting. And so in taking the passage in this way, Jesus says that if a situation in the church arises where a brother, that is to say a truly saved individual, someone who has been born again by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, if that person sins against us, then we are to go speak to them directly. Now when Jesus speaks here about a Christian sinning against us, what exactly is he speaking of?

Well, in this setting, he seems to be using the word sin in a general way, in a broad way. That is to say, whenever, rather, a member in the church sins against us, using the word sin in the generic sense. Whenever they miss the mark concerning us in their conduct based upon God's Word, then we are to go and speak to that person, that brother or sister, concerning their faults. The point is, whenever another believer does something evil toward us, something wrong against us, whether accidentally or on purpose, we are to speak to them about this particular matter. Jesus says this is something that we must do.

He says this is not an option for the believer and this is because the word go in the original is a command. Dear brothers and sisters, if we are going to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no other option for us as Christians. If we're going to be faithful to our sinning brother or sister, seeking to help them in their sanctification to be more like Jesus, then we must not act as though nothing happened between us. No, rather, we must go to them and we must do this without much delay. And I say this because the word go in the passage is also in the present tense.

Hence it could be translated be going to your brother. Now someone might ask at this point, Our brother raised the hypothetical situation earlier. Someone might raise the question at this point, which is, what about the matter of us overlooking an offense toward our brother? Didn't Peter say, for example, in 1 Peter 4 and verse 8 that love covers a multitude of sins? Well, good news, love does cover a multitude of sins, and praise God for it, amen.

But love doesn't cover every sin. That's the point. It covers a multitude of sins, but not every sin. Now obviously, in the church, we are not to spend our time confronting every single thing that people do against us. As a matter of fact, if that's what we were doing, we'd have time for almost nothing else.

However, the point is this. If the sin committed against us creates problems between us. Tension, ill will in our heart toward that brother, that sister so that we can forgive them. Then the conversation is to be had. This is what Jesus is calling us to do here.

And since, again, it's for the offender's good, I say by way of a side note, listen clearly, that this stage of the process in this verse here, verse 15, is to be considered a very positive thing. Let's be considered a positive thing. Here in our passage, Jesus is speaking about what is commonly known as formative discipline. And formative discipline is a type of correction which every disciple of Christ must be under and receive from the heart. And this is because it is a means of grace from God to them to help form them into being better disciples of Christ.

Formative discipline. Again this discipline should be viewed as part of that one-anothering that happens in the church, forming each other to be more like our glorious Savior. Now unless there's someone here today who does not think that they need to be conformed and formed more into the glorious image of Jesus Christ and maybe this doesn't pertain to you but for myself I need it. I do need it. So then this matter of the brethren coming to us in the church even when we fall short in our lives should really be something that we welcome as the people of God.

Dear friends, since none of us have arrived I don't see any glorified saints here. Are there any? No. We're not finished projects. All of us need admonishment and challenges.

We need reproof so that we can be godlier as Jesus' followers. Now in light of what I just said, let me pause and say that in view of this whole one anothering aspect, this whole formative discipline which ought to be happening within the church, the Bible just states that all over. Dear friends, When someone in the church needs to speak to you about your shortcomings, don't get all upset about it. Me? You have to correct my pride?

And if you're a Christian, You know you're full of pride already and you know that they're just pointing out one sin. They don't know the 10, 000 other sins that you regularly struggle with every day anyway. So you're telling me one thing, brother? Thank you. Thank you.

Let's not bristle. And why again? Because that brother, that sister is being an instrument of God for our spiritual good They're being channels of grace to our hearts to make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore If we truly understand with this first step that Jesus sets forth here this first stage in this process in verse 15, if we understand what it's about, when someone needs to speak to us about an offense that we've committed against them or an offense that they saw us commit, maybe that wasn't even against them. What should we say? We should say with David of old in Psalm 141 in verse 5, let the righteous strike me.

It shall be a kindness. David goes on, he says, and let him rebuke me. It shall be as excellent oil, let not my head refuse it." That should be our disposition, dear friends. Now we ask, what is the specific context or the setting in which this one-on-one discussion is to be happening with our brother or sister according to our verse. Well clearly the context here points to a private meeting between us.

Jesus says in our text, note it again, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. You see it there in your Bibles. Now notice with me, dear brethren, that Jesus did not say, when someone sins against us, we are first to gossip about it through the whole church and after that we go tell them their sin. Notice he didn't say that. You don't see that there in your passage, do you?

Notice also he didn't say stew over it. For months and months and months, and avoid that person as much as you can. And Finally, when you get enough courage, go speak to them. No, go. It's an imperative.

Go speak. Present tense. Be going now. That's what he's saying. Notice also, he didn't say, go blog about it to everyone you know.

Or email others, and then go to them. No, rather, he said, As soon as possible, we're to go to that individual and tell, literally expose or bring to light his fault to that person and no one else. Stage one. Here our Lord says his confrontation is between us, the two of us. And again, we do this, of course, has been mentioned at various points, with the desire to bring the straying sheep back into the fold, the very topic that Jesus spoke of in verses 10 to 14 of this chapter.

Now, why did our Lord talk about having this meeting in this particular way? Well, I believe that He did it quite plainly because it protects the reputation and the name and the honor of the person in view. Friends, when we do what our verse is calling us to do, the name again of that person is protected. And as Jesus said in Matthew 7 and verse 12, as you and others do to you, do to them also. Additionally, Think about it, the person who offended us might not even know that they did that.

Or if you can believe it, we might actually have read the situation wrong. That happens. Sometimes people come to us and they correct us about something and we say, to be honest with you, you know, that's not even what I meant. That was completely another topic. I wasn't even thinking that when I said that.

So it's good to kind of get some information here. Doing it privately. That's what Jesus says we are to do and so in sum, Jesus is calling for here what I believe is simply a face-to-face meeting. He's calling for an eyeball-to-eyeball, heart-to-heart, personal conversation in verse 15. Now we should ask and answer the question very briefly, how should we speak to our brethren in times like these.

We're commanded to do it, right? We're gonna do it? We're gonna obey it here? I'm gonna obey it. I'm gonna do what Jesus said.

Oh, I know it's hard, it's difficult, everybody don't wanna do it. I don't wanna cause a problem in the church. You might be causing a bigger problem, but not doing it. So in other words when we seek to be obedient to Christ, one another-ing each other through formative corrective discipline or if someone sinned before us something we need to speak to them about How do we fulfill that obligation biblically speaking? Well, besides doing it quickly and privately as we've already considered, let me say four other things about this.

So first, we're to go to our brethren in the church, correcting them of their faults humbly. We go humbly. That is to say, we are to go to them in a meek disposition, knowing that we ourselves are sinners also. It's a good place to start. Dear ones, we don't go to our brethren with a holier than thou attitude.

We don't go to them like we've mastered this issue of remaining sin. We haven't. We're fellow sinners. That governs our disposition. We don't go to them with a spiritual superiority within us.

No rather we go to them, as Paul says in Ephesians 4 and verse 2, with all lowliness, all gentleness, long suffering. How do we do that Paul? Bearing with one another in love. That's how we do it. Secondly, we go to our brethren reluctantly.

That's right. There should be nothing in us dear friends. Ah, here's the opportunity. I've been waiting for years to nail this guy. Now I get an opportunity to do it.

Friend, you need to check your spirit if that's the case. We go reluctantly. It should be very distasteful to us. I know I've got to do it. I know I'm commanded of Christ to do it, but I don't want to do it.

It's like disappointing our kids who wants to do it. We don't want to do it. We hate it. We recoil from it, but we do it because God commands. We should never delight in having to correct someone.

We should have no sinful or carnal pleasure in it. Rather, with much brokenness of heart, we should go to them. Knowing that Paul said in Philippians 2, verse 3a, that Nothing is to be done through selfish ambition or conceit. Third, we ought to go to our brethren in the church graciously, very gracious, not condemning them, not being lords over them, not coming to them in a judgmental way. And there are many passages that highlight this type of disposition which ought to be ours as the people of God.

For example, Paul says in Galatians 6 and verse 1, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one. In what way, Paul? Well, the prepositional phrase tells us, in the spirit of gentleness. That's how you do it. Again, Proverbs 27 and verse 6, the writer says, note the language, faithful are the wounds of a friend.

Not an enemy, but a friend. A friend. I'm going as a brother. I want to see you more like Jesus, more holy, a godlier home, a godlier lifestyle. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

And then Proverbs 12 and verse 19. We read the words which say, there is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise, that's what we should be, the tongue of the wise promotes health. That's what we're there to do, to be an instrument of spiritual health for our brothers and sisters in the local church. Fourthly then of course we go to our brethren prayerfully. Praying oh Lord help me.

Lord give me courage that your name would be honored here. That the brother will be brought to a place of repentance and restoration. Lord if this thing won't escalate to stage three, Lord, and we have some real problems. Jesus said in Luke 18 that men ought always to pray. Surely then this is a perfect example in a time when we ought always to pray.

Well, if the one who has sinned against us hears us, as it says in the verse of 15b, if they hear us, which just doesn't mean they hear us with the ear, but when God says hear, shama, it means obey. When they respond appropriately, that is to say they recognize their sin and they ask for forgiveness, what will be the grand result? Well Jesus tells us again in 15b when we read the words before us now, if our brother repents, you have gained your brother. Literally you have won your brother. What a glorious picture this is here, winning our brother.

Here we have the perfect resolve to the situation at hand. And brethren, I must say that often times this is exactly how it goes down in spiritually healthy churches. I've been in places where one has spoken to the other. I happen to hear about what's going to happen. I'm waiting to hear the result.

Glorious result. Or afterwards, a brother will tell me, hey, I have to speak to so-and-so about this. I just want to tell you, pastor, he received it. Everything's cleared up, beautiful. When you've got healthy churches, people who are walking with the Lord, they're being humble one before the other.

This happens all the time in the church, good resolve. Truly converted people. They can receive. They can respond by the grace of God. Own their sin.

The other one extending forgiveness. Brotherly relationship going on and again I say it's a glorious thing. However, having said this, what if this gracious meeting does not go so well? What if the brother or the sister does not acknowledge their faults? What if they don't respond after we've spoken to them very kindly about their sin?

Well, this is where we go from stage one in our passage to stage two in verse 16 and so I ask you to notice these words again. Verse 16 Jesus says, but, here's the antithesis, but if he will not hear you, Take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Now we see here in this passage now that the exposure to the sin at hand and the parties involved, this is now a widening. Here in this next scenario, we have the offended brother and the offender, and now one or two more. Now involved in the situation again, this is happening because unfortunately, step one of verse 15 didn't go as planned.

Now, the basic procedure here in our verse before us now is that which is set forth in Deuteronomy chapter 19 in verse 15. You don't have to turn there, but there in that particular passage, so as to guard a person from being wrongly accused about a sin that they did not commit, the Mosaic law required that at least two or three witnesses collaborated in any specific charges that were being brought against an innocent person. These witnesses mentioned here in our passage might not have been original witnesses to that crime. And so these men need to be very careful in how they act in these various proceedings. They need to be sure that they get all the information at hand.

Getting to the bottom line of the problem at hand, for as Jonathan Lehman rightly says in his helpful book on church discipline about these individuals, quote, they should consider the evidence and the different sides of the story and the extenuating circumstances. Lehman says there should be no rush to judgment. They should move slowly, thoughtfully, and graciously through the process. And so here again is the second step in this scenario that our Lord has set for us as local congregations. If the individual does not respond properly to the loving, private meeting with another brother or sister about their sin, the individual who has been offended is to take one or two godly people with them, objective believers, perhaps at this point is a good place for the pastors of the church to join that person, for their members in that local assembly too.

And they do this so that they might help arbitrate in the situation so again that the primary goal of reconciliation and restoration would be had on this particular matter. And so having considered under the opening heading the first and second stage of dealing with a sinning brother, consider with me now the final step or stage three. What do we do if the first two steps have not been successful? What do we do if the brother or sister, after all of these admonitions in this time together, have not owned their sins against us, even in the company of others? Well, Jesus tells us next in 17a, when in speaking about the witnesses He says, noted again in your Bible we read, and if He refuses to hear them, again the witnesses, tell it to the church.

Now what our Lord is articulating here is really the last dramatic step in this whole interpersonal scenario. From his words it seems like the one who was wrong, or rather wrong the individual in the account was in fact guilty based upon what the other witnesses have said and so Jesus says here that since the individual refuses to hear those two people The next step is to tell it to the church. Now obviously when Jesus speaks here of the church, He's speaking about the local church, the church that these two individuals belonged. Whereas in Matthew 16 and verse 18, Jesus spoke about the church universal, the only other place in the Gospels where the word church appears by the way. Here in our passage Jesus is speaking about a local visible Society of the Saints who are to deal with the issue at hand.

And this, of course, under the oversight of its pastors. In this meeting, which should be for members only, the leaders of the church should just discuss the pertinent matters at hand. And they do this, again, with great hope and desire that the offender will at last admit they're wrong, repent, and be reconciled to the offended party and ultimately God himself. And so what if at this point the offender does not repent even after being encouraged by the rest of the church who should also at this point be encouraging his repentance and restoration. Well Jesus tells us finally in 17b when he says, note the language again, we are to treat the individual like a heathen and a tax collector.

Now what does our Lord mean by using these specific terms? Well, He means that the one who professed Christ, this one who will not own their sins, after all of the aforementioned steps have taken place, they are not to be considered as part of God's people. That's what it means. Therefore, they are to be removed from the membership of the local congregation and barred from all of her privileges. To treat an individual like a tax collector, again in Bible terms, and a heathen, a very scary thing, is to treat them as if they were not a Christian.

For at that point the church can no longer affirm their profession of faith, even though in fact they may be true Christians. Now of course this doesn't mean that we act disrespectfully to the person. We don't act rudely. It doesn't mean that we hate them. That's not what Jesus is saying.

However, it does mean that our interactions with them will no longer be the way they used to be. The point is there will be a real level of separation from close fellowship, seeking to call the individual to repentance if we believe they're a Christian, if we believe they're not a Christian, if we believe they're a Christian we call them to repentance, if we believe they're not a Christian then we seek to preach the gospel to them that they might be converted. Now in simple terms what Jesus is calling for here at this stage in this scenario is what is commonly known as excommunication. I might have used the word already. And really this is where the apostle Paul picks up at in his treatment of church discipline in 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

There in that passage the sin is much more severe And so immediate removal from the congregation is called for. Scandalous sin. However, here in Matthew, because the sin did not initially start out in that way, Jesus prescribes for us this three stage approach. And so having seen thus far from this passage the procedure for dealing with interpersonal offenses according to Christ in the local church, come with me now much more briefly, to consider in verses 18 to 20 the promise of dealing with interpersonal offenses in the local church according to Jesus Christ. Having spoken about what the church is to do on earth concerning these issues when they come up.

Notice now what Jesus says. If in fact we are to carry out his plan according to his word, what will be the result? Well Jesus says here, Matthew 18 verses 18 to 20, we read the words that say, Assuredly I say to you, Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For Two or more, two or three are gathered together in my name.

I am there in the midst of them. Now far from these particular words before us now being that which gives the basis or some ideas about a local prayer meeting. There's actually nothing to do with that at all. Sorry to disappoint you if that's what you've always thought about the passage. It's not talking about a prayer meeting.

We should agree in prayer. That's great. That's why we say, Amen. When people pray, we say, so be it. But really the context here is speaking about the judicial matter which is made by the church of disciplining the unrepentant sinning person.

That's the whole context. Here after using his great words of authority in verse 18 which are, Assuredly I say to you, Amen, Amen, I say to you. Jesus says that whatever you bind, again, as a local church in your own setting, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. And whatever we loose on earth will be loose in heaven. And so what's the point in his words?

What's the great promise here? Well the promise is that what we do as local congregations in this regard is actually supported with the authority of heaven itself. What you do there is done in heaven. Friends, the point is when we discipline people in the right way, when we operate according to scripture, this is what happens in glory. Friends, according to the Bible there's no higher court of appeal than a local assembly.

I'm speaking especially within our Baptist context as I say that. And so when again she operates biblically, no one who has been placed under church discipline can legitimately walk away from the church and say, well God knows my heart, He's on my side. What is bound on earth, Jesus says, is bound in heaven. So I say friends, God is not on the side of the individual who has been excommunicated by a local congregation. He is on the side of His people who have pronounced the declaration.

As a matter of fact, Jesus confirms this in verse 19 when he says, Again I say to you, you plural, the whole church, that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything, anything in this setting concerning that person who was removed. Anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. And then Jesus promises a great blessing, and it really is, a great blessing to faithful assemblies who administer a church discipline and are faithful to carry out Christ's command. Great promise when he says in verse 24, were two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. So you see brethren, it's not only that the Father in Heaven affirms what we've done on earth, but think about this.

In the midst of all of the trouble that always stirs up, whenever we have to do discipline, whenever we try to do it as clean as possible, there's always going to be trouble, always going to be problems. Some offending, rather, leaning to the side of the other one, oh the church was so harsh and I really believe that Mary was correct and all that. It's always going to be trouble. It's never going to be always clean. However, in the midst of all of that difficulty, Jesus says, I'm in your midst.

Right there. I'm there to help. And Those of us who have gone through church discipline, we know Christ's presence in a very special way. We're hurt. It's difficult.

People are crying and all things are being said. But we know with a good conscience with an open Bible, God has been in our midst. He's standing with his people. He's supporting our decision. Jesus is here in the midst of that difficult circumstance.

That's his promise, beloved. And that's a glorious promise. That's a wonderful, a wonderful truth from the lips of our wonderful Lord. Well, so ends then our considerations of this very helpful, important passage concerning the disciplining of an unrepentant individual in the midst of a local assembly. And I hope, dear friends, that this exposition of this passage has been somewhat helpful for you.

Dear ones, if we would be faithful to Jesus, faithful to the souls of men, then this is what we must do. No questions asked. If We would not want the living Christ to stamp Ichabod upon our congregations. That is to say, the glory of the Lord has departed. We have no other choice.

To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there was no light in them. So we need to speak according to this word and be faithful to Christ. Ah, you're being legalist. You're too puritanical. To me those are actually, well, not the legalist part but the puritanical part.

That's a compliment but that's a side note. You're being unloving. No, no, no, no. He that loves his son disciplines him promptly. If we don't love our kids, we just let him go.

No, the loving thing to do is to go after him. And church discipline takes months and months and months and months. I've been chasing a guy in our church who finally just renounced the faith altogether. That was a year of tracking this guy, a year of conversations, a year of emails and phone calls, a year of my life. One case.

This is hard stuff. Not unloving. It's a shepherd loving the sheep that go astray. It's church members going after the one, not legalistic, not unloving, but biblical, kind and gracious with a view that a person might see their sin, own it, repent and be restored. This is what Christ calls for.

He calls for it for the glory of his own name, the good of his church, and the good of the one who is in a bad spiritual state. And so in the time that remains I want to just draw three applications friends, three applications for us as Christians. And the first is This dear brothers, in light of the subject at hand, listen closely, we need to pray. We need to pray for ourselves that we will always be faithful to what God calls us to do. Not enough to come to a conference friends, I'm glad you're here.

But you need to pray, oh, God, give us backbone as churches. It's not enough just to be here and buy the books. All good stuff. God, help our pastors To be faithful. Because there's something in us, unless we're just mean and nasty men, and I think by the grace of God we're not, that we don't want to deal with it.

Again, a year of my life on that and you guys have had taxing situations too. It's draining. It's heart wrenching. But pray that you'll be faithful in your one anothering. Pray that your pastors will be faithful.

Pray that as a church we'll be faithful, regardless of what other people say about it. Regardless of what they're doing. It really doesn't matter. It's like my kids when they say, so and so is doing this and this and this. It doesn't matter to me.

Therefore I should do it. No, it doesn't matter. Actually the more you tell me what other people do, the less I'm going to let you do what they do. Same thing with churches. Other churches don't do it.

Who's practicing that? Here's my Bible. And until it gets erased out of my Bible, we're not moving. This is what we're going to do. We're going to be faithful to the Word of God.

Secondly, brethren, by way of application, in light of this topic at hand, listen, since Jesus takes the sins of his people very seriously. We need to be sure ourselves that we are daily repenting of our own sins. Let's not just talk about a person in the passage. Isn't it interesting how Jesus says, note again 15a, moreover if, if he's painting a scenario, it's not happening now, but if it does, here's what you do. It's like a hypothetical situation.

It's sure going to happen with a bunch of sinners around, but if this happens, here's what you do. The point is, it does happen. The point is, we just not ought to think, oh yeah, when this happens to me, I'll apply this to that person. What about this person? What about you here today?

What sins are you playing with that you know you need to repent of? In the theater of your own conscience, you know there are things that are not right in your life. Maybe, maybe things are right right now. But we shouldn't be just looking again at this person and what they do and how he's treated. The passage calls us to own our own sin and to repent.

Therefore ask yourself right now, you're living right before God. Do you have a good conscience as Paul says between God and men? Thirdly, dear friends, in light of our passage and the general theme for this conference, I want to encourage you with the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1 verse 6. What did Paul say? Being confident, note that.

Being confident, he says, of this very thing that he that has begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ our Lord. Why do I say that? Well because when you think about church discipline, you think, oh I want to go to church discipline conference. That's nice and warm and fuzzy. No, It's probably not.

It's in the Bible so we need to be there. No question. Not everything in the Christian life is warm and fuzzy. Some things are hard. But if it's in the Word, we want it.

But Paul says being confident of this very thing that He's begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ our Lord. I just throw that out there because maybe some of you here wrestle. Oh Lord, is it I? Lord, will I be the one who is excommunicated one day? Lord, will I be that person there?

My friend, if you're a true Christian, Jesus will never let you go. If you're a true Christian Jesus has promised to grant you repentance and repentance and repentance and faith. So don't be discouraged in this topic. Oh yes we ought to keep short accounts with God, keep a good conscience void of offense. But don't leave here with a sense of guilt like, oh Lord, the is it I question is not a bad question to ask.

We should ask that. Lord, could it be true of me that one day I might be excommunicated? We should think about that if it would cause us to be holier people, but also be encouraged. Jesus said, all the Father has given me I shall lose. How many?

None. That's right. If you're a true Christian, you're in the hands of a loving Savior. And He's promised that having begun a good work with you, He will complete it until the last day. So rest in him.

Rest in the Christ who always finishes what he starts. I close with a word to any here this evening who are not true Christians. The benefit of preaching at a conference is I only know some of the people and get to interact with them but I don't know who's saved based on as far as we can tell or not saved. So I end with a word to any who may not truly be born again in this place. You're here tonight and you see very plainly that Jesus takes sin very seriously in the camp of the saints.

And so my friend, if Jesus takes sin very seriously when he finds it among his people, what will he do with you when he finds it in you? What does Jesus think of you right now as you are outside of Him? You see some people say, oh, oh, I'll become a Christian so that in the final day God's wrath won't be upon me. Friend, if you're not a Christian right now, the wrath of God abides on you. This is not a future judgment in that sense.

It's a present day judgment. The wrath of God abides upon him that believes not. Point is you've got every reason to fly to Christ tonight to be saved, not tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation. Today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart.

My dear friend tonight, if you're not a true Christian, if you haven't been born again with the evidence of the fruit of salvation, I plead with you to run to Christ by faith. Ask Him to cleanse you and to wash you to make you a new person based upon His finished work on the cross of Calvary? That the discipline of Christ wouldn't be putting you in hell for all eternity. But rather that you would repent and believe on him alone for life and salvation and know that fatherly chastening that Jesus does for children to help them on their way to heaven. Let's pray.

Father we thank you for your word. Indeed it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. We thank you Lord for the clarity of scripture and we confess O God that there is so much concerning this subject that we don't know but we're thankful for what you've given us in Scripture. Help us Lord to apply it fairly and lovingly. Help us Lord to walk graciously before one another and again oh God that you would give us backbones as congregations.

Help us to be faithful to your command that your name might be honored in our midst. Lord, seal your word to our hearts. We ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.