Brother's Keeper (Matthew 18:15-20)
Notes
Transcript
“Peace be with you.”
15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 “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. 18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
Let us Pray,
God the Father may your will be done.
God the Son may your word be proclaimed.
God the Spirit may your work in us be accomplished. Amen.
Introduction: Three Springs...
Introduction: Three Springs...
“From oppression to expression.”
Three Springs- Building a milieu where teenagers, not staff, are confronting inappropriate behavior. This was a process for moving the teenagers from oppression to expression.
The process was as follows:
1. Helpful non-verbal
2. Helpful verbal
3. Verbal warning
4. Peer involvement
5. Staff involvement
Much like Three Springs, The Kingdom of God has a standard that governs the lives of each of its members. That standard is seen in how each member lives in relation to God and others. One of those standards that the Kingdom has is taking sin seriously. God seeks to move his people from committing sin to accomplishing Holiness. We should be people who hold holiness as the standard for living and stripping ourselves of the old man’s way of sin.
Christ offers us a most holy and wise way to guide the culture towards life in the kingdom of God where sin has no place but is dealt with by the blood of Christ who also provides us the means to go and sin no more by giving us the Holy Spirit.
Kingdom Culture.
Kingdom Culture.
A. Establishing a Culture: Matthew 18
A. Establishing a Culture: Matthew 18
1. Humility: recognizing your a sinner. (Matthew 18:3-5)
1. Humility: recognizing your a sinner. (Matthew 18:3-5)
2. Stumbling blocks: Causing others to sin. (Matthew 18:6-11)
2. Stumbling blocks: Causing others to sin. (Matthew 18:6-11)
3. In Hot Pursuit of those lead away to sin. (Matthew 18:12-14)
3. In Hot Pursuit of those lead away to sin. (Matthew 18:12-14)
4. Confronting sin and calling to Holiness. (Matthew 18:15-20)
4. Confronting sin and calling to Holiness. (Matthew 18:15-20)
5. Forgiveness. A Clean slate. (Matthew 18:21-35)
5. Forgiveness. A Clean slate. (Matthew 18:21-35)
B. Maintaining Kingdom Culture: Matthew 18:15-17
B. Maintaining Kingdom Culture: Matthew 18:15-17
1. “Show” him:
1. “Show” him:
A. “Show” Him your fault- Matthew 5:23-24
23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
B. “Show” him His fault- Matthew 18:15
15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
· Reprove.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
· to convict or convince.
· Privately (Sole)
· Persistently (2 or 3)
· Publicly (Shaming)- you can’t shame someone who believes in what they are doing is right.
“overcome by the discipline of love the offence which he has given thee.”- Martin Luther
2. “Win” your brother
2. “Win” your brother
· To spare; continue to live.
· To prevent a loss; to acquire or gain profit.
· To correct.
· to bring to light.
3. “Let” him be to you (Church)...considered an outsider.”
3. “Let” him be to you (Church)...considered an outsider.”
No one born of the Spirit, who has the Spirit of the Holy God living in them, whose hearts has been made new, who have been born again, could ever stand for living in sin; that opposes a Holy God.
Let me be clear, the issue is not that a Christian sins, but that the Christian, when faced with the reality of their sin, should hate it and seek to rid themselves of it. But if they do not, if they want to keep it secret and keep it safe, if they want to keep it as a treasured pet in their lives, then they cannot be a true Christian.
A man who has been made alive, does not feel the weight of sin burdened upon his heart. But you can convince me that a dead man feels no burden at all. But others who live in sin and are not ashamed of it, they do not agree with God.
The Church has final authority on who is considered a part of the body. They make their determination based on the person’s belief about sin. We can’t see the heart of a person like God does. We can only judge the outside. If it appears to the church, after compassionate confrontation has happened privately, that the person refuses to give up their sin then they have the right to judge that person dead to sin and treat them as one in need of the gospel to be made alive.
C. Practicing Kingdom Culture:
C. Practicing Kingdom Culture:
1. We are our brothers keeper… Genesis 4
2. As iron sharpens iron…
17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
3. Being Judgmental.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
5. Roll with the punches. We are not to be so sensitive to the offenses of others.
39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
6. Soulmates. We are called to be more concerned with the soul of others more than their feelings.
26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
7. Spiritual Warfare. We must recognize that the tensions caused in our relationships with others is more than personal; it is spiritual, and it is war. Your brother maybe fighting in a battle he cannot win by himself.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
8. Be Killing Sin. When you enter into the family of God through faith in Christ, you agree to a family culture that makes it their daily goal to be vigilant against sin. We are a family who understands that sin is a gross offense to our God. It is so offensive that God the Father spared no expense to extinguish it by sacrificing His very own Son. If we don’t take sin seriously then we do not see things the way God sees things and we are not in agreement with Him. We must be killing sin before it kills us. Here (Matthew 18:15-17) is one of the ways we can go about killing sin in our family; so that our lives can grow into the fullness we were created to experience.
9. Approach with Caution.
Meet the level of respect to the level of responsibility in your approach. There is way to approach not only various situations, but also various types of relationships according to the degree of responsibility someone holds.
19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
We must approach others according to their “kinds”. The head of the home, the leaders in the church, those who are held to a higher standard according to their role should not be flippantly pursued or confronted. Since certain roles, ordered in the family and church, have more responsibility and therefore face more judgement, the approach should be pursued with more caution and made with certainty.
10. Manifest Humility. Those who approach a wounded dog, approach with caution understanding that the first instinct will be to bit at them. The one who is humble accounts for this reaction and for this reason approaches low and slow and with great gentleness. They do not come to harm, but to help. To pull the thorn from the flesh and to bandage the wounds to heal. Humility incorporates gentleness and patience.
Humility is the only way to prevent the quenching of a smoking flax or the breaking of a bruised reed...
20 “A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory.
The success of winning your brother correlates to the level of humility you approach the situation; never forgetting to take the log out of your own eye before taking the speck from the eyes of the other. It is because you have removed your own gross sin from your life that you can come alongside your brother, with successful experience, to help assist him in removing his speck.
3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
11. Forget: Let repented sin die. Love keeps no records of wrongs.
5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
12. We love others better when we confront sin.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
13. Sin can be personal.
17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Don’t impose personal sin on others.
14. Pursue confrontation with sympathy. You should know the struggle with sin well. You should sympathize with your brother. From compassion, learn how this sin crept into their life. You may find that there are open doors to sin that needs your help to close; or seek alternatives to heal real hurt and pain that rather than sinful ways like substance abuse. Don’t just be there to confront but be there to walk with him to help overcome sin and keep holiness as the only solution to living life.
Apply this principal: first seek to understand and then be understood.
15. Church Discipline should be a reality. The church does have a say so in the life of the believer. People run from this sort of accountability in their lives. We have churches full of people who don’t confront sin (which means they don’t really love others well), or you have people in the church run from accountability and will continue to run to others churches until they find one who is willing to compromise with their sin- these people will even claim to be a victim of church hurt who do this. You should not look for a church like you look for a house. Shopping for a house that works for your family. Instead, you join a church to offer yourself to a community of people who are all helping each other grow in their relationship with Jesus and impacting the community around them. The Church is the body of Christ who hates what their husband hates and seeks to remedy it with their husband’s blood.
Churches should not be a breeding ground for sinners to remain sinners, but a community where sinners are being made into saints through Jesus Christ. The fundamental fallacy that exist in church culture today and among some christians is that church serves the christian. That is not biblical. The Christian offers themselves in service to the church as an act of worship and loyalty to God.
The church has often given themselves over to appeal to the world rather than to appeal to Christ for whom they exist. This leads to personal preference in worship rather than right worship of God, compromising for sin, quantity rather than quality. What keeps the church grounded is building upon the foundation. That foundation is loving others the way God has loved us. How has God loved us? By dealing with our sin so that we can love Him back! Therefore we must love our brothers and be willing to help them confront sin in their lives.