Authority to Identifying and Correct

Theme

Cultivating a community of Discipleship

We will focus our prayer topics, events, and training around this biblical theme of growing in godliness together by discipling one another. We, the leaders, will continue to equip you for this work as we’re instructed to do.

We have books for everyone

___Let’s Begin_____________

Ephesians 2:13-16  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

See what he did for us?

He IS our peace

His flesh broke down the wall of hostility

He killed a multi millennia long hostility between Jew and Gentile by making the way for both to be reconciled to God.

Here’s why I say all of this...

The Gospel that saves individual through faith in Christ, makes individuals into a family to guard the gospel together.

If the Gospel is the good news that through faith in Christ, sinners are reconciled to God and to each other, then this effects what we even call the a church.

I’m addressing only two points this morning.

1. The authority to identify who the Christians are, and by doing so we guard the Gospel?

2. The authority to correct one another, and by doing so we guard the Gospel.

Identifying Christians

Do you know how to identify a true Christian?

There is a version of the Gospel that makes it much harder to identify a Christian today.

First let me just say that the Scriptures have given the local church this authority.

And the reason for this, is because it is only the LOCAL church that is visible to the world and able, in a tangible way, to witness to the world what the Gospel has done and is doing.

Only those who are submitted together to the ordinances of baptism, the Lord’s supper, and the preaching of the Scriptures have been given those keys of judgement.

So, who has the keys?

You! Well, all of us who are in Christ anyway.

We’ll learn this more later when we look at Matthew 18, but it’s true that there is a system that God has designed for this that is healthy and good, and it is designed to protect and give us freedom.

Jonathan Leeman gives a helpful answer to the question, “what is church membership?”

“It’s a declaration of citizenship in Christ’s kingdom. It’s a passport. It’s an announcement made in the pressroom of Christ’s kingdom. It’s the declaration that a professing individual is an official, licensed, card-carrying, bona fide Jesus representative.” Jonathan Leeman

That’s the language the Bible uses isn’t it? Members of one another? Citizens of a kingdom? Ambassadors of Christ?

Where do ambassadors work? At an embassy, in a place that is not their home country, representing their country in that place and to those people.

In this sense, we look at our little family as an embassy of Christ’s heavenly Kingdom. And every church in this town that believes and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ is an embassy.

We scatter out in the world, and once a week we come together to remind each other who we are, of our citizenship, and what that means. When, by God’s grace, someone becomes a citizen, or claims to be one, we are to discern - Is their profession true and right according to Scripture, and are they citizens? Notice we can’t make them citizens any more than visiting an embassy on earth can make you a citizen of the country it represents.

Here’s a familiar passage: Matthew 16:18-19 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Without looking back, do you remember what Peter’s profession was?

Matthew 15:15-16 But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

See what’s happening here? The promise that Christ would build his Church did not come without a foundation. He would build it upon a confession, and one confession alone…You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. .

The question is…how then does the church exercise this authority given by Jesus? How are professions and citizenship affirmed or denied, and then considered bound or loosed in heavens courtroom?

The short answer is…Baptism and Communion.

These are the ordinances given to believers, to be administered by Christians...one happens at a persons entrance into the Kingdom to declare their new citizenship (Baptism), and one is an ongoing confession of faith as we look back to the cross and affirm our allegiance to the King who made us citizens by dying for us.

This is why we ask Non-Christians not to take communion. This is why we invite reconciliation among the church family at communion. This is why, when Jesus concludes his instruction in Matthew 18:17, the final step of discipline is 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.”

The tax collector was a traitor to the faith of the Jews, and the Gentile were heathen to the Israelite and not part of the family to begin with…so Jesus teaches that the church, with the same words of judicial authority used in Matthew 16, has the authority to make provisional judgement of who is a citizen based on a refusal to repent.

The way we do this is by what’s called fencing the communion table, and agreeing together that this individual is not welcome to partake. This makes no sense if Christianity is about happiness instead of holiness.

If it’s only a come as you are…come and go as you please, God loves you no matter what you do with no accountability kind of Gospel... then salvation is cheapened.

But if being a Christian means being saved from a real hell, and real sin, and the real wrath of a holy God, and being reconciled to Him and brought into a real family, then this changes everything, and being committed to New City Church means something incredible.

Let me challenge you at this point to write this question down

What should being a member of this body mean to you based on the teaching of Scripture?

So, I want to move to the next point, but here’s a bit of an application point for you...

When someone comes along, whether in here, or out there, and says to you that they are a Christian, remember that a Christian is someone who is repentant from sin, and is following Jesus...having confessed along with the Apostle Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

When a person refuses to join and submit to a local church, to the ordinances and to preaching, at best they do not understand the Gospel.

This takes us to our next point, which should help fill in some of the gaps in what I just taught.

What does the Bible say about correcting Christians?

The reason this matters is because every Christian battles with sin and disobedience to God. On the road of sanctification, we have weaknesses, blind spots, and sometimes total backsliding from the faith.

The Bible gives us a process called Church Discipline, and we see it primarily described in Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5.

We’re going to walk through Matthew 18:15-20, so turn there in your Bibles, but let me share an overarching principle that proves that this is good for us.

Hebrews 12:11 ‘For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

New City,

We must be willing to correct one another in the context of ongoing, loving, and biblical discipleship.

That’s what we’re wanting to see God cultivate in us.

Will it be painful at times? Yes, it’s painful sometimes to even read the Scriptures and see our faces in the mirror. But if we love one another, we will also be willing to instruct and correct.

Look what is promised - it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

So what we’re talking about in terms of correction is explained in Matthew 18. GO back there.

Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”

That’s 99% of church discipline by the way.

Notice the pattern of this process is that the circle starts small. In fact, when the circle gets too big too fast it gets messy.

Also notice that the offended goes directly to the offendee.

This is not permission to hunt sin.

This is a situation in which you have been sinned against, and you go to the brother or sister who sinned against you, and tell him his fault.

How many people are to be in this meeting, Church? Two

Many people like to call this the first step…but I’m convinced that if we leave hear thinking like that then we will forget the patience of the Lord, and how long he deals with our sin without casting us off. When a church is healthy, or when a person is seeing this through grace, step one will simply be repeated over and over again as the church matures.

What’s the signal to go to the next step?

v1…If he does not listen.

Listen to what?

Well, consider the context. The goal is to gain a brother. Thee goal is restoration, not guilt. The goal is unity, not being right.

Have that meeting, and seek to bring light to the sin, because you love for your brother, so that you might gain your brother by their repentance, and your forgiveness of the offense.

So, we can take the “if he does not listen”, to mean that the situation continues to escalate, and they have refused to repent of their offense…then and only then would you bring one or two witnesses - Keeping the circle small - and so that the charge can be established by evidence.

So now we have witnesses. How do you get witnesses?

This is not a team that you build out of thin air. These are people within the church membership who also love you and this person, who have seen that what you’re saying is true with their own eyes.

Here’s where it can get messy. Because the temptation is to look around for witnesses, find none, and then gossip about the person so that you can build your case against them. IF you do this, you’re actually in sin and you’re now causing further division in the body.

If someone comes to you and says, Hey, can I talk to you about so and so, it’s about something they did. First, you ask, did they sin against YOU? If no, then the two of you would stop talking, find the person that was sinned against, and encourage them to go to the person and begin the process.

v17, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

Who is the church?

Now, if this isn’t a case for church membership, I’m not sure what is… Because this is certainly not telling us to just find any random Christian at this point to tell it to. No, this is the assembly that regularly gathers together and is in covenant with one another, which includes the Elders. I think that it’s okay, and wise, for the Elder in the church to lead this process of step one and two, because people may need that kind of shepherding. But by the time step three comes into play, the elders are surely involved as those who Christ said will give an account for the sheep.

Notice: Tell it to the church. This is not calling a larger group of people over to your house, or increasing the gossip circle…this is obviously an intentional step to bring this unrepentant sin before the congregation as one final attempt to gain the brother. SO what’s being said here all the time. Repent, be reconciled, we love you, Christ forgives you, repent of your sin against this person. Now why tell it to the church?

Jesus tells us...”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 be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 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. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

And this takes us back to the authority which Christ has given to the local church, to bind and loose, to make judicial judgement based on the fruit of a persons life whether they are to be considered and treated as a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven. Church, that’s an authority that none of us should take lightly.

You struggle with hidden hatred toward a brother all week. But then his presence at the Lord’s Table draws you to conviction and confession. You struggle with suspicion toward a sister. But then you see her singing the same songs of praise as you, and your heart warms. You struggle with anxiety over the upcoming election. But then the preacher declares Christ’s coming victory and vindication, you hear shouts of “Amen!” all around you, and you recall that you belong to a heavenly citizenry allied in hope. You’re tempted to keep your struggle in the dark. But then the older couple’s tender but pressing question over lunch, “How are you really?” draws you into the light.