The King’s Purified Bride (Matthew 18:15-20)

Introduction

To quote a mentor of mine, Brian Croft, “A faithful parent doesn’t just say what a child wants to hear; a faithful parent says what a child needs to hear.” [1]

Brian is correct. Faithful parents tell their children what they need to hear. A faithful parent is going to rebuke their child for trying to touch the electrical socket. A faithful parent is going to warn their child from standing too close to a 100 foot drop off the cliff. A faithful parent is going to warn their child as they are headed towards a dangerous path. A faithful parent is going to warn their child to help them keep from bad decisions. 

As parents, we surely grasp this reality. And kids, I hope you can see this too. I hope you can see that your dads and moms do not discipline you out of spite and because they are mean or cruel. They discipline you because they love you, they want to protect you and guard you. Their discipline then is for your ultimate good.

Discipline can and is a good thing. It is a good thing for parents with children, but it is also a good thing within the context of the local church. And that’s what I want to talk with you about this morning, Church Discipline. 

Let me then invite you to either grab your own Bible or one of the Bibles there in your pew and turn with me to Matthew 18:15-20. If you are using the Pew Bible, you can find our passage on page #979. 

We come to this passage of Church Discipline right after having looked at a section focusing on little ones in Matthew 18:1-14. Little ones who are the example for any who would enter the kingdom of heaven. For Jesus tells us that unless we turn and become like children in being humble and dependent, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. A dependence that rests on Christ by faith alone in his finished work on the cross to take away the sins of the world. 

Following this call to become like children, there is the call to receive other little ones, to not become a stumbling block to them coming to Jesus, with a strong warning given to take sin seriously in light of not being a stumbling block for others. 

Then we move from receiving and guarding little ones to going after wandering little ones there in Matthew 18:10-14 with the parable of the lost sheep. A parable that reveals God’s will is that none of his little ones should perish. And so, we are being taught to the extent that God will go after such wandering sheep. Of sheep who wander away from his path, his ways. 

A path that we are not being called to imitate by using the means of Church Discipline. Let us now hear the word of the LORD in Matthew 18:15-20. (Read Matthew 18:15-20…)

Main Idea: Church Discipline is an act of love, as its aim is to lovingly correct and restore a brother or sister back to walking in a God-glorifying manner. 

The purpose of church discipline

The process of church discipline

The authority of church discipline.

1. The Purpose of Church Discipline

Church discipline is the means that King Jesus has given us to help go after wandering sheep and to restore them back to the whole of the flock. 

Yet, too often when people hear the words, church discipline, they cringe and want to dismiss the idea of such a notion. They want to point elsewhere within the Gospel According to Matthew and say, Jesus said, “judge not, that you be not judged” (Matt 7:1).

Isn’t it ironic that the same Gospel account that gives us this warning to not judge without first humbling ourselves also gives us this call to practice church discipline? Because here we sit, being called to both. And this is not a contradiction. Because one warns us against wrongly judging without recognizing our own need for grace. And here in church discipline, it is a humble plea for others to see their sin and to repent from it lest they stray from the faith that they previously have proclaimed. For at the heart of church discipline is a love for brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Church discipline is an act of love as we come to our brother or sister in a desire to restore them from their wandering in sin.

If not for sin, there would be no need for church discipline. And yet, sin comes and so must church discipline. Hear how Jesus starts this section there in V.15, “If your brother sins [against you],”. 

Depending on what translation you are using, this verse will look a bit differently. For there is a question about whether or not the phrase, [against you] is authentic in the original manuscripts and should be included or not. The ESV that I am using has included it and added a footnote on the matter. Other translations like the NASB and the NIV do not include it, nor does the NET Bible. 

So there is a question as to whether this sin is specifically against you or sin in general. And we aim to make application towards both situations as the whole of Scripture addresses both of these.

But to the point, whether it be sin against you or sin in general, church discipline and its process comes because a brother or sister has begun to wander in unrepentant sin. They have begun to live in a pattern of sin, straying from the Lord. And so, they are in need of coming after for the sake of their soul, lest one of these little ones should fall away.

And so, church discipline is enacted. Brothers and sisters go after them, confront them in their sin with the aim of helping them to hear them so that they may repent of their sin and be restored. For again, look to V.15, as it closes we read, “if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”

 Restoration, the regaining of a brother or sister in Christ, is the goal of church discipline. From beginning to end, that is always the goal and purpose of church discipline. 

And this is why the main point of this passage is what it is. “Church Discipline is an act of love, as its aim is to lovingly correct and restore a brother or sister back to walking in a God-glorifying manner.”

Because the most loving thing we can do for a brother or sister wandering in the wilderness of sin is to go after them and seek to restore them to the LORD by confronting them in their sin, so that they may repent of it and live out as a brother or sister in Christ! As we saw from our scripture reading in Leviticus 19, we are to love not just a neighbor here, but a brother or sister by reasoning frankly with them regarding their sin so that we can bring them back in our midst where Christ dwells with us. 

Beloved, let us then see that though church discipline can feel like an overwhelming and hard thing, it is a beautiful gift of love that King Jesus has given to his church for the purpose of restoring wandering sinners back to himself and keeping his church pure in holiness. 

Our God does not will that any little ones should perish. For he did not send his son into the world to rescue the world by death on a cross and raising him from the grave for us to wander in our sin. 

Jesus came to rescue us from sin. To rescue us from the condemnation of sin in justifying us in our union with Christ. But also to rescue us from the power of sin, to cause us to walk new in Christ. A newness that one in unrepentant sin rejects. And so, it is not the will of the Father that any of these whom Jesus shed his blood for should perish. 

And because it is not the Father’s will that any of these should perish, it should not be our will either. We cannot be slothful or negligent to go after a brother or sister wandering in their sin. We cannot allow their sin in which they are ensnared to tighten and constrict and kill them. At least not without a fight. 

And so, if we are to be a faithful church, a true church even, then we must see the purpose that King Jesus has given us church discipline for, to lovingly go after one another in our sin, to seek to rescue one another from the snares of sin. 

And while we will not rescue all, we are to labor valiantly to rescue one another from straying from the narrow path of life to the wide path of destruction. And if they must go on that path of destruction, to paraphrase a Charles Spurgeon quote, make them leap over us to get there.

That is point #1, the purpose of church discipline. 

2. The Process of Church Discipline

In church discipline we have a 3 step process given to us. But it should be noted, church discipline is never so straight forward. These three steps are not to be a dogmatic process that are to always be followed the same way in every situation. 

For do we not have from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 an immediate call to remove one from their midst? And the reason for this is because of the public and grotesque nature of the sin there. The sin of a man having sexual relations with his father’s wife, his stepmother. And this means that the first two steps of the process are skipped over. Skipped not out of defiance to Jesus’ instructions, but some situations will call for a swifter and immediate public action because of the public nature of the sin. 

Those are the exceptions, but ordinarily the goal is to follow the three steps as laid out here in Matthew 18:15-17. And as already stated in point #1, the goal throughout this process is restoration. Any other purpose of church discipline is to miss the point. Let’s then with this purpose in mind, walk through each of these steps.

One on One

Step #1: a one on one confrontation. V.15…

When a brother or sister sins, whether against us or we are an eyewitness of their sin, we are called to go to them and confront them in their sin. To borrow from the language of Leviticus 19 again, we are to reason frankly with them in private, in a one on one nature.

Our reasoning with them is to show them their sin and the seriousness of it and hope that they will hear us and will turn back from their sin so that we can gain our brother or sister back.

As to what kind of sin are we expected to be going to one another and addressing in this one on one session? Is it every sin? Is it a specific sin? 

The reality of this first step of church discipline, it really is a step of discipleship, of correction. And so many things will fall into this first step of church discipline, but will never make it past this first step or certainly never to the final step of church discipline in removing them from our midst. 

Ranging from us confronting a brother or sister in their pride, to confronting them in how they speak to others and about others. Confronting sins of the heart and mind that are revealed in conversations with them. All of this is part of that first step of church discipline and is going on behind the scenes in the church on a constant basis. 

Now, of course then there are more urgent matters of this first step of church discipline. There are those situations in which one must be confronted because of more prominent and harmful sin, to themselves or others. There are dangerous doctrinal areas that may need confronting. 

For instance, if one was to come and say that they no longer hold to Jesus’ substitutionary atonement, then we have a problem. We have one in doctrinal error straying from the truth of who Christ is and what he came to do on the cross. And that is a slippery slope to the path of unbelief. And so, we lovingly go after them, reason frankly with them from the Scriptures to turn their hearts back to truth, praying the Spirit will awaken them as we do. 

Or maybe there is an instance of a man in the church not living a life above reproach and we notice them having inappropriate conversations and making inappropriate gestures towards young ladies in the church. We should swiftly go to that person and confront them in their sin, urging them to see the sinful and inappropriate nature of their interactions for their good and the good of others. 

Or maybe there is an idol that is being exposed, and we go and reason frankly with our brother or sister in Christ about the hold this idol in their life has, urging them to turn from their idol back solely to Christ! 

These are just some of the sin we are being called to go after one another in love to rebuke and correct. And the prayer is that they will hear us and repent.  But if they do not, then we move from step #1 of church discipline to step #2. 

Two or Three Witnesses

If at first the brother [or sister] does not listen as you confront them in sin, then we are called to take two or three witnesses with us to confront them in sin. V.16…

The call for two or three witnesses follows an earlier pattern and norm in the Scriptures. For in legal matters among the people of Israel, the LORD instructed them that a single witness was not to suffice. We read of this in Deuteronomy 19:15:

“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established… 

 And so, when one who has wandered away in sin, refused to be restored when confronted one on one, these two or three witnesses are called to now go to this brother [or sister] as means of giving proper evidence that this sin is serious and needs repenting of. And now not just one is giving witness to the matter, but others are brought in to give proper witness against the one in sin. 

Often at this point, in this step, it is a church member who has witnessed this sin bringing an elder or more mature believer alongside them and maybe another in this process. And while it does not need to be an elder, it is at this point the elders are often clued in to help walk through this matter. 

As with the first step of church discipline, the goal of this second step is to deal with this sin as a more private matter with the aim still being restoration. 

But, if the brother [or sister] still refuses to listen, then we must move from step #2 in church discipline to step #3.

Before the Church

When sin continues to be neglected, when all previous attempts to get one to turn from sin and be reconciled back to the church, the matter must be brought before the entirety of the church. V.17…

When sin is serious, when it has continued to go on in a person’s life, when they fail to repent, they must be put before the church in this final attempt to show them the seriousness of their sin, urging them to repent…

We have now considered the purpose of church discipline, the process of church discipline, and now we turn to the authority of church discipline.

The Authority of Church Discipline

The authority of church discipline is given to local churches not because of the local church herself, but who the local church is united to, Jesus. Let’s again read V.18-20…

This phrase, where two or three are gathered in my name, can be a tricky phrase. And yet, we see in the context it is in regards to the assembled church gathering and passing down judgment against an unrepentant brother or sister. And so, as we see this phrase in this context, it is emphasizing that we have the authority in church discipline to carry out this action because we are gathered as believers of Jesus with Jesus in our midst and having entrusted to us his authority in this matter. 

The church, the gathered people of God, are given authority by their King to carry out church discipline. An authority that allows them to bind or loosen one another based on both their profession of Christ and according to how they live.

A binding and loosening that takes place as the keys of the kingdom of heaven are being exercised in both allowing members into the body and being exercised in the removing of members. Turn with me back to Matthew 16:13-20 where we read…

In Matthew 16 there, we saw the exercising of the keys in regards to entry into the kingdom, to being brought into the church. Now here in Matthew 18, we are seeing the use of these same keys of the kingdom to loose the members, both under the authority of Jesus. 

An authority that is given to particular local churches to carry out this practice in regards to what we call church membership. Membership in the reality that we are being united as members to the body of Christ, a display of our being bound to Christ together. To be one body who works together in Christ. 

And so, that one body working together in Christ is given this authority to exercise the keys of the kingdom accordingly. To guard the church from those wrongly coming into the church and from those who were brought in, but no longer appearing to walk with Christ according to the ways he has called us to.  

An authority that is to be exercised because of who is in our midst, who is among us, Jesus himself! For there in verse 20, we see one of three with us statements by Jesus here in the Gospel According to Matthew. The first comes in Matthew 1, where we are told that Jesus is our Immanuel, God with us. Then this one is the second, and the final with us statement comes in Jesus’ giving of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 before his ascension.

Church discipline is to be exercised under the authority of Jesus, because he is in our midst. We are to exercise judgment against those who once professed to be Christians, but after a period of time no longer have the appearance of Christian fruit and therefore must be removed, they must be dismembered from the body of Christ due to their unrepentant sin. For the body of Christ is to be a purified bride for the bridegroom. 

The church is not to judge those outside the body of Christ, but those within (1 Cor 5:12-13).  

Let’s pray…

Endnotes

[1] Brian Croft. The Pastor’s Ministry. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015) 131.