The Childlikeness of Believers: Confronting Sin B

If you in the church are not willing to confront someone sin, then you don't see them as having any value.

Christ sees them as having value and he gives us the responsibility. Like any parent to go after our wandering children desiring to restore them because they have about any other passage in the Bible. So what is this verse really talking about and how you apply it. Find out today on grace to you as John MacArthur continues his series titled mishandled. Now before we get to the message John it's memorial day in the United States and right now, millions of Americans are breaking from their normal work schedules and of course people schedules have been less than normal for for than a year now but still, it's nice to have a break so when you get a little down time on a day like today what you do to recharge. Usually whatever Patricia my wife wants me to do, and it usually involves kids and grandkids and maybe even great grandkids. Now we have some of those but my life doesn't necessarily recognize holidays as you would well expect that I've noticed that yeah every Sunday I'm preaching in order. I'm working on something writing something or finishing a project so holidays kind of go by like any other day. Everybody else, maybe views it as a different day.

But for me, everything is driven in the direction of the preparation and the preaching and the writing and whatever it is I have to do but when I do pull back. Family becomes my priority and and I love that I and I sometimes to have feel like I get bits and pieces of time with family.

Now Patricia and I are home a lot together because kids are all gone.

So we get time with the rest of the family are busy and once in a while it's good to have a day when we plan something that we do for them for the full day.

I I have to say though that the blessing in my life is that my kids and my grandkids are a part of my life in a part of the church so there they are not those special days very often when we can have a whole day together but but we are interacting with each other Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and in the life of the church which is a tremendous blessing and with the new grandchildren and great-grandchildren coming along word were praying for the Lord's grace to be abundant in their lives and praying that he will save these this new generation of little ones as well, but the Lord has blessed our family and were deeply grateful for that.

And we don't we don't take credit people say to me, will you kids are all in Christ.

How did that happen. I said I put them in a good church. That's right.

Now they were influenced by a lot of wonderful godly people yet.

Thank you John and it's fitting that you focused so much on the importance of the local church because today's lesson talks a lot about how to build a strong congregation. So let's get to the message here's John Matthew 18 beginning at verse 15 and if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private if he listens to you, you have won your brother, 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 and 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 gatherer. Truly I say to you whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

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. For where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst, the only part of that scripture I ever heard quoted was the part about two or three being gathered together in my name and there my in the midst, and that was almost like a popular axiom to remind folks that when only a couple people showed up for prayer meeting God showed up to that was the universal exegesis of that verse see the illusion is that you and I can grow the church that we have the power to grow the church by our cleverness by our ingenuity by our style by our winsome this by our words but this is the plan simple verse 15 if your brother sins go and reprove him in private. Anybody have a hard time understanding it.

If your brother sins apply implied your sisters well. People say what sin, to what degree will whole point here is, he doesn't tell us what sin and it doesn't tell us to what degree because any sin to any degree is a defilement is your brother sins, go and reprove him in private so you go in private and then verse 15. If he listens to you, which would mean I understand that I regret that I want to turn from that.

That's what you're looking for. I love this. You have one, or gained your brother.

Do you know that inside the very church you can lose people that's implied here is you can't win them back if you haven't lost them, can't gain him if he wasn't a loss this word by the way one or gained as a commercial word. It's a were taken out of the marketplace and it tells us right at the very beginning what the purpose of this confrontation is it is to win the brother to gain the brother some people have the idea that church discipline is to throw people out of the church is not. It is to keep people in the church, pure, in fact, this verb one or gained. It is a word used to refer to accumulating wealth. Using this context and it has the idea of a sinning brother being a loss to the fellowship when restored. Being a cane is like well re-gained when somebody sends and the kind of sins were talking about. Obviously, here are not those that we do and for which we repent and we move on those sins that we do not abandon, from which we do not turn in for which we do not repent. When someone follows in that kind of pattern of sin we have lost that person as a brother through that sin. So we go to recover him because he has value. Why does he have value because the Spirit of God dwells in him because he is gifted by the Holy Spirit to have ministry in the church to all the rest of us because he is an instrument by which God can do his work in the church and through the church in the world.

That's that that's the inherent idea here this one sinning person is so valuable that you go in endeavor to get them back. And if he won't come back.

Take two or three and try to get them back. And if you still want come tell the whole church to go after him because he has that much value. This is spiritual wealth regained with G. Campbell Morgan many years ago who wrote this is the great tragedy of a man lost which colors all this instruction and the purpose that is to be in our hearts when we deal with a sinning brother is that of gaining him the word again.

Morgan says suggests not merely the effect on the one lost, but the value it creates for those who seek him when presently we have done with the shadows in the mists of the little while we will understand in the light of the undying ages. But if we have gained one man we shall be richer than if we piled up all the wealth of the world. What a blessed thing he writes to gain a man to possess them for the church for the fellowship of friends for the enterprise of the gospel for the program of high heaven. If you in the church are not willing to confront someone sin, then you don't see them as having any value. Christ sees them as having value.

He paid the infinite price for them. Did he not, and he gives us the responsibility.

Like any parent to go after our wandering children.

We have grown children at this time. But when we were raising our little for children.

Discipline was a regular routine in our family and it was driven totally by love totally by our all-consuming love for them. The fear was they would be lost to us and to the kingdom and so whatever discipline was necessary to make them feel the pain of their own sinfulness. We inflicted upon them every time they drift into sin.

They were discipline for the purpose of restoration because they're so priceless you feel that way about your children and our Lord is saying that's how you should feel about the children of God. Look at Galatians chapter 6 and just the opening couple of verses brother and even if a man is caught in any trespass here again the that the general character of this instruction is notable any trespass, any sin, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.

Each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Look, we all understand what it is to be tempted and to sin. This is not hard for us to grasp understanding human frailty. Understanding the power of temptation, understanding their residing flesh we go after these people desiring to restore them because they have value word restore Qatar to Joe means to repair next is a medical term used of resetting fractures or mending bones, putting dislocated limbs back in place. The idea that of this dealing with sin is certainly not put people out to restore them because they have so much value and you do it in a spirit of gentleness never should this be harsh always. It should be bathed in compassion, tenderness, sympathy, patience, mercy because you understand fallenness. It's our universal experience. Our model for this, go back to Matthew 18.

Our model for this is actually God and he said that model in the prior verses go back from verse 15, just a few verses to verse 12 what you think.

If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them is gone astray, doesn't he leave the 99 on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying. If it turns out that he finds it. Truly I say to you, he rejoices over it with rejoices over it more than over the 99 which have not gone astray and who is that talking about verse 14. Thus, it is not the will of your father who is in heaven that one of these little ones parish were following the pattern of God which is the pattern of restoration goes after his sinning children to bring them back and he uses us in the church as a means to do that. This is why it is so important. This is God's work and that is why the next principle in verse 16 is given because this needs to be a relentless process. Given the value of the person. If he doesn't listen to you, take one or two more with you, but by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact May be confirmed. This takes us back doesn't it to the Old Testament to the book of Deuteronomy were God established the pattern that accusations needed to be proven and attested by two or three witnesses verification of any fact called for two or three confirming witnesses. So, if the person doesn't respond to you.

You get a couple of friends and you go back and confront again and make sure that all the data is correct and that you call that person back to repentance and restoration you do it collectively with the hope that he will listen or she will listen and you will gain your brother gain your sister. It's always that that is the point you go to that extreme. What if they don't listen then well for 17 says if the refuses to listen to them tell it to the church. Are you kidding know, fellow church, tell the whole church son such person is following a pattern of sin gone doing conduit with two or three won't repent won't here shun him no tell the whole church gang up on him or her.

Why, why you go to this extreme. First of all, who wants to confront an individual about their sin. This is required. This is the noble thing if you care about the person. If you can be indifferent to someone sin, then you don't care if you really care.

You can't be indifferent to their sin. I promise you. I've never been indifferent to the sins of the people I love wonder everything I can restore them in every way I can. If I'm indifferent toward somebody sin that somebody was outside my own affection in the church were called to love one another without any restraint or boundary. So we tell the whole church that's not hard to understand. Neither is it the church is the collection of people who were saved who are redeemed, you tell them about this person about their sin, not necessarily lurid details you say go after that person. That's how valuable that person is then verse 17 they don't listen to the church. That's all you can do but to be to you as a Gentile outcast in the tax together. Most despised and despicable in Jewish society, those Jews who it sold their souls to Rome to buy a tax franchise to extort money out of their own people for a pagan idolatrous nation. Traders treat them like total outcasts.

Total unbelievers if they won't come back. Was that mean that means you don't accept them into the fellowship because sin will 11. The church, the church has to protect its holiness in an effort to protect its holiness, it calls the professing Christian center back from sin. That sinner doesn't respond then two or three. And that doesn't get the response then you tell the church and the whole church goes and if that doesn't bring them back then but amount back first Corinthians 5.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. You can't allow sinful influence to just settle comfortably in the church, but most internal discipline.

The church never gets to the Lord's table. It's going on on a one-on-one basis and restoration is going on all the time all the time in your family among friends now and say John, this is a hard thing to do. Yes, but it's not a hard instruction to under stand maybe would help you to remember the apostle Paul who confronted none other than Peter. In fact, the apostle Paul confronted Peter to the face. Galatians 211 when Peter Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned while can you imagine taking on Peter Paul's a pretty strong guy, but I'm certainly no stronger than Peter. I don't imagine the theater was an easy guy to convince of his own sin you say this might be the end of a relationship and you know I've had that experience I have had that many times I regret to say prominent ministers, pastors that you would know if I give their names that I hopefully lovingly graciously confronted about some serious error and the result of that confrontation was the end of any relationship permanently. Perhaps the price you might pay. You could ask yourself whether Paul confronting Peter was worth it. If it wouldn't of been better for them to have a cooperating relationship.

But Paul did what was right for the sake of the honor of the Lord of the church and he confronted Peter to the face because he was to be condemned that in the relationship. Second Peter three verse 14.

Here, the writing of Peter. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things. Be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless. I love this verse and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation. Jost also as our beloved brother Paul wrote to you.

Paul was Peter's beloved brother, because all it Paul ever had in mind and confronting Peter was restoration while enclosing if this seems difficult, let me give you some encouraging biblical truth.

Verse 18. Truly I say to you whatever you shall bind on earth literally shall have been bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. That particular statement appears a number of times in the New Testament. One is back in Matthew 16 in verse 19, another in John chapter 20 it's a very simple idea. In fact, it may well of been sort of an axiomatic statement used by the rabbis for all we know, it simply means that when you bind something on earth.

It is bound in heaven, or has already been bound in heaven. When you lose something on earth. It is already been loosed in heaven. Binding and loosing the Rabbi said had to do was sin.

If someone repented their sin was loosed. If someone would not repent their bound in their sense that simple. So when we confront a sinner and a sinner will not repent, and we say you're bound in your sin heaven has already made that judgment or when we confront a sinner and the sinner repents and we say you're loosed from your sin because we have biblical revelation that says if you repent you will be loosed from your sin, then when we say you're loosed from your sin were only saying on earth what heaven is already said bottom-line principle is this when we deal with sin and confront sin and call people to repentance and hold them responsible for their independence and's and rejoice with them in their repentance.

We are simply doing on earth. What is done in heaven.

We can pray that I will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Here's a way we can implement it. Heaven has already rendered the verdict that someone's bound in sin that someone's loosed from sin. We are just reflecting heaven. When we do the same. Then in verse 19 and I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything.

There were back to the Deuteronomy principle of two or three witnesses that they may ask, it shall be done for them by my father who is in heaven. That means to say when two or three come together and affirm someone's repentance and heaven is in agreement. We can ask the Lord to cleanse them and restore them and he will if they will not repent. Of course, and heaven is an agreement we can ask the Lord to chasten and discipline and he will. In other words were doing heavens work were doing the father's work and then Jesus himself has the final word in verse 20 where two or three have gathered together, not for a permeating folks. How many does it take for God to show up at a prayer meeting about one while I'm with you always take two or three doesn't have anything to do with affirming residue of the discipline situation where two or three have gathered together, which means this process is in motion. There I am in their midst never is the church more in tune with heaven more in tune with the father and more in tune with Christ himself. And when it's dealing with sin. This is grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us.

John is the Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary in Southern California today. He showed how you and your church can faithfully fight sin as John continued a study that is clarifying some very familiar Bible passages that are often misunderstood. John calls this series mishandled. Now if you want a tool that can help you handle God's word accurately and understand what it means. Page after page is a reminder that the MacArthur study Bible is designed to do just that. To order a copy get in touch today.

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Jide TY.org now for John MacArthur and the entire grace to you staff, I'm Phil Johnson, thanks for starting your week with Grace to you and be here tomorrow when John continues his study mishandled with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you