The Power Of Reconciliation

Please turn in your Bible to Luke 17. Luke 17 at this point the scripture Jesus still concerned about the importance of following the law of God from which No stroke will pass away. But now turning away from the Pharisees and speaking again to the disciples about his particular concern for them when you have Luke 17, please stand for the reading of God's Word.

I Will go ahead and read all the way to verse 10 even though the verses we'll be looking at today are particularly the first four and He said to his disciples Temptations to sin are sure to come but woe to the one through whom they come.

It would be better for him that the millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea. Then that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves if your brother sins rebuke him if he repents forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying I repent you must forgive him. The Apostle said to the Lord increase our faith and The Lord said if you had faith like the grain of a mustard seed.

You could say to this mulberry tree be uprooted and planted in the sea and it would obey you. Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keep? Keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field come at once and recline at table.

Will he not rather say to him prepare supper for me and dress properly and serve me while I eat and drink and afterward You will eat and drink. Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

So you also when you have done all that was commanded that were commanded say we are unworthy servants. We have only done. What was our duty? These are the words of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated dear Heavenly Father.

We thank you for your word. We come to you knowing that is only by the power of your spirit that this word will pierce our hearts and transform us. And so we asked today that he would do so. We pray that you would give us hearts that desire the good of our brother love for them.

Reconciliation in Jesus name. Amen. The situation that we face is a one that is fraught with much gravity. This is a very serious Assembly that we are in there's a very serious community. A lot of people treat church like a social club, but it is.

Certainly it is social but is much more than a social club. This is more like an army an army there are great dangers that are around there's a great need for all of us to be watching over one another to beware of the attacks of the enemy and.

The instruction that Jesus gives here in order that we do so properly is a very simple one. It is the following rebuke forgive repeat rebuke forgive repeat. Repeat. And it is really that simple. Now while we will look at what it means to rebuke and to forgive and then what it means to repeat that.

It's important first that we understand the need for this. Why would we need to rebuke? Why would we need to forgive? Why would we need to do this over and over and over again? Well, the answer begins here and he said to his disciples Temptations to sin are sure to come.

Very simply put sin is a transgression of the law of God. This is something that is very grave. The Bible says that One who that's the wages of sin is death one who sins is in grave danger and. So a temptation something that draws someone into that sin makes them desire that sin is of course Something else that is very great.

Now the context of all this is Immediately after the narrative of the rich man and Lazarus one of the most harrowing passages in all of Scripture. When you read this passage this passage, we just read today.

Maybe your mind immediately thinks about the context in Matthew because maybe that's where you have most read this passage maybe you've thought about this in context of God's love for his little ones for his children and the emphasis there of Of how God cares so much about his children.

That passage in Luke does not come until the next chapter. The emphasis here is on the great danger that is facing those who are in temptation. That great danger is described in the previous passage. These terrifying fires of hell in fact the word for temptations here Temptations to sin is not a phrase temptations to sin.

It's a word that means a stumbling block. Scandal on it's where we get the English word scandal. There's something that can destroy you. This is talking about a stumbling block. If you look throughout Scripture and look for the word stumbling you'll see that stumbling is not Oh whoops a little mess up a stumbling refers to a Full and final destruction.

It refers to a great and terrifying but a terrifying danger.

And so.

Temptations to sin. Are sure to come. These are not things that we should think are.

Are.

Only rare rare occurrences. Rather we should have a holy paranoia about us knowing that temptations are sure to come. We should not go about our lives thinking that temptations won't come. We should be ready.

We should spend time in the Word of God and prayer of preparing ourselves in order to face temptation. Moreover we shouldn't go into situations where there may be temptations naively thinking all there probably won't be temptations this time.

No, you must know that temptations are sure to come. And why wouldn't they. Why wouldn't they?

What is.

The work of temptation other than the work of the devil. What is the desire more to do than to trip up God's children and make them stumble and then beyond that? Beyond Satan's purposes the tempter's purposes consider God's purposes.

What are his purposes for his children? Hebrews 12 14 says that he desires for us the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. He uses trials in his children to produce holiness that is necessary for us and so his purposes also are toward us facing such trials and Then also his purposes are for our ultimate vindication that on that day of judgment When we stand before God that it is shown to all the world His goodness in his people and that will not be accomplished apart from his people enduring temptation and succeeding in trial.

And if these are God's purposes if these are both the enemy and the father's purposes, then why would we not? Expect there to be temptation. There will be great temptation. And so let us ready ourselves for these things and not Naively think there won't be any and let us not be discouraged when they come.

You may be early on in your Christian life and not have faced a great trial yet. Maybe you're someone who you've left behind a lot of sinful lot of sinful practices. What happens often is that? Early on your Christian life you do that and then you fall into temptation or you face temptation and you are surprised.

That this struggle came about you really thought it was all taken care of and they were never going to face such things ever again. And then you get very discouraged. Do not be discouraged by such things rather expect them.

That doesn't mean give yourself into temptation. Obviously, there's a great danger there, but Expect these things do not do not go about naively thinking that they won't exist. And Jesus continues here not only talking about temptation but about sources of temptation.

He says but woe to the one Through whom temptation comes it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea. Then that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

And so if it is a great danger that awaits those who are tempted and stumble it is an even greater danger that awaits those who are who are tempting others and Once again, why wouldn't this be we see here God's concern for his children?

He speaks of them as little ones and Matthew. This is actually illustrated with a literal child. God has a great concern for his children and as such the one who tempts those children the one who causes them to stumble is in great great danger and Besides they are behaving in the very same activity of the enemy himself and engaging and tempting.

Now a lot of people might look at this and they might think of this as describing a. This is some kind of hyperbole better a millstone tied around his neck. You know imagine a giant stone that you would use to crush grain being tied to your neck and cast in the sea.

Well, this has to be some kind of hyperbole, right? It can't really be that bad. Well, if you just read the previous passage about Lazarus and the rich man and you realize that the the rich man is one who by his behavior is Teaching others that this is the right way of life tempting others.

You realize that no, this really is the case. The first death that we face is so much better than the second death. That will be faced by one who is guilty of the the great sin of tempting others of causing them to stumble.

And so we do not want to Be guilty of such things and we don't want to look at this and say that this is merely Hyperbole, this is not hyperbole. It is indeed the case now many of you will remember some of the harrowing footage from 9-eleven where there were many people who when they were faced with the choice between Facing the fire or taking the plunge?

Which one did many of them choose a lot of them knew that the plunge was better than facing the fire. And this is the same kind of this is the same kind of danger that we are talking about here that Jesus is is warning us against.

Now there are several ways you could tempt someone. One way a very simply is by telling them that some sinful behavior is good, you know. You might encourage someone, you know, just go ahead and divorce your husband.

He doesn't deserve you or you could say, yeah, just go ahead and treat yourself and indulge in you know, whatever. Whatever kind of indulgent behavior You're thinking of because you deserve it. And you're encouraging people against what god would actually call them to.

There are all kinds of ways that you could do that another way that people tempt one another Is by modeling behavior that is evil. This is what you see with the rich man. He's modeling a particular behavior showing that this is what goodness looks like and it is not.

First corinthians 8 is concerned particularly about this. Those who would go and eat things sacrifice to idols convincing Others other christians who don't know any better that this would actually be good to do.

And this is what those scriptures refer to as causing one to stumble. There's another way that you can cause people to stumble as well first, uh romans 14 Speaks of Coercing or pressuring someone into not some good behavior, but some neutral behavior.

That they are not yet convinced is acceptable before god and so because. If you do not have faith then your activity is unpleasing to god. If someone does not have faith that the thing they are doing is right before god.

They are sitting in that activity now. It is right to encourage people very strongly towards activities that are good and even in some sense towards activities that are neutral. But if you do so in such a way where you are coercing them.

So that they have not resolved the matter in their own conscience scripture also refers to this as placing a stumbling block in front of brothers. Now all of those are ways that you could tempt one another none of those.

Are what jesus speaks of here in that passage? What does he speak of here? He speaks of neglect. If temptations to sin are sure to come. Then what must our activity be is it? Don't do this kind of tempting.

Don't do this kind of tempting. Don't do this kind of tempting. No, it is watch out for one another. Make sure that you are engaged in the practice of rebuking and forgiving. To not do that would be to neglect it would be to allow temptation to come into their life to be complicit with that temptation.

Such that this statement he makes applies to the one who is not doing this woe to the one Through whom that temptation comes better for a millstone to be hung around your neck now, this is not usually how people think of their behavior people don't usually think of the need to.

Uh.

To rebuke and to forgive as being something that if they didn't if they chose not to that neglect would be regarded as The kind of temptation that jesus is talking about here. But what else is he addressing if not this?

Because we are not to tempt one another we are to rebuke and forgive.

Now before.

Before I continue on to explain this communal Duty that we have I want to stop real quick and make sure that I'm clear that this is not saying even though this concern is for the disciples. This is not suggesting that one could lose his salvation.

You know There are many passages that talk about the fact that uh that the works that god finished he completes. That we cannot lose our salvation that we are secure in the hands of jesus. But just as one as one proof for you, I would say that the bible says we can have eternal life.

Uh, it would not be eternal life if it were potentially temporary would it? Uh, so the concern here is not about losing salvation. But I will tell you you can lose your assurance of salvation. That is something that scripture says you can lose.

That's why peter tells us to make our calling and election. Sure, and if you've lost your assurance of salvation. Uh, you may find that you were never saved to begin with. And so that is why this is this is such a common command in scripture.

Not because you can't have assurance of your salvation not because you can lose your salvation but because There is a real danger that everyone faces regardless. Because that assurance can be lost and because many may be self-deceived.

Though one can truly know that they are safe in the arms of christ. Many are self-deceived and so we must Continually make our calling and election. Sure. It is only by the grace of christ that we are saved.

But this is a duty. He has given us to Have us be reassured of that grace of christ and so when he says pay attention to yourselves. What does that mean now the first at first glance you might think okay?

This means I need to make sure that I am not tempted pay attention to yourselves. But if you look at the application he gives That is not the concern. This is not so much about being tempted as it is about Tempting or being complicit in another's temptation.

It is not so much about you yourself. It is about others. It's about communal interactions this is not a Uh, this is not something that is just uh for you yourself watch over yourself. This is you your brothers love your brothers watch over your brothers.

And this is so important because they are brothers, you know, there's a family that is created in the gospel. When we become sons of god, we become brothers with one another and we are called to love one another and that love for one another includes desiring that there be no stumbling.

Not causing one another to stumble not engaging in any kind of neglect that would allow others to fall into temptation. Now one passage that jesus might be alluding to or may just simply be a very similar passage.

So in leviticus 19 17 It says you shall not hate your brother in your heart, right? If you're not going to hate them, you're going to love them. But you shall reason frankly with your neighbor lest you incur sin because of him.

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people. But you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the lord. And so if we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourself this being that famous command.

How are we to do it by reasoning frankly with them you might think of Loving as being some kind of other act that doesn't involve these kinds of difficult confrontations rebuking and forgiving. But that is precisely what is involved.

This is the this is the barest aspects of brotherhood and discipleship is working through those those difficult things and this brotherhood Is one that scripture speaks of in the new testament as well.

In first john 10 it says at first john 2 10. It says whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him. There is no cause for stumbling. Okay, if you love your brother, you're not going to cause him to stumble.

And then later on in the next chapter in john 3 14 It says we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. If you do not love your brothers you are Living in a culture of death.

You are encouraging death rather than life. The one who truly loves his brother Uh will truly engage in avoiding any kind of stumbling block avoiding the neglect that would lead one to stumble. This is uh, this is how you know that someone is a brother according to that passage real brothers don't let other brothers stumble.

You know if you go and you do a dna test. You could find out whether or not you and someone else are siblings just by amount of shared genes. Very similarly you can tell in this way too. It's by seeing whether or not there is a real care and concern for one another.

You look at the the narrative before the rich man and lazarus. Who is the rich man care? Who did he care about? He cared about his brothers. Now he showed whose brother he was he was not the brother of lazarus.

He was the brother of his earthly brothers.

But.

You will care about your brothers. And consider that this was. This was one of the first sins, too. You might think to yourself, you know, am I do I really need to watch out for my brother? Is that really something that I have to do?

This is exactly what cain said. Am I my brother's keeper? Is this an activity that I really have to worry about? You know, let him answer for himself. His problems are his own problems. They are not my problems.

No.

Cain was revealing that he was not truly the brother of abel. That's also something that first john speaks of that cain revealed that he's not truly the brother of abel. If you are truly your brother's brother within this fellowship within the community of christ.

You will not neglect but rather you will care for them. And so consider what this means especially about church involvement. A lot of people think that they can Sufficiently live the christian life at a distance.

That is not the case. There needs to be a real involvement if you are just watching over yourself and you're not watching over anyone else. Are you really following the commands of christ? You are not you are not.

And then moreover, who is it that in particular that you are supposed to be rebuking and forgiving and repeating that activity with? It can't be every single christian across the globe, you don't know every single christian across the globe.

There are particular societies that god has placed us in in order that we might do that. And what is that other than the institution that he has given us the local church? Uh, a lot of people think that they can engage in the christian life without having a well-defined sense of who the ones they are responsible to are.

You cannot and so god has given us the boundaries of church membership in order that we might know who is it? Especially that i'm responsible for who is. While all christians are my brothers and i'm responsible for all of them in some sense.

There are a particular set that i'm especially responsible for and is you all here? And then with frequency consider also the frequency with which this is needed. Temptations to sin are sure to come. This is a constant activity that is needed.

Your brothers are constantly facing temptation. And so you must constantly not neglect.

To.

Reach into their life and help them hebrews 3 13. Hebrews 3 13 says. But exhort one another every day as long as it is called the day. That none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. This is a daily activity.

A lot of people would make this a you know, a monthly activity a weekly activity. It's a daily activity. It's a daily activity. And so we come particularly to The first aspect of this formula of rebuke forgive repeat.

He says if your brother sins rebuke him.

Now.

I want to Work through this just asking some basic questions. What when how and why. Okay. So what is what is rebuke? Uh rebuke first of all is not a dirty word. Okay, a lot of people treat it like a dirty word.

They think that if you talk about rebuking someone that it's that it's got to be this really harsh Mean-spirited unkind.

Unkind.

Superior sort of behavior. Okay. Rebuke is not a dirty word. It is simply correction. Okay, it is simply correction and you can rebuke one another in a way that is not harsh in a way That is kind and loving and gentle.

Now.

On top of what it is that correction. When should you when should you rebuke. The answer is if your brother sins. This is anytime your brother sins. This is something and you. You know if you've been in a reformed church long enough, you know how frequent sin is.

Uh, this is something that should be featuring.

Very.

Frequently a part of the christian life. Now some people might look ahead and they say ah, but it says in verse 4 if he sins against you. So let's just limit that to sins against only the sins that are directly against you.

Well that wouldn't satisfy the rest of the concerns of this passage. Okay, this passage is concerned about being complicit in temptation so that one would Veer off of the course that god has. This is about a neglect of your brother.

If you were only concerned when he sins directly against you and not concerned when he has other sins against his life. Are you really loving him? Are you really caring for him? So don't be Distracted by the fact that in typical situations this will involve a direct sin against you.

Don't be distracted by that. Know that you have a responsibility to your brother. Even in other situations and that just watching them, you know veer off the rails is not.

Um.

Is not the behavior that is commended here and so it is something that is to be to be frequent now. Once again, if this is just correction a lot of people think of of rebuke as being okay. You all are sitting down.

You're having a heavy conversation. There's a lot of sweat, you know going on. There's just. You know postures like this or something. No, this is something that can be that can be very frequent. I I have I I was thinking about it this past week.

I know i've been rebuked at least a half dozen times if not more than that. If I count the number of times that someone approached me about uh, either something I said that was was overly anxious or not kind enough and they you know Cited a verse to me or something like that.

Now in none of those situations. Would someone who is identifying rebuke as being this heavy-handed? A harsh activity would they have called that rebuke and likewise i've rebuked folks. A number of times this past.

This past week once again, they might not even identify that as rebuke if you're thinking of it as being something so harsh. You know, if you include parental activities in that, you know, the number skyrockets how many times uh correction is involved.

But this is something that is supposed to be a frequent part of the christian life even as as demonstrated by this passage. So do not think of this as something that is just for rare occasions. Something that is supposed to be supposed to be frequent.

Now how uh. How should you rebuke one another? First of all You should rebuke. Purely. I'll i'll give you uh, three p's to try to remember this purely meaning not hypocritically. Okay. You want to do this without hypocrisy?

So.

Some of you might be familiar with how children in church are. You tell them to close their eyes while they're praying and at the end of the prayer one will say Johnny was opening his eyes. I saw him open his eyes, right?

Very hypocritical, uh address of sin there. Obviously This kid's opening his eyes if he knows that the other was opening his eyes. But this happens with adults too. You're probably familiar with the stereotypical scene of the hundred pound overweight preacher Who's got his own gluttony issues.

Who uh is addressing the the indulgence in alcohol? Uh, etc, right drunkenness where you know gluttony is a very similar sin that we're Talking about here now. None of this absolves anyone Of the duty of rebuke.

Some people think well, you know, this is a big problem in my life, too. I can't really speak to this.

No.

It still falls on you to care for your brother and sister but the duty is to get the log out of your own eye and to Make sure that your standards of righteousness are different for your brother than they are for you to use the same equal weights and measures for yourself and to Uh as much as you can correct it in the time that you have available and as much as is necessary Acknowledge your own failings to your to your brother as you address it.

Now.

The next uh, the next thing. Another p this is these are poor peas. I'm sorry, but purely as a peer right purely and purely uh as a peer not condescendingly, right you don't want to uh. Be wagging your finger and shaking your head down at people.

Uh, you don't want to be saying, um, you know. You disgust me, you know something like that would not be a. This would not be the kind of loving rebuke that christ is commanding here. Right rather you want to do this as a peer it says.

It says in first timothy 5 -1 that uh to those who are younger than you even you should be doing this as brothers and towards those who are older than you. You should not rebuke strongly harshly, but rather you should.

You should do so as you speak to a father. Now some people might get confused by this. I think this is one of those passages where because of the way it's translated. It leads people to think that rebuke is a dirty word.

Because if you look at some translations like even your esv it will say in first timothy 5 -1 do not rebuke an older man. Now you might think well, maybe i'm free I have this duty to others my peers to those younger than me.

But I do not have this duty to watch over watch over those who are older in the church. Uh, no this duty falls on you for them as well. The word that is used there is a different word than the one that is used here.

It's one where the the root of the word is about striking so it's talking about, you know some translations say strongly rebuke or. Maybe you could say berate, you know, you don't want to berate an older man.

That would not be appropriate. So you do so? As as a peer with the right kind of with the right kind of respect. Now in addition to that. You want to do so? Gently gently. Galatians 6 -1 Talks about those who are spiritual restoring the one who is caught in a transgression with the spirit of gentleness.

And so.

We ought to do this. We ought to do this gently. Now, there are several ways that you can do this gently. One is with humility, okay acknowledging that you may not perfectly understand the situation that you're addressing.

And so you're open to correction about the particular situation acknowledging that you Are not a perfect man either. There are situations where that acknowledgement will need to be more or less explicit.

Many times it's not needed directly as long as you have that attitude.

Uh.

In addition to that you want to do this confidently confidently. Now that might be surprising that that would be part of gentleness. But if you think about if someone addressed you with some sin and they were not confident you would feel really uncomfortable.

You know if they're uncomfortable. You're going to feel uncomfortable and you're going to think what's the ulterior motive going on here? Why is this person addressing me is he not confident about what the scripture says.

If so, why is he addressing it. Is he. Is he trying to pull something on me here? So what you want to do is make sure that you understand what the scripture says and that you are. Even though you're approaching the situation with humility. You are also approaching it with confidence and that confidence Counterintuitively is part of that gentleness so that it can be received in a way that doesn't Make people unnecessarily have to put up their guards because they feel like there's some ulterior motive.

And then in addition, uh, you want to do this appropriately gentleness is going to look different in different contexts. Some people only have one category for gentleness. So it always means the most private the most quiet of rebukes sometimes gentleness.

Larger than that. You see the examples given in scripture greater sins require greater rebukes. Uh peter addressing simon the magician a very great rebuke because it was a great sin. Uh situations where the sin is more persistent.

You see moses with pharaoh, you know increased increasing plagues increasing rebuke. Why. Because the sin is persistent. And then you see that public Sins need public rebukes.

Paul.

And addressing peter after peter refused to eat with gentiles He gives him a rebuke in the sight of all because his sin was public so just the fact that you You are to restore one gently does not mean that that gentleness is going to look the exact same in every circumstance.

There's appropriate level of gentleness that sometimes will look very strong look very harsh. Right it that doesn't mean it's harsh, but to some people it will and you have to be ready for that. So Uh the kind of gentleness that you would use to correct An animal for example like a horse is going to be different than the gentleness or you correct a hamster.

Right a horse if you touch them like you touch a hamster, he's not going to turn in the right direction. Right. He's not gonna he's not going to do the right thing. And so some situations require a lot of strength to do the correction.

Now if you apply the the kind of strength that's needed for a horse to a hamster you know what's going to happen, you know, his eyes are going to bulge out and he's going to Lose his continence. Um, it's you need an appropriate level of gentleness for each situation.

And so now uh, why. Why is rebuke so necessary? Rebuke is necessary because as jesus implies in this passage if you are neglecting your brother. You are complicit in that temptation you are by way of silence.

Endorsing it you ever see a situation where someone? Someone makes a joke at someone else's expense and you laugh at it. Rather than rather than speaking up or saying something. What have you done? You've said you've implicitly said that this is okay.

Right, and the same thing happens when you neglect your brother you neglect to send you you implicitly say that's all right. You know, that's okay. There's no problem here. But that's not uh, that's not what you want to do.

Ezekiel 3 Talks about if god has called you to warn someone about their wicked ways and you do not do it. Uh that if they continue on you will have blood in your on your hands. And that is the case in the church, too.

You do not want blood on your hands. Uh, Just if god told this to his prophet how much truer is it of us? Today when we have been given this command by jesus to rebuke one another a lot of people think that.

You know, the nicest thing the kindest thing is just to avoid it just to uh, you know let love cover a multitude of sins which uh ends up being a phrase that's scriptural but abuse so that They don't have to do the hard task of helping their brother out when they're sinning and they're off course.

No, it is necessary or else there will be blood. Uh, there will be blood on your hands.

And so.

The applications here are very simple. Uh, the first is to rebuke. Now it might not. Uh I understand it's difficult too and it's difficult in certain situations, too. It's so much easier. I know what people do right?

They've got a friend who has sinned against them and they think Well that there goes that friendship never going to talk to that person again. No, uh. Approach them and reconcile and the first step to reconcile reconciliation is addressing that sin.

Uh, there are all kinds of relationships where you might not feel comfortable.

Uh.

Husband and wife or wife and husband. Uh, maybe you don't feel like this person is going to be receptive but there is still uh, there's still a command to do so. Uh, I know many husbands think that the the right way to go about the relationship is to keep their wife as happy as possible without addressing any sins.

No, that is not that is not appropriate. God has commanded rebuke and likewise parents with their children. So many parents think that the right way to parent is to uh, just accept all their children's behavior all of their shenanigans at bedtime all of their uh Disobedience and rude behavior just as long as they're keeping the kids happy.

Everything's okay. Their goal isn't really character formation. It's just you know, let's let's make sure that they're not, you know acting up right at this moment. And so let's give them whatever they want.

Uh, no, they need correction. Your children need correction as well. So Rebuke rebuke is the first one secondly. And this one, uh is really important. Do not protect someone from rebuke. There might be times when you see one brother treating another brother harshly and you want to step in and that's good.