what is church discipline?

Morning. Like I said, we had intended to go straight into the Scripture. I've got a whole lot of Scripture this morning.

That's why we're just going directly into the Scripture because it's going to be very important.

I want you to be able to absorb all that you can, to take down all that you can.

If you're taking notes, you'll want to probably write these Scripture references down because there's going to be a lot. We're not going to be able to go into great detail in all of these passages of Scripture.

Some we'll quote in passing. Some we'll read through literally and physically.

But this morning we're going to look at the practice and the purpose of church discipline.

And as we go into this this morning, before we go into this, I'd like for us, if we could, to go to the

Lord in prayer and ask the Lord to bless this time that He's given us and to help us to be obedient to His Word, to be obedient to His Spirit, and that we show this forth in our lives.

So I told Johnny, I was going to ask him to lead us in prayer, blessing the sermon.

So last week, would you care to do that, Johnny? Thank you. Amen. Amen.

Thank you, Johnny. Thank you. So we're going to start with a quiz.

How many of you like quizzes? Multiple choice. It is a seven -question quiz.

Multiple choice. True, false. So you've got an even better chance of getting the questions right, 50 -50.

Secondly, just before we take this quiz here, I'm going to give you all the study guide.

Study guides are helpful, right? Yeah. So here's the study guide. All of the answers are true.

Now, how many of you would have liked, when you were in school, when the teacher came in and said, all right, we're going to have a quiz for the teacher to tell you.

I'm going to give you the study guide, and here's the study guide. Oh, yeah. And there they are. But I don't want you to answer them true, just because I'm telling you that all the answers are true to the questions

I'm going to ask you. I put a lot of thought and preparation, particularly this past week, in writing up the sermon, in seeking out the

Scriptures to share with the church. I've done a whole lot of praying. So in looking at these first questions, my intent and my purpose simply is this, to kind of prepare your minds to recognize the truth of what

God's Word says and how we are to be obedient to the Word of God. So the first question that I'm going to ask, before each question

I'm going to ask, Kenny's going to put up some Scripture here, and we're going to read through the

Scripture, and then I'm going to ask you the questions. And you need to be able to answer the question based upon what the

Scripture says, right? Because, John, what ought you to do? Trust who?

Trust the Scripture over whose word? Over anybody's word, but specifically my word.

Trust the Scripture above my word. So, the first passage of Scripture we're going to look at is 2

Corinthians chapter 6. We're going to read verses 14 through 18, and then the first verse of the 7th chapter.

So 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14 through 18, the Scripture says this,

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?

And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord, or unity, and what accord has

Christ with Bilal? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living

God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their

God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the

Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.

I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the

Lord Almighty. And the first verse of the 7th chapter says this,

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

So we read that somewhat slowly. We wanted to read that very clearly. And the true false question concerning this passage of Scripture is this,

Holiness and sin are complete polar opposites and completely incompatible, true or false?

True. Based upon the Scripture we read, right? So holiness and sin are complete polar opposites and completely incompatible.

You've got that question right. Next passage of Scripture we're going to look at is

Galatians 6, verses 7 and 8. Galatians 6, verses 7 and 8.

The Apostle Paul in writing to the church at Galatia said, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked.

For whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.

But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

The question concerning this passage is this, true or false? Christians are held accountable for our sin.

True. Based upon the Scripture, whatever you sow, that's what you're going to reap.

Next passage of Scripture, Acts chapter 5, verses 29 through 32.

Acts chapter 5, verses 29 through 32. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said,

We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.

Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

And we are His witnesses. They're saying we are God's witnesses to these things.

And so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey

Him. The question, true or false, concerning this passage would be this, as a

Christian. And this is directed to Christians.

By the way, when we come to church, most of the time it's

Christians who are at church. Amen? That's what God intended. He set up His church so that His people could gather to be edified to grow in grace and knowledge.

And so based upon that passage, as a Christian, I am responsible for obeying

God according to what He has said in His Word. True or false? True.

This side is pretty quiet. Did you all hear that question? As a Christian, I am responsible for obeying

God in what He has said in His Word. True or false? True. So this next passage of Scripture, there's going to be two questions on it, so we're almost done.

Four questions left. This next passage of Scripture, Romans chapter 6 verses 16 through 19.

Romans chapter 6 verses 16 through 19. The Scripture says, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.

But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Paul said, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

This is written to the Christians. And so the first question based upon the

Scripture that we read is this. And it's very personal. It's very personal and it's very directly asked to you as a church.

True or false? Reformation Baptist Church was established on the creed that we desire to be a glory of God centered,

Bible saturated, missions focused, Holy Spirit empowered body of believers.

True or false? True. If you've been here any period of time, you know this.

Next question is this. True or false? It's always right to follow what the

Scriptures teach in matters of life outside the church, as well as matters that have to deal with how the church was intended to function and operate within.

It's always right to obey the Scriptures. Even when it's not popular, even when it's uncomfortable, we're called to obey

God. Outside the church and inside the church.

Last passage of Scripture for the quiz. And from now on, I'll ask that you follow along in your

Bibles after this passage here, or this verse here. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 24.

Proverbs chapter 13 verse 24. The Scripture says,

He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

How many of you all have always heard that he who spares his rod spoils his child?

That's one of those things that are passed along but are not true.

The Scriptures teach he who loves, he who spares the rod hates his son.

And he who loves him disciplines him promptly. So I want you to notice this contrast.

We see love and we see hate. Now the world says, if you love someone, that the whole mantra of today's world is, if you love someone, you'll just let them go on in what they're doing.

You won't say anything, you'll be okay with everything. That is not love. The Scriptures teach that love disciplines.

Amen? According to the Scriptures. So the questions, two questions concerning that passage are these.

True or false? It is an act of love for God's church to practice church discipline.

True or false? True. Next question and last question in the quiz.

It is required of us as stewards. Stewards means to be a manager of God, what

God has given us. It is required of us as stewards of the Word of God to exercise church discipline.

True or false? Based upon the Scripture. True. So we cannot deny these things.

Correct? And so going on into this now, I'm going to say, again, this is a very weighty matter on my heart.

It's a very weighty subject in the life of the church. It is very necessary. It is very needful.

You've heard us over the years touch on church discipline. How many of you can say that?

True or false? You've heard us touch on church discipline. But we've never gone in depth to communicate to you church discipline's purpose, what it is, why we do, why it should be practiced.

We've spoken a little bit and we're going to go into these matters today, this morning. I want to begin with a quote.

It's been said the church must live out its faith in every area prescribed by the Scripture.

She must live it out in the most difficult and unpopular areas if she expects to be faithful to the

Lord of the church and taken seriously in the battle for the souls of men. And so first off here, if you're taking notes,

I want you to write this down or to remember it. If you've just got a good memory, I want you to know this and I want to communicate this right up front.

And to give you the distinction and the function of church discipline.

Church discipline, I'm not saying in any way, shape, form or fashion that church discipline is about us as individuals trying to police each other's private lives.

Right? I'm not talking about putting up surveillance in your house and seeing how many times you cuss this week.

Right? I'm not talking about looking for every little thing or something that really is not sin even many times, pet peeves that we find wrong with each other, things that get on each other's nerves.

But when I'm talking about the need for church discipline, I'm talking about open rebellion against God and His Word.

Sin in the life of the believer. Some would say it's not for the church for us to discipline one another, but that is not what the

Scriptures teach. And we're going to see that today. So it's not meant for us to try to police the private lives of church members.

Its purpose is to correct the public sins of our brothers and sisters. I've said over the years repeatedly, you are responsible to each other.

Amen? You are responsible to each other. I am responsible to you.

None of us are above sin. Let's say that from the outset. None of us. I am not above sin.

I am not above heinous sin. I am not above horrible sin.

Neither are you. However, as Christians, when we do sin and we choose to rebel against God and not to repent of our sins and to continue in our sin, that's when the process of church discipline begins within the body of Christ.

So, some causes for church discipline. One cause would be difficulty between members.

If there are schisms and divisions between members, there's a cause for division.

Because what happens many times when there are divisions amongst members? Folks start backbiting each other, right?

Folks start talking about each other. Folks start going this way and doing that thing. And everybody's going different ways.

And we've been learning from Philippians that we're to be united in the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

Amen? That is our focus. That is our goal. That is our aim. Another reason for church discipline is this.

Divisive or factious people causing divisions in the church. Another reason for church discipline is immoral conduct.

Sins of the type mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5, which we're going to look at here in a minute, such as incest, immorality, covetousness, idolatry, abusive speech, drunkenness, swindling, or idle busybodies who refuse to work and run around spreading dissension.

These are causes for church discipline. False teaching is another reason.

Erroneous teaching and views which concern the fundamentals of the faith and not lesser differences of interpretation.

So these are some reasons for church discipline. So let's begin to look here.

What is church discipline? In layman's terms, and I wanted to do this because I know sometimes, and I don't do it because I'm trying to sound smart, sometimes when

I say things that I'm trying to communicate theologically to you, I want to break this down in layman's terms and make it as simple as possible.

In layman's terms, church discipline is the correction of open sin in the lives of its members.

It's the correction of open sin in the lives of its members. Because guess what? None of us truly can judge another's heart.

Amen? I don't know your heart. You can say you're a Christian. You can say that you've been born again by the grace of God.

And then I can say, well, I heard you cuss when you hit your thumb with that hammer.

I don't know many people that don't cuss when they hit their thumb with a hammer. Amen? We're all in the same boat there.

I'm not talking about that type of sin. I'm talking about continued sin. Continued unrepentant sin.

That's when church discipline comes into play. Jesus speaks concerning how we should handle sin within the context of our personal relationships.

So let's look at Matthew chapter 18. As we turn there to Matthew chapter 18, when you get there, you probably are going to find this familiar.

You've heard this. You've heard us talk about this. And this, in a nutshell, is church discipline as given to us by our

Lord to the disciples here. And it's speaking concerning our relationships with one another.

Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15. So there are four steps to church discipline.

Four steps. The first step in church discipline is going to the individual themselves that are continuing in unrepentant sin.

It's going to the individual. First step. Second step, and I'm just giving you the overview.

You'll see it in the Scripture. Second step, if the unrepentant sinner will not hear you as an individual, take two or three witnesses with you that can testify to the truth and the validity of their open and rebellious sin toward God, which affects not only them in their relationship with God, but it affects their relationship with the entire body of Christ.

Sin affects the church. That's why it must be handled and dealt with.

The third step of church discipline. If the unrepentant sinner will not hear the two or three witnesses that go to them, then it is to be brought before the church.

And the church has a responsibility to reach out to the individual as a whole, recognizing and being in unity of the fact that what is going on is open rebellion against God, and it's affecting them, their relationship with God.

It's affecting their relationship with the church, because we are accountable to one another.

That's the third step. If the third step is to no avail, if there is no effect, if they choose to go on in their unrepentant sin, then the church has a responsibility to...

There are many terms that have been used down through the years. The church... And I'm going to use a couple of these terms, but I want to define the terms.

How many of you have ever heard the term excommunication? Right? That's a big term right there.

And here's the thing, not a one of us, myself included, nor any other preacher in the entire world, has the power or the authority to separate a sinner from the kingdom of God.

Amen? Everybody in agreement with that? And I'm going to do these check -ins as we go, and I'm intentionally trying to be as unemotional as I can in this presentation, because I can be very dogmatic, and it may come across as something hateful, but I want you to know today, the reason that we must know this is for love's sake, so that we can demonstrate the love of God, as God has demonstrated

His love to us. And this is worked out in church discipline. So, I gave you the four steps for church discipline, now let's read the text.

The text says this, Jesus said, Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established.

And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.

But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

I used that word excommunication, I tried to give you a little bit of the strength of that term.

Another term that's used is disfellowship, and that's probably the term you're going to hear me use throughout time, more than anything, disfellowship.

Disfellowship means this, disfellowship, Johnny, have you ever gotten in trouble at home?

Have you ever been grounded? Have you ever been sent to your room, and your mom and dad said,

I don't want to see you, I don't want to look at you, I don't want to talk to you, go to your room.

Some would say, Oh, I can't believe that's the type of people that go to that church. It's the type of preacher that I am.

Disfellowship means that a person is cut off from the fellowship of the church for the purpose of reconciliation.

Do you love to go to your room and sit there for hours on end? Nobody to talk to, nobody to fellowship with, right?

You don't even get to bug your sister, or your sister don't get to bug you, whichever way it goes.

But there's a purpose in disfellowship, and that is to let the offending party, the sinning party know, and I'm using this term specifically, because we're the church, we're not the world, amen?

I'm not talking about a stumble or a misstep, I'm talking about open rebellion against God in sin.

And the church should never stand with that. We should always be on God's side.

So disfellowship is what is prescribed if the third step of church discipline is to no avail, correct?

So let's move forward just a little bit. Let's look at Corinthians chapter 5, 1

Corinthians chapter 5. 1

Corinthians chapter 5, beginning in verse 1, and we're going to read through verse 13.

And here you're going to see, the Apostle Paul is writing to the

Corinthian church, and he's addressing an issue of sexual immorality within the church, and this is what he says.

This is 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 1 through 13. Paul said, It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the

Gentiles. That a man has his father's wife. And Paul said,

And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

For indeed, as absent in the body, but present in the spirit, Paul said, I have already judged as though I were present.

I've already judged him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, we see the gathering of the saints, who share this with the power of our

Lord Jesus Christ, and deliver such a one to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of our

Lord Jesus Christ. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you are truly unleavened.

For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul said, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.

Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world. Very clear here.

Or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

He's not speaking about the relationship that we as Christians have with the world. He is speaking about the relationship that we as Christians have with one another.

That we are to hold one another accountable for the lives that we live. Again, we're not trying to peek into people's private lives, but when their sin goes public, then there's a problem.

There's an issue there. Don't get me wrong though. I'm not saying private sin's okay.

Amen? Everybody understand that? I don't care if you quote me, just don't misquote me.

Private sin is just as wrong as public sin. But we cannot deal with private sin because we don't know about it.

But when sin becomes public, that's where the issue comes into play. So he goes on to say this, but now

I've written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother. That relationship there.

Not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner.

Not even to eat with such a person. Now if I came up with that and just said that, you having never read this, you would think, boy, he is cruel.

It wasn't cruel what the Apostle Paul is teaching here. It was love. It was love.

Because the very heart of church discipline is rooted and grounded in reconciliation.

It's not about being mean. It's not about being hateful. It's about letting the sinning party know that we love them, and we love them enough to do what

God does, separate ourselves from them. When the sin is continued.

Amen? If I get unclear, feel free to stop me. He goes on,

For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

But those who are outside God judges, therefore put away from you that evil person.

And that was through verse 13. So Paul is very clear in that. We see within this passage, the context of sexual immorality, specifically

Paul is addressing incest. However, Paul uses the term sexually immoral people, which of itself puts sexual sin high on the list of reasons to not have fellowship with those who are called brother.

Meaning those who claim to be related in Jesus Christ. Amen? Listen, we have dealt privately with sin at this church.

But really and truly from the pulpit, we've not had ever as a body had to go to step four of church discipline.

Where as a body, you are made aware of the things that are going on, and you as a body have communicated in one way, shape, form or fashion to the sinning party.

And let them know that you love them, but that they need to repent of their sin and make things right.

And they need to be reconciled to God first and foremost, and to be reconciled with the body here.

Amen? If you read in the Old Testament, you'll see the account of Achan. Achan in the

Old Testament was part of the children of Israel. And they went in and they raided a land, and they weren't supposed to take anything.

But Achan thought to himself, I'll take something and I'll hide it in my tent. But God knows.

God knows if you're hiding something. He knows. But here's the thing about God.

If you read that account in the Old Testament, God did not just punish Achan, but Achan's entire family was destroyed.

Sin kills. You've heard us say that sin kills. It will kill you and it will kill your family.

And we ought to care enough for one another, to warn one another concerning sin.

I'll go on. What's the purpose of church discipline? So there we saw what is church discipline. Now, what is the purpose of church discipline?

The purpose of church discipline is simply this. It's open rebuke. After following gospel steps for church discipline, is practice with reconciliation being the main goal.

The point of church discipline, I wrote all this down and I just want to share it. The purpose of church discipline is to let the offender know that they have sinned against God and against their brothers and sisters in Christ and also to let them know that if they repent, we will forgive them and their relationship with the local body of Christ will be restored.

Coming to church is a privilege. How many of you have ever heard us say that? What a privilege it is that we get to come,

Pat, and be with each other Sunday to Sunday to fellowship with one another, to partake of the

Lord's Supper. Throughout church history, the Lord's Supper was one of the primary means of privileges that were blocked off to those who were in open rebellion against God and who were unrepentant in their sin.

The Lord's table, the communion table, would be fenced off from them, literally. There would be men who would not allow them to take part of communion.

When they were living in rebellion against God in His church. Some would say, who would have the audacity?

I'll say the men down through history who held to the Word of God had the audacity to do that.

Were they unpopular? Many times, yes. This is not a popular thing, church discipline.

It's not popular to practice, to have in place, but it is necessary for us as a church to demonstrate the reality of our relationship with God.

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said this, God's loving discipline of His people is

His sovereign right and is completely in keeping with His moral character,

His own holiness. His fatherly discipline also establishes the authority and pattern for discipline in the church.

I said that earlier. Correction is for the greater purpose of restoration and even the higher purpose of reflecting the holiness of God.

Our creed is that we desire to be a glory of God centered. Amen? Bible saturated.

What glorifies God? When God's people obey Him. When God's people live according to His Word.

We are not the world. There is a distinction between us and the world and that distinction is the blood of Jesus Christ.

The church is God's redeemed. The world are those who are outside of the grace of God.

Proverbs chapter 27 verse 5, if you would turn there please. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 5, the scripture says this,

Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.

As a Christian we have a moral responsibility. Would you all agree with that?

We are called to live moral lives as Christians. Anybody disagree that we are not called to be moral?

We are not called to be immoral. If you are saved, you are called to live a moral life according to the

Word of God. Best you can. Are you going to fail? Every single day.

Probably most minutes out of every single day. But we have an advocate with the

Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who pleads our case on behalf of his children before the throne of God.

That statement, love carefully concealed, the footnote in the Reformation Study Bible on that statement said this,

This love, this type of love, love that is concealed, love that is kept to itself, this love, though genuine, lacks the moral strength to risk giving a rebuke.

Calling out sin is risky. What do you risk? You risk people loving you.

Well, they are not going to love me no more if I call this out. But I would ask you, do you all love me?

What if I never got up and read from the scriptures and said the hard things like I am saying to you today, would you still love me?

Some of you would say yes. But if you knew the end result of not hearing the truth and you found out about it after having been devastated and destroyed knowing that you could have heard the truth, you would not love me.

You would hate me. And you would say this, why did you never tell us the truth?

It's risky to tell the truth. It's risky to practice church discipline. Next, Moeller went on to say this,

Protestant congregations, which by the way, that's what we are, Protestant, means we protest the practices of the

Roman Catholic Church because they do not hold to the scriptures and the grace of God as the sole authority for man and the sole means of salvation.

So we protest those things and anyone who holds to anything other than grace alone, through faith alone and Christ alone.

Moeller said, Protestant congregations exercise discipline as necessary and natural ministry to the members of the church and as a means of protecting the doctrinal and moral integrity of the congregation.

Mark Deaver, he's pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. He has a, if you get a chance, look up this website,

Nine Marks Ministry, Nine Marks Ministry. And this is what

Mark Deaver said this past year at Together for the Gospel, a conference that was held. He said this, you have either church discipline or you have hypocrisy.

Everybody know what hypocrisy is? How many of you ever heard somebody say, once you come to church with us, and they say church ain't nothing but a bunch of hypocrites.

It's people who say they believe one thing, but they live completely different. Mark Deaver said, either a church has discipline or it has hypocrisy.

And I would even go further and add to what Mark Deaver said because Mark Deaver's word ain't inspired like the scripture, so I can add to it.

But I'll tell you what I would add to that statement there, and I wrote it down. I would add also this, that we should hold each other accountable for sin.

And if we do not hold each other accountable for sin, then we need to go out there, take the screws out of that sign that says

Reformation Baptist Church. Take that sign down. And we just need to buy a sign and put this up.

We're just like the world. Come on in and do what you want. Act how you like.

We're not going to judge you. Boy, wouldn't that be a popular message. Imagine, we'd have to break out more chairs in the next couple of weeks if a couple of folks saw that sign out there, right?

Oh, an unjudgmental church. That's just what I've been looking for. An unjudgmental church is not a church in truth.

We're not judging the world. We're judging one another. We're to hold each other accountable.

By the way, if we got a sign like that, we'd have to get one of those digital scrolling signs, because that'd be an awful lot of letters to put out there on that sign.

Historian Gregory A. Wills aptly commented, he said this, to an antebellum Baptist church, a church without discipline would hardly have counted as a church.

Churches in the past held regular days of discipline. This is what they called days of discipline.

And the church, the congregation would gather to heal breaches of fellowship. Remember, that's the ultimate purpose of church function, to heal the fellowship.

They would heal fellowship. They would admonish wayward members as a body. They would rebuke the obstinate.

Obstinate means to be stubborn or hard -headed. And if necessary, they would excommunicate those who resisted discipline.

In so doing, congregations understood themselves to be following a biblical pattern laid down by Christ and the apostles for the protection and correction of disciples.

No sphere of life was considered outside the congregation's accountability.

Again, it's not about policing your private life. It's about when your private sin becomes public, that the issue comes into play.

Which means this. Some might take this as to say, well, preacher, that means you can't judge me or you can't call me out on some sin

I do out in the world. Listen, if you do it out in the world and there's another set of eyeballs and ears that are witness to that, your sin is public.

And your sin not only affects you, but it affects this body of believers.

And it is a reproach to the name of Christ when we live in such a way. It turns people from the

God of glory and it turns them more and more in and on themselves.

So the church is called to come out from the world and be separate. Forgiveness and reconciliation is the goal of church discipline and the last passage of Scripture is this,

Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17 beginning in verse 3.

And we're going to read through verse 10. And I want you to know, as we read this passage of Scripture, the very context of this passage of Scripture itself is forgiveness.

It is forgiveness. We're going to read a particular verse in this chapter, and that's going to be verse 6, which some of you will, when we read it, you'll say, well, oh,

I thought this was all about the word of faith, what the word of faith teachers say. If you've got faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.

It has nothing to do with us doing anything of our own power. It's about applying the power that Christ has given us to forgive and love our brothers and sisters according to God's love.

It is beautiful when we read this. Luke chapter 17 verse 3. This is what the

Scripture says. Jesus said, take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him.

You see that? The offending party sins, we're to rebuke him. And if he repents, what are we to do?

Forgive him. If he repents. Because we're called to repent, amen?

Johnny, if you get sent to your room for doing something that's wrong, and you don't turn from doing what's wrong, guess where you're going to end up?

Back in the room. That's exactly right. And it's no different for us as God's people.

If we do not repent, fellowship with God is broken. And if the fellowship with God is broken due to public sin, then if after having gone through, keep this in mind, gospel steps, when

I say gospel steps, I'm referring to that passage in Matthew. Go to them individually.

Go to them by two or three witnesses. If they don't hear that, the church will be made aware, and the church has a responsibility to communicate their displeasure with their life, because it's affecting the life of that church.

And if they refuse to hear the church, then they are to be disfellowshipped for the purpose of them recognizing that the church stands unified in glorifying

God, even in the hard and the difficult issues that we come up against. So Jesus said, if your brother sins, rebuke him.

If he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day he returns to you saying,

I repent, you shall forgive him. Now do you see what's happening in this text?

Jesus is telling his disciples, if your brother sins against you and he repents, forgive him.

Oh, they say, we can do that. Then Jesus went on to say, well,

I'll tell you what, if he sins against you seven times in one day and he comes and he repents, then you ought to forgive him.

Amen? That's what the Scripture says. But get this, and the apostles said to the

Lord, verse 5, increase our faith. What?

They were blown away. Lord, how can we do this?

Imagine Peter, we know Peter to be the outspoken apostle, the one who ran his mouth when he should have kept it shut.

Right? James and John, we know them, they were referred to as the sons of thunder.

My friend, you got in their way, they'd probably just knock you out. At one point, people refused to hear the gospel message and they went to the

Lord, James and John did. James and John said, Lord, do you just want us to call fire down from, lightning down from heaven and burn them up?

They were like that. Imagine, and guess what? There's some of you the exact same way.

We're the same exact way. But Jesus told them this. They said,

Lord, increase our faith. We can't do this on our own. This is going to have to be something that you do within us that causes us to be able to do this.

And by the way, that is the work of sanctification, the word that you hear week in and week out.

The work of the Holy Spirit in you. And Jesus went on to say here, So the Lord said,

If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field,

Come at once and sit down to eat. He says, if you've got a servant and the servant is out plowing in the field, he said, you're not going to say,

Come on in, quit what you're doing and sit down and eat to your servant because the servant's got a job to do. Amen.

But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink?

Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.

So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done what was our duty to do.

It is our duty to obey the Word of God. It is our duty to honor

God. In the things that seemingly come easy to us as Christians, as well as those that come very much uncomfortably and staggeringly to us, we are called to do these things.

So I want you to notice in that passage the responsibilities. There was a responsibility of the offending party, the sinning party, to repent.

And there is the responsibility of the offended party to forgive.

So church discipline is not mean. Church discipline is not unloving. Church discipline is

God honoring. And we ought to do no less than to follow what the

Scriptures teach us that we ought to do as a body of believers. In 1

Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul told the church at Thessalonica, warn them that are unruly among you.

That's what he told them. Warn them. People need to be warned of their sin. We read you that list of causes for church discipline.

Do you know that if you are a regular member of Reformation Baptist Church, you have a responsibility to one another to do several things.

You have a responsibility to be here week in and week out. Talked to a man at work the other day.

He's past middle age. But he was telling me about how he got mad at somebody at church because he did a job for them and they didn't do right with their paying him.

And so he didn't go to church for two months over that. And I said, sir, and I was respectful.

I said, sir, I'll tell you just like I've told numerous people before. Christian, you do not have a right to refuse to be at God's house.

You don't have a right. Jesus Christ bought us. He paid for us with His own blood.

And we are to glorify Him in our bodies. And we are taught in the Scriptures to have the day set aside, one day a week.

And we're not like a lot of churches where you've got to be here Sunday night and Wednesday night. How can we not take the time to come for two or three hours?

To church on Sunday and to enjoy it at that. To rejoice in what

God has done in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. And to know that we are not alone in this thing,

Pat. To know, Bill, that you've got people that love you.

Not just enough to encourage you in the times when you're down or even to rejoice with you in the times when you're up, to weep with you.

Weep with you when you're down. And when you're wayward, we love you enough to say you are wayward.

You need to come home. You need to repent. In 1561, the

Belgic Confession, they wrote this.

The marks by which the true church is known are these. If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached, if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ.

So a church is marked by pure doctrine, the gospel of Jesus Christ being preached.

Not trying to add in anything extra, but trying the best we can to preach the gospel.

1561, do you know how many years ago that was? Miss Lincoln can't remember that far back. The marks of a true church are pure gospel preached, administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ, that's communion and baptism, that those are practiced.

And the next mark was this in 1561, if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin.

That's the mark of a true church. That's how the old timers looked at church life.

And listen, their basis and foundation of church life was not something cooked up.

It was something scriptural. And so they said this, In short, if all things are managed according to the pure word of God, all things contrary thereto corrected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the head of the church, with respect to those who are members of the church, they may be known by the marks of Christians.

Namely, by faith, and when they have received Jesus Christ the only Savior, they avoid sin.

This is a mark of being a church member. If you're a member of Reformation Baptist Church, these are things that you need to be, this is how you need to know you are to be identified by.

They are identified by faith in Christ, that they avoid sin, that they follow after righteousness, that they love the true

God and their neighbor, neither turn aside to the right hand or to the left, and they crucify the flesh with the works thereof.

But this is not to be understood, as if there did not remain in them great infirmities, but they fight against them through the

Spirit all the days of their life, continually taking their refuge in the blood, death, passion, and obedience of our

Lord Jesus Christ, in whom they have remission of sins through faith. In Him.

Church discipline, church seldom if ever goes to third and fourth step.

But I wanted to make you aware of this, to give you this detailed account, this detailed instruction to teach as best

I can what church discipline is, so that you are prepared that if we as a church need to take this third and fourth step of church discipline, we will do that, and we will do it because it honors and glorifies the

Lord. And we will do it because, I'll be honest with you, having experience calling out sin, years ago the church

I pastored, we stood against sin. Open immorality, adultery within the church, and the church did nothing but collapse and love the offending party so much that they accepted their sin.

This is unfaithful. Is it still playing? Okay, well, no, that's fine. That's fine, because that's exactly what happened.

And I ask that for that purpose, because I'm not trying to hide. I'm not trying to pretend.

I'm not trying to put on anything. I'm letting you know that it's serious. That the life and the vitality of Reformed Baptist Church is to be found in the holiness of God.

In Him, and in Him alone, doing the things that honor and glorify His name, even when it may seem hateful.

If we keep ourselves in check, if we discipline ourselves, and we do our best to hold to the

Scripture, it will honor Him, and it will glorify Him. How the sinning parties respond,

I cannot tell you. I do not, I am not a mind reader. I cannot see into the future. I'm not called to do those things.

None of you are called to do those things. We are called simply to obey. We are servants of Christ's church.

We do not need the applause of men or the approval of the world.

We answer to God. That being said, let's pray. Heavenly Father God, I thank you and I praise you for the privilege and the honor of being able to stand.

Dear God, I thank you today for the presence of your

Holy Spirit. God, you know that I've been nervous, dear God, and even afraid to stand on this.

But God, I am so thankful for the truth of your Word. I am so thankful,

God, for the validity of your Word.

I am thankful that your Word is just as relevant today as it has been throughout all of eternity.

And our prayer is this, that as a body we would do that which is pleasing, that which honors, and that which glorifies you in all things, in all ways, at all times.

And for myself, God, I pray publicly that when

I do sin, I am thankful, God, that you immediately remind me and you immediately cause me to recognize my sin and that through your grace and by your mercy,

I'm able to repent. Lord, so please, please, please, please,

God, help me and help this body to not be heady or to be high -minded or to think that we're better than anybody.

For, Lord, none of us are above sin, but we are accountable for the sin that we commit.

So help us in love and mercy for those in sin. Look at Him.

Look at Him. Look at Him in a way that's honoring unto you humbly.

Lord, for those that are here today, I would pray that you would make every heart and every mind in this place,

Lord, know the serious nature of the church's relationship to you and those who are unfaithful to you, that you would, if they are your children,

God, that you would draw them with man's love unto you, that you would give them grace and mercy to repent of their sin, to be faithful to you in the best way that they can and demonstrate by their lives that it's not just the words that they say when they say,

I'm saved, but it's the words that they say and their life is demonstrating that every single day.

Lord, we love you so much. And God, again, we thank you, for it is in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Before we dismiss, before we leave, again,

I want to ask this, are there any questions that you have concerning church discipline?

Not about an instance, but just about church discipline that you have.

Anything that I said today that was confusing to you or disoriented you in any way or anything that's going to cause you to go home and to think of some reason for you to become upset with me, to think

I've said something that I've not said. I'm asking you this honestly. Anything. I have a question.

Yes. My question is, if the party does not, and it has caused, you know, it has caused split in the church, what about the family members supporting in their decision?

So are you asking how are they, how should they, what would be the correct response for them? I would say this, if they are a member of the church, and they are

Christians, they have a responsibility to obey the word of God. Yep.

Yep. And that's just, you know, again, that's just making the word of God the foundation.

Yep. That's it. That's it. And I say that because there's no gray area.

That's the thing. There's no gray area. Same procedure.

Same procedure. And that's the thing. It's the, that's the thing about it. And don't, don't run.

And here's the thing we've, we've always said this, but it's something we've tried to build in because really in most churches, first person, when there's a problem in the church, first person they, that somebody goes to is one or two people, preacher's wife or the preacher, because they think the preacher is going to be able to fix the problem.

That's not first step. Gospel steps are, you go individually. And I will tell you this, if you know me, any amount of time you've had an issue, you've come to me and you say, oh, so -and -so is doing this.

I say, have you went to that person? I won't talk to you. I won't.

Best I can. I won't, I won't talk to you. I won't ask you for the details. I'll say, did you go to that person?

And if you didn't, then that's what you need to do. Right? So we're called to be discerning.

And that's part of being mature as believers too. That's part of the maturity of a church. An immature church will crumble and fall at the first sign of problems.

Or they may even prosper for a time. But guess what? Sin just keeps piling up in a church like that.

It just compounds and compounds and compounds. And it may not even blow up in my lifetime or your lifetime.

But if sin continues, it will devastate. And it will destroy and it will dishonor Christ. Anybody else?

I love you all. Let me give a quick glance here. Let me look across the room.

Hey, Donald J. I see you back there.

I love you all with all my heart. I looked over at him. Yes, sir. Men's Bible study.

Tomorrow, six o 'clock. We're studying in the book of Matthew. We got through the hard part, all the names.

Week before last. Unless they've got something they want to talk about on those things. Yes. Yes.

Made me think when you said servant. We are not servants of Christ. We are slaves.

Amen. Amen. Amen. So if you have not, you thought about doing this.

We're going to meet again in two weeks. You still got time to get your book. You've got plenty of time to catch up.

Amen. It is what makes you think. We had you spoke. That's good. I'm glad you did. We had you speak the book with Amazon.

Yep. Amazon. Yep. At 10. I'm still waiting on hers. But hey, she didn't have it.

We had somebody else come. Didn't have it. Hey, I'm proud of you. We all, it was great. We're good. So if you think you want to come in two weeks on the 30th, you need to do chapters one, two, and three.

And the book I got off Amazon has a study guide in the back that has questions to help you also.

So April Potts House, the 30th at 10 o 'clock. John MacArthur.

John MacArthur is the author of the book. Can be trusted. He can be trusted.

He's going to be, he's going to be strong. Just know this. He's very strong. His language, his approach is very strong.

It's not for the faint of heart, but the truth is good anytime. So men's

Bible study tomorrow, six o 'clock at Kenny Christopher's garage. Or is the car in there still?

Because we can have it at the house if you want. Okay. All right.

So Kenny Christopher, six o 'clock tomorrow. Be there.

Be faithful. Be present. Come having read, studied. We're going to look at, we're trying to get in depth looking at Matthew.

So anything else? Anybody has? I love youns. God bless youns. If I don't see youns again,

I'll see you at home. Oh yes.

Shirley, come and stand by the door. Shirley bought candy for all the fathers. It is

Father's Day. By the way, I think that some of the scriptures spoke to the love of a father. Amen. So Shirley will stand right here by the door as you go out.

If you're a father or if you're just a man, if you're a boy, if you're a young man, come and get a piece of candy from Shirley.