Covenant Discipline and Restoration – Part 3

In this message from Matthew 18:15–20, David Platt highlights the two different kinds of discipline God has provided to confront sin in the church. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
If you have a Bible and I hope you do I invite you
to open with me to Matthew,chapter 18.
In fact, it would be good ifyou could have Matthew 18 open
and then mark a place over inGalatians, chapter 6.
It's a place we're going to goin a little while.
Galatians, chapter 6.
It's a place we're going to goin a little while Galatians,
chapter 6.
We are in the final week week 3, of talking about church

(00:33):
discipline in the context ofthis community of faith.
In an overarching series we'rewalking through covenant
community.
As we look at our churchcovenant, which you see at the
top of your notes there, startsby saying as members of the
church at Brook Hills, we affirmthis covenant with one another
by God's grace, for our good andultimately for God's glory.

(00:54):
And then, a few paragraphs downI haven't included the whole
covenant this morning just inlight of space but a few
paragraphs down we say we'llhumbly and gently confront one
another and receive correction.
Confront one another andreceive correction from one
another, in accordance with theNew Testament understanding of
church discipline andrestoration.
Now why would we say that?
Why would we include thatsentence in our church covenant

(01:18):
and the answer that I hope we'reseeing in Scripture is because
we want Christ that much inScripture is because we want
Christ that much and we want theglory of Christ in the church
that much.
And so what you've got in yournotes there is a quick review.
Especially if you've missed oneor both of the last couple of
weeks, I want to try to get usas best as possible on a real

(01:42):
short summary on the same page.
When we think about churchdiscipline, a review of what
we've seen up to this point,we've said why not church
discipline?
Why do people say you shouldn'tdo church discipline?
And we've said that some peoplesay church discipline is
legalistic and praying that Godwould help us to see church
discipline as loving People say.
What about Matthew 7-1?

(02:03):
Do not judge or you too will bejudged.
And what we said was keep goingto Matthew chapter 7, verse 5.
You take the plank out of yourown eyes so that you can see
clearly, to remove the speckfrom your brother's eye.
So the whole teaching inMatthew chapter 7 is about
helping one another avoid sinand get out of sin.
We've said, well, some peoplesay people will leave.

(02:25):
And we said, okay, we're goingto trust that this is God's
church to grow, not ours.
We don't know how to practicechurch discipline.
Then we're saying let's learnhow to practice it.
And we've looked at churchdiscipline in two ways.
We've defined two facets ofchurch discipline.
One, formative churchdiscipline, which is the
continual training we receivefrom the Word as disciples of
Christ, as followers of Christ,as we're continually being

(02:47):
sanctified, growing in thelikeness of Christ.
And then, along the way,corrective church discipline,
restorative church discipline,the care that the body of Christ
gives in matters of unrepentantsin in a brother or sister's
life.
And what we've said is thefoundation for church discipline
is the grace of God.
Church discipline is about thegrace of God.
Church discipline is about thelove of God.
God disciplines those whom heloves and he puts discipline in

(03:09):
the context of His people out oflove, out of grace.
That's the foundation here andwe saw that in the whole context
leading up to Matthew 18, 15through 20.
As we approach church disciplinewe saw we need childlike
humility, we need a deep concernfor holiness.
We will not practice disciplinein the church if we do not care

(03:30):
about the holiness of God.
When we care about the holinessof God among His people, then
we take passages like Matthew 18and 1 Corinthians, chapter 5
seriously.
We need a passion for thehurting.
Please keep Matthew 18, 10through 14, this picture of a
shepherd going after a lostsheep.

(03:51):
Keep that image in your mind.
This is not just the parable ofthe prodigal son in Luke 15.
This is Jesus right before hetalks about church discipline,
talking about pursuing runningafter a brother who's caught in
sin because you love him,because you care for him.
Passion for the hurting.
And we need forgiving hearts toforgive as Christ has forgiven
us Now.
Last week we talked aboutapplying church discipline and

(04:12):
we walked through Matthew 18, 15through 17,.
And we saw four steps thatJesus outlines here.
Step one, private correction,and we're going to look at these
in a little bit again.
Step two, small groupclarification.
Step three, church admonition.
And step four, churchexcommunication.
And we asked last week we askedthe question why would you ever

(04:35):
expel someone from the church?
To use Paul's language in 1Corinthians, chapter 5, why
would you ever say to someoneyou are not welcome as a member
of this church?
Doesn't that seem to go againsteverything we think of when we
think of church?
To say to someone you are notwelcome as a member here.

(04:56):
Why would we ever say that?
And what we did last week is wedove into 1 Corinthians,
chapter 5, when the NewTestament church said exactly
that.
We said why and we saw threeprimary reasons, first and
foremost, for the New Testamentchurch said exactly that.
We said why and we saw threeprimary reasons.
First and foremost, for thepurity of the church.
We saw last week church membersare accountable before God and
for each other.
We are responsible for eachother's sin.

(05:20):
God help us to see this.
If there is a brother or sisterin this faith family that is
continuing unrepentant sin,unrepentant in sin, then you and
I are held accountable for that.
We are responsible to God forthat.
It's not just a private matter,this is a community matter and

(05:43):
we are accountable before Godfor each other.
As a result, we must be humble.
Last week we saw a muchdifferent picture of humility
and pride than we would expect,a picture of humility and pride
that really turns ourcontemporary thinking on
humility and pride upside down.
We saw Paul addressing pride astoleration of unrepentant

(06:06):
sinners in the church.
1 Corinthians 5 teaches that itis prideful for God's people to
tolerate sin in the church likeit is no big deal.
It's prideful to sit back andunder a banner of grace or
freedom or openness or whateveryou want to call it, to say well
, it doesn't matter what you'vedone, you can be a member here.
That's pride.

(06:27):
Paul says You're boasting aboutthis.
He said you need humility.
Humility 1 Corinthians 5 isexclusion of unrepentant sinners
from the church.
Humility does the hard work ofaddressing sin in the church.
Humility does not tell God howto be gracious.

(06:47):
Humility submits to God andobeys God with fear and
trembling.
Humility does the hard work ofexclusion of unrepentant sinners
from the church.
For the purity of the church,the church membership is
essential.
We said it's a huge deal in 1Corinthians, chapter 5, when
this man is expelled from thechurch.

(07:09):
We think well, big deal.
Today You're not a member ofthe church anymore.
It was a huge deal in 1Corinthians 5.
And we saw the church definedto as a member, not an
individual, and we saw theisolation from the church
reflects separation from Christ.
The New Testament knows nothingof a follower of Christ who is
not committed to a local body ofbelievers.
And so all of this for thepurity of the church and then

(07:33):
for the good of the individual,the salvation of the individual.
This is for his good, so thathis spirit may be saved in the
day of the Lord.
So what 1 Corinthians 5 teaches?
So for the purity of the church, salvation of the individual
and ultimately, for the glory ofGod, because we do not want
God's glory to be compromised inhis people before a watching

(07:56):
world.
We will not do the hard work ofchurch discipline until we care
more about the glory of Godthan we do popularity or success
, as our culture defines it,even our church culture.
We will not do churchdiscipline if our concern is to
take the easiest, most popularroute.
We will do church discipline ifour hearts are enthralled with

(08:18):
a desire for the glory of Godamong His people.
That's when we will refuse toignore 1 Corinthians 5 and
Matthew chapter 18, for theglory of God.
So that brings us this morningto church discipline and action.
Okay, what does this look likein the context of the church at
Brook Hills?
How does this look in thecontext of this faith family

(08:44):
with thousands of people in it?
That's what I want us to diveinto this morning.
I do not want to presume,though, that we're going to
answer every single possiblequestion or address every single
possible scenario that couldever come up in church
discipline.
The reality is, there's aninfinite number of scenarios.
What I want us to do thismorning is to get a practical
basis that takes the biblicalfoundations we've seen in

(09:07):
Matthew, chapter 18, 1Corinthians, chapter 5.
We're going to look atGalatians, chapter 6 this
morning too, and put them alltogether and say, okay, in
practice, what does this looklike in this faith family?
Before we dive into it, I wantto show us what it does not look
like, and so I want to inviteyou to revisit with me what our

(09:28):
church discipline team is notabout in the context of Brook
Hills.
Watch this with me.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
Well, all right, let's call this meeting order.
I'm so glad you're here, Chief,Me too Chief.
We've been planning for thismeeting for so long.
We've got quite a few ideas we'dlike to submit to you on the
subject of enforcing churchdiscipline.
We want to show you this scenefrom Siriana.
I don't want to give it toomuch away, but this is an idea

(09:59):
we have that involvesfingernails and a pair of pliers
.
Just take a look at the screenhere.
What do you think, Chief?
Uh no, Well, we thought youmight feel that we got lots of
ideas.
We got plenty of ideas.
Here's one for you.
Two words waterboarding.
We figured we've already got abaptistry right down here.
We dunk them and then, oncethey come up, pop them with the

(10:22):
board.
They realize how important itis to not sin.
And the waterboarding with thewhole feeling of maybe I'm going
to drown, maybe I'm going toget hit in the head with the
board, maybe I don't know what'sgoing to happen.
Man.
I probably should stop sinning.
What do you think, chief, whatdo you think, guys?

Speaker 2 (10:36):
that's the worst idea I've ever heard.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
You could be a little easier with your criticism that
be a little easier with yourcriticism.
That's all right.
Okay, here comes our last idea.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah, this one better be good.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
We have a baptistry Chief.
It's the perfect.
He said no, I'll tell you atime-honored tradition that I
can think of is the rack.
We do have the rack.
You clamp people in this thingand then you stretch them out.
You've seen movies where theyput people in and they stretch
them out Thumb screws.
We could probably run out toLowe's and get a pair of those
Thumb screws.
Yeah, that's where you.
Well, it's a torture device,chief.

(11:07):
What do you think?

Speaker 2 (11:08):
I've got another idea .
Maybe you guys can start bylooking inside to see your own
sin.
Then we begin to love thepeople around us enough to help
them avoid sin.
Discipline is about love, love.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Discipline is about love.
You should talk to my fatherabout that.
That's a fine suggestion, chief, and I suggest that you do that
.
Thanks for your time.
I think we're done here.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, thanks For nothing.
Well, I look forward to seeingwhat you guys come back with.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
Thank you, chief.
Thank you, thank you, chief.
Somebody needs to sit that guydown.
This is the guy we've gotteaching us on Sundays.
There's no discipline.
There's a lot of church, not awhole lot of discipline.
Get aboard, meet me at thebaptistry.
You got it.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Let me say very clearly that the intent is in no
way to make light of a veryserious conversation going on in
our country today, but theintent is to point out that,
sometimes, when we think aboutchurch discipline, as soon as we
hear that, we picture a hurtfulprocess.
We need to remember, though,that the whole design of God in

(12:24):
church discipline is to keep hischildren from the hurt that sin
causes.
This is huge, yes, matthew 18,1 Corinthians 5,.
You can only imagine the paininvolved in that process, but
realize what God is doing here.
He is guarding His childrenfrom the disastrous, deadly

(12:48):
consequences of sin.
He is guarding His people fromthe inevitable hurt that is
caused by sin.
That's the picture of churchdiscipline, and so what you've
got in your notes there churchdiscipline in action is five
ways, so to speak, that we, as afaith family, are going to take
the truths of Matthew 18, 1Corinthians 5, and begin to put

(13:09):
them into practice.
Number one we will obey withthe love of Christ, and this is
where we're going to camp outmost of our time.
On this first one, we will obeywith the love of Christ.
Matthew, chapter 18, verse 15.
Let's read this passage one moretime.
Jesus says If your brother sinsagainst you, go and show him

(13:34):
his fault, just between the twoof you.
If he listens to you, you havewon your brother over, but if he
will not listen, take one ortwo others along so that every
matter may be established by thetestimony of two or three
witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
And if he refuses to listeneven to the church, treat him as

(13:57):
you would a pagan or a taxcollector.
I tell you the truth whateveryou bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever youloose on earth will be loosed in
heaven Again.
I tell you that if two of youon earth agree about anything
you ask for, it will be done foryou by my Father in heaven, for
where two or three cometogether in my name, there am I

(14:18):
with them.
Now flip with me over toGalatians 6.
Matthew 18, verse 15-20.
And we saw that whole pictureof treat him as you would a
pagan or tax collector,excommunication from the church,
addressed in 1 Corinthians 5.
Now look at Galatians 6.
And listen to what Scriptureteaches there.

(14:41):
Galatians chapter 6, verse 1,.
Paul writes Brothers, if someoneis caught in a sin.
You who are spiritual shouldrestore him gently, should

(15:02):
restore him gently, but watchyourself, or you also may be
tempted.
Carry each other's burdens andin this way you fulfill the law
of Christ.
If anyone thinks he issomething when he is nothing, he
deceives himself.
Each one should test his ownactions.
Then he can take pride inhimself without comparing
himself to somebody else, foreach one should carry his own
load.
Come back to Matthew, chapter 18, and here's the picture.
What you've got is Jesusspelling out a process, new

(15:25):
Testament church practicing that.
1 Corinthians 5, and thenGalatians, chapter 6, a direct
command If a brother is caughtin sin, you who are spiritual
should restore him.
The New Testament tells us thisis a matter of obedience.
Church discipline is a matterof obedience we will obey.
Here's the key with the love ofChrist and the whole context

(15:51):
here Galatians 6, 1 Corinthians5, matthew chapter 18 is love.
It is.
Jonathan Edwards talked aboutgospel discipline and that's the
picture.
In church discipline we see apicture of the gospel.
We see a picture of God whodoes not let his people continue
in sin, who enables them toturn from sin and pursues them

(16:15):
out of love and mercy and gracefor redemption.
If you've looked at the top ofthe notes the last three weeks,
you've noticed the title of thiswhole picture has not been
Church Discipline 101.
It's Redemptive Community,because this is key.
The goal of church discipline isspiritual restoration.
The goal of church disciplineMatthew, chapter 18, is to gain

(16:37):
your brother, to win yourbrother over 1 Corinthians 5,
for the good for the day of theLord, that his spirit may be
saved here in Galatians, chapter6, to bring him back from being
caught in sin.
The whole goal of churchdiscipline is spiritual
restoration and so when we thinkabout the whole process that

(16:58):
we're about to dive into, thatwe've seen some we're going to
look at practically, rememberthis is the goal.
It's James 5, 19 and 20.
James says my brothers, if oneof you should wander from the
truth and someone should bringhim back, remember this whoever
turns a sinner from the error ofhis way will save him from
death and cover over a multitudeof sins.

(17:18):
What love, what love it is toaddress sin in each other's
lives.
I'm praying.
I'm praying that five yearsfrom now, if Christ does not
come back, that five years fromnow, we would look back over
five years of intentionallyobeying Matthew 18 and 1
Corinthians 5 in this faithfamily that we would look back

(17:39):
over five years of doing thatand we would say this is the
most loving thing we've everseen in the church.
Is that possible?
Yes, it's intended.
That's the picture here.
Now, how do we make sure thatwe obey with the love of Christ?
And what I've done there inyour notes is I've taken these

(17:59):
passages Matthew 18, 1Corinthians 5, and Galatians,
chapter 6, put them together andall that we've seen over the
last couple of weeks, and Iwanted to put before you some
practical ways that we can makesure to keep the gospel of
redemption and love and mercyand grace at the heart of church
discipline in these ways.
First, we must be humble.

(18:20):
We must be humble.
This is the whole picture thatwe've seen.
Church discipline can easilydegenerate into a vain
self-righteousness that issuspicious of others, that is
eager to point out the faults ofothers, and we've got to guard
against that.
And one way we guard againstthat is remembering that we are

(18:41):
all desperate for grace at everymoment, and every single one of
us in the body of Christ has apresent, ongoing need for a
Savior and, as a result, thischanges the way we view others.
As God is gracious with us, weare gracious with others.

(19:01):
As God is loving toward us, weare loving toward others.
As God is patient with us, weare patient toward others.
This is where Proverbs 19.11 isso insightful.
We don't have time to turnthere, but write this down
Proverbs 19.11,.
A man's wisdom gives himpatience.
It is to his glory to overlookan offense.

(19:21):
Did you catch that Patience tohis glory to overlook an offense
that there are times that weneed to overlook offenses?
Church discipline is not aboutwhenever somebody rubs you a
little wrong okay, I got to goafter them on that one.
Whenever somebody sayssomething you don't just love

(19:42):
what they've said and you gorunning after them.
It's patience, grace tooverlook an offense.
We all have areas where we aregrowing.
Get that out on the table.
We've all got areas where we'regrowing and we can all point
out areas in each other's livesthat we need to grow.
I know in my own personalspiritual journey there are
times when I will come to arealization.

(20:04):
God will teach me an area of mylife and show me an area of my
life where I need to grow andI'll think I've just come to
this huge spiritual realizationand I'll go to Heather and I'll
say I want you to listen,heather, to what God has taught
me, and I think I've gotsomething new that I'm bringing

(20:25):
to the table.
And she will, in a gentle,loving, humble way that only my
precious wife can, will lookback at me and will say I've
been waiting for you to realizethat, and it's one of those
moments that I realize in somany ways she is so much farther
ahead than I am and she is justwaiting for me to catch up.

(20:46):
And she is patient with me.
God is patient with me, and, aswe need to be patient with one
another, so there is patience,there's a humility in
overlooking offenses,overlooking minor offenses, and
we think well, I thought sin wasall major.
All sin is serious, no matterhow small it is.

(21:07):
So how do you know when tooverlook something and when not
to?
That leads to the second wordof exhortation here Be humble,
be biblical, be biblical.
Let's be clear Church disciplineis not about confronting pet
peeves.
It's not about confronting petpeeves.
This is clearly where we mustguard against legalism,

(21:30):
extra-biblical rules andregulations that we start to
impose on one another.
It's what Paul talks about inRomans 14.1.
He talks about not disputingover different matters, that
there are differences among thebody of Christ where people in
the body of Christ agree todisagree.
Titus 3.9 says avoid foolishcontroversies and genealogies
and arguments and quarrels aboutthe law.

(21:51):
These are unprofitable anduseless.
Be biblical.
Look at that which is addressedin Scripture.
When you look in 1 Corinthians5, 11,.
I'll just read it to you herePaul says now I am writing you
that you must not associate withanyone who calls himself a
brother but is sexually immoralor greedy, an idolater, a
slanderer, a drunkard or aswindler.

(22:14):
Those things are pretty clear.
A drunkard or a swindler thosethings are pretty clear, they're
revealed in Scripture.
It's the whole picture inMatthew 18 when your brother
sins against you.
Galatians, chapter 1.
If your brother is caught in asin, the picture is sin.
When there is sin, thatScripture reveals and it's
brother, sister, that is caughtin it.

(22:35):
Well, how do you know?
How do you know?
How do you know?
What I wanted to do is I wantedto give you just a list of
questions to at least just thinkthrough as you're processing
through.
Is this something I just needto overlook, or is this
something that, out of love andobedience to Christ that I need
to confront or address mybrother or sister in Question
number one.
Ask this question Is there sinthat is dishonoring God?

(22:56):
Is there sin that isdishonoring God?
Is there sin that isdishonoring God?
Obviously, this is the point of1 Corinthians 5.
Immorality and all those otherthings that are listed there
were bringing dishonor to God.
So ask the question Is mybrother or sister dishonoring
God, disobeying His Word and, inthe process, dishonoring God?
Is there sin that isdishonoring God?

(23:17):
And if so, then yes, addressthat out of a love.
Second question is there sinthat is damaging the gospel?
Is there sin that is damagingthe gospel?
We see this all over the NewTestament, paul warning about
false teachers.
You go to 1 Timothy 1, 18through 20, 2 Timothy 2, 17 and
18.
Paul says there are members inthe church that need to be

(23:42):
confronted because they arespreading teaching in the church
that is contrary to the gospel.
And the New Testament gives usa picture of a need for church
discipline and restoration whena brother or sister is teaching
that which is contrary to thegospel.
When a brother or sister,whether it's myself or anybody
else, is spreading things amongthe community of faith that are
not in accord with the gospeland the word of Christ and that

(24:03):
needs to be addressed.
Is there sin that is damagingthe gospel?
Third, is there sin that ishurting the unity of the church?
The unity of the church and Iwant to point out two levels
here.
Unity of the church this couldbe on a personal level, kind of
like Matthew 18, verse 15.
If your brother sins againstyou Matthew, chapter 5, if your

(24:24):
brother has something againstyou, if there is sin that is
separating you and a brother,something that is hindering your
unity to a brother or sisterit's on an individual basis,
then it needs to be addressed.
If it is not addressed, thenthat snowballs, roots of
bitterness grow and the unitythat God has designed for us as
members who belong to oneanother is undercut completely.

(24:46):
And so if there is somethingthat is hindering unity between
you and another brother orsister, then go to them, address
that.
And then, not just in anindividual level, but on a
corporate level, so to speak, inthe larger church as a whole,
if there is sin that isthreatening the unity of the
larger church as a whole, thenit needs to be addressed.

(25:07):
Romans, chapter 16.
Paul says I urge you, brothers,to watch out for those who cause
division.
Watch out for them.
Titus 3, cause division, watchout for them.
Titus 3, 9 through 11 warnsagainst those who bring about
division.
1 Timothy, chapter 5, warnsagainst widows who go from house
to house gossiping.

(25:27):
We must address sin that ishindering the unity of the
church, on a personal level oron a larger level.
Is there sin that's dishonoringGod, damaging the gospel?
Is there sin that's hurting theunity of the church?
And is there sin that ishurting the witness of the
church?
Obviously, in 1 Corinthians 5,paul is saying not even pagans
do these things.
You are compromising thepicture of the glory of Christ

(25:51):
and the people and the nationsaround you.
Is there sin that is hurtingthe witness of the church?
Now, this list is notnecessarily exhaustive, it's
actually pretty general, but Iwanted to give you at least some
practical handles as you think,through obeying Matthew 18,
being patient in a way thatoverlooks offenses, overlooks,
certainly, pet peeves, thingsthat just maybe rub you a little

(26:12):
bit wrong.
What needs to be addressed?
Is there sin that isdishonoring God, damaging the
gospel, hurting the unity of thechurch or the witness of the
church.
Then, yes, be biblical in thatand remember our authority to
address sin in each other'slives is completely based on
this word, not our preferencesanyway.
So be biblical.

(26:32):
Third, be pure.
Be pure.
This is the point of Matthew 7,1 through 5.
Do not judge, lest you bejudged.
When Jesus says how can youremove the speck from your
brother's eye when there is awhat in your own eye?
There's a plank in your own eye.
And so what Jesus is teachingthere in Matthew, chapter 7 is
this whole process is designedto help you see your own sin.

(26:55):
We know this, don't we?
We know that we often see inothers what we struggle with
ourselves.
Isn't that right?
We often see in others what weare blind to in ourselves.
And so, first thing, when yousee a brother or sister caught
in sin, examine your life.
Look for evidence of that sinin your own life.

(27:15):
This is where church disciplineis so good, because God has
designed this whole process notjust for your brother's
sanctification, but for yoursanctification.
Think about if we don't do this,if you see a brother or sister
caught in sin and you say, well,that's his deal, you stop at
that point, you don't thinkabout it anymore.

(27:36):
That's his problem.
Well, at that point you'remissing out on the process of
sanctification that God hasdesigned for you in that process
.
And now, when he sees that inyou, he's going to do the same.
Leave him to deal with that onhis own.
And now we are walking along inthe community of faith and
missing the whole point of thecommunity of faith, covering
over each sin, turning a deafear to each other's sin and

(27:57):
missing out on the entirepurpose of communal
sanctification, us togethergrowing into the image of Christ
, the very design of the body ofChrist.
This is why this is soimportant and so good.
God doesn't just sanctifyothers in this process, he
sanctifies us as we love eachother enough to address sin in

(28:19):
each other's lives.
We've become so much moresensitive to sin in our own
lives, and that is a very goodthing.
So be pure, examine your lifeand examine your motives.
There are all kinds of wrongmotives that bring about the
abuses we see in churchdiscipline, motives of anger,

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self-promotion, self-advancement, abuse of authority, desire for
control all of these wrongmotives.
To honestly ask the questionNow, all these things you're
thinking about before you evengo to that brother or sister to
ask the question why am I goingto're thinking about before you
even go to that brother orsister?
To ask the question why am Igoing to that brother or sister?
Is it to serve them?
Is it out of love for them, oris it to serve myself?

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Is it about concern for myselfor my brother or sister?
To examine your motives.
Be pure.
Next, be prayerful.
Be prayerful.
This seems so basic, but it isso huge.
We, in order to address sin asChrist does, we need the heart
of Christ.

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And we realize, don't we, thatif a brother or sister is caught
in sin, no matter how hard wetry, no matter what we say,
apart from the power of Christin their lives, they will never
be delivered from that sin.
Do we realize that it's not ourpersuasive ability this whole

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picture is dependent on?
It's the grace of Christ thatthis whole picture is dependent
on.
That's why I love what Paulsays in Timothy.
He says instruct your brothersin sin so that God may grant
them repentance.
This is the work of God.
Restoration is the work of God,not of man.
Now we don't just sit back andwring our hands in pious concern
and say well, that's God's work.

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This whole process is us beingthe instruments by which God
does this work.
But we do it in dependence onand desperation for God to
change that brother or sister'sheart, to bring them out of sin.
Only Christ can give themfreedom from that sin.
So we pray.
We don't just pray tritely, wepray deeply before, during,

(30:28):
after, in every facet of thisprocess.
Be prayerful.
That leads to this next one Bequiet.
Be quiet, talk to God and notother people.
Talk to God and not otherpeople.
Go to your brother or sister.
Jesus says keep it just betweenthe two of you.
We excuse this so often.
We pretend like it's not a bigdeal to talk about a brother or

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sister's sin, we justify it asnormal and along the way we kill
the unity of the church withgossip.
And along the way we kill theunity of the church with gossip.
What would happen in thepicture of Christ the world if
in the church our names weresafe, completely safe in each

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other's mouths and there was nobackbiting or gossip or slander?
This is the picture.
Go to your brother or sister,just between the two of you.
Zealously guard the characterof Christ in your brother or
sister.
And if somebody comes to you totalk about another brother or

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sister's sin.
Tell them to be quiet.
There's other language that wecould use there.
But be quiet, don't talk to meabout this.
This is not you're involving mein your sin.
God, give us the boldness tospeak like that to each other
and to keep one another from sin.

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People will come to me and say,pastor, you know what a brother
or sister is doing.
Stop right there.
Have you talked to this brotheror sister?
If you have not, then you donot need to be coming to talk to
me about that.
And we know people will go toeach other, will bait each other
, will start kind of putting outa little bit of line and say,
hey, have you heard about thisor that?

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Don't take the bait.
Don't take the bait, church.
Stop that conversation, thatpoint.
Go to God and to other people.
Just between the two of you, bequiet.
And then next, next, be quick,be quick.
And what I mean by that?
I don't mean to rush theprocess.
I don't mean to rush theprocess of church discipline,

(32:36):
but Scripture does teach us thatif there is sin that needs to
be addressed, it needs to beaddressed now.
It's a whole picture in Matthew, chapter 5, when Jesus says if
you're offering your gift to thealtar and they remember that
your brother has somethingagainst you, what do you do?
Leave your gift there in frontof the altar.
First go and be reconciled toyour brother, then come and
offer your gift in front of thealtar.
First go and be reconciled toyour brother, then come and
offer your gift.
Just do it immediately.

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We know that sin snowballs.
It's the whole picture in 1Corinthians 5.
A little bit of yeast worksthrough the whole batch of dough
.
Sin is deadly, it's dangerous.
It needs to be addressedimmediately.
So be quick in going to thatbrother or sister Once you've
asked this question is there sinthat's dishonoring God or

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defaming the Gospel?
Is there sin that is hurtingthe unity or the witness of the
church?
If so, then address that now.
Be quick to address that andnot let that sin just continue
to grow.
The more that sin grows, themore challenging this whole
restoration process becomes.
Be quiet, be quick Now, all ofthese things before we even go

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to a brother or sister.
When you go to that brother orsister next, be gentle.
You, who are spiritual, shouldrestore him gently.
Galatians, chapter 6, verse 1.
Gently, now, this doesn't meanwe're light on sin.
There's a firmness about sin,but it's a firm gentleness.

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It's the character of Christ,fruit of the Spirit, coming
alive in His people.
And we all know you think abouteither conversations you've had
in those kind of situations oryou will have about another
brother or sister in their sin.
We all know that our attitudein that conversation speaks far
more loudly than our words.

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When we come to someone from aposition of being above someone
as opposed to beside someone, aposition of superiority,
announcing what all they've donewrong, without a gentleness
that sees your need for Christat the core of your heart and
approaches this brother, sisterand sin based on that heart of

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Christ in you.
And we realize sin is always aheart issue.
Right, our words, our actions,our behavior, what we do in sin
all symptoms of a core heartissue.
There's a problem at the heartof who we are.
When we sin, we're not trustingGod, we're not believing the

(35:07):
promises of God and so we'redoing things our own way and
these are symptoms.
Oftentimes we can findourselves in all kinds of
conversations about the symptomsout here and avoiding the heart
issues.
So be gentle and approach this,knowing it's a heart issue and
the process.
Next, be careful.
Right after Galatians, chapter6, verse 1, paul says but watch

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yourself or you also may betempted.
When we're talking about sin,we're confronting sin in the
church.
There's a spiritual warfaregoing on here and there are
temptations for you to sin allalong the way.
So be on guard, be careful, behumble, biblical, pure,
prayerful, quick, quiet, gentle,careful, and then be

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intentional.
Be intentional and this iswhere we take Matthew 18, the
picture we see in 1 Corinthians5, and we say, okay, we're going
to follow Christ as he hasoutlined this process.
Step one we're going to startwith private correction and

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we're not going to involveanybody else.
Let me pause real quickly andjust say here there are
obviously rare extremecircumstances where someone else
would need to be involved fromthe start, something as extreme
as child abuse, for example.
Obviously clearly Wisdom tellsus somebody else needs to be
involved than an eight-year-oldgoing to their mom or dad to
address that.
But in most cases the pictureScripture gives us, jesus says,

(36:39):
is private correction.
Keep it between you and yourbrother.
If your brother or sister doesnot listen to, correction from
the Word continues unrepentantin sin.
Then step two small groupclarification.
You go to another brother orsister maybe two.
Obviously you go to someone whopossesses these characteristics

(37:03):
and qualities that we've justtalked about, who is trustworthy
, who will be quiet, who willlook at this from a
gospel-centered standpoint.
And my encouragement would be,when you go to that other
brother or sister or two, toinvolve them in this picture.
My encouragement would be togive them as little unnecessary

(37:23):
details as possible, becauseyou're obviously coming from a
pretty biased standpoint at thispoint and you want a brother or
sister who can look at thissituation and see it as clearly
as possible.
And you want a brother orsister who can point out to you
if you're abusing this wholepicture and not being biblical
or not being humble about this.

(37:43):
You want a brother or sisterwho can speak not only to that
person but into you in thissituation.
And so you say to that brotheror sister will you come with me
to talk with this person aboutsomething in their lives?
And that way, when they comeand it makes a whole difference
now in the context of thisconversation, because now it's
not two or three people gangingup, it's two or three people now
involved in a conversation withthis brother or sister about

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issues that may or may not needto be addressed in this brother
or sister's life.
It changes the tone there, soyou involve one or two others.
Small group clarification.
Now, if there is sin that needsto be addressed and that
brother or sister still does notlisten, now to two or three
people who are saying here's theword, we want to call you back
to Christ.
If that brother or sistercontinues unrepentant and will

(38:28):
not listen, then step threechurch admonishment.
Tell it to the church.
Now.
We talked about this last week.
That word is ecclesia, thegathering, the assembly of
believers.
So tell it to the gathering.
And this is where things getreally interesting, especially
as you think about the contextof this faith family.

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Does this mean that at the endof our gathering today we need
to pause and just ask if there'sanything anybody's got to share
, any group of two or three inthis room who's got to deal with
?
A brother or sister in thisroom you'd like to bring to all
2,000 of our attention and justwait for a response?

(39:11):
See what happens from there.
Probably not the best way tocarry out Matthew, chapter 18,
but how do you tell it to thechurch?
Then Tell it to the gathering,tell it to the assembly.
And this is where I mentioned afew times already the elders.
Even since I first came here,we've been diving and praying.

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Okay, what does this look likein the context of our faith
family?
And about a year ago we beganexploring the possibility of us
having, in the context of thischurch and it's the next thing
on your notes there arestoration team, and the
picture would be a team of menand women, brothers and sisters
in this faith family, who areknowledgeable scripturally about

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how to address conflict in thechurch, who are trustworthy
personally, brothers and sistersof integrity, gentleness,
humility, all of these thingsthat can be a point person, so
to speak, for when that smallgroup clarification happens and
the brother or sister continueson repentant sin, that you could

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come to this group of believersin this church and say, hey, we
would like help in restoringthis brother and bringing this
brother or sister back from sin.
And so the elders commissionedDon Acton, who is one of our
elders, to lead up a team, andit just so happened that a
couple of other men that are nowelders were on that team from

(40:36):
the beginning Dale Kendrick andJim Merriweather, and then Jim
Houston, from our pastoral carestaff and some others, and what
they began doing was praying,studying scripture, talking with
other churches of all sizes,including this size church.
How do you all do churchdiscipline, how do you obey the
commands of Christ here?
And I met with them this lastWednesday and we've been meeting

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on and off at different timesworking, and basically the
picture has been how can weoutline a process that is best,
so that this is a team thatwould help guard us against some
of the abuses here, to makesure we're not going off into
legalistic pursuits after thisor that that we are carrying out
, that two or three are notconfronting another brother or

(41:21):
sister unnecessarily or in a waythat does not reflect the
character of Christ, but thatthis could begin to be a bridge
between that small group,clarification and announcing
something to 2,000, 4,000 people.
And so a restoration team thatwould work next with the elders
and at the elders' discretionthere would be a process by

(41:44):
which this restoration teamwould be a part of trying to
bring that brother or sisterback and the whole picture that
we saw in the first two steps ofkeeping the circle as small as
possible as long as possible.
Now you've got a team of folkswith a variety of different
resources to bring to the tableto help restore that brother or
sister.
And then, if that brother orsister continues unrepentant in
sin, that the elders then attheir discretion decide when it

(42:04):
is appropriate to bring that tothe church and in what context
that would be appropriate tobring it to the church.
And so we've been working on aprocess and it's not finished at
this point.
Basically, the goal has been weneed, in Scripture, as a faith
family, to dive into thebiblical foundations here All
along the way, team diving intothe same thing for the last year

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, and then for us to begin toput handles on.
Okay, what does this look likeexactly?
And so in the coming days nottoday, but in the coming days,
hopefully there will besomething that we can
communicate clearly to our bodyto say, hey, as we carry out
this process, this is how itlooks, especially from step two
to step three in Matthew,chapter 18.

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From step two to step three inMatthew, chapter 18.
And you might think well, whatif, before you communicate that
process, what if there's anissue that needs to be addressed
in the church, a brother orsister who's unrepentant sin.
After that step two.
Well, a couple of thoughts.
First of all, remember themajority of church discipline
and restoration.
95% of it, we said, happens inthe context, informally, of our

(43:10):
relationships with one anotherall the time.
We do not need a pastor or aleader, anybody else, to be
involved with you going to abrother or sister in their sin,
or maybe you and two others, oneor two others, going to a
brother or sister in their sin.
So don't forget the majority ofchurch discipline we can do,
apart from any other help, so tospeak.
But then if there is somethingin a brother sister's life and

(43:32):
they're continuing unrepentantin sin that needs to be
addressed and a member of thisfaith family, then I would
encourage you at this pointsimply to contact jim houston.
He's the best point personbasically on that team, uh,
because he's on staff here andhe can begin to help you walk
through, make sure that we'reguarding some of these things
and then begin to work with thatteam, the elders and anything
else that needs to happen,because obviously there does

(43:53):
come a point in Matthew, chapter18, where step four happens and
there is, god forbid, churchexcommunication and that is an
action that is taken by the bodyof Christ.
So the point is, what we'resaying is, as a faith family,
days to come, we want to beintentional about obeying these

(44:15):
steps that Jesus has laid out ina way that brings honor to
Christ and his church for thegood of each other, for the
purity of the church, thesalvation of each other, the
good of each other and,ultimately, for the glory of
God's name.
We want to be intentional inthose things.
Okay, we will obey with thelove of Christ, not every
question answered there, buthopefully a basis by which we

(44:42):
can begin to move forward as achurch.
Now let's be honest.
We will obey with the love ofChrist.
Matthew 18, and we will do 1Corinthians, chapter 5.
That is hard stuff, matthew 18,and we will do 1 Corinthians,
chapter 5.
That is hard stuff, and I willbe the first to admit that there
is a tendency in us, in me, toshy away from obedience here,

(45:04):
and I'm convinced Jesus knowsthere's a tendency to shy away
from obedience here and that'swhy he tells us what he does in
Matthew 18, 18 through 20.
I want you to see these nexttruths ways that we will
implement church discipline andaction based on the promises of
Christ.
We will obey with the love ofChrist.

(45:24):
Second, we will trust in theauthority of Christ.
We will trust in the authorityof Christ.
Second, we will trust in theauthority of Christ.
We will trust in the authorityof Christ.
We're going to fly throughthese, but Matthew 18, 18.
Jesus says and these next threeverses are some of the most
abused verses in Scripture,because people take each one of
them, rip them out of theircontext and say all kinds of

(45:46):
different things.
So let's see them in theircontext Matthew 18 and 18.
I tell you the truth whateveryou bind on earth will be bound
in heaven and whatever you looseon earth will be loosed in
heaven.
That verse has been used toclaim divine authority for the
church to forgive sins.
This is a picture we've seenall throughout the history of
the Catholic Church.
Define authority to forgivesins.

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The church pronounces whetheror not you are forgiven.
Same picture we've seen.
We've got people walking aroundbinding and loosing all kinds
of things, as if God is waitingfor us to bind or loose
something, to respond and say,okay, now it's bound.
The picture here don't miss itis that in the context of the
church, god has entrusted theauthority of Christ to the
church to speak on his behalfagainst sin and about sin, such

(46:33):
that look at it this way ifsomeone comes to the church and
says I have sin in my life and Iam unrepentant in it, I am not
turning from sin, I am notturning to Christ, then we can
say the church can say to thatperson with complete authority
you are not forgiven of your sin, you are bound in your sin, not

(46:58):
forgiven of your sin.
Now they're not unforgivenbecause we've said so.
We are simply reflecting whathas been said in heaven, based
on the authority of Christ.
We are simply reflecting whathas been said in heaven based on
the authority of Christ, andour words as a church are a
reflection of what Christ hasdone in heaven.
Same way, if a brother orsister says, or if a person says
, I have sin in my life and I'mturning from it, I'm repenting

(47:19):
of it, I'm turning to Christ,then we can say with great
confidence and authority you'reforgiven of your sin, not our
words that make them forgiven.
Christ forgives them.
It's Christ's words and wespeak as the church based on the
authority of Christ.
It's the whole picture we talkabout in preaching and
communication of the word wepronounce what is true in heaven
.
It's the same picture that wesee in the Lord's prayer.

(47:41):
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
That's the picture the churchspeaks with the authority of
Christ against sin.
I love what one writer said.
He said never is the churchmore in harmony with heaven and
operating in perfect accord withChrist than when dealing with
sin to maintain purity.

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Never is the church more inharmony with heaven and
operating in perfect accord withChrist than when dealing with
sin to maintain purity.
By what authority do you dochurch discipline?
By the authority of heaven, asa reflection of the words and
the authority of Christ.
Second or next it's third onthe list there we will pray

(48:24):
according to the promise ofChrist.
We will trust in the authorityof Christ.
We will pray according to thepromise of Christ.
We will trust in the authorityof Christ.
We will pray according to thepromise of Christ.
Matthew 18, 19.
Again, abused, I tell you.
Jesus says that if two of youon earth agree about anything
you ask for, it will be done foryou by my Father in heaven.
That verse has been used.
Well, let's get a couple peopletogether.
As long as we agree, then God'sgot to do it.

(48:44):
You agree?
I agree, poof, it happens.
It's not the way Matthew 18, 19works.
The context here two or three,what's the picture?
Going to a brother or sister inyour sin?
Know this.
What Jesus is saying here inMatthew 18 is that when you're
going to address sin in thatsmall group picture two or three
gathering together to addresssin, know this you have the full

(49:09):
support of my Father in heavenin that situation and you ask
for the gentleness and thehumility and the grace and the
wisdom my Father stands ready togive it.
He will give you everything youneed to carry this out.
This is Jesus saying I knowthis is gonna be tough.
You speak with my authority andyou have the full support of my
Father, and then next we willexperience the presence of

(49:30):
Christ.
Trust in his authority, prayaccording to this promise and
experience the presence ofChrist.
Probably the most abused verseMatthew 18, 20.
For where two or three cometogether in my name, there am I
with them.
How many of us have heardsomeone say, either in praying
or in a worship gathering,saying well, where two, or in a
worship gathering, saying well,where two or three have come
together there, jesus is.

(49:51):
So since we've got more thantwo or three here, we know Jesus
is here.
What's the problem with that?
You've got Buddy over here whohad his quiet time this morning.
He was by himself thinking, man, if somebody else had been
invited in then God would haveshowed up, otherwise I was on my

(50:16):
own.
How many people does it takefor God to show up at a prayer
meeting?
One Like you don't need to getanother invitation for God to
decide he's going to come.
The picture here is not okay.
Since we've got a quorum, god'spresence is now here.
The picture here is when two orthree of you are going to

(50:38):
address sin in the life ofanother believer and you're
doing the most difficult workthat the church does.
Know this I am right there inyour midst.
You are not alone.
I am with you in this processand you will see and know and
experience and feel my presencein that context in a way that
you would completely miss if youcontinued on turning a deaf ear

(50:59):
to that sin.
Know this you have theauthority of heaven, the support
of my Father, and you havepromise of my presence with you
right in the middle of thatconversation.
Know that in the most difficultwork you do in the church, you
will know the presence of Christ.
Know this Church at Brook Hills.
This is what Jesus is saying.
This is encouragement for us.

(51:21):
There is a tendency in us to shyaway from obeying Matthew 18
and 1 Corinthians 5.
What Jesus is saying is youdon't need to shy away because
you have the authority of heaven.
You have the support of myFather and church at Brook Hills
.
You will experience my presencein a way you would never
experience otherwise.
When you obey my commands.

(51:42):
Here we will experience thepresence of Christ and
ultimately, last, we will honorthe cross of Christ.
We will honor the presence ofChrist and ultimately, last, we
will honor the cross of Christ.
We will honor the cross ofChrist.
I want to invite you to go withme to 1 Corinthians 5, and this
is where we're going to closeout, 1 Corinthians, chapter 5.
Do you remember when Paul, inthat passage we looked at last

(52:03):
week, talked about the yeast andthe dough, talked about the
yeast and the dough?
He talked about the yeast andthe dough he talked about a
little yeast spreads throughoutthe whole dough.
Yeast in scripture leaven yeastis a picture of sin, symbol for
sin, and the picture Paul'sgiving here is a little bit of
sin spreads throughout the wholechurch.

(52:25):
Very quickly, listen to what hesays.
Verse six and seven Paul saysyour boasting is not good.
Don't you know that a littleyeast works through the whole
batch of dough?
Get rid of the old yeast thatyou may be a new batch without
yeast, as you really are.
For Christ, our Passover lambhas been sacrificed.

(52:45):
Underline that sentence rightthere For Christ, our Passover
lamb has been sacrificed.
What does Paul do here?
He reaches back from the OldTestament and he says at the
Passover feast, the bread theyate was unleavened bread, and
the reason why is because leavenwas a picture.

(53:07):
The yeast was a picture oftheir old life in Egypt, in
slavery, and they were beingdelivered out from that, and so
it would make no sense tocelebrate deliverance with a
picture of sin in your midst.
And so you have been deliveredfrom that.
That's what the Passover is allabout.
Paul reaches back into thatpicture and he says today Christ

(53:31):
, our Passover lamb has beensacrificed.
He has paid the price for sinto be done away with.
So do not operate with sin inthe church.
You're free from it.
He has freed you from it.
He says that you may be a newbatch without yeast, as you

(53:53):
really are.
When you tolerate sin in thechurch, you are living like
Christ hasn't been sacrificedand the old leaven is not gone.
By tolerating it in your midst,you're saying there's sin still
here, just the same as before,before, and it's not.
Christ has died to cover thatsin and died to free you from
that sin.
So live like it.
Christ has been sacrificed.

(54:14):
So, for the sake of the crossof Christ, by the mercy at the
cross of Christ, be rid of sinin the church.
And this is where we see thechurch at Corinth, under a
banner of grace, freedom,openness, saying Christ died on
the cross, therefore you're freeto be a member, no matter what
you do.
And Paul says no, he rebukesthem for it and he says no,

(54:37):
christ has been sacrificed.
Therefore, get rid of impurityin the church.
By his grace, be rid ofimpurity in the church.
And this is where we areconfronted with the question,
the same question they wereconfronted with in 1 Corinthians
, chapter 5.
The question is this we want aChrist who pardons, we want a
Christ who forgives our sins,but do we want a Christ who

(55:01):
purifies.
Have we become so content inthe contemporary church to bask
in the forgiveness of Christwhile we live like the rest of
the world?
Christ died on a cross not justto cover our sins, but to
cleanse us from sin and empowerus over all sin.
Do we want him to purify us,not just pardon us?

(55:28):
And when we live, when we livecontent with sin and giving
ourselves to sin, we need torealize that by tolerating sin
in the church, when we toleratesin in the church, when we treat
sin like it's no big deal orsomebody else's problem, when we
tolerate sin in the church, wetrample on the sacrifice of
Christ.
If we pretend like sin is nobig deal, then we are gathering

(55:52):
together every single weekpretending like Christ's death
on the cross is no big deal,trampling on the very sacrifice
of Christ.
He has died to free us from sin.
So let us live like it.
Let's live like it.
Let's experience what has beenbought for us.

(56:16):
We need to realize the death ofChrist on the cross transforms
our lives in church.
Don't miss this.
Everyone who trusts in thecrucified Christ lives a

(56:38):
transformed life.
It's impossible not to.
Everyone who trusts in acrucified Christ lives a
transformed life.
It's not possible to trust inthe power of the cross and
continue day after day after dayin unrepentant sin.
So turn from sin and purge itfrom the church.

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For Christ, our Passover lambhas been sacrificed, and that is
what communion is about.
It is about fixing our eyes andour minds on the sacrifice of
Christ.
Listen to this with me.
You've heard me quote fromDavid Brainerd before missionary
to the Native American Indians.
The Northeast, a pagan Indiantribe, heard the gospel and

(57:27):
responded had so many things tobe cleansed and purified of,
purged of.
How did you do it?
How did you lead them to beholy?
How did you lead this Indiantribe to be holy?
Listen to what Brainerd said.
I never got away from Jesus andhim crucified, and I found that
when my people listen to this,when my people, these Indians,

(57:48):
when they were gripped by thisgreat doctrine of Christ and Him
crucified, I did not need togive them instructions about
morality.
I found that one followed assure and inevitable fruit of the
other.
My Indians began to put on thegarments of holiness and their
common life began to besanctified, even in small

(58:11):
matters, when they were mostpossessed by the doctrine of
Christ and Him crucified.
Do you catch that the greatdeterrent to sin in our lives
and the great deterrent to sinin this church is pure,
unadulterated focus on the crossof Christ.

(58:31):
Because when our lives and whenwe as a community of faith are
possessed by the cross of Christ, then we see the sacrifice for
our sin, we realize just howserious sin is and we cannot
walk away from a life possessedwith the cross and give
ourselves to this world, becausewe know he has died to free us

(58:56):
from the sins of this world.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
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