|
As long as the world stands, some things are for sure. If we are blessed with rain to make the grass grow, then our lawn mowers must be prepared to mow the grass. Some of you are already preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas, because you feel sure they will come again this year. It’s a good thing to be prepared for what we believe is sure to take place, especially if the event is important. This morning the Lord Jesus places a sure thing before us. We will, at some time, know of a brother or sister in the faith who has fallen into sin. This is for sure. It’s an event of such great importance that our Lord Himself would prepare us by providing careful instructions for DEALING WITH OUR SINNING BROTHER.
The point to be stressed here is not so much that a brother has sinned against you directly. (The words, “against you” aren’t even found in the older Greek manuscripts of Matthew’s gospel.) The real point is that a brother “is sinning” and you have become aware of it. By his continuing in sin without repentance he is in danger of eternal death. He has lapsed into a state of unbelief by a denial of his own need for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. He has become to you, not an enemy or a person to be despised, but a lost sheep who must be returned to his Savior by true repentance and faith before he dies. Look at the word, “moreover” in our text. It tells us the context in which Jesus speaks of dealing with our sinning brother. The Lord has just described His Savior-love, and the love of His Father. He told the parable of the “Lost Sheep.” “The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” If He has one hundred sheep and loses one, He leaves the ninety-nine and goes off to seek the one who has strayed lest it perish. How can we who are followers of Jesus do less for our sinning brother? Therefore James writes at the end of his letter to the churches (5:19-20): “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the Truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and covers a multitude of sins.” See? Our purpose in dealing with a sinning brother is not cold justice, but as Christ says, that we might “gain” our brother who has become lost. II. If the brother’s sin is not public or still not common knowledge, we are to go to that person who has sinned, not to anyone else. Remember that our purpose is not to expose the sin of our fallen brother to others, but to return him to the Savior so that his sins may be covered by Savior-love. And when we go to him we are to discuss with him his fault. This discussion will include some heart-to-heart convincing. The brother must be convinced that his sin is causing him to stray from his Savior into eternal death. But more than this, we must seek to convince him that especially now, in his great need, he is loved and sought out by his Savior who still desires to give him rest from his sin by repentance and faith. This we are to do for one another, dear Christian friends, in love and with “a spirit of meekness.” (Gal. 6:1), remembering that each of us is also capable of falling away through sin. But what if the brother will not listen to your pleadings, or makes excuse for his sin? Jesus says: “Take with you one or two more, so that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’” One or two other Christians are to be taken along at this point, in order to restore the lost brother. These witnesses will testify to the truth of the sin committed and of the sincere attempts to gain the brother. They too are to speak in love to their brother. At this point, the matter is still semi-private. Only if he “refuses to hear them,” are we to make a non-public matter public by telling it “to the church.” The church is an “assembly” of Christians. The salvation of this lost soul is so important at this point, that we must bring all the influence of the assembly to him. The pastor, the elders, or the church council may not have known anything of this matter until this point. But now they too must become involved in the attempt to save the soul. If the sinning brother “refuses even to hear the church”, then he is to be regarded by you, me, and all the assembly as “an heathen and a tax collector (that is, as an unbeliever and a sinner who rejects his Savior.) Here we find the authority by which Paul commanded the Corinthian congregation to “deliver to Satan” the man who was living in incest. (I Cor. 5) If a person for the sake of continuing in his sin “excommunicates” or cuts himself off from the fellowship of his Savior, the church must make it plain to him that he has done exactly that — He has taken up with the devil rather than Christ, and is without the forgiveness of sins, life or salvation for as long as he remains impenitent. III. Is this too much to believe? Jesus adds this assurance: “I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (V. 19,20) Those gathered together because of Christ, according to His teaching,
and desiring to serve Him in the advance of His kingdom, have Christ in
their midst! He is with them. Therefore the Father in heaven
will hear their request and carry out their decisions. It’s Christ’s
presence among His believing brethren which gives the authority of heaven
to all our decisions made in His name and according to His will.
Notice also that the size of such an assembly is not important. A very
small church possesses the same power to forgive or retain sins as a congregation
of thousands!
|