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Chapter 26 in the Second London 
Confession of Faith, we have looked at a few things thus far 
in this particular chapter, and this morning we're going to look 
at the administration of discipline in the church. Paragraphs 12 
and 13 speak to that. We're going to deal with some 
things this morning and then take it up the next time that 
we gather. to conclude a study of the administration 
of discipline in the church. I want to read paragraphs 12 
and 13 in chapter 26. As all believers are bound to 
join themselves to particular churches when and where they 
have opportunity so to do, so all that are admitted under the 
privileges of a church are also under the censures and government 
thereof according to the rule of Christ. No church members, 
upon any offense taken by them, having performed their duty required 
of them towards the person they are offended at, ought to disturb 
any church order, or absent themselves from the assemblies of the church, 
or administration of any ordinances, upon the account of such offense 
at any of their fellow members, but to wait upon Christ in the 
further proceeding of the church. Amen. So as I said, these particular 
chapters, or rather these two paragraphs, take up church discipline. And while discipline as a word 
is not identified in paragraphs 12 and 13, the concept is most 
certainly there. Notice that the privileges are 
indicated in paragraph 12, and then the censures and government 
thereof, according to the rule of Christ. So that does speak 
to church discipline, or the liabilities involved in joining 
oneself to a local church. So I want to look at paragraph 
2, 12 specifically this morning, and we'll look at the administration 
of discipline in the church, part 1. and two things this morning. First, the prerequisite to church 
discipline, and secondly, the liabilities of church discipline. But note first the prerequisite. In paragraph 12, it says, as 
all believers are bound to join themselves to particular churches 
when and where they have opportunity so to do. Now obviously the qualification 
is necessary if you live out in the middle of nowhere and 
there aren't churches, then obviously you don't have the opportunity 
to join a church. But for the most of us, we don't 
live out in the middle of nowhere and so it is a responsibility 
for us as the people of God, as believers, to join ourselves 
to particular churches. Now this is a doctrine that's 
fallen on hard times in our generation. Persons don't like the thought 
of formal attachment to a local church. They say things like, 
well, I'm a member of the church because I'm a believer in Jesus 
Christ. Well, yeah, you are a member 
in the church universal, to be sure, but that does not mean 
that you do not join yourself to a particular local church. 
Again, the supposition or the assumption here is that believers 
are bound to join themselves to particular churches. when 
and where they have opportunity so to do. And we'll see in just 
a moment that without that there can be no church discipline. 
The church doesn't have sort of a universal jurisdiction or 
authority over every single believer, but rather it is with reference 
to the believers that join themselves together in particular local 
churches. So I want to look at several 
reasons why we believe that church membership is a biblical concept. The idea, again, If you look 
for a particular text, there's no Roman 17 that says, what should 
I do when I become a new believer? Well, get baptized and join a 
particular church and embrace the doctrine of membership. That's 
not there in Roman 17. As you probably know, there's 
not a Roman 17. And so therefore we look for implication, we look 
for inference, and we look for texts that do indeed highlight 
the responsibility of God's people to join local churches. And the 
first aspect is that the church at Jerusalem was numbered. You can turn to Acts chapter 
2. Going to look at several passages of Scripture this morning, thought 
as we have opportunity it's good to remind ourselves of these 
doctrines and of their biblical warrant. We don't just subscribe 
to something because that's what Reformed Baptists do, but we 
subscribe to something because the authoritative Scripture says 
that this is what we ought to believe concerning church membership. 
So, in terms of membership, we see the church at Jerusalem was 
numbered, Acts 2.40, and with many other words he testified 
and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received 
his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls 
were added to them. So you could quantify the number, 
3,000 souls were added to them, an existing number of disciples, 
an existing number of believers that had gathered together as 
the people of God in the city of Jerusalem. And then we see 
that in verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the 
people and the Lord added to the church daily those who are 
being saved. Again, the idea being that there 
is this numbered body of persons that are being added to by the 
power of God in the saving of sinners. They get baptized and 
then they join themselves to a particular local church. Secondly, 
the church at Jerusalem was joined. You could join it. It was something 
that you did in order to become a participant with them. Notice 
in Acts 5 verses 11 to 13. Acts 5, so great fear, verse 
11, came upon all the church and upon all who heard these 
things. And through the hands of the apostles many signs and 
wonders were done. were done among the people, and 
they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Yet none 
of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them 
highly." So the idea that some did not join them infers or implies 
that others did and that it was a group that one could join. 
And then notice in Acts 9 verses 26 to 28. Acts 9.26, And when Saul had 
come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they 
were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. 
This is Saul of Tarsus, the man who stood by approving of the 
execution of Stephen. And now Saul of Tarsus has been 
converted on the road to Damascus, and he wants to join alongside 
of the disciples, but they're afraid. Verse 27, But Barnabas 
took him and brought him to the apostles, and he declared to 
them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had 
spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in 
the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, 
coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name 
of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Hellenists, but they 
were attempted to kill him. So the brethren of the church 
could be joined. A third reason why we assume 
that church membership is a biblical concept is the duties of the 
pastoral ministry necessitate membership. The duties of the 
pastoral ministry necessitate membership. I think I shared 
with you one time before, pastors aren't pastors of the universal 
church. Pastors aren't tasked with the 
discipline, or the instruction, or the admonition, or the feeding, 
or the caring for, or even the praying for those who are not 
part of their particular church. Jesus himself, in his high priestly 
prayer, in John 17, he said, I don't pray for the world, but 
I pray for those whom you have given me out of the world. So 
there's a selectivity with reference to prayer. I don't want to sound 
mean or crass or harsh, but pastors aren't duty-bound to pray for 
every single human being out there that professes the name 
of Christ. They certainly couldn't do that. 
They wouldn't have time. They wouldn't be able to do anything 
else. But the whole idea of pastoral 
ministry necessitates a doctrine of church membership. Look at 
Acts 20, specifically in verse 28. Paul the Apostle exhorts 
the Miletus or the elders from the church in Ephesus while he's 
in Miletus, and he says in Acts 20.28, therefore take heed to 
yourselves and to all the flock Not every single specimen of 
the flock. Not every single sheep without 
exception. He hones in. He makes it particular. He makes it specific. Take heed 
to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit 
has made you overseers. That group that you are in among 
which the Holy Spirit has made you an overseer. Take heed to 
them. You can't take heed to everybody 
else. You have to take heed to the ones that the Spirit made 
you an overseer of, specifically to shepherd the church of God, 
which He purchased with His own blood. And then Hebrews 13, 17. 
Again, the duties of pastoral ministry necessitate church membership. This does not mean that pastors 
don't pray for and don't try to be kind to regular attenders 
to the church, but certainly the doctrine of membership ought 
to be believed because of these things that are so strong inferentially. Notice in Hebrews 13, 17, "...obey 
those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch 
out for your souls as those who must give account." Let them 
do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable 
for you. You see the very specific thing 
here. Obey those who rule over you, church leaders, and be submissive, 
for they watch out for your souls. They don't watch out for every 
single soul out there, but they watch out for those souls in 
the particular church among which the Holy Spirit has made them 
overseers. It's one of the things that I 
think is faulty today. Persons have their favorite preachers 
and they download the sermon or sermon after sermon after 
sermon of these sort of celebrity preachers. And that's great. 
Listen to good preaching, but realize that more than likely 
that brother isn't praying for you on Tuesday morning. that 
most likely if you called him on a Thursday night when you 
had a crisis and a problem and a difficulty, he's not going 
to show up at your house. It's going to be the elders in 
the particular local church that you are a member of, because 
they have the responsibility to show up, to pray for you, 
to encourage, to help, to do all the things that the Bible 
says. The fourth is the duties of members 
toward their pastors necessitate church membership. Notice in 
1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. specifically verses 12 and 13, 
and we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among 
you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to 
esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at 
peace among yourselves. You see, you can't do that for 
every single pastor that exists in this world. There's no possible 
way. How would you ever be able to 
recognize those who labor and those who are over you in the 
Lord and those who admonish you if it was every single human 
pastor out there? It is with reference to the local 
church that you are a member at. And then notice the specific 
admonition here. Recognize them, esteem them very 
highly and love for their work's sake. And then that last clause 
goes with this. Be at peace among yourselves. 
I think the connection is pretty strong. If we don't have a healthy 
church member, church leader relationship in play in the church, 
there's going to be a lack of peace in that particular church. 
If there is division or dissension or problems between leaders and 
members or members toward leaders, it's not going to be a peaceful 
situation. It's better to pursue peace, that peace which the Holy 
Spirit instills in a manner that is consistent with the entirety 
of God's Word. And then Hebrews 13, 17, on the 
flip side, the same text we just looked at with reference to the 
duty of pastors toward members necessitates membership, so does 
the duty of members toward their pastors necessitate membership. Obey those who rule over you 
and be submissive. You don't have to obey Stephen 
Furtick, or Perry Noble, or Mark Driscoll. You don't have to submit 
to those particular... They're not sort of universal 
church pastors. It's within the local church. 
And the whole idea of obey those who rule over you is not to be 
understood in a despotic, tyrannical, or wicked manner. It is as the 
men faithfully proclaim and preach the word of truth, it is the 
word of truth that members must obey. And then finally, the discipline 
of the church necessitates membership. The discipline of the church 
necessitates membership. If a person has not formally 
connected themselves or attached themselves to a particular local 
church, then in theory they ought not to be the recipients of the 
privileges or the liabilities associated with that membership. I think it was last time I had 
mentioned that people today, Christians today, believers in 
Jesus, that do not join local churches are similar to a fornicator, 
a man who wants all of the privileges of a sexual relationship, but 
he doesn't want the responsibilities or the liabilities connected 
to the covenant of marriage. It is to use a woman in a way 
that is godless or a woman using a man in a way that is godless. It's the same thing with reference 
to the church. If you cannot attach yourself 
to the church that you're presently in, find a church that you can 
attach yourself to. That is incumbent upon believers. That is something necessary and 
required. Church membership is not some 
antiquated concept from the 17th century, but rather it is what 
the Bible assumes God's people will do. They will be baptized, 
they will be added to the church, they will join the church, they 
will participate in the privileges, but they will also be subject 
to responsibilities and liabilities involved with said membership. All of us are in the same boat. 
It's not just pastors that aren't subject. We're subject to liabilities. 1 Timothy 5, do not receive an 
accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three 
witnesses. No elder in any church is ever immune from the whole 
idea of censures or liabilities or or discipline, or anything 
like that. We're all in this boat together, 
and Jesus tells us we ought to connect ourselves to a particular 
expression, to a particular local church, and engage ourselves 
for the long haul. So the prerequisite in paragraph 
12 to church discipline is church membership. The last point, the 
discipline of the church necessitates membership, we'll see that in 
more detail in a moment, in Matthew 18, but you also see it in 1 
Corinthians and in 2 Corinthians as well. So the prerequisite 
to church discipline is church membership. Now notice, secondly, 
the liabilities of church discipline. Paragraph 12b. So all that are admitted unto 
the privileges of a church. There's privileges to belonging 
to the church, right? I mean, Lord's Supper and baptism 
and communion and fellowship and all those good things associated 
with the church. God never intended for Christians 
to go it alone. God never intended for us to 
be mavericks or individuals in this world. He didn't intend 
for us to sit in our living room downloading Piper sermons. He 
intended for us to gather together with his people week in and week 
out until we drop dead and enter into the church triumphant. He 
intended for us to sanctify one another, to bump into each other, 
and to wear off those rough edges, and to have society and community 
with one another. He intended that we would be 
able to pray for one another. He intended that we would be 
able to encourage one another. He intended all those things 
as privileges of church life. But it goes on to say, "...are 
also under the censures and government thereof according to the rule 
of Christ." And as I said, I want to consider biblical church discipline, 
and you can turn to Matthew 18. I know we're only in Matthew 
22, so it wasn't that long ago that we went through Matthew 
18. Of course, it could have been longer ago than I remember, 
because it seems to be a long time that we've been in Matthew. 
I hope you're not thinking, yeah, can we ever finish this up? But 
I thought it would be good for us to rehearse this because this 
is where we're at. And I think this is what church 
life ultimately, not ultimately, but one of the big things is 
how do we get along with one another? How do we manage corporate 
responsibility toward one another? How do we deal with our brothers 
and our sisters when they offend us, or our brothers and our sisters 
when they hurt our feelings, or our brothers and our sisters 
when, you know, we're upset with them? Does the Bible provide 
for us a map or a guide by which we can deal with one another? 
It most certainly does. In Matthew 18, specifically in 
verses 15 to 17. We're going to look at this, 
as I said, in two sessions. We're going to look at verse 
15 specifically this morning, and then the next time that we 
gather together in our study of the Confession, we'll look 
at verses 16 and 17. But remember that chapter 18, Jesus is dealing 
with the local church. If you go back for just a moment 
to Matthew 16, there Jesus is dealing with what we would call 
the universal church. And remember that our confession 
makes this distinction. In paragraph 1 in chapter 26, 
the Catholic or universal church, which with respect to the internal 
work of the Spirit and truth of grace, may be called invisible, 
consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, 
are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ, the head thereof, 
and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth 
all in all." The universal church, the comprehensive view concerning 
the church, all of the people of God. throughout all the world, 
throughout all the ages, and then the confession goes in to 
deal specifically with local churches. Well, in Matthew 16, 
that's what we have. Notice in verse 13, when Jesus 
came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 
saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, 
Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or 
one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you 
say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, 
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered 
and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh 
and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is 
in heaven. And I also say to you that you 
are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will 
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed 
in heaven." See, that's universal church. Brethren, Jesus is not 
speaking about particular expressions. There are local churches wherein 
Christ does remove the lampstand. There are local churches that 
Christ does shut down for the glory of God and for the good 
of souls so they're not sucked in to a synagogue of Satan. But he says specifically here, 
"...and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Now 
the gates of Hades may prevail over a local expression because 
of their lack of doctrinal precision, or faithfulness, or prayer, or 
preaching, whatever it may be. But the gates of Hades shall 
not overtake the church of Jesus. It is a triumphant body. It will 
press on into the heavenly Jerusalem, into the new age. But Matthew 
18 is dealing with specific local churches. Notice in verses 15 
to 17. 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, 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." 
So again, a particular local church. This tell it to the church-ness 
does not mean we publish it for every single human being in the 
universal church. A guy in Timbuktu has no business 
knowing what's going on in terms of a center in our church that 
hasn't repented or hasn't forsaken his sin. It's a tell-it-to-the-local-church 
sort of a thing. So as I said, we're going to 
look at this under two considerations, this morning first. Notice the 
private confrontation, 1815. This is, as I said, where we 
live and how we ought to operate with one another. Now, discipline, 
when we hear that term, we often think excommunication when we're 
in a church context, right? We hear discipline and we think, 
the worst. Somebody's brought up before 
the church and they're yelled at and they're driven out. That's 
kind of the way the mind goes with discipline. Well, there's 
two elements in discipline. There is a formative discipline. Formative is the day-in, day-out 
practice of teaching your child, of instructing your child, of 
praying for your child, and encouraging your child, forming him with 
discipline. And that's the ongoing ministry 
of the Church, a formative discipline. Every time you sit under the 
preaching, any time you come among God's people, there ought 
to be that in play. And then there is corrective 
discipline. You're forming your child, he 
gets out of line, and you correct him with the rod and the reproof. 
This is what Solomon tells you as parents you're supposed to 
be doing. Do not fear that you'll harm his delicate little psyche. 
No, you need to bring the wrath and judgment, not the wrath, 
but the chastisement of God to bear upon Junior. This is legit, 
so there's formative day in, day out, and there is corrective 
for those situations and times and seasons where a little bit 
more is necessary. And that's what's going on here. 
More formative, but there is an element of corrective, and 
it will escalate as the person who does the sinning is not repentant. So notice, specifically, in verse 
15, "...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." Now there are three things that I 
want to observe with reference to this text. First, the situation. 
Secondly, the command. And thirdly, the outcome. Note 
the situation. If your brother sins against 
you, those two words against you are absent from the textual 
tradition, probably not in your NASB or in your NIV. It may be 
in your ESV. I'm not sure. I didn't have time. 
Oh, it is in the ESV. But the very context argues for 
its inclusion because that's what's going on. It's not if 
your brother sins, it's if your brother sins against you. In 
other words, you don't have to police your brother in every 
single instance of his life. If he sins against you, take 
him aside and do what Jesus says. So the translation between him 
and you alone later argues for its inclusion. Note specifically, 
with reference to the situation, the context. If your brother 
sins against you, it's the church, brethren. It's dealing with the 
church. Now that doesn't mean at work, 
if a pagan does something wrong against you, you can tell him 
or you can go to the boss or whatever. But the context here 
specifically is within the life of the local church. If your 
brother sins against you, it is believers, men and women with 
believers that is in view. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5.12, 
for what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Paul's 
words means, I don't. In other words, we don't go out 
and police unbelievers. We preach the gospel to them, 
we pray for them, we seek to correct them as we're able, but 
church discipline is church discipline. It's within the context of the 
body of Christ. As well, notice the addressees. It's all believers and not just 
church leaders. Moreover, if your brother sins 
against you. He hasn't isolated the pastors 
or the doctors or the reverends of the church. He is talking 
to disciples and he is saying that if your brother sins against 
you, go. This is absolutely imperative. Jude 3, Jude tells us that we're 
all to be contending earnestly for the faith that was once for 
all delivered to the saints. Now I know that we like to have 
sort of paid professionals do our work. We like gardeners and 
we like you know, painters, and we like persons who do things 
that we necessarily don't want to do. But it's not that way 
in the church. Every brother in Christ ought 
to be able to do what God's Word tells him. Contend earnestly 
for the faith, and if your brother sins against you, go to him. 
So the addressees, all believers, not just church leaders. Again, 
sketching the situation here. And notice the particular problem 
in view. Moreover, if your brother sins 
against you, Not if your brother doesn't smile at you, or your 
brother gives you the cold shoulder on a particular morning because 
his dog just died, or if he sins against you. I think so many 
of our problems could be solved if we focused on this reality. It is a transgression of the 
law of God or a want of conformity to said law that is in view here. It's not my preference, it's 
not what I wish, it's not what I want, it's not how I conceive 
everybody ought to treat me, but it's has he violated God's 
law relative to me. Does everybody get that? Because 
I don't think we always do. We get bent out of shape, we 
get upset, we get bitter because somebody does something to us 
that isn't a violation of God's law. It's a violation of our 
law and as a result we're to treat them differently, we're 
going to avoid them, and we're not going to play marbles with 
them anymore. But that's not what's in view 
here. This is absolutely crucial that we understand that it's 
a violation of God's holy law that's in view. This person has 
stolen my lawnmower. That's a violation of God's law. 
This person has taken my Snickers bar from the refrigerator that 
you might just let love cover, but nevertheless you see the 
principle It's a violation of the law right if your brother 
sins against you Brethren, I think that in some respects the church 
parrots what we see going on in the world. We're hypersensitive 
We do not have thick skin. We're very thin-skinned, we're 
easily offended, and we all need our own safe space so that nobody 
can bother us with their microaggressions or trigger words. You know what? 
Church life, like family life, is difficult, and it's not for 
the faint-hearted. You've got to throw yourself 
in, you've got to realize that you're going to be sinned against, 
you're going to have your preferences violated, and not everybody is 
going to treat you as the delicate snowflake that you like to think 
you are. We're not, and we need to understand 
that. And we go to somebody, not if 
they violated our personal preference, but if they've sinned against 
us. And then as well, we ought to consider the other option. 
If your brother sins against you, Jesus will specify what 
we're supposed to do. But there is another option set 
forth by Peter in 1 Peter 4, 8, wherein he quotes Proverbs 
10, 12. Love will cover a multitude of 
sins. It is perfectly legitimate for 
you to let love cover a multitude of sins. I'd like to recommend 
that husbands and wives enact this principle a lot, because 
if you're constantly dealing with each other's sins, that's 
all you're ever going to do. Let love cover a multitude of 
sins. Again, even in that, it isn't 
a violation of my preferences, but it is a covering of sins. And some would say, well, when 
do I know to go to the person or when do I know to let love 
cover it? I don't know that answer particularly, 
but if it is the case, that it's something that's just happened 
once and it doesn't ever happen again, you might consider just 
letting love cover it. If it's not that big of a deal 
in the grand scheme of things, you might just let love cover 
it. But if you can't live without 
dealing with it, then by all means deal with it. If you think, 
oh, I'm gonna let love cover it, and then you can't sleep 
at night. I'm gonna let love cover it, and then you change 
your dealings with that person, or you avoid them, then you obviously 
aren't letting love cover it. Does everybody jive with that? 
So, what do I do? Do I whine, complain, and snivel? No, I man up and do what Jesus 
says in Matthew 18, 15, and that brings us to the command. Notice, 
if your brother sins against you, that's our situation, here 
comes the command. Go and tell him his fault between 
you and him alone. Several things we ought to consider 
here. The precedent, Leviticus 19.17, you shall not hate your 
brother in your heart, you shall surely rebuke your neighbor and 
not bear sin because of him. For those who've been paying 
attention in Matthew's gospel last week, we know that it was 
Leviticus 19.18 wherein Jesus says is the second commandment 
that is like the first and great. It is that you will love your 
neighbor as yourself. Well, that section there in Leviticus 
19 teases out how we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. And 
specifically in verse 17, it says, you shall not hate your 
brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor. 
What's the purpose or what's the idea? The idea is that if 
you sin against me and I don't deal with it, I'm gonna hate 
you in my heart. I mean, I'd like to tell you I'm not, but 
I'm probably going to. If I sin against you and you 
don't deal with it, guess what you're probably going to do? 
You're probably going to hate me in your heart. Now you say, 
well, hate's a strong word. Okay, maybe you're not throwing 
darts at a picture of me on your dartboard, but you're different 
toward me. Why? Because you perceive that 
I've sinned against you, and instead of going and dealing 
with me, you're bitter, and you're upset, and you hate me in your 
heart. So what's the legitimate outlet? 
It's to rebuke your brother. It's to go to him. Jesus isn't 
teaching anything that the law hadn't already prescribed. Leviticus 
19 always mandated that you shall not hate your brother in your 
heart, you shall surely rebuke him. Don't be bitter, the principle 
is seen with reference to Ephesians 4. Don't let the sun go down 
on your anger. Husbands and wives, deal with 
it. What part of dealing with it 
do we struggle with? Usually, the whole thing. We'd 
rather get upset, we'd rather be embittered, we'd rather whine, 
snivel, grumble, complain, and say, oh, that person violated 
my safe space, I'm never going to have anything to do with them 
again. That's terrible. It's so ungodly. It's so un-Christlike. It's so un-Pauline. You know 
what we're going to see tonight in 2 Timothy chapter 4? Paul 
says, bring Mark to me because he's useful for ministry. Paul 
wasn't a grudge bearing, grudge holder. Do you remember John 
Mark deserted Paul on the first missionary journey? John Mark 
was the reason that Paul and Barnabas, Mark's cousin, got 
into a sharp argument in Acts 15. And yet Mark grew up, Mark 
matured, Mark grew. And Paul saw that, he said, bring 
him to me because he's useful for ministry. He doesn't say, 
wow, he wronged me on that first missionary journey. He will never 
be restored again. That's the attitude sometimes 
of us Christians. Man, instead of rebuking them, 
and instead of doing what God says, we change our attitudes, 
we change our practice, and we avoid them. Wenham says, if you 
have a real reason to be annoyed with him, discuss the matter 
with him. Rebuke him. The value of having 
things out with people rather than brooding on them is mentioned 
more than once in the Bible. Better is open rebuke than hidden 
love. Proverbs 27.5. Deal with it. I have this zany opinion or zany 
idea that blood-bought children of God who possess and are possessed 
by the Holy Spirit ought to be able to solve just about anything 
that arises. because our Bibles instruct us 
how to do so, and the Spirit gives us aid and grace in order 
to do so. The specific verb that Jesus 
uses, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault 
between you and him alone. The idea here is to lay open 
to expose, to uncover, to reveal, to demonstrate the mistake or 
guilt of another. And applied to the guilty person, 
it means to convince him of his objective mistake by furnishing 
evidence of his culpability. See, this is why it's so important 
that it's a transgression of the law, because you can quantify 
that. You stole my lawnmower. God says not to. I can prove 
that you did it. I have a hidden camera in my 
backyard, and it's caught the whole thing. He's done. You've 
laid him open. You've exposed him. He can deal 
with that. But you see, if it's a preference, 
and you said this in such a way that it just offended me, people 
are going to look at you like, are you nuts? I never meant that. 
I never thought that for a moment. You see, when it's in the realm 
of subjectivity, it's hard to lay it open. But if it's a concrete 
transgression of the law of God, or a want of conformity to that 
law, you can say, on such and such a date, you did such and 
such a thing, it offended me, and it hurt me, and I want you 
to repent. Great! Isn't that great? It's the way 
to deal with things. It's the way to deal with people. And 
then the specific direction that Jesus gives, again, under the 
command. The offended is to go to the offender, not to others. 
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. Don't call me and don't call 
Cam. Don't call one of the new deacons and say, you know, brother, 
so-and-so did this. Now, we don't typically do it 
in such a forthright manner. Oh, can you pray for so and so 
because they really sinned against me. Well, don't do that. You've 
compromised the whole position here. Pray that God will give 
me wisdom and grace so I can deal with a difficult situation. 
I'm more than happy to pray for you on that. But if you tell 
me that I need to confront my brother because he sinned against 
me, you have brought me in a loop I don't belong in. You have put 
me in a compromised position. You've jeopardized the entire 
process, and it's likely to just become a mess. This is very specific. Go and tell him his fault. The offended is to go to the 
offender, not to others, including church elders. Spurgeon said 
the offended is to seek the offender. We must not let the trespass 
rankle in our bosom by maintaining a sullen silence, nor may we 
go and publish the matter abroad. We must seek out the offender 
and tell him his fault as if he were not aware of it, as perhaps 
he may not be. See, it may not be the case that 
he, in his devilish mind, conspired to get you. More often than not, 
the things that we do to one another, I like to think, are 
unintentional. I mean, I don't pray on Tuesday 
morning, God, when I get home tonight, help me to be vicious, 
unkind, untoward, and wretched to my dear wife. Let me go home 
and make a miserable night of things, and let me just ruin 
her life, and make her downcast, and so on. I don't do that. She 
might think I do sometimes, but I really don't. So we tell that 
person because they may not know it. I love that Spurgeon quote. As well, the offended is to privately 
tell his brother what he has done. The text couldn't be more 
specific. Go and tell him his fault between 
you and him alone. Now the church is not a secret 
society. We don't practice secret rites 
downstairs in the basement. We don't drink blood or sacrifice 
babies or do anything that is associated with secret society. So it's not that. Our stuff can 
be out in the open. Our baptism, our Lord's Supper, 
the way we worship. But brethren, persons do have 
a legitimate right to privacy. And we ought not to expose persons 
needlessly. We ought not to publish everybody's 
sin. We certainly ought not to publish 
it on social media or in the prayer meeting. On a Wednesday 
night, oh brethren, pray for so-and-so who's not here tonight. 
He's just really been living in a bad pattern of sin. He's 
really hurt my feelings. Just please stop that. Just don't 
do it. It's wrong. The Word of God condemns... I've never... It's never ceased 
to amaze me how we'll condemn certain sins out here. I mean, 
if somebody in the church started, you know, smoking methamphetamine 
and engaged in that, well, boy, that's terrible! But we can jump 
to a rash condemnation of somebody and never see the terribleness 
of that. What does Proverbs say? He who answers the matter before 
he hears the matter. What is it? It's folly to him. It's shameful. And how many times 
do we do that? We get one side of the story. Person A says such and such, 
which he shouldn't even do, but we're going to take it in anyway, 
and we're ready to jump all over person B. Oh, we don't know what 
person B's story is. I'm certainly glad that, you 
know, my life isn't at stake when it comes to sometimes the 
way church people deal with each other. and it ruins reputations, 
and it harms people, and it's just not righteous behavior. 
As well, the offended person must demonstrate the validity 
of his charge. Tell him his fault, that whole 
idea of lay it open, expose it, show it, demonstrate. Don't just 
bring me these subjective feelings of thinking that I hurt you somehow. Tell me what I said or what I 
did, now I said it, now I did it, so that I can repent, and 
I can own it, and I can forsake it. And the offended, that means 
the person that goes to his brother, must be open to the possibility 
that the offender really didn't offend him. It could be the case. They have 
a perfectly rational explanation why they did what they did. If 
I was upset at somebody because they didn't smile at me and it 
turns out that their dog had died that morning, I could see 
why they didn't smile at me, which I shouldn't even be going 
to them in the first place if it's not because they didn't 
smile at me. But you see the point. There's 
context. There's situations. I'm not saying 
that we're situational ethics and all that sort of thing, but 
go to the person with the possibility in mind that he really didn't 
sin against you, that it's a misunderstanding. We ought to be able to clean 
this up like that. Now, note the outcome. Note the 
outcome. If he hears you, you have gained 
your brother. The offender hears, obeys, and 
the implication is that he repents in the parable in Luke 17. This 
is what we see. Luke 17.3. Luke 17.3. Take heed to yourselves, 
if your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, 
Forgive him. So I think that's assumed in 
our passage in verse 15. If he hears you, you have gained 
your brother. What's the missing element that 
Jesus assumes? If he hears you, and he obeys, 
and he sees what you're saying is true, and he repents, and 
he asks you to forgive him, you have gained your brother. See, 
verses 16 and 17 deal with him not hearing you. If he doesn't 
hear you, he doesn't obey, he doesn't see the late open charge, 
he doesn't confess it, he doesn't repent, he doesn't forsake, when 
that happens, then you step it up into these next realms. But the implication of verse 
15 is that if he hears you, you've gained your brother. He's heard, 
he's repented, he's forsaken, and what do you do? You hold 
a grudge? You teach him, you punish him, you emotionally punish 
him for six months and make him go through sorts of feelings 
that are... No, you forgive him! Don't forget Ephesians and Colossians, 
wherein the Apostle tells us the way we're supposed to forgive. 
How are we supposed to forgive? After a period of 33 days when 
they've demonstrated everything successfully to our lot? No! 
Forgive even as God and Christ forgave you. And you remember 
Peter, he says, Lord, if my brother sins against me, do I forgive 
him seven times in a day? Peter probably thought he was 
being very magnanimous there. That's a lot of forgiveness, 
right? A lot of forgiveness! Seven times a day if he asks 
me, do I forgive him? Jesus says seven times seventy. 
because it's even as God in Christ has forgiven you. How many times 
does God forgive you in a day? How many times does God cleanse 
you in the blood of Jesus Christ a day? How many times is it the 
case that we go back to the Lord and we say, please forgive me, 
I've done the same stupid thing again, the same sinful thing. 
Please wash me in that fount which is open for sin and uncleanness. 
And what does he do figuratively? He plunges us underneath that 
flood and we lose those guilty stains. It's a blessed thing. 
The people of God ought to imitate God in that. If he repents, forgive 
him. Hug him, kiss him, don't bring 
it up again. Don't bash him over the head 
again. Husbands and wives have a practice of, we did this 13 
years ago and it really bothered me. Don't do that. It's not the 
way God does it with us. Not us, we're awesome and never 
do that sort of thing. And notice the language, if he 
hears you, you have gained your brother, you have won your brother. Knox Chamberlain has this comment. 
He says, if someone in the church can cause a little one to fall 
into sin, notice in 18.6, whoever causes one of these little ones 
who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a 
millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the 
depth of the sea. Chamberlain says, if someone 
in the church can cause a little one to fall into sin, there can 
also be influence in the opposite direction. When the sinner responds 
as here described, the little one who goes to him has become, 
precisely in his lowliness, an instrument of God's power. His 
recompense is to gain his brother. What a beautiful thing, I've 
gained a brother. What a beautiful thing, our relationship 
is at a better level now. It's more stabilized, it's stronger, 
it's more fortified because we've dealt successfully with sin and 
we've moved past it. As well, the situation is resolved 
at this point, so there is no need to bring it up either with 
the party who offended you or again with others. Something 
else people do with their elders. That person did this back then. 
And that person says, but I dealt with it. So why are you telling 
me? I don't have a need to know this. Please don't add that to 
my life's burdens. And please don't do that to the 
brother with whom you've successfully closed the argument. We don't 
like it when people treat us that way, do we? Do we? Do we like to hear when somebody 
says, 15 years ago you did this and it really... We don't like 
that, so why do we do that to others? Matthew 7.12 is so foundational 
to all of our interpersonal relationships, one with another, and a vivid 
expression of that principle, love our neighbor as ourselves, 
by not doing to them what we don't want them to do to us. 
It's the golden rule, brethren, it ought to be woven deep into 
the fabric of our being. And then as well, the unbeliever, 
the offender rather, not unbeliever, it's an offender, may not own 
the sin and therefore that necessitates verses 16 and 17. So I said, 
God willing, next time we'll look at that. But just a couple 
of observations in conclusion. In the first place, we ought 
to appreciate what our confession says. We ought to appreciate 
the fact that it assumes the correctness of the Bible, the 
truthfulness of the Bible. Yes, they are admitted unto the 
privileges of a church. They're also under the censures 
and government thereof according to the rule of Christ. We ought 
to appreciate that the divines that edited our confession, and 
that the Bible sets forth church discipline. And there are three 
primary reasons for church discipline. In the first place, and I say 
in the first place, it's not, you know, the case that this 
is more important than that. I mean, I think always the glory 
of God is the most important anything. It's the most important. Why do we do what we do? For 
the glory of God. So then, whether you eat or drink or exercise 
church discipline, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 
10.31. You say, well, it doesn't say 
church discipline. Or whatever you do. Church discipline is 
part of whatever you do. So the glory of God, obviously, 
is the show-stopping answer every single time. But just a couple 
of things to consider with reference to church discipline. The recovery 
of brethren. the recovery of brethren. We 
need to deal faithfully with one another. We're not, you know, 
as great as we might think we are. We need brethren to say, 
look, you've got issues and problems, you need to repent and deal. 
Okay, thanks. I mean, if persons don't deal 
faithfully with you, you're going to get in trouble. If husbands 
don't deal faithfully with wives, and wives don't deal faithfully 
with husbands, trouble is going to ensue. If churchmen don't 
deal faithfully with other churchmen, troubles will ensue. It's not 
the case that sin usually just takes care of itself. Sin just 
rolls like a snowball and gets bigger and more nasty as it gets 
further down the hill. It's best to crush the serpent 
while it's in egg form and let it grow into this mighty python 
that can wrap around your body and squeeze you to death. It's 
easier to step on the egg, isn't it? I've never stepped on a snake 
egg, but I would imagine it'd be easier to step on that snake 
egg than to fight a python that was five times my size that wanted 
to wrap me up and eat me. That's just not a good thing. 
So the recovery of brethren is a very good thing. The purity 
of the church... Now, as our confession says so 
basically and beautifully in paragraph 3, the purest churches 
under heaven are subject to mixture and error. There's never going 
to be the perfect church on earth. There's never going to be the 
pure church on earth. But there are churches that seek 
to deal faithfully, and seek to deal righteously, and seek 
to inculcate those things that our Lord Jesus Christ, as head 
of the church, says we ought to do. The purity of the church, 
we deal with one another in that regard. And as well, the protection 
of the church. Sin undealt with as it's rolling 
down that hill, gathers up more snow, gangrene effects, not just 
one part of the body, it spreads. And if we don't deal effectively 
with sin, it's going to spread. Secondly, we ought to consider, 
and this is more of the touchy-feely side that I thought I would include, 
the disposition of the offended. This isn't touchy-feely. This 
is Proverbs, actually. This is objective. This is how 
we ought to deal when it comes to dealing with someone who sins 
against us. So this is the disposition of 
the offended, the one who has somebody who sins against them. 
First, you ought to have a desire to obey the Lord Jesus. You do 
this because you don't want to ruin your friend's day, but because 
you want to obey Jesus in Matthew 18.15. Second, you want to have 
a love for brethren that manifests itself through a desire for reconciliation 
and restoration. You see, it's not a love for 
brethren if we let the friendship dissolve, is it? It's a love 
for brethren when we seek, fight, struggle, and deal in order to 
preserve that friendship and make it stronger. Reconciliation. Restoration. Third, we ought 
to have an attitude of humility and gentleness. In Matthew 18, 
1-4, what does Jesus enjoin upon us? He enjoins upon us humility. We don't go to that person, man, 
you know, you terrible human being, I never do what you do, 
but you happen to do this. No, humility, restore one another 
in a spirit of humility, Paul says in Galatians 6.1, and so 
fulfill the law of Christ. Third, or fourth, there ought 
to be a manner that is calculated to promote reconciliation and 
restoration. Proverbs 15.1, what does it say? It says, a soft answer turns 
away wrath. I can't believe you did this. 
That doesn't make people really open to receive what you have 
to say. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs 
up anger. Sometimes the offended goes to 
the person in an offensive manner and reconciliation is not won 
because you're then sinning against that person. As well, I think 
it's imperative for the offended to have a recognition that we 
all offend in many ways. It's not the case that you are 
sinless and holy and harmless and undefiled, James 3.2. We all stumble in many things. 
If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able 
also to bridle the whole body. Well, James does not believe 
that man's out there. Well, he does believe that man 
is his brother according to the flesh, and his brother according 
to redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ. But when we go to persons, 
that spirit of humility can be fostered by realizing that at 
best we are just miserable, you know, stinking bags of maggots 
right there along with Martin Luther. And then as well, we 
need to have a commitment to dealing with sin biblically. 
If we're going to invoke 1 Peter 4.8 and say, we're going to let 
love cover this one, then let love cover it. Covering it has 
the same end game as dealing with it as Matthew 18, 15. Presumably 
after Matthew 18, 15, the brother repents, the brother is one, 
everything lives happily ever after. Well, that's the way it 
ought to be if we let love cover a multitude of sins. If we're 
just cowards and don't want to Matthew 18.15 it and say, well, 
I'm going to 1 Peter 4.8 it, and yet our hearts are bitter 
towards that person, then we're not doing what we're supposed 
to be doing. As well, finally, the disposition 
of the offender, the one to whom the brother goes and tells him 
his fault. First, a realization that your 
brother loves you. It may not feel like that, but 
when your brother comes and says, you know, you're living like 
a knucklehead and I want to try and correct you, he's doing that 
because he loves you. Proverbs 27.6, faithful are the 
wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Secondly, 
we ought to realize it's difficult for that brother to come to us. 
As hard as it may be for us to hear what he has to say, it's 
hard for him to say what he has to say too, right? It's like 
when you're disciplining your children. This is going to hurt 
me more than it's going to hurt you. I don't think that's just 
talk on the part of the parents. It's not fun to inflict punishment 
on your kids. There's no secret rejoicing. Parents aren't having these parties 
together. Hey, I got to spank them 15 times 
today. It was great. That's not how it goes. It's 
really hard. So understand that it's hard 
for the offended as well. Third, a realization that this 
is a mercy from God to stop you from a self-destructive tendency. I mean, thankfully, persons in 
your life are going to stand up and say things to you or else 
you're going to be obnoxious. You will be terrible. I mean, 
you see it when you're out at Walmart and you see that kid 
that's completely undisciplined. I mean, he's obnoxious. You can't 
for a moment think, boy, his life is going to be pleasant. 
No, you think, man, that parent needs to get him under control. It's the same in the church. 
Persons that have not been dealt faithfully by other persons, 
they can be obnoxious. They can just be on the way to 
a hard life. And then a realization that defensiveness 
and or blaming the other person is sinful and childish. So you 
come to me and you tell me this, that, and the other. Well, what 
about you? If it was that big of a concern, you should have 
come to me. But right now I've come to you, let's deal with 
this, okay? Or to blame it on someone else. That's the world's way. That's 
the victim mentality of our day. I'm messed up because I'm in 
a lower tax bracket. I'm messed up because I don't 
have white privilege. I'm messed up because I... That's 
not the way we ought to be. We are messed up quite sufficiently 
all because of us, and if we continually remember that, we 
will understand not to say, well, what about you? Proverbs 9, 7-9, 
he who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who 
rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. Do not correct a scoffer, 
lest he hate you. Rebuke a wise man, and he will 
love you. Give instruction to a wise man, 
and he will be still wiser. Teach a just man, and he will 
increase in learning. Proverbs 15, 31 to 33, the ear 
that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise. He 
who disdains instruction despises his own soul, but he who heeds 
rebuke gets understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction 
of wisdom, and before honor is humility. And then as well, with 
reference to the offender, realize that you're probably a whole 
lot worse than the offended ever knows. Right? You're probably a whole lot worse 
than that person who's coming to you even knows. So that hopefully will help us 
to be in that right posture to receive what it is he has to 
say. And finally, realize that Proverbs 
28 is a blessed truth. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. 
From God to be sure, but from the brother who's come to you 
in love and with a desire for reconciliation, he expresses 
what you've done to him, you confess it, you forsake it, and 
what do you find from him? You find mercy. Well, let us 
pray. Father, we thank you for the 
Scriptures concerning this issue of discipline. Thank you that 
our confession upholds this truth, and we pray that as a church 
we would practice these sorts of things. Help us not to go 
strange and become police and try and deal with every single 
thing that's ever done to us, but God help us to deal faithfully 
one with another in those things that are pleasing to you. And 
we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.