Church Discipline | Voddie Baucham #voddiebaucham #matthew18 #discipline #church #bible #shortclips

Matthew 18 (NASB)

15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst.”

*18:15*
The prescription for church discipline in vv. 15-17 must be read in light of the parable of the lost sheep in vv. 12-14. The goal of this process is restoration. If successful, “you have won your brother.” Step 1 is to “show him his fault” privately.

*18:16 if he does not listen*
Or, if he remains impenitent, follow step 2: “take one or two more with you,” to fulfill the principle of Deuteronomy 19:15.

*18:17 tell it to the church.*
If he refuses to repent, step 3 requires that the matter be reported to the whole assembly (v.17)- so that all may lovingly pursue the sinning brother’s reconciliations. But failing that, step 4 means that the offender must be excommunicated, regarded by the church as “a Gentile and a tax collector”. The idea is not merely to punish the offender, or to shun him completely, but to remove him as a detrimental influence from the fellowship of the church, and henceforth to regard him as an evangelistic prospect rather than as a brother. Ultimately, the sin for which he is excommunicated is a hard-hearted impenitence.

*18:18 bind on earth… bound in heaven*
This echoed the promise of John 20:23, where Christ gave the disciples authority to forgive or retain the sins of the people. In these verses, Christ is laying out specific instructions for dealing with sin in the church. The sum of it all means that any duly constituted body of believers, acting in accord with God’s word, has the authority to declare if someone is forgiven or unforgiven. The church’s authority is not to determine these things, but to declare the judgement of heaven based on the principles of the word. When they make such judgments on the basis of God’s word, they can be sure heaven is in accord. In other words, whatever they “bind” or “loose” on earth is already “bound” or “loosed” in heaven. When the church says the unrepentant person is bound in sin, the church is saying what God says about that person. When the church acknowledges that a repentant person has been loosed from that sin, God agrees.

*18:19 if two of you agree on earth.*
This promise applies to the issue of discipline discussed in the previous verses (vv. 15-17). The “two of you” spoken of here harks back to the two or three witnesses involved in step two of the discipline process.

*18:20 two or three.*
Jewish tradition requires at least 10 men to constitute a synagogue or even hold public prayer. Here, Christ promised to be present in the midst of an even smaller flock - “two or three witnesses” gathered in His name for the purpose of discipline (see note on v. 15).

Commentary by John MacArthur (The MacArthur Study Bible)

The Lord is omnipresent. He is everywhere all at once (Psalm 139:7-10; Hebrews 4:13). So these verses do not mean that when two or three are gathered, He shows up. The Lord is everywhere!

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Great sermon by Voddie Baucham: The Need For Reformation In Evangelical Ecclesiology

Full Sermon:https://youtu.be/iZur9xIjZpM