Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. We'll read together the first 20 verses. The text for our consideration, though, being verses 15 through 18. So Matthew 18. I would also ask that you turn to Lord's Day 31 in the back of the Psalter, page 43, where we find question and answer 85. As you turn to Matthew 18 and to Lord's Day 31, just a few comments of introduction. As you may recall, a few weeks ago, we began to consider what we call the keys of the kingdom of heaven according to how the catechism considers them. And these keys, as our Lord Jesus says in Matthew 16, and also here in Matthew 18, are used to bind and to loose. And that is, as the catechism says in answer 83, to open the kingdom of heaven to believers and to close it to unbelievers. Now, of course, boys and girls, we know that it is only God who can truly open and close the door of heaven. But the Lord Jesus Christ has given these keys to His visible church in order to declare, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to act on His behalf on this earth according to the truth of how God Himself guards His kingdom door. And as you recall, that first key, which we considered already, is the key of the preaching of the Holy Gospel. And that Gospel promise, as answer 66 says, is this, that God promises to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. That is the good news. That is the Gospel promise. And to those who believe that good news, by grace through faith, the kingdom of heaven is open to them. They are admitted to the kingdom of heaven. They are, as a matter of fact, children of God. They are citizens of heaven. At the same time, they are also visible members of the church as it is manifested here on this earth. The preaching of the Word of God is powerful and effective by the work of the Holy Spirit to save those who believe. But on the other side, those who reject that gospel promise because of their own sin and because of their own hardness of heart, to them, that kingdom door is closed. They are not allowed admittance. And they are told that as long as they remain unbelieving and unrepentant, They have no part in Christ and His church. Now yet, we know, beloved, that as far as the visible church on this earth goes, we know that there are many who falsely claim to believe that gospel promise. And they even become physical members of the visible church. And for them in particular, but even for true believers, you and me who are still in this life, who struggle daily with our sin, our Lord has given a companion key. And that second key is Christian discipline. Now, the church triumphant, made up of believers who have already been translated from this life to the glory of heaven, that church does not need discipline. But the church militant, made up of believers still on this earth who do battle under the banner of the cross of Jesus, does still need Christian, need the key of discipline. Now, our Lord uses again in Matthew 16 and in 18 here the words binding and loosing, which in His days, that day, were rabbinical terms, meaning forbidding or permitting. You see, to those who embrace Christ by faith, and even to those who claim to have that faith, the church, through the preaching key, then also teaches what the Word of God says about new life in Christ. what the Word of God forbids for God's people, what the Word of God permits, what the Word of God says we are to put off, what it says we are to put on. And therefore, the church of Jesus Christ is also then given the responsibility to watch over and guard the lives of those who profess Christ. And our Lord clearly taught how Christian discipline, or church discipline we might even say, is to be carried out. In a few different places, in the New Testament especially, but clearly here, detail by detail, in Matthew 18. Matthew 18, beginning at verse 1. Again, the text 15 through 18. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a little child and had him stand among them, and he said, And I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin. Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come. If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Again, if you would turn to page 43 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, we considered question and answer 83, which asked what are the keys of the kingdom, and we considered how does preaching the gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven. And now tonight, if we would respond together with the answer to this question, question 85, How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline? According to the command of Christ, if anyone, though called a Christian, professes unchristian teachings or lives an unchristian life, if after repeated brotherly counsel, he refuses to abandon his errors and wickedness, and if after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers, he fails to respond also to their admonition, such a one the officers exclude from the Christian fellowship by withholding the sacraments from him, and God himself excludes him from the kingdom of Christ. Such a person, when he promises and demonstrates genuine reform, is received again as a member of Christ and of His church. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, discipline bothers us. I trust that's no understatement. At least most of us. And boys and girls, no doubt when you think of discipline, you think of punishment. And who likes punishment? I don't. I never have. I trust you don't either. And we know, of course, that there are different ideas about discipline. We can speak of different kinds of discipline, if you will. We can speak about a disciplined life or self-discipline, and something like that might include a particular schedule of work and exercise and nourishment that is best for you. You might discipline yourself to eat only certain foods and to stay away from others. You might discipline yourself to exercise regularly. You might discipline yourself to read a certain number of pages of literature or certain kinds of literature. You might discipline yourself to stay away from certain TV shows or movies. And even faithfully exposing yourself to regular worship with that first key called preaching is an act of discipline. But of course, we know again that often, discipline has the negative idea associated with it of doing something wrong. And therefore, it is used to punish someone for something they have done and to seek to correct an error or a sin. And it's not pleasant always, if ever. The Bible says that, boys and girls. In Hebrews 12, verse 11, that verse begins with these words, No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. And we know that. Yet, whatever kind of discipline we might talk about, whether self-discipline or mutual discipline or discipline in the punishment sense of the word, the same goal is in mind, and that is good order of some kind toward a rightly ordered life of some kind. But now with the key of Christian discipline, we're talking about disciplining the Christian brother or sister, those who have rightly claimed the faith pronounced in that first key, or those who claim to be Christians. We're talking about disciplining them because they are living in some sort of sin. They are indeed doing something wrong. And before we go any further, notice that we all have a part to play in this. It's called Christian discipline. It's to be exercised among Christians, by Christians, for the benefit of the church of Jesus Christ. And we can say that it includes self-discipline, no doubt, but here it includes mostly mutual discipline and, if necessary, official church discipline carried out by the elders. Now, we all know from experience, too, that often those who are being disciplined get defensive. And they might say, well, you know what, it's my business, it's not yours. So keep out of it. And that's true, especially when it involves discipline by the elders. And then sadly, many put themselves in grave danger by often breaking a very important vow that they made. And I trust you know what that vow is. For those of you who have publicly professed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ here or in a Reformed church of our nature that uses the form we use, you remember that fourth question which asks this, Do you promise to submit to the government of the church? And also, if you should become delinquent, either in doctrine or in life, to submit to its admonition and discipline. And those of us who have made that profession of faith and have been asked that question, we say, yes! Yes! I promise. But sadly for many, when they have found themselves then to be under that discipline, they have quickly said, no, no, I won't. And they think that if they run away from the local church like this one, if they resign their membership and run away from the authority of the elders and simply go to another place to worship, that everything will be forgotten, everything will be alright. But as the saying goes, beloved, you can run, but you cannot hide. And that's because God recognizes the offender. And he also recognizes Christian discipline. He recognizes how that discipline is carried out, whether it's carried out properly or not properly, and also how that discipline is responded to by the offender. Well, beloved, we must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has given this particular key to His church. And with it, heaven's door once again is guarded, only this time by Christian discipline. And it's guarded, we might say, in two ways. First of all, by confronting sin. And secondly, by reaping repentance. First of all, by confronting sin. Now, the words of Jesus in this text, I trust, make us uncomfortable. At least most of us. They make me a bit uncomfortable. And that's because each and every one of us continues to sin. We sin daily. Or maybe not publicly. But we all still struggle with sin. And we don't like to be confronted, do we? And therefore, we also don't like to confront. And I must confess that I don't do that well. I have failed miserably from time to time. Our Lord's command, as we will see in this text. I don't do that well. But Jesus says that when one believer sins against another, or when a believer falls into gross or public sin, that one, we must confront that one. Now notice, this isn't talking about the private sins of my heart or your heart. God deals with those in His own way in His own time by the work of the Holy Spirit. But when your sin or my sin affects another believer or affects the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, then that sin must be confronted. Yet we must remember that that confrontation must be wrapped in love for the offender as yourself because in reality, this is part of the greatest act of love that you or I could show. Now that too may seem strange and I hope that becomes clear as we move along here, but it's a part of the greatest act of love that you and I could show. Yet, beloved, we can and we must confront the offender with confidence, not arrogance, not cockiness, not a I'm better than you are attitude, but with humility, yet confidently, because if it is done properly, if it is done correctly, then it is done by the authority of Christ Himself. Now, Matthew 18, this chapter involves a movement of sorts, a progression. I hope you noticed that in verses 1-4. The disciples want, really, to be great. Who is the greatest in the kingdom? And Jesus told them how to become the greatest in the kingdom. And then in verses 5-9, Jesus teaches them how those who are the greatest in the kingdom them then have the responsibility to receive, not to destroy and not to harm, but to receive little ones. And then in verses 10-14 in the parable, in Matthew's account of the parable of the lost sheep, he explains that they must not despise the sheep, but they must seek the lost sheep and help that sheep in its distress. And now the text before us then, Here he gives clear instruction on how to deal with the offending brother. And then even the part we did not read, the parable of the unmerciful servant, that follows that is an example of one who did not follow the command of our Lord. But in this text, he gives clear instruction of how to deal with the offending brother or sister. And we notice right up front, beloved, it's not optional. This text is filled with imperatives. It's filled with commands directly from our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ gave this key to His church to be used, to bind, and to loose. And again, we know that only the elders ultimately can excommunicate the unrepentant offender from the fellowship of the local church, but all Christians, all those who claim the name of Christ, all those who are a part of His body have been given, in a sense, the authority of Christ and the command of Christ to confront sin, to watch out for each other. And this is to be done also, then, for the purity of the church. God commands His people to be holy. Peter, we know, in his first epistle, gives the New Testament church the same command that God gave the Old Testament church through Moses. It's recorded in three or four places at least in Leviticus where the Lord says, Be holy because I am holy. And we know that Peter also calls the church a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. And as well, Paul speaks of the church in one place as sanctified in Christ. In another place, he speaks of believers as he calls them saints. And in still another place, he calls the church holy. You see, beloved, the church of Jesus Christ is holy by virtue of being set apart in Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb purchased as His very own possession. The church is holy by virtue of her connection with Christ the Head, and the church is His body. But at the same time, the church is to be holy. Striving to live holy and blameless lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. But of course we know that sin attacks holiness of the believer and of the body. Sin attacks the body of Christ as a whole and it attacks the faith of God's people. Sin casts shame upon the holiness of God and to let sin go unchecked, beloved. Simply to wink at it or turn our backs on it and ignore it does nothing more than to endorse it and encourage it. We know that to be true as parents with our children, don't we? If we don't correct them for something they have done wrong, they figure it must be okay. And they continue to do it again and again and again until it becomes routine. To let it go unchecked, to wink at it or ignore it, is nothing more than to endorse it or to encourage it. But God will not tolerate sin. He has proven that in the Old Testament with Israel, his church, his Old Testament church. He did not let sin go unpunished. He did not let it go unchallenged. We can think of individuals, for example, Achan, David, Gehazi, I had mentioned a few. I trust that for most of us, the very sound of those names brings back, recalls the story, and you understand what we're talking about here. We remember how God did not let it go unpunished or unchallenged among the entire nation. Think of the book of Judges, the period of the Judges as a whole, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and God disciplined Israel from time to time by allowing them to have their way. And it was not a pleasant experience. And then they would cry out for mercy, and He would deliver them. Or we think of captivity. A proof that God did not let sin go unpunished or unchallenged. And of course, beloved, the cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate demonstration of God's hatred for sin. His offense because of sin. And the fact that He has not and will not let it go unpunished. He does not tolerate it. And the church of Jesus Christ in this life also is to not tolerate the unrepented sin of her members. but to confront it, to seek to purge it for the purity of the body, but also for the well-being of the offending member. And this is then to be done in an orderly way. And our Lord Jesus Christ outlines that orderly way here in this passage. First of all, one-on-one. Verse 15, If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. Just between the two of you. Don't go to someone else. Go to the one who has offended you. Or we might even add here, we can say, even if one hasn't offended you personally, if you know that one is living in gross sin, you and I have the responsibility to go one-on-one to confront them. That's the first command. Go. Look them in the eye. And the second command is to show. And the idea there is to tell them, to reprove them. bring forth the evidence, bring it to light, expose it before them, so that they too might see it clearly. Show him his fault. Now the word for fault there is the word that means to miss the mark. It is one of the words used for sin. That general word meaning to miss the mark. And therefore, beloved, and this is significant, Jesus is talking about a verifiable offense. A verifiable offense. The catechism kind of summarizes it under the terms un-Christian life or un-Christian teaching. But notice, our Lord is not talking simply about a weakness or a fault in someone else that bothers you. But He's talking about an actual sin. And in this way, our Lord guards both the offender and the offended one against frivolous accusations and personal grudges. But then notice verse 16, But if he will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. In other words, the offender is not to be let off the hook. It is not enough for us to say if we have followed the first step and that one that you have confronted says, forget it. It's none of your business. Leave me alone. It's not enough to say, well, I've done my part. I'm done with the matter. And it's up to God. Jesus says, no, it's not. No, you're not finished yet. The offender is not to be let off the hook. We have an echo here of the Old Testament, don't we? Deuteronomy 19 verse 15, for example, which says one witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offenses he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. And just like the fault itself must be a verifiable offense to guard both the offender and the offended, here too we have a sort of a system of checks and balances. The idea here with these witnesses is that these witnesses have reviewed the evidence. They've studied the evidence and they are strongly convinced of the truth of the fault. Otherwise, they wouldn't be witnesses. And therefore, as two or three, then go back to the offender. That is to carry weight with the offender. Unfortunately, it might not stop there. Verse 17, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. And by church here, we are to understand the brotherhood of believers in Christ under the authority of the elders. It doesn't mean that we go tell every single person in the congregation necessarily. If it's a public sin, every member will know. But in time, the realm of hearers becomes broader with time if necessary. But the church is talking about the brotherhood of believers in Christ under the authority of the elders. The church, the elders, have a serious and important task. And that is that if one remains unrepentant, that one must be removed from the fellowship of God's people. Oh, we don't close the doors to worship to them because we want them to hear the Gospel again and again and again. But as the Catechism makes clear, they must be removed from the sacraments which are reserved only for true believers. They are holy. And the church, the elders, have the responsibility to guard them from being profaned by unholy people. But as one commentator has said, Christ bestowed great honor upon His church and notes the grievous character of rejecting its admonition. And that's why, beloved, those who would turn around when they are disciplined and say, no, I won't submit to the admonition and the discipline of the church, they must understand that they are on thin ice, as it were. They are submitting themselves to grave danger because God has given the church a most important task with the authority of Christ. You see, this is clear language. The hearers of Jesus would have understood what He was saying when He said treat Him as a pagan or a tax collector or some versions say a Gentile or a publican or a heathen or a publican. And John Calvin says to this, for heathens and publicans having been at that time regarded by the Jews with the greatest hatred and detestation he that is Jesus compares to them, to these heathens and publicans, unholy and irreclaimable men who yield to no admonition. Beloved, severe action is to be taken against those who give proof by their refusal to repent that their profession of faith was not genuine. And against these who claimed to believe but really do not, discipline closes the door of the kingdom of heaven. The door of heaven is guarded by Christian discipline. First of all, by confronting sin, by the authority of Christ, for the purity of the church in an orderly way, but also all of this then with a spirit of charity. There is to be charity throughout each step. And that charity means that our confronting of the offender is not to be for his or her harm. Jesus says again, just between the two of you, again, the idea is not to publish the offender's sin far and wide, not to parade that sin around so that everybody knows, but the goal in as much as possible is to always spare them from shame. Whether we think they deserve it or not. but sadly the truth is often it's easier to talk about them and their sin with others with everybody else and to gather a group around us for support but the command is to talk to them talk to the offender about the offense to deal with that one privately if possible charity not to harm them but also that charity includes the fact that the one who confronts is not to confront for personal satisfaction sometimes if you've been hurt it's tempting to hurt back and to go in with wrong motives but our confrontation is not to have wrong motives it's not to make the offended one feel better or to look better by knocking down the offender by knocking them down a peg or two because remember to confront with sinful motives does nothing more than to make the one who confronts guilty but our confrontation is to be an act of charity it's meant to be an act of love as I said a moment ago with a goal of restoration our desire is to be for the soul of the sinner at every level the offender is called to listen and to heed admonition with a goal to win your brother over and when this happens that's when Christian discipline then opens the door by reaping repentance if one repents beloved we are to quickly reap that repentance you see repentance is always the goal jesus says if he listens now the idea the idea there with the word listen or also translated hears is not simply hearing the words of rebuke with the physical ears with no response but as As someone has said here, the word listening is pregnant with meaning. So that it results in a conviction of sin, a sorrow for sin, a confession of sin and guilt, and asking forgiveness. And if that is achieved at any point in the process, beloved, the matter is done. It's over. It is remembered no more. If he listens, Jesus says, you have won your brother over. The idea is you have gained him. You have gained his soul as a prize, not a personal prize, but you have gained his soul as a prize in that he has been won from being alienated from the visible church and from the kingdom and from the would-be consequences of unrepentant sin. Going back to that verse in Hebrews 12, verse 11 again, no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. And the writer goes on, later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. That is to be our desire for the one who has fallen away, for the sheep who has strayed away. And even for those who may have been put out of the fellowship by excommunication, they are not to be hated, they are not to be ignored, or we are not to have intimate fellowship with them and their sin, we know. But we are to pray for them. We are to witness to them. We are to desire and to actively seek their restoration, and if and when they repent, beloved, we are to rejoice. To rejoice in that repentance. To reap it. That repentance is to be accepted. Answer 85, and such a person when he promises and demonstrates genuine reform is received again as a member of Christ and of his church. You see, this text from Matthew 18 assumes restoration when it says if he refuses. You see, if he refuses, only then do you move forward. But the other side of it is that he didn't refuse, but instead he heeded the admonition and then the assumption is that he has been restored to his place in the fellowship. The parable of the prodigal son. That son coming home and the father running out to meet Him and to greet Him is a beautiful example for us that if God graciously seeks and restores us, then how much more ought we do that for others? And that evidence of repentance must include both word and action when He promises and demonstrates. His walk must match His talk. That is evidence of genuine reform. And the Bible is clear that the putting off of the old man of sin and the putting on of the new man of righteousness involves both words and actions. And when that is evident, he is to be, she is to be restored. Now, beloved, having said all this, let me ask you this question. Does the visible church ever fail? Does the visible church on this earth ever discipline one who ought not to have been disciplined? or probably, more as a case, not disciplined one who ought to be disciplined? Well, we have to answer yes. Yes, the church fails, but God won't. Yet, if the church acts faithfully using only the Word of God as her standard and not human reason and not human opinion, then through the binding and loosing authority given to her, The church accurately reflects that which God determines in heaven for those who believe and against those who reject Jesus Christ. The church has been given the right to say with the authority of God, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved. But if you reject Him, if you don't believe, you are lost. And there is no place for you. The church has been given the authority to say that because that is the truth of the matter. That is how God has said it is. Brothers and sisters, Christian discipline, faithfully exercised, comes down to caring for one's soul. The soul is precious to God. And the soul is to be precious to us too. And again, as we lift our eyes to the cross of Jesus, that is proof of just how precious the soul is to God, but at the same time, just how offensive sin is to God. But you and I are called to rejoice because Christian discipline is part of the Holy Spirit's work of the sanctification of believers, of you and of me. And at the very same time, it is used by God for the conversion of sinners and also to cleanse His church. And therefore, beloved, may we be faithful in our use of discipline as Christ has commanded. Reminding those being disciplined that Christ bore the severe discipline and the wrath of God against the sin of those who believe. And therefore, may we be faithful in seeking their repentance and seeking their restoration for the glory of God. But also, may we be faithful through discipline, being used of God as hard as it may be to remove those who will not heed His voice to repent, that they might not be allowed to infect His church. And, beloved, may each one of us be humbled if we should find ourselves, for whatever reason, under discipline. May we be humbled to return to the Lord Jesus Christ who has secured a place in His kingdom for all who believe and trust in Him. You see, Christian discipline is a gracious gift from God. That may seem strange to hear, but it is. You see, even for the unbeliever, it is an act of God's grace in even warning him. to repent and believe, but at the same time it's a curse for the unbeliever as it is a terrible finger pointing to the eternal discipline and punishment of hell that is ready and waiting for those who despise his call. Then it will be too late. But for the redeemed child of God, for those who by grace through faith look to him alone, the same discipline is an act of God's grace reminding you and me of the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus. And it is also for our eternal good, beloved, to guide us and to keep us in that salvation as we travel this life. So praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord for His love for us and His care over us to keep us from sin and danger and to keep us in His way through Christian discipline. Let's pray together. Father, once again we bow before Your throne of grace. Humbled, O Lord, because we recognize our need so often to be disciplined. Or maybe not because we have directly offended another or committed a public or gross sin, but because of the secret sins of our hearts. But even at other times, we do offend others, sometimes regularly, Father, and we need to be disciplined. At the same time, Father, we are so afraid at times to confront another in their sin. Lord God, give us courage that as those who must do the confronting, we would have the courage of our Lord Jesus Christ to know that we come in His name, that we come caring for the soul of the offending party. But if any one of us, Father, should be confronted, may we receive that admonition in love. May we be humbled by your Holy Spirit, O Lord, and return to you in repentance and faith. Father, continue to protect and to guard and to guide and to keep your church in the way which you have called us to travel in this life, leading us to the glory of heaven. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in his name alone. Amen.