Church Discipline (Part 2)

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. I'm going to invite you, brethren, to please open up your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. We are going to continue with our study through characteristics or traits of a biblical church. We have been doing this for the last couple of months, and last week we addressed the topic of church discipline as a characteristic of a biblical church.

Today we are going to continue with that because we could not finish that last week. We are going to continue and make the assertion that a biblical community of biblical Christians who have been saved by grace through faith is a community of believers that are committed to grow in understanding of church discipline. Not only in understanding it, but also applying it when providentially The Lord allows that that will take place in the context of the church. So once again, I'm inviting and calling your attention to Hebrews chapter 12, which was the passage that we addressed last week. Today we're going to be reading once again from verse 1 through verse 17, but we're only going to be taking this passage as a departing point because we're going to be considering many different scriptures.

so that we can understand this idea of church discipline as a trait of a biblical church. So we're going to be reading, as I said, from verse one in chapter 12 of Hebrews, all the way through verse 17. But before we read, let us come before the Lord that he will help us, guide us, strengthen us, that he will give us the truth that is needed for us to understand his will for his church. And that in doing so, we will be edified and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Let us let us come before the Lord and pray.

Father, we give you thanks for your goodness and your patience towards us, Lord, in this day that you have made, that you have extended our days when we did not deserve. Lord, we praise you for your goodness and the abundant mercy that is bestowed upon us, not only when we first believed and we were saved, but every single day of our lives. We trust that your mercy and your grace is the one that will sustain us and take us until the end, as you have promised that you will do. That is your grace, your Holy Spirit, and your word, the one that will conform us to the image of Jesus Christ individually and also as a church. We praise you, and we exalt you, Lord, with words that are not sufficient and not enough, with thoughts and minds that do not fully comprehend the goodness of what you have done for us and what you continue to do for your people.

As we come before you, Lord, we have the scriptures before us, and we have a group of Christians gathered together on this Lord's Day, and we ask, O Lord, that by your grace you will teach us according to your will. that You will instruct us in our hearts, that You will point us to Christ Jesus, that as we look into our hearts and we see how feeble and weak and corrupted we are, Lord, that we will look up to Christ and see that He is perfect, that He is righteous, that He is good, that He is our Lord, our Savior, that in Him we don't only find forgiveness, but also we find everything that our soul and our life requires. So, Lord, I pray that as we read these scriptures and as we proclaim the Word of the Lord, that you will protect us from ourselves, that you will protect us from our own imaginations, that you will protect us from hearts that are hardened to not receive the Word of God, but rather, Lord, that you will grant us by your grace, ears to hear and hearts to receive your word, and that in all things you will be exalted, your church will be strengthened and edified, and our souls will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Bless us, Lord, now as we read Hebrews chapter 12, and be with us not only in the reading of your word, in the exposition of your word, and in the receiving of your word, so that by your holiest spirit we'll be able to apply your word and live by your word. We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Hebrews chapter 12, as I said today, we are going to continue on making this assertion that a biblical church, a biblical community of Christians is one that is committed to growing in understanding and application of church discipline. This passage here, Hebrews 12, in a general sense, is going to speak about the discipline of the Lord, particularly from verse 5 through verse 11. But let us read from verse 1 all the way through verse 17. Let us get the context, and may the Lord help us, not only as we read, but also as we aim to explain the discipline of the Lord.

This is Hebrews 12, verse 1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, as it is seated at the right hand of God, of the throne of God. Verse 3, Consider him who endure from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted in your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that ye have to endure. God is treating you as sons, for one son is there whom his father does not discipline. If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them.

Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them. But he disciplined us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. That is the discipline of the Lord.

Verse 12. Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lain may not be put out of joint, but rather to be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it may become defiled, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy, like Esau, who saw his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. Now, brothers and sisters, let me submit to you that perhaps one of the most difficult experiences in the life of a person and in the life of a Christian is perhaps the experience of guilt. When a person knows that they have broken God's commandments, or perhaps they have offended someone else, or even perhaps they have offended themselves, and for some reason they experience guilt. Let me submit to you that that experience of guilt is one of the most difficult, one of the darkest experiences.

Because when we experience guilt as Christians, The first thing that we seem to feel is that we are separated from God. It's like a flower that was initially planted in a beautiful garden and was receiving all the water and the sunlight that was feeding this flower. And because of something that has been done, a commandment that has been broken or a guilt that has come into the life of that person, this flower has been removed and taken from this beautiful garden and is no longer you know, receiving the light and the water that nourishes it, but rather is put into a desert, and now it is slowly drying, disconnected from the fountain of life. When a person experiences guilt, that person senses or experiences this disconnection from the Lord, separation from the presence of the Lord. And this separation, this disconnection from the Lord, usually will take that person also to separate themselves from other people.

They are perhaps ashamed or embarrassed of the things that they've done, the sins that they have committed, or whatever offense that they have caused. Now they tend to separate themselves, and when we are in the jail of guilt of ourselves, usually what we do is that we go into our own minds, into our own thoughts, and we are alone with ourselves. Let me submit to you that that is perhaps the worst place in which we can be, just simply leading with our thoughts and our minds and the guilt that is within us. And it is in the darkness of guilt when we know that we have broken God's commandment, that we have offended a person, that we have offended the Lord. It is in the prison, in the darkness of that awful moment of guilt that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the sweetest.

Because when we are in our prison of guilt, and when we know that we have broken God's commandments, and when we know that we are guilty, and when we know that we deserve punishment, when we know that we deserve separation from God, when we know that we deserve nothing good but that which is judgment and punishment, then it's when the sweetness of Christ and of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ nourishes our souls. We realize that there's nothing in us that can fix or amend the sin that we have committed, that there is nothing that we can do to undo the unrighteous deed that we have done that is only the grace of Jesus Christ, the one that can rescue us from that place of guilt and that place of obscurity, that place of darkness. It is in that place where we know that it's not about ourselves, but it's about the completed and finished work of the Lord. Jesus Christ. This is the sweet blessing of being forgiven that God forgives a person independently of what they have done in their lives purely by the grace of the Lord that is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

And it does no matter how dark the guilt that we experienced was, and it does not matter how dark or obscure that place was, the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient to rescue us from that place and to bring us into the blessing of communion once again with the Lord. And that forgiveness that we experience as Christian is, of course, the initial forgiveness that we receive when we were dead in our sins and our trespasses and the Holy Spirit came upon us and convicted us of our unrighteousness and brought us to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. And being forgiven is not only one of the sweetest experiences and blessings of the Christian, but it's the beginning of the life of the Christian. Because being a Christian, my dear brother and sister, is not only being forgiven, is not only being justified, is not only being made righteous, but it's also the promise that once we have been forgiven, of our darkness, that once we have been forgiven of our unrighteousness, God initiates in us a process that is perhaps greater than the greater forgiveness, and that is making us and conforming us to the image of the Son, Jesus Christ. You see, forgiveness is that initial step that allows us to enter in this glorious relationship with the Father through the Spirit and in the Son.

But the purpose of this forgiveness is that we will have this relationship with Christ and that we will walk in conformity to Him, that we will die to self and that we will become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this process, in this goal of conforming to Jesus Christ, the Lord uses different instruments. so that we will die to self and that we will become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. The instrument number one that the Lord uses to conform us to Jesus Christ, not only to be forgiven, but to be conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Spirit of God through If you remember, last week we read in Hebrews chapter 12 that just as the discipline of the Lord is an instrument to train us in righteousness, also the word of the Lord is going to be the instrument number one that God uses to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the scripture says that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of the Lord.

The more that we treasure up the word of the Lord, in our hearts, the more that we are conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, to be a Christian, it is not only to assent or just to confirm certain beliefs, but it's to die to who we are and to become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. And the outpouring of the word of the Lord in our hearts is the instrument number one that God uses through his spirit to accomplish that purpose of conformity to Christ. But also, of course, in that process of sanctification or that process of conformity to Christ is not only the word of the Lord that God will use to conform us to Christ, but he's also going to use his providence, the life that we live and the experiences that we have. And in his providence, relationships with others are going to be at very powerful instrument that God will use to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As long as we are treasuring up the Word of the Lord in our hearts, as long as we are following the Word of the Lord with our minds and with our hearts, the Lord is going to use experiences around us to also conform us to Jesus Christ. For instance, the experience of the relationship of marriage. Once you're married, you have a husband or a wife, and your husband and your wife is going to be an instrument of sanctification, of conformity to Jesus Christ. How are you going to fulfill the commandment of loving one another or forgiving one another? And if there's not someone around you to love or someone around you to forgive or to further their burdens and their problems.

So that's why the Lord gives us many times people around us to bring conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said, our spouses, husbands, and wives, and our children, and of course the context of the church is going to be one of the most important instruments that the Lord is going to use in our lives to bring conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. The locality of the church or the community of the church, it is the community of those who, by grace through faith, have been forgiven. And once they have been forgiven, now they are in this divine project in which they are being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And every single person that is in our lives, our husbands, our wives, our children, our brothers and sisters, our community, people around us have been sovereignly placed by the hand of the Lord in our lives, and our relationship with and to them is providentially used by the Lord.

to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The presence of our brothers and sisters is used sometimes to bring from inside of us things that we knew that were there, or things that we did not know that were there, to purify us, to sanctify us, to show us that to be a Christian is much more than an individualistic exercise. in which I just simply pray a prayer of coming repentance to the Lord. But now that my life or my faith better is meant to be lived out and is meant to be experienced, my brothers, my sisters and people around me are going to be sovereignly placed. so that my communicating, or better, communing with them, living with them in the context of the church, I am a growing conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ.

How am I going to fulfill the commandment of loving one another if I'm not in the context of the local church? How am I going to fulfill the commandment of forgiving or forbearing with one another burdens if I'm not within the context of the local church? Not everyone has been called to marriage. Not every single Christian has been called to have children. Not every single Christian has called to have an extended community, but every single Christian has been called, by virtue of their union with Jesus Christ, to be, if providentially allowed, within the context of a local church.

So whether it's a person that is married, or it's a person that is single, or a person that is old, or a person that is young, if that person is a Christian, that person is called to be in the context of the local church. And it's in the context of the local church that we live our lives. And let me just give you a surprise. As we live our lives, not everything is going to be good. Not everything is going to be easy.

Not everything is going to be always sweet and good. There's going to be instances, and sometimes many instances, in which the sin that is inside of us and among us is going to be revealed in the context of the church, and we need to deal with that sin according to what the Scriptures say. And let me just say from the onset, and I think, I don't know if I said this last week, but let me say it today. The main way in which we deal with the problem of sin, it is through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is that we are to forgive as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus.

That is what Paul says in the last verse of Ephesians chapter 4, that we are to forgive one another as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus. That the way that we keep our relationships as brothers and sisters is by looking to Christ and in Him being strengthened to forgive one another as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus. And it's the grace of God, the one that empowers the sinner to repent and the person who has been offended to forgive that other person. And when these two elements exist, repentance and forgiveness, the only outcome that we can have is restoration of any relationship. Why?

Because that is what the gospel demands. That independently of the sin in which we fall, if the grace of the Spirit convicts us of that sin and leads us to the feet of Christ and we repent of that sin, we confess that sin in the context of the church that we will forgive one another. But there are going to be instances and there are going to be times within the context of the church in which people are going to commit sins, and those sins that they commit, they are going to continue to walk in those sins and repent. And even though the light of the gospel and of the scriptures and even perhaps the brothers and sisters will come to speak into the life of that person about a particular sin, there's going to be instances in which there are going to be brothers and sisters, and sometimes no brothers or no sisters, but people who are within the context of the church, who will remain in unrepentant sin. And it is the duty of a local church that as an instrument of light from God, we will come to bring the word of the Lord as it is written and to execute, or better, apply the discipline of the Lord.

And this is what we have in Hebrews chapter 12 and what we discussed last week. The discipline of the Lord as unto the people of God. Something that, as I said last week, is very difficult sometimes to consider. It's very complicated and not many people speak about this idea of discipline, but it's something that is important for us to comprehend from a biblical perspective so that if we need to apply this church discipline, then we will do it according to the Scriptures. I have spoken extensively about church discipline last week, I think, so I want us today just to continue, but in order to do so, I want us just to review some of the statements that I made last week from Hebrews chapter 12.

We're going to do a couple of things here. We're going to first review those statements that I made last week about church discipline, so that we remember and we are clear about that. Then second, I want to give to you also from Hebrews the signs of a heart of an unrepentant sinner, because one of the things I said last week is that church discipline is applied not to sinners, but to unrepentant sinners, because we're all sinners. And we're not to expect that we're going to be perfect or that there's no sin in us. We're all sinners.

But church discipline is applied to unrepentant sinners. So I want us also to consider from the book of Hebrews signs of the heart of an unrepentant sinner. And after that, which I hope is going to be the main thing that we're going to be discussing this afternoon, I want to show you the three or four most common situations in which a church should apply church discipline. Because sometimes we just simply think that a sin may require that the church may act in a particular way. But let me submit to you that after going through the New Testament a few times in order to study this topic, there's only or there are four, the four most common situations in which a church is meant to apply a church discipline.

Of course, there's going to be other things that are not addressed particularly in the New Testament, but let me submit to you that if we understand these four instances in which church discipline seems to be necessary according to the New Testament, we will be acting according to the framework of the Scriptures. And in the end, if we have sufficient time, I will give you a word of encouragement. So let us come here to Hebrews chapter 12 and let me just remind you of the things that I said last week about church discipline and perhaps this is going to be the basis for our discussion this afternoon. The main thing that I said last week to you, maybe your brother and sister, is that church discipline is best to be understood as the discipline of God. Once again, let me just admit and say this once again.

Church discipline, as it's commonly known or called, is better to be understood not as the discipline of the church, but as the discipline of God unto His people, as a manifestation of His love towards His people, for the purpose of the restoration of the sinner, the protection of the local church, and for the glory of his name. This is what we have in this passage. Let me just read it with you. Let me just speak about that briefly, and then we move on to the next thing. Pay attention to Hebrews 12, verse 5.

Let us read it together, and you will see that this is what the passage says there. Hebrews 12, verse 5. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him that is the Lord. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves.

and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have endured. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" And he continues, And he continues, we need to understand as a church that we in and of ourselves do not have the authority to apply church discipline to a person.

The authority that we have is derived from the authority of God in the scriptures. So the discipline that is meant to be applied to a person is the discipline that comes from the Lord. It is applied to that person. And in that case, the scriptures is what is going to give us the framework to understand what has happened and how it's meant to be dealt with. We are not to take unto ourselves the authority that the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church has that they believe that they have power over those who belong to their churches.

We don't. In and of ourselves, the church has no power over the believer. The only authority that we have as a church is derived from God and is derived from the Scriptures. That's why when we are assessing a matter of church discipline, the framework that helps us understand and how to deal with it is always going to be the Scriptures and the Word of the Lord. In the scriptures we are going to find the power and the authority to apply that church discipline as if it was a judgment of the Lord.

This is very important because this is going to give us perspective of what the church does if it is in alignment with the will of the Lord and with the scriptures. So when the congregation comes together and when they assess according to the scriptures and according to what is written, and we arrive to the conclusion that there is a person that needs to be removed from the context of the church, as in the example of 1 Corinthians chapter 5, if the church is in agreement and in alignment with the will of the Lord, as it is stated in the scriptures, then it's no longer the church, the only one that is given this judgment, but this judgment is coming from God. God, through the church, is applying this discipline onto this person, and this person now is recipient of a manifestation of the love of God for the purpose of restoring the sinner from the sin that they have committed, and also 1 Corinthians chapter 5, for the purpose of protecting the bride, protecting the local church, and this unto the glory of the Lord. But we ought to understand that even though from an emotional point of view, Discipline is not something that is nice. When we have the perspective that the discipline is coming from the Lord according to the framework of the scriptures, this is a manifestation of God's love onto that person who has committed that sin.

So while emotionally speaking, as it says in verse 11, for the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Even though from an emotional point of view, both the person that is underdisciplined, and for us also emotionally is difficult, if we have the perspective that this is not a judgment that comes from the church, but that comes from God himself, as long as we're aligned through the scriptures, this is the best that can happen to that person, and this is the best that can happen to the church. We are not to think that God is taken by surprise by our sins, that God is taken by surprise by the decisions that we make. He has a plan, He has ordained all things, He's sovereign over all things, and hence, we're only witnessing a little moment of the whole spectrum of the life of that person. And we are to trust in our Lord that He is the one that is going to keep and sustain His children.

And many times, discipline that is applied only to a person that is perhaps not genuine in Christ can be used to reveal the heart of that person and to genuinely bring that person to the Lord Jesus Christ. But if we put ourselves into that process, and we are fearful of following the instructions of the Lord, and we're fearful to follow the ways of the Lord, we can be just being an obstacle of what God's will is for a person when that person has committed a particular sin. The discipline of the church, a church discipline, is better to be understood as God's discipline unto his people, as a manifestation of his love for the restoration of that sinner, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, as we saw it last week, for the protection of the body, 1 Corinthians chapter 5, better as we saw it last week, and also for the glory of his name. Why? Because when the church submits to that which is written, Whether it's easy or difficult, then God is glorified in the church, Ephesians 4.

He's glorified in the context of the brethren. He receives all the glory by us submitting to what is written. Whether it's good or easy, or whether it's difficult, if we submit to it, the Lord is going to be glorified. But then the question that we formulated and I want us to explore once again, how do we know that a person is an unrepentant sinner and that deserves to be put through a process of discipline? Last week we explored 1 John chapter 1.

In 1 John chapter 1 we spoke about the person that denies that they're insane. While they're walking in darkness, they say that they have fellowship with the Lord. They deceive themselves. But today, I want to point you to another situation that happens here in the letter of Hebrews, more particularly Hebrews chapter 3. In Hebrews chapter 3, we're going to see a little bit of the anatomy of the heart of a person who is now hardened in themselves and no longer paying attention to the word of the Lord.

What we're going to read here in Hebrews chapter 3 from verse 7 through verse 15 is what happens in the heart of a person that is an unrepentant sinner. Let us just read here carefully because the author of Hebrews is going to be, will use the example of the people of Israel in the Old Covenant to speak about a matter of the heart. It says in Hebrews chapter 3, let us read from verse 7. As the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was provoked with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart.

They have not known my ways. As I soar in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Verse 12. That is the example of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Verse 12, Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil and believing heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the day of the rebellion." What happened with the people of Israel there in the wilderness? These people had seen the power of God.

These people had received the word of God. Moses had brought the word of the Lord to them. They had seen the mighty hand of the Lord. They had witnessed the mighty miracles and powers and the presence of God. But yet when they were in the wilderness, they were tempted to deviate their path, and they hardened their hearts against the Lord, and they fell in sin.

And the sin that they felt was so horrible that they were worshipping someone else instead of worshipping the God whom they had already experienced their power. Now the author of Hebrews is going to take that example to tell us that we are to take heed, lest there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief that leads us to depart from the living God. The person that departs from the living God is a person now that no longer hears the voice of the Lord. Just as the people of Israel, they were rebellious in the wilderness and they did not hear the voice of the Lord. The heart, or that which is inside of us, is capable to harden us in such a way that even though the things that we believed and strongly believed in the past, we no longer hold, but rather we want to follow our own ways and follow our own imaginations and follow our own feelings and our own wisdom.

That's why the author of Hebrews says, "'Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil and believing heart, leading you to fall away from the living God,' verse 13, "'but exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you might be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.'" An unrepentant sinner is the person who has been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The heart and the conscience of that person is seared, and because their heart and the conscience of that person is seared, this person is no longer hearing the voice of God. Either the Holy Spirit that is convicting that person through the Scriptures and the truth and the righteousness of God that that is wrong and that that is a sin, Or through the voice of God as brothers and sisters will come to this person and to say, brother and sister, the path that you're taking is a path of unrighteousness. The path that you're taking is a path of sin.

Brother and sister, the behavior that you're having goes against the scriptures. And when the heart of that person has been hardened, the conscience of that person has been seared, this person no longer hears. the convicting power of the Holy Spirit through his word. But rather, this person, just as the people of Israel in the wilderness, chooses themselves and to continue to follow their ways and their imaginations, many times in self-righteousness, and many times calling evil good and calling good evil, and then create a new framework of understanding of things so that they can justify themselves in the things that they are doing. When we find a person like this, that no longer is hearing to the voice of God, that no longer is reasoning with the things of righteousness that are according to the Scriptures, then the best that can happen to the person is Hebrews chapter 12.

That is that the discipline of the Lord will come to that person, So just if that person is delivered unto Satan, you remember 1 Corinthians chapter 5, then the soul may be saved in the day of the Lord. And while removing that person from the context of the church may seem difficult, it might seem as something that is not nice, that is the best for that person and also for the context of the church. Discipline, it is meant to be seen as a manifestation of God's love unto his people for the restoration of the sinner, for the protection of the local church, and for the glory of the Lord. And let me submit to you, my dear brother and sister, that the person that we have just described there in chapter three, it is not anyone else that the potential that is within every one of us. We would be very prideful to think that inside of us, we don't have what it takes or what is necessary to become the person who has been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

We will be very prideful to believe that just because we have been working with the Lord for 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 or 40 or 50 years, that inside of us, There's nothing that will lead us into that path of deceitfulness or unrighteousness. We will be very prideful to believe that this only happens to the person next to me, or behind me, or to this other person that is not as smart as I am, or is not as righteous as I am, or is not as moral as I am, or does not belong to a family like mine. We will be very prideful to think that our hearts cannot lead us into the path of being hardened and taking this path of Israel in the wilderness. So that's why when we think about church discipline or the discipline of the Lord, the best way that we protect ourselves and that we protect our church It is by submitting ourselves to Christ daily, because the moment in which sin is manifested among us, that sin did not initiate through the door. That sin initiated in your heart or in my heart, in the secret place.

either because of negligence in coming to the Lord and to submit to Him, or because of prideful behaviors in which we think that we can be okay without the Lord and while we're depending on the Lord, or because we think that we know it all, and because we know it all, I don't have need to continue to learn the ways of the Lord. a deceitful, hardened heart. It is in every one of us. And if we do not, by the grace of the Lord, continue to abide in Christ so that we will remain softened and that we will remain always at the presence of the Savior, we can easily follow the path of the people of Israel. And this is the person whose heart is hardened, who is in denial of sin, and now is blind to the things of the Lord, brethren.

They're genuinely blind to the admonition of the Lord. They're genuinely no longer hearing the words of the Lord. And hence, the Lord gave them over to follow the deceitful path in which they have put themselves because of their sin. We may never believe that we don't have that ability. But now, as I said, let me just move on to what I wanted to do today.

And that is, let me point you to the three or four most important instances or examples in the scriptures in which church discipline, or the discipline of the Lord, is required unto his people. The first one is going to be found in Matthew chapter 18, and I'm going to call your attention to Matthew chapter 18 there, because this is perhaps one of the most famous passages when it comes to church disciplines. So come with me to Matthew chapter 18. And the reason why I'm taking you to Matthew chapter 18 It is because in Matthew chapter 18, not only we have the most well-known instance of church discipline, but also because I want to make a very important point. Church discipline is not limited to Matthew 18.

Matthew 18, it is an aspect of church discipline. But many times people think that the only way that we follow a process of church discipline is only in Matthew 18. Let me submit to you that there's more instances. of church discipline in which, even though this process is outlined here in Matthew chapter 18, there's going to be many other instances in which other processes and other ways of applying church discipline is going to be required as we are going to see it. So here in Matthew chapter 18, we have an instance of church discipline that I want to call this personal offense.

And that is when a brother is going to sin against another, and of course, a sister also, right? When a person sins against another person. So let us read here Matthew 18, verse 15. It says, 18, 15. If your brother, this is the Lord, if your brother sins against you, Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence 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, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." And for those of you who may not know what a Gentile, a tax collector, that is not a good thing.

That means a person that is removed from the context of the covenant people of God. Verse 18, "'Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathering my name, there am I among them. Here we have an instance of church discipline and I call these personal offense.

That is when someone in the context of the church has seen against another person and that scene is very clear. So the scripture tells us that the person who has been offended or the person who has been seen against knowing clearly that there's a sin that has been committed, then this person brings that to the brother or sister who committed that sin with the intention and with the goal that this person will repent and that there will be agreement. If that person listens to the brother or to the sister that is bringing that charge, then the person has been gained unto the Lord. If that person does not listen, then the person who has been offended goes and takes another two people, two or three witnesses, and will do the same until the person that is in sin will listen to the brothers and sisters and there will be peace and there will be restoration. If that brother or that sister who has committed the sin does not listen, then that person is brought to the church with the intention that the whole church will speak to that person and then that they will listen to God through the church and that there will be peace.

And if that person does not listen or does not repent, then that person is meant to be removed from the context of the congregation. We know that, and we have mentioned this, I think, Perhaps a few times in the past, and I'm pretty sure that you know. But the main thing that I want to point to here, my dear brother and sister, is just a couple of things. May the Lord lead me as I speak about these matters. First, that the intention of this process is not to take from you all the bitterness and resentment that you have because the other person has offended you, and then you want to bring against them all the things that they've done against you and to tell you, you see, you see, you see.

But rather the purpose of this process is that this other brother who has sinned against me may repent of their sins and they may find peace before the Lord because a brother or sister that is in sin, it is not good for him and it's not good for the church. The purpose here is not to deal with my emotions that have been offended, but the purpose is to deal with the person that is in sin. Because my emotional state, I can come before the Lord, I can be strengthened, I can be restoring the presence of the Lord. But if a brother is in a sin and they're blindly walking in that sin, that is worse for them than the offense that they have caused against me. So when I'm coming to a brother to bring the sin that they have caused against me, the purpose is the benefit of the other, rather than the restoration of whatever needs to be given to me.

Because a problem of sin within the context of a person or the church is a big problem that can increase and can increase and can increase. That means that when I am offended by someone else, I need to be loving enough to care more for the spiritual condition of the person who have sinned against me rather than I want to be retributed. I hope that that is the word that you have in English, right? Or just retribution. I just need to, you pay me what you've done and that you tell me that you are sorry because in you telling me that you're sorry, I feel okay for the thing that you've done.

The purpose of this process is that there will be agreement between heaven and earth. Because when a sinner repents of their sins, the one who wins is not the person who has been offended that receives an apology, but the one who wins is the kingdom of God. That a sinner that now has been convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this sinner now has come to Confession and repentance, and Christ Jesus gives that forgiveness and gives that repentance. That is the purpose of this process. Agreement.

That this sinner will not agree with me, but will agree with heaven. Because now, even though they have sinned against me, when I'm bringing that to this brother, I am an instrument of God. that is trying to bring this brother into alignment with the things of the Lord. Not for my personal emotional benefit, but for the benefit of the kingdom of the Lord. And that's why I go through the process that even though they may not give me the apology that I think that I deserve, I bring two other brothers or two other people as witnesses pursuing that there will be an agreement between this sinner and heaven.

Because whatever Whatever heaven does through the Holy Spirit, bringing conviction to a person, if that person responds in confession and repentance, that sinner has been won unto the kingdom of heaven or for the building up of the church. This is what we ought to pursue. Paul, speaking in a very similar way about this matter in 1 Corinthians 6, if you come with me, uses some interesting ways of addressing this matter. And bear with me, please, here in 1 Corinthians 6. A powerful statement here, and even though this passage here refers more particularly to things that could be dealt with the outside courts of law, the principle is the same.

It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and this is what I want us to see here. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, when one of you, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, when one of you has a grievance against another, Does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? In other words, when there is a problem between a brother and sister, Paul is saying, do you dare to take that issue outside of the church so that the outside law will deal with it instead of dealing with that problem between yourselves? That is what it says in verse one in Colombian interpretation of it. Verse two, or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Verse 3. Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more than matters pertaining to this life? So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?

I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers? But brother goes to the law against brother and before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. This is the expression that I want you to pay attention to.

Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud even your own brothers. Pay attention to the heart that Paul is trying to call there. Why not rather suffer wrong?

Why not rather be defrauded? Now, my dear brother and sister, I'm certainly not saying that every time that a person sins against us, that we are to remain quiet and simply just take it upon ourselves. But if the reason why we're bringing that sin out, it is just to satisfy my emotional deficit, or just to be retributed for the thing that the person has done, I really don't understand what is the purpose of forgiveness in the context of the church. I really do not understand what it is to love the sinner. I really do not understand what it is to restore a person that is in sin.

I really do not understand what is the real problem of sin. I'm really making it everything about myself. If my only purpose in bringing out a sin that has been committed against me is that I will satisfy myself in the offense, that I have received, rather than the restoration of the other person. Let me submit to you that there is a clear self-examination that needs to be done. Because the reason why we dealt with sin in our brother or sister is for the purpose of the maturity of this brother and sister, and that this brother will come to repentance, not only before me, but repentance before the Lord.

And in coming to repentance before the Lord, this person will receive more of Christ And by receiving more of Christ, this person will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And in that, I will find rejoicing, not in the fact that I have received the apology that I was expecting, but rather that this person has confessed their sin before the Lord, and now this person is walking before Christ free. Because if that person can receive forgiveness from Christ and walk free, how am I going to keep captive a person from receiving forgiveness? This is meant to be the heart. This was the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember the many times the apostles and the disciples did awful things before the Lord. He's telling them, I'm telling you that I'm the Christ, and I'm going to go to the cross, and I'm going to suffer, and I'm going to die. After he says that, the disciples will come, but Lord, who is going to be the most powerful in your kingdom? Who is going to sit at your right hand? Who is going to be after the Lord has told them that He's going to go to the cross and die?

The only thing that the disciples were thinking is, who is going to be the most important in your kingdom? That would have been a very good moment for the Lord Jesus to come and say, what are you doing? You see the scene of selfishness here that you're bringing and all of these things that you're doing. You see what you're doing. That would have been a perfect moment for the Lord to do so.

But rather, the Lord responds in patience. And instead of pointing to the scenes and the many scenes that they have gone through and they have committed, the Lord points them with teaching, with patience, with instruction, because the purpose of the one another, it is always to point one another, not to each other, but to the Lord Jesus Christ. So when there's personal offenses, we are to go through Matthew chapter 18, yes, if there's an unrepentant sin, but we are to learn also that the purpose for which we do it is that there will be agreement between that sinner and heaven for the purpose of winning the sinner unto the Lord and not unto me. Personal offense. Now come with me, please, to Revelation chapter 2, because I want to show you another very important instance in which the Lord calls us to be active when it comes to matters of unrepented sin.

And please bear with me. It's going to take 10 or 15 minutes to complete this. Revelation chapter 2. The second instance is not only in personal offenses, but let me submit to you and I'm going to show you a couple of examples. Instance in which we are called to act, implementing or applying the discipline of the Lord, is going to be in the case of sexual immorality.

I could have pointed you to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, because that is the best example that we have of sexual immorality, and that is what we read last week, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Let me submit to you that sexual immorality is one of the things that require that the Church will not be silent, but that the Church will act for the purpose of the restoration of the sinner and for the protection of the Church. Pay attention to Revelation chapter 2, verse 18. This is the Lord speaking to the church in Thyatira. It says in 218 Revelation, And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like a burnished bronze, I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance.

and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, this is what Christ has against this church, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works. And I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

I don't know if you hear the same here as I do, but the Lord speaks in a very similar way that the Apostle Paul speaks to the Corinthians. I have your very good church, but you have not dealt with a problem of sexual immorality that is among you. And in this case, the Lord says that there's going to be judgment that is going to come upon this church, even though there's good works, even though there is faith, even though there is service, even though there is love. These people have tolerated sexual immorality, within the context of the church and tolerating sexual immorality within the context of the church, the Lord says, judgment will come upon you. And some might say, well, this is just allegorical language because it's in the book of Revelation.

Let me just show you in the book of Thessalonians. Come with me to the book of Thessalonians in Thessalonians chapter 4. Very similar and very strong admonition to a church when it comes to sexual immorality. Come with me, please, to 2 Thessalonians. Second Thessalonians, or first Thessalonians, better.

First Thessalonians, chapter four. First Thessalonians, chapter four. It says in verse 1, Finally, then, brethren, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification.

And many people will stop there, and then they will take that verse just as simply meaning sanctification in a general sense. But the sanctification that Paul refers to is very specific sanctification. It says in verse 3, For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passions of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgresses and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not men, but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

The will of the Lord for His people is sanctification when it comes to sexual immorality. that we will keep our vessel, that we will keep ourselves holy as unto the Lord, and matters of sexual immorality within the context of the local church are not to be ignored, because let me submit to you, as you go through the Old Testament and the New Testament, that sexual immorality together with false teachers seem to be two of the worst scenes that can and take place within the context of the people of God. Sexual immorality and false teachers. So if there's sexual immorality that is clearly happening in the context of the church, we are not to be like the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and then just simply avoid and just simply ignore what is actually happening and going on, but rather with the instruction of the scriptures to try to address that brother or that sister according to what is written, so that we will gain that brother and sister unto the Lord, and that we will avoid to have upon us the judgment of the viathera church that came from the Lord Jesus Christ, that even though they were good in service and faith and love, they were okay with having sexual immorality among them, and they did not know anything about it." And now, I know that this might be difficult and might sound harsh, and it is not easy for me to say, certainly not very easy for me to speak, even in English, but my dear brother and sister, this is what the Scriptures say.

I could show you more verses. that speak about sexual immorality in 2 Peter 2, but it's now 53 minutes and I have to finish. There's many more examples that speak about sexual immorality as one of the things that we need to be alert and that we need to be faithful to the Word of the Lord if we want to walk, not according to the system, but if we want to walk according to the Word of the Lord. Let me finish with these two very quickly. Third, it is not only personal offenses and sexual immorality, but also division, divisiveness.

Come with me to Titus chapter 3. In Titus chapter 3, we have an example. of a procedure of church discipline, or a proceeding better, of church discipline that not necessarily follows what goes into Matthew chapter 18. And that's why I said to you that Matthew chapter 18 is not the only way that church discipline actually can happen. There are many other instances in which church discipline can happen.

And some of those times, brothers and sisters, not through the church, but through the elders. The elders have sometimes the authority to apply church discipline for the protection of the body. It says in Titus 3, verse 8. Let us read from verse 8. Let us just read from verse 9, because we don't have much time.

Verse 9, but avoid Titus 3, verse 9. Pay attention to this. Avoid foolish controversies. genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Once again, pay attention to that verse, it's really important.

Avoid foolish controversies. Now, I know that avoid, it is a word that you guys commonly use in English. But if you're going to one direction and you take a different, you're avoiding, you're going away from that. So we are to go away, to avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law. For they are unprofitable and worthless.

Pay attention to those two words. Unprofitable and worthless. 10. As for a person who stirs up division after warning him or her once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him or her, knowing that such a person is warped If you remember in Proverbs chapter 6, one of the six things, seven things that are an abomination unto the Lord is to cause division among the brothers and sisters. The spirit of division that can be in a person who professes to be a brother or sister is also something that has to be dealt with for the restoration of that person, for the purity and the protection of the church, and for the glory of the Lord.

The body is meant to walk united according to the truth of God. The bodies were to walk in the love of the Lord, united as one people under the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's going to be attempts from inside of us and outside of us to break that unity that the body of the Lord is meant to have. Of course, that if there is an error, that if there is something that is not true, that is a mistake or a heresy that I come and say, or anyone say, it is always expected that someone will stand up and say, that is a heresy, that is an error, that is a mistake. And when we come to the scriptures, then we can see in the scriptures the truth that is contained in the scriptures.

But if a person, it is being troublesome by things that are worthless, unprofitable, and after admonitions that person continues pursuing their own agenda of division and separation, then what he says here is that we have to avoid that person and to have nothing to do with that person. Why? Because that is bringing a spirit of division in the context of the church and affecting the brothers and sisters. So it is that we are to be careful when it comes to personal offenses, also sexual immorality, and this spirit of division or separation in the context of the church. And finally, let me come please here to let us go to John chapter 2 or second John better.

The last one of course is going to be false teachers. false teachers. These are going to be the four main instances in which, you know, there are many other passages in the Scriptures in which the Lord calls us, it seems through the Scriptures, to deal with this matter of church discipline. Come with me to 2 John, and this is perhaps the most clear example of false teachers and how we ought to respond to false teachers when it comes not only in our lives, in our families, but also in the context of the church. the second letter of the Apostle John in verse 7.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the Antichrist. If you remember, perhaps you don't, but let me just remind you here, John uses this idea of the Antichrist to speak about these false teachers in 1 John. False teachers, false prophets. It says in verse 8, watch yourselves that you may not lose what we have worked for, but that you may win a full reward.

Verse 9, everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Pay attention to this once again. Everyone who does not go ahead and abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. Verse 10.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, that is the teaching of Christ, which in the context of John is truth and love, if anyone comes to you and does not abide or does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works." Now if this applies for our house, of course this applies for the context of the church. That if there's going to be a person that brings a teaching that is against the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is heresy, that is that we are not to be partakers with that person. And now I do want to give you context because the apostle is going to call Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 towards the end of the chapter. We're not going to read it because time is passing.

That we as pastors are to actually be patient with those who oppose. So that by being patient with those who oppose perhaps we may win those people and bring them from their errors and bring them from their mistakes and they may not fall into the trap of Satan and follow the will of Satan. So even though a person may be in error, and even though a person may be in heresy, that which we ought to do, it is to speak to them and to try to bring them to awareness of the truth. And if that person continues to hold the heresy that is against the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, then the commandment that is given to his people is that we will apply the discipline of the Lord and remove that person from the context of the local body for the preservation of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and continue in proclaiming the gospel of Christ with the truth that is contained only in the scriptures. This is the calling that we have as a church, not only to say things with our mouths about Christ, but also to leave those things as we grow in conformity to Jesus Christ.

And even though by the grace of the Lord, my dear brother and sister, Most of the experiences that we have in the context of the church are going to be a blessing, the blessing of being together, the blessing of seeing our lives and grow with our children and to walk together and to praise the Lord and to worship the Lord and to see ourselves as we're growing conformity to Jesus Christ. Even though by God's grace, he allows us to participate and to be recipients of those blessings, there is going to be instances that because of the sin that is in us and among us, we're going to have to take the word of the Lord and to consider matters seriously among us so that we do not play a club, so that we do not play a community of just simply people that agree about certain matters, but rather we aim to submit to the word of the Lord for His people. And are we going to do it perfectly? Certainly not. But people are to walk with the intention to grow and to grow in understanding of the written word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as a church, we are to be concerned to try to understand what the Lord wants for us as his people, and to submit to the best of our ability to that which is written. When we make a mistake and when we don't do what we are supposed to do, He's always just and faithful if we come to Him to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And when we learn the lesson through forgiveness and the Word of the Lord, we're continuing to advance in maturity and understanding of these things. Now let me finalize with this, I know that is one hour, but let me just finish with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 8. Come to John chapter 8 because I think what he does in John chapter 8 perhaps gives us the best framework for us to understand this difficult topic of church discipline.

May the Lord help us with all of these things that we have said in the last couple of weeks. Matthew chapter 8. John chapter 8, sorry. John chapter 8. We will read from verse 53 of John 7.

You know the story of the woman caught in adultery, a very well-known story. So let us just read this together. In John chapter 7 verse 53 it says, They went each to his own house. Verse 1 of John 8. But Jesus went to the mount of olives.

Verse two, early in the morning, he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught him. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the mist, they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law of Moses, the law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, sin no more.

My dear brother, my dear sister, by nature, we are better judges than forgivers. Just by nature, we are better at judging and pointing each other's fails than what we are at forgiving one another. That is what it is in us. When it comes to pointing out our mistakes and identifying the things that are wrong with others, we're very quick to identify in other people that which is wrong. And sometimes we're very slow to identify the things that are wrong within us.

Sometimes it even takes years for us to realize the things that are within our hearts, within our minds, that are wrong. But we are very quick to identify and to point and to take people and to point them through the filter of the things that we know and to identify everything that is wrong with them. We are better at judging others than what we are at forgiving. While it is true that we ought to protect our church, and while it is true that we need to apply the judgments of the Lord when there is an unrepentant sinner, while it is true that we need to apply the Word of God for every single matter according to what is written, let me submit to you that the best way that we protected this church and we protect each other, it is by knowing what is inside of each one of our hearts and by depending individually to the Lord and being at the feet of the Lord on a daily basis. The best thing that I can do for my brothers and for my sisters, it is not only to come to church and to do a particular set of things, but it's rather to die to self.

and to have Christ Jesus increasing and increasing in me. Because the more that Christ Jesus is in each one of us, the more that we're going to learn to relate to each other as Christ Jesus related to the sinner. Yes, we are to bring the truth and the judgment of Christ, but as we do so, we are also to bring the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ through the words of the Lord. so that we can uphold in one hand the justice and the clarity of the scriptures, and on the other hand, we can uphold also the grace and the love of the mercy of Christ. Because the purpose of church discipline, of the discipline of the Lord, it is not to point that you're wrong, and I am right, and I won, but rather it is that by we come together, and as we learn more of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pursue him and truth, and in pursuing him and truth, we can be united one with the other.

May the Lord grant us the grace that is needed to treasure up the scriptures in our hearts in such a way that we protect ourselves of our own sin that is within us, and as we manifest that word of God unto each other, that we learn to love one another as the Lord has called us to love one another, And we learn to forgive one another, as he has called us to forgive one another. And we call to apply the word of the Lord, as he has called us we ought to apply it. And we learn to restore one another, as the Lord has called us also to restore. May the Lord bless you and bless us as we understand these matters. Amen.

Let us pray. Father, oh Lord, what a difficult, not only topic, but truth. I just only pray, oh Lord, that whatever is true and according to what is written, that you will teach us in our hearts. Lord, please teach us to be humble, to be fearful of ourselves, to be fearful of our minds, of our hearts. that before we take a sword to bring judgment upon others, Lord, that we will carefully consider that which is within our hearts and which is within our minds.

You know how feeble and weak and limited in our understanding we are in this church, oh Lord. So I pray that you will grant us grace as we deal with each other. that you will grant us, Lord, patience as we deal with each other, Lord. Oh, Lord, I pray that you will grant us the mercy that we need for each other. Teach us, Lord, just to follow your ways, to forgive one another.

I pray, Lord, that your grace will abound, that if we offend one another, Lord, that your spirit will convict us, and then we will forgive one another, Lord. You know how feeble, how weak we are in dealing with this matter, so easy that we can say and so easy that we can outline them, Lord. But we are feeble. So I pray, oh Lord, that you will grant us the grace that we need to walk in truth and in love. I pray, Lord, that you will forgive us for the sins that we have committed.

You forgive us, Lord, for mistakes or errors that we have committed, Lord, that you will grant us the light that we need to act according to your will. As we move ahead and as we walk together, Lord, there's going to be people that come and go, but I pray, O Lord, that in all seasons of the life of this church, that you will grant us a genuine desire to walk according to your ways. So give us the strength that is needed to stand firm on the truth of the scriptures, and to apply it with the grace and with the boldness that is needed, but also give us a softened heart, Lord, so that when we hear, I am sorry, or when we are offended, Lord, that we will not be quick to judge. Help us, Lord, please. Help us to uphold your sword and to use it in a proper manner.

I pray that you will teach us, Lord, to forgive one another in the context of our families. Lord, I pray that you will teach us to forgive our husbands, our wives, our children. That as we have difficulties, even in the relationships with our own families, Lord, that there will not be roots of bitterness that grow in our hearts one towards another. I pray, Lord, that you will teach us to forgive our friends and brothers and sisters. I pray, oh, Lord, that you will grant us that grace so that we will walk in your ways always for your glory.

Teach us, Lord, to your heart. the same heart that you had towards that woman that was caught in adultery, oh Lord. You being the only one who could have applied judgment, because you knew of her sin, even more of the sin that these other people knew. So Lord, I pray that you will grant us the boldness that we need to stand on the truth of your word, and also I pray that you will grant us the grace and the mercy and the love that is needed to walk in the same way that you walked. so that we will learn that we're not only forgiven, but we're also being conformed to the image of Christ.

And as we individually walk towards Christ, that you will help us, Lord, to grow as a church. I pray, Lord, for these two Sundays and the things that we have discussed that you will bring fruit for our church about that, Lord, this topic of church discipline. And also, Lord, we want to give you thanks for this place that you provided for us for seven years. We give you thanks, Lord, because in this place many times we gather and we worship to you and we praise to you, Lord. You have provided for us a place where we can continue to do so.

better from a human point of view, Lord, but if your presence is not among us, it doesn't matter where we meet. So I pray, O Lord, that as we discuss all of these things about a biblical salvation and a biblical church, that these will be matters not only that are set and they are left in the air, Lord, but rather that you will apply them to our hearts. So, Lord, if there is in our hearts any root of resentment or bitterness towards anyone of our brothers and sisters, I pray, Lord, that you will grant us the grace that is needed for us to forgive, for us to love one another, and for us to ask for an apology or forgiveness when it's needed, and that you will teach us, Lord, to walk in unity and in love. I pray that you will do this in Jesus' name. Amen.