Jerusalem's proud, traditional hypocrisy is exposed, and grace fully blesses the tried Gentile. How light soever proud scorners may make of the censures of the church, let them know that they are confirmed in the court of heaven; and it is in vain for them to appeal to that court, for judgment is there already given against them. Read the Scripture: Matthew 18:20 Three of the vital areas of our lives are the church, the home and the nation. If that is the case, and it is to be rigidly and legalistically applied, Paul apparently failed Matthew 18 because he received a second-hand report from those of Chloes house (1 Cor. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. Here, too, these Pharisees question and reproach His grace, when they see the Lord sitting at ease in the presence of publicans and sinners, who came and sat down with Him in Matthew's house. The kingdom of heaven assumes a form unknown to prophecy, and, in its successive mysteries, fills up the interval between the rejected Christ's going to heaven, and His returning again in glory. God does not give us escape from a human situation; he enables us to accept what we cannot understand; he enables us to endure what without him would be unendurable; he enables us to face what without him would be beyond all facing. I feel like Ive been spinning my wheels for years and now like a babe relearning everything fresh and new. He is not here sought as by the leper, the centurion, the friends of the palsied man; He Himself calls Matthew, a publican just the one to write the gospel of the despised Jesus of Nazareth. Those that will be reasoned out of their sins, need not be shamed out of them. We would never have any consistency on doctrine and morals, the very ingredients that are necessary to our salvation. Neither is disagreeing with your pastor. Note: There is not a shred of indication in this passage that Matthew 18 is a biblically mandatory protocol for doctrinal disputes. If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. There was no other Church around at the time these words were penned. The reason I consider to be plain; and the same principle applies to various other parts of our gospel where we have two cases mentioned, where in the other gospels we have only one. And so if you humble yourself as a little child, that person will be the greatest". This passage may be saying, "If in your Church there is someone who is an evil influence, if there is someone who is a bad example to those who are young in the faith, if there is someone whose life and conduct is damaging the body of the Church, he must be rooted out and cast away." The child is instinctively dependent, and just as instinctively he trusts his parents that his needs will be met. Pastors can train their leaders to take a Matthew 18 approach when a person comes to them with a problem concerning another member of their church. Pauls first letter to the Corinthians gives an example of how a congregation was to react when one of its members persisted in sin. Mark gives them in the end of his second and the beginning of his third chapters. When He reaches the house, minstrels were there, and people, making a noise: the expression, if of woe, certainly of impotent despair. Petty interpersonal offenses and hurt feelings are not included. Those of the church that are presumed to be most capable of determining such matters; and he speaks ironically, when he says (Matthew 18:4; Matthew 18:4), "Set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church; those, if there be no better, those, rather than suffer an irreconcileable breach between two church members." Since Jesus uses Church only one other time (in Matt 16:18), it is obvious that this Church must mean the one He built upon St. Peter. the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant, and Misguided church leaders often use Matthew 18 as a speech/thought-control template. Listen to it, fellows. Jesus, nevertheless, owned all that could be owned in him. 17: If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David!" NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. How difficult this must have been for Mary, her parents and Joseph. But this does not help the body of Christ grow and mature as people or as a church. Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Your life depends on it, you got to cut it out." It was not more truly Christ's kingdom as man than He was God's own Son, His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased, who was now to be heard, rather than Moses or Elias, who disappear, leaving Jesus alone with the chosen witnesses. If we turn toMark 1:1-45; Mark 1:1-45, the proof of what I have said will appear as to the leper. He said. The man who is useless, the man who is an evil influence on others, the man who cannot justify the simple fact of his existence, is in danger of the punishment of God, unless he excises from his life those things which make him the handicap he is. Evidently it is the change of dispensation that is in question and at hand, the cutting off of the fleshly seed for their unbelief, and the bringing in of numerous believers in the name of the Lord from among the Gentiles. In their world, the spirit of Matthew 18 was not a ban on all contact, but rather about maintaining social boundary markers regarding Mosaic uncleanness, particularly in table fellowship. But the future is in view also. Then the pitiable condition of the disciples at the foot of the hill, where Satan reigned in fallen ruined man, is tested by the fact, that notwithstanding all the glory of Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, the disciples rendered it evident that they knew not how to bring His grace into action for others; yet was it precisely their place and proper function here below. The evil spirits asked leave to pass into the herd of swine, which thus typify the final condition of the defiled, apostate mass of Israel; their presumptuous and impenitent unbelief reduces them to that deep degradation not merely the unclean, but the unclean filled with the power of Satan, and carried down to swift destruction. this agrees with Proverbs 25:8; Proverbs 25:9, "Go not forth hastily to strive, but debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself, argue it calmly and amicably; and if he shall hear thee, well and good, thou hast gained thy brother, there is an end of the controversy, and it is a happy end; let no more be said of it, but let the falling out of friends be the renewing of friendship. It is a thousand pities that this appointment of Christ, which was designed to end differences, and remove offences, should itself be so much a matter of debate, and occasion differences and offences, through the corruption of men's hearts. It may be saying that it is worth any sacrifice and any self-renunciation to escape the punishment of God. Having left Nazareth, as we saw, He takes up His abode in Capernaum, which was henceforth "His own city." It is always thus. It was going on, then, to the bitter end, and surely not without such suffering and sorrow as holy, unselfish, obedient love alone can know. The angels that have been given charge over us to keep us in all of our ways. While that is of course, one aim of these verses, it is important . At 18:6 He shifts and talks about interpersonal trespassesoffenses, If a first attempt at peacemaking has been unsuccessful, involve others in the community. 33), it is added, "And with many such parables spake He the word unto them . In verse 13 our Lord "goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. That is a must. In todays context, in our own various models of ekklesia, Matthew 18 models for us Christs personal humility and call to love one another, its not about bringing the muscleits about dialing down the energy. The Lord shows that such unbelief justly and necessarily excludes itself, but not others, from blessing. Not merely were there many pieces of value, but one pearl of great price. God's delight is to pick out the hindmost for the first place, to the disparagement of the foremost in their own strength. Seven times? God could not be limited by a question of place; His word was enough. It can poison the whole mind and life, until we can think of nothing else but our sense of personal injury. I cant express to you how much you have helped free me. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Get the BEST VALUE in digital Bible study as you prepare for Easter. There will be differences at the close. There is a Rabbinic tale of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zaccai who wept bitterly at the prospect of death. Personal ambition, personal prestige, personal publicity, personal profit are motives which can find no place in the life of the Christian. Not only shall the Judge of all the earth do right, but what will not He do who gives all good? Matthew 18:15-20 The New King James Version (NKJV) 15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. He was not called. Let them read their error in One who was evidently superior to the condition and the ruin of man in Israel. Jesus has been describing a process for confronting another believer who is guilty of sin. It is here called everlasting and this word everlasting occurs frequently in Jewish ideas of punishment. When the king heard of his servants behaviour, he withdrew his forgiveness (Matthew 18:31-34). 2. God's sternest judgment is reserved for those who put a stumbing-block in the way of others. If he has indeed done thee a considerable wrong, endeavour to make him sensible of it, but let the rebuke be private, between thee and him alone; if thou wouldest convince him, do not expose him, for that will but exasperate him, and make the reproof look like a revenge." That is one of the worst sins that anyone could ever commit. The glory of Christ's person strengthens us, not only to understand His cross, but to take up ours. Yet Jesus was accused of being the friend of tax-gatherers and sinners; and he never spoke of them as hopeless outsiders, but always with sympathy and love, and even with praise (compare Matthew 9:10 ff; Matthew 11:19; Luke 18:10 ff; and especially Matthew 21:31 ff, where it is actually said that the tax-gatherers and harlots will go into the Kingdom before the orthodox religious people of the time). Your Father is watching over them. I merely indicate by the way how the thorough increasing rejection of the Lord Jesus in His lower glory has but the effect of bringing out the revelation of His higher. This gives an opportunity to teach what truly defiles not things that go into the man, but those things which, proceeding out of the mouth, come forth from the heart. Fourthly, "If he neglect to hear the church, if he slight the admonition, and will neither be ashamed of his faults, nor amend them, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and publican; let him be cast out of the communion of the church, secluded from special ordinances, degraded from the dignity of a church member, let him be put under disgrace, and let the members of the society be warned to withdraw from him, that he may be ashamed of his sin, and they may not be infected by it, or made chargeable with it." The context is interpersonal conflict involving behaviors between individuals, not enforcement of denominational or group doctrinal distinctives. The first of these lessons is, "Many first shall be last, and last first." c. 14. sect. However, not only does the Bible never say that, the Bible tells us the Church is the final authority. How did He treat tax collectors and Gentiles? Times without number two people have agreed to pray for the physical or the spiritual welfare of a loved one and their prayer has not, in the literal sense, been answered. First, the context of this passage is not "conflict" as is typically presented by those who work under the broad umbrella of conciliation ministries. If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine, and go out to the hills, and will he not seek the wandering one? What can a lawyer do if the client wants him to be acquitted of everything despite serious evidence? This does not mean the disciples should receive him or her warmly as Jesus received such people (Matthew 8:1-11; Matthew 9:9-13; Matthew 15:21-28). What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? But it is just possible that this passage is not to be taken so much personally as in connection with the Church. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I wish I would have seen all of that when I was younger. Fasting, indeed, would follow when the Bridegroom was taken from them. Thus He points out the utter moral incongruity of fasting at that moment, and intimates that it was not merely the fact that He was going to be rejected, but that to conciliate His teaching and His will with the old thing was hopeless. 23. It appears to me, that the nature or aim of Mark's gospel demands this. What can be conceived so perfectly to illustrate the great design of the gospel of Matthew? This is the more to be noticed, inasmuch as the gospel of Matthew has been in general adopted as the standard of time, save by those who have rather inclined to Luke as supplying the desideratum. It is a question, then, of internal evidence, what that particular order is which God has employed in each different gospel. I love it.But He said. Now, God would not command us to do the impossible. With God, as nothing is impossible, so no one, small or great, is despised: all is seen and put in its just place; and grace, which rebukes creature pride, can afford to deal divinely with the smallest as with the greatest. Yet man, in face of all, is so deceived of the enemy, that he prefers to be left with the demons rather than enjoy the presence of the Deliverer. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Forgiveness is a matter of heart. Moreover [Jesus said] if your brother trespasses against you, go and tell him the fault between you and him alone: and if he hears you, then you've gained your brother ( Matthew 18:15 ). This means that God would have provided us with the information necessary to understand what Church He was talking about. As you correctly note, the Church has a local and universal aspect. Further, in the Greek it is said, not so much that the man would be better to be drowned in the depths of the sea, but that it would be better if he were drowned far out in the open sea. When a man of that congregation is accused of having an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, Paul commands he be removed from their midst (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). And besides, this is given, not as a rule to the church, but as advice to the offended person, how to behave towards the offender: after he has come under the cognizance, reproof, and censure of the church, he is to look upon him as the Jews did one that disregarded both private reproof by a man's self, and that which was in the presence of one or two more, , "a worthless friend", or neighbour; as a Gentile, with whom the Jews had neither religious nor civil conversation; and a "publican", or as Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads it, "a notorious sinner", as a publican was accounted: hence such are often joined together, and with whom the Jews might not eat, nor keep any friendly and familiar acquaintance: and so such that have been privately admonished and publicly rebuked, without success, their company is to be shunned, and intimate friendship with them to be avoided. Thus, the present dealings of God in grace, the actual shape taken by the kingdom of heaven, the calling of the Gentiles, the formation of the Church, are all passed completely over. the apostle directs there (Matthew 18:5; Matthew 18:5), Is there not a wise man among you? If he hears you, you have gained your brother. And that means everyone needs to leave the bludgeon at home.. The fact of two without the personal details would not powerfully tell upon mere Gentiles perhaps, though to a Jew it might be for some ends necessary. (ii) If we feel that someone has wronged us, we should go to see him personally. In this highly competitive world it is very easy to pay most attention to the person who is pugnacious and aggressive and self-assertive and full of self-confidence. Filed Under: Catholic Q&A Tagged With: church, Your email address will not be published. And the fellowservant fell down at his feet, and he begged him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. I cant express to you how much you have helped free me. How New is the New Covenant? When we point out someone else's sin, we are allowing ourselves to partner with God in caring for our church brothers and sisters enough to help them grow in their spiritual maturity. Thanks to your prophetic mind seminar, I now understand why people respond to me the way they do. You're talking about motivation, and the disciples were not pure in their motivations. If he were willing to follow the Lord, it was for what he could get. How he loves their beautiful little faces. Matthew 18:1-20. In truth, this was Emmanuel, God with us. if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine and go into the mountains, and seek the one which has gone astray? "Can a woman forget her sucking child? All rights reserved. God bless them. At that time Jesus answered, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. Lets briefly, Leading up to this point (Matthew 18:1-14), Christ has expressed His identification with little children and what it will take to inherit eternal life. Why don't we just sort of take aspirin, so you won't feel the pain and forget about it." Silent Killers of Faith Oh my! The Biblical proof that this was correct was taken from Amos. In the context of Matthew 18:15-20, we see that the sin is personal, private, and the person guilty of the offense is personally accessible. Matthew 13:19-22), we find first of all the utter worthlessness of the flesh's readiness to follow Jesus. Thus the end is as the beginning, and even far, far worse. Nor was it only a difference in the forms the truth took; but the vital principle which Christ was diffusing could not be so maintained. Church discipline repairs the fellowship, keeps its members in the flock, and sanctifies the church. Perhaps no verse is so taken out of context and misapplied as Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged." So often we accept a man who is penitent with a moral lecture and a clear indication that he must regard himself as contemptible, and the practical statement that we have no further use for him and do not propose to trust him ever again. It is the death-blow to human tradition and ordinance in divine things, and in reality depends on the truth of the absolute ruin of man a truth which, as we see, the disciples were very slow to recognize. Everything depends on how he is taught and trained. how is it that ye have no faith? (iii) If a private and personal meeting fails of its purpose, we should take some wise person or persons with us. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? Thank you and God bless you. (i) The love of God is an individual love. The restoration of a wayward disciple 18:15-20. At its widest what Jesus was saying was, "If anyone sins against you, spare no effort to make that man admit his fault, and to get things right again between you and him." Your materials are a healing balm in the Church. Conflict resolution is never easy. I'll bury the hatchet, but I leave the handle showing so I can grab it whenever I need it." Every nation had its angel; every natural force, such as the wind and the thunder and the lightning and the rain, had its angel. Of what phrase is this reminiscent? How can this new ban on drag possibly be considered constitutional? To be clear, are you asking whether church discipline must take place before the whole congregation of a local church vs. the elders of a church? Your book on legalism is such a liberating read! The Palestinian shepherds were experts at tracking down their lost sheep. Grace forms the hearts of those that understand it, according to the great manifestation of what God is, and what man is, too, given us in the person of Christ. A number of intriguing observations come up as we read through Matthew 18 more carefully. If not, this could allow any hurt feelings to become grudges and hinder our walk, both with Christ and with each other. 18 "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[ a] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[ b] loosed in heaven. Of course, there is often the order of time, but through the central part, and not infrequently elsewhere, his setting forth in order turns on another principle, quite independent of mere succession of events. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. "Verily, I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." In many ways this is one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the whole of Matthew's gospel. What feelings at such a time! That is what He wanted His disciples to do regarding the erring brother or sister. The shepherds always made the most strenuous and the most sacrificial efforts to find a lost sheep. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. All you have to do is to make that contact of faith with Him. Some call it proof that the church will never be defeated. This is the way differences are to be resolved and settled within the church. It only takes a minute to sign up. There may be desires, there may be the working of the Spirit of God, but there can be no power to walk before men and to glorify God thus till there is forgiveness possessed and enjoyed in the heart. Hence, he waits to present their rejection of the Messiah, as morally complete as possible in his statement of it, though necessarily not complete in outward accomplishment. He desires for the members of his body to be in unity with one another. Treating the sinner as a tax-gatherer or Gentile would be difficult for only leadership to carry out as the rest of the church (without being briefed on the circumstance) may wonder why he/she is being treated that way. On the word Church, Matthew 16:28. The possibilities may never be realized; they may be stifled and stunted; that which might be used for good may be deflected to the purposes of evil; or they may be unleashed in such a way that a new tide of power floods the earth. My experience of them is that they, too, have a heart to be touched; and there are many of them, like Matthew and Zacchaeus, who have become my best friends. 18:5-7,10 "Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me. You --that's a painful operation. It is not a temporal power to be wielded with a heavy hand, personal agenda, or political intent. To teach unruly, disobedient, restless little children can be a wearing job. Fear motivates those leaders to suppress the thought and the individual behind it and to formally remove the individual from communal life. All these passages use the word aionios ( G166) ; but we must be careful to remember what it means. Let those who have so little experience of what man is, even in the regenerate, beware lest they impute to the Baptist such an acting of a part as shocks us, when Jerome imputed it to Peter and Paul in the censure of Galatians 2:1-21. To the Jew it was the symbol of utter destruction. I feel sure that no Christian harbours a doubt about it. 38:10), but normally a gate is the entry to a city, temple, or prison (Luke 7:12; Acts 3:10; 12:10). "I will build my church" (singular). Although reconciliation is the ultimate goal of Matthew 18, if there is no repentance for sin, believers "must gather evidence in the proper order in case they later need proof of what transpired."665 The final disposition would be removal from the fellowship of the church (vv. [2.] These are all legal terms. This is one of the accusations against Jesus: He eats with sinners. In the sight of God the children are so important that their guardian angels always have the right of direct access to the inner presence of God. I don't know what it is, but it's the word of Jesus, and you better take heed.Now the Lord has never commanded us to do anything, but what He will give us is the capacity to do it, if we are willing. He healed, and bore its burden on His heart before God, as truly as He took it away from men. (ii) It can mean simply to welcome the child, to give him the care and the love and the teaching which he requires to make him into a good man. 7-9); and, the care of heaven toward both the saved and lost . The civil magistrate, say some; The Jewish sanhedrim then in being, say others; but by what follows, Matthew 18:18; Matthew 18:18, it is plain that he means a Christian church, which, though not yet formed, was now in the embryo. Jesus proceeded to explain what a humble disciple should do when a brother or sister disciple has wandered from the Shepherd and the sheep. A king forgave a servant a huge debt, but the servant then refused to forgive a fellow servant a small debt (Matthew 18:23-30). He had brought out the kingdom before in view of that which betrayed to Him the unpardonable blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Instead of giving her at once a reply, He leads her on step by step; for so He can stoop. I believe that was Podcast 18. All rights reserved. I enjoy the way you put Truth into words! 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.". None the less does the Lord uphold it, purged of what accretions had come in to obscure its original and proper character. The failure of this greatest of women-born only gives Him the just occasion to show the total change at hand, when it should not be a question of man, but of God, yea, of the kingdom of heaven, the least in which new state should be greater than John. You have an amazing ability to put into words the very things people agonize over. The Meaning of Church in Greek and the Difference from Old Testment. Now though at this time there was no particular church formed, yet there were some who had a power to bind and loose. she cried; but what had she to do with the Son of David? God has given his people the responsibility to deal with such cases, and they must find out Gods will and do it. In the time of Jesus the flocks were often communal flocks; they belonged, not to an individual, but to a village. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. It was true that He was made of woman, and made under the law; but He was Jehovah Himself, that lowly Nazarene. For more info, please visit her website www.michellelazurek.com. He who will not forgive his fellow-men cannot hope that God will forgive him.