Matthew 18:12-20: “Jesus Teaches About The Father As A Shepherd
Who Seeks After A Lost Sheep, Then Teaches About The Process Of Church
Discipline”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO
1.1.
Having warned the disciples about not causing any of
the little ones to stumble, and then warning them about removing from their own
lives any part that causes them to stumble, Jesus now teaches His disciples a
couple of truths
1.1.1.
Jesus tells the disciples about the good shepherd
heart of the Father who is always going and seeking out any sheep that goes
astray
1.1.2.
Jesus begins to instruct the disciples about the
necessity and the guidelines to use in implementing church discipline
1.1.2.1.He tells
them the steps to follow whenever a brother is found to be living with
unconfessed sin in his life
2.
VS 18:12-14 -
“12 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has
gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and
search for the one that is straying? 13 “And if it turns out that he finds it,
truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which
have not gone astray. 14 “Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in
heaven that one of these little ones perish.””” - Jesus teaches His disciples that a shepherd
will leave the ninety-nine of his sheep in order to go and try to find one
which has wandered off
2.1.
In these verses Jesus uses the metaphor of the shepherd in describing God’s
care over His people, as He did often, and in these statements of Jesus
regarding God’s sheep and God being the shepherd of His sheep we can learn much
about the Father’s heart for His children.
2.1.1.
The metaphor of a ‘sheep’ definitely fits God’s people, for there are so
many aspects of a being a sheep which God’s people can relate to.
2.1.1.1.Phillip
Keller
writes about how sheep need to be so carefully taken care of, “No other
class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detailed direction,
than do sheep.”
2.1.1.1.1.We Christians need to take
to heart that we have a shepherd which is watching over our souls, and He (the
Lord) will take care of us if we will just look to Him and allow Him to lead us
and do what He wants to do in our lives.
2.1.1.2.One of the responsibilities
for a shepherd is to provide water for his sheep to drink, and again Phillip
Keller
writes, “When sheep are thirsty they become restless and set out in search
of water to satisfy their thirst. If not
led to the good water supplies of clean, pure water, they will often end up
drinking fro the polluted pot holes where they pick up internal parasites as
nematodes, liver flukes or other disease germs.”
2.1.1.2.1.We as Christians constantly
need the Lord to lead us to the living water of the Holy Spirit which will refresh
our souls, and so we must learn to depend upon and look to the Lord to be the
only water that can truly refresh our souls.
The water of this world and of ‘religion’ only causes disease to our
souls.
2.1.1.2.1.1.Yes, one of the main things
that actually keep people from God is religion, that is, man-made
religion.
2.1.1.3.Sheep are not smart enough
to find their own food nor do their natural senses give them enough information
in order for them to be able to find food, and thus a sheep could starve to
death when food that could sustain it is very close at hand.
2.1.1.3.1.In the same the Lord feeds
His people and will lead them to that food and sustenance which they need to be
healthy, but they must learn to look to the shepherd daily to be fed and not
try to seek sources on their own for feed.
2.1.1.4.Sheep are vulnerable to
predators of all kinds, buzzards, vutures, dogs, coyotes, mountain lions, etc.,
and it is the staff of the shepherd which He uses to fight off those predators,
but the shepherd must be vigilant to watch over his sheep so that he does not
lose any to those predators waiting at every turn.
2.1.1.4.1.In the same way the Lord
watches over us His people and protects them from harm, and we must learn to
look to the Lord to be our protector and defender and trust in His care.
2.1.1.5.One of the characteristics
of some sheep is that they can stray away from the herd, and it is always the
sheep that has strayed away from the herd that is most vulnerable to attack
from a predator for there is safety being in the herd.
2.1.1.5.1.Isaiah wrote in the scripture
about man saying that he is always tending to go astray, “All we
like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way, ” Isaish
53:6.
2.2.
We we see here then that Jesus is teaching His disciples about the Father
who is the Good Shepherd over the sheep, and He shows the Father’s heart in
trying continually to reach out towards those who go astray in their walk and
find themselves lost in their sin, as did the Prodigal Son who came to his
senses as he found himself living off the food fed to pigs.
2.2.1.
Jesus teaches us that the Father ‘always’ rejoices when He finds a lost
sheep (some sinner who turns his life back over to God and begins to walk with
God as an adopted son or daughter).
2.2.2. Jesus also teaches here that
it is not the Father’s will that any person end up in eternal hell but that he
or she come to salvation, for the Father has no pleasure in sending anyone to
hell for eternity.
2.2.3. In Luke’s account of this
teaching, Luke 15:5-7, Luke records more about what the shepherd does when he finds a sheep
that has strayed away, “5 “And when he has found it, he lays it on his
shoulders, rejoicing. 6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends
and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep
which was lost!’ 7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who
need no repentance.”””
2.2.4. In 2 Peter 3:9, Peter wrote about how the
Lord does not desire that any person perish and that this is actually the
reason that Christ has been delaying His second coming to the earth, as He is
giving people as much time as possible to repent and come to salvation, “9 The
Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
3.
VS 18:15-17 -
“15 “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens
to you, you have won your brother. 16 “But if he does not listen to you, take
one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every
fact may be confirmed. 17 “And 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-gatherer.”” -
Jesus teaches His disciples the principles of ‘church discipline’ that
He wants them to carry out
3.1.
These verses of scripture have been grossly over-looked throughout the
history of the church, and the result has been that the church has constantly
found itself compromised with worldliness and sin of every type.
3.1.1. The result of not applying
these scriptures of church discipline has been that all kinds of evil to have
been done in the Name of God, and as I have often remarked I believe that there
is no evil that is worse than that which is done in the Name of God.
3.1.2. Many people will not be in
heaven because of the compromise and worldliness of the church which has so
stained it’s testimony to the world that it has no longer been a light shining
in a dark place.
3.1.3. In our country the
mainstream church took a turn at the beginning of this century toward
emphasizing the ‘love of God’ in its teaching and counsel and ignoring the other
aspect of God’s nature and character, His holiness and justice, and thus the
church began to quit preaching about the ‘wrath of God’, and preaching against
sin in general.
3.1.3.1.This tendency has not been
limited just to the liberal denominations, but really throughout Christendom
this tendency has really been increasing for the last one hundred years.
3.1.3.2.In the last several years we
have seen the effect of this shift in the church’s use of the various media,
especially television. There have been
numerous televangelists whose lifestyles have gone unchecked and then when
Christians and church leaders have attempted to confront them for the sin in
their lives and for not living according to the standard of the scriptures,
these men and their churches and ministries have condemned those making the
inquiry as being judgmental and not being loving.
3.1.3.2.1.I would point out however,
and especially in light of the previous warnings giving by Jesus in this
chapter of Matthew, that it is not a loving thing to do to see a person who is
stumbling in their faith and causing others to stumble in their faith and not
to rebuke him for his sin and pursue this course outlined by Jesus for dealing
with sin in the church. To warn people
is a very loving thing to do.
3.2.
I want to point out before we go any further that the church has no good
purpose in this world nor reason for existence if it does not hold to God’s
standards for holiness and righteousness.
3.2.1. Jesus taught that the church
is the ‘light of the world’, however what good is a light if we put it under a
bushel barrel?
3.2.2. Jesus also taught that the
church is the ‘salt of the world’ that keeps it from internally corrupting,
however it is good for nothing if it loses its very saltiness.
3.3.
What then is this guideline for church discipline
which Jesus taught?
3.3.1. STEP #1: If you become aware of a brother that is
sinning, you are to go to him ‘in private’ and rebuke him.
3.3.1.1.Some manuscripts include
that the brother is ‘sinning against you’, however the sinning that is
mentioned here should not be looked at as limited just to specific sins which
have been aimed specifically at you or which specifically effect only you.
3.3.1.2.Now, we all do sin and when
we sin and we have become aware of our having sinned we should repent of that
sin, however the type of sin that is mentioned here is sin that is willful and
for which the person who has committed it has not as yet been willing to repent
of.
3.3.1.2.1.Jesus does not limit the
type of sin for which a person is to be rebuked, therefore the sin that is
mentioned is really just any kind of willful sin which has not been confessed
and repented of.
3.3.1.3.You are to ‘go in
private’ to
this person for two reasons:
3.3.1.3.1.You may be wrong in your
accusation of his sin, and so when you go in private you must verify that
indeed it is willful unrepentant sin that is being committed by this person.
3.3.1.3.2.By going in private to the
person you are allowing the person the ability to ‘save face’ and not suffer
public humiliation for his sin, and not making the person suffer public
humiliation is demonstrating the love of God for this brother.
3.3.1.4.If the person ‘listens’ to
you, or in other words if he repents of his sin which you have rebuked him for,
then your job in rebuking him is done.
You may want to help in restoring this brother, but there is no need for
going further typically in this situation.
3.3.1.5.It is very important here to
note that when people don’t obey the scripture and follow step #1 here, this is
where ‘gossip’ in the church begins, for when people should be going to the
person in private to establish the truth and rebuke them for the sin, they
often instead just start telling others the story about what so-and-so has been
up to.
3.3.1.5.1.Gossip is so hurtful to
people, so wrong in God’s eyes, and many churches have been destroyed by it,
and, any church is hurt when gossip exists in it.
3.3.1.5.2.I don’t believe that gossip
wouldn’t exist in a church if people followed Jesus’ guidelines for church
discipline correctly.
3.3.2. STEP #2:
Provided
that the brother did not repent when you first went to him and rebuked him for
the unconfessed sin in his life, then you are to take a brother or two and go to him and again rebuke him for
his sin.
3.3.2.1.The purpose here is
two-fold:
3.3.2.1.1.You provide a blunter edge
to the rebuke that you gave to the brother before which hopefully will shock him
into realizing how it is that he has errored by allowing this sin into his life
and then by not receiving your first rebuke in private.
3.3.2.1.2.You provide witnesses who
can verify the facts concerning this man’s unconfessed sin and unwillingness to
repent of this sin.
3.3.2.2.Again, as in the first
instance, if the brother ‘listens’ to you, or in other words repents of his sin
for which you are rebuking him, your responsibility to rebuke him is now over,
though again you may want to help in his restoration now that he has repented.
3.3.3. STEP #3: Provided that the brother has not repented after the
first two attempts to rebuke him and persuade him to repent of his sin, you are
to now take the matter before the church.
3.3.3.1.You are to let the church
know the brother’s name and the nature of his unconfessed sin, and also how it
is that he has been rebuked in private and then by a couple of the brothers in
the fellowship.
3.3.3.2.The brother still has the
opportunity to repent if he happens to be present before the church when this
step occurs, however I have never personally seen a brother continue to attend
a church after he has been rebuked in private and then by a couple of brothers
and still refused to repent.
3.3.3.3.By taking this matter before
the church one result that occurs is that the church is now protected to a
degree from being harmed by the sinning of this brother, for when there was no
knowledge of his sin he could cause many in the fellowship to stumble in
different ways.
3.3.3.4.If the brother still refuses
to repent he is to be treated as if he were never a brother in the first place
and he is to be asked to not return to the fellowship until he has repented of
his sin.
3.3.3.5.The apostle Paul referred to
being kicked out of the fellowship of the church as being turned over to Satan:
3.3.3.5.1.In 1 Tim. 1:20 Paul wrote to Timothy about
a couple of men who he had turned over to Satan, and what Paul is referring to
in this is that these men were kicked out of the fellowship of the church for
refusing to repent after receiving church discipline as described here, “20 Among
these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that
they may be taught not to blaspheme.”
3.3.3.5.2.In 1 Cor. 5:5 when Paul tells the
Corinthians that they are to kick out of the fellowship the man who is living
in sin, as he is cohabitating with his mother-in-law, he also tells them that
they are to turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, “5 I have
decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that
his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
3.3.3.5.3.The hope is that when a
person is kicked out of the church, that being out from under the umbrella of
protection and fellowship provided by the church, and thereby under Satan’s dominion,
that they will be cohersed to repent of their sins and thus be restored to
fellowship in the church.
3.3.3.5.3.1.In today’s world church
discipline doesn’t always have this effect because a brother can usually just
go down the street and begin attending another fellowship which will accept him
into fellowship, and either not knowing about his having been disciplined by
another church for not repenting or not caring about this having happened to
him.
3.4.
I want to mention here that in my 27 years of walking with Christ and
being involved in church work I have been involved in several instances where
church discipline had to be invoked, and one thing that I have come to realize
is that each situation is unique and should be approached uniquely. In other words, it is more the spirit of
these guidelines rather than the letter of them that needs to be followed, for
in almost every instance that I have been involved with there has been some
aspect of the confrontation of a brother or a sister for sin in their life
which deviated slightly from the letter of these guidelines.
3.4.1. We need to seek the Holy
Spirit’s leading when considering church discipline issues and not just act
legalistically.
3.5.
As I have mentioned many times that with church discipline there should
always be a goal of the restoration of the one who has been kicked out of the
fellowship, and thus the work of the church in a brother’s life should not end
with church discipline.
4.
VS 18:18 - “18
“Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”” - Jesus tells the disciples that whatever they
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and visa versa
4.1.
This verse is rarely taught or spoken of by Christians with its proper
context in mind. Usually people use this
verse as an assurance that they have for answered prayer, however the context
of this verse reveals that it was spoken of in relation to church discipline.
4.1.1. In the context of church
discipline this verse teaches that when the church seeks Christ and His will
and then comes together in agreement concerning church discipline issues in a
person’s life that the Lord will guide them in their decisions and thus when
they kick someone out of the fellowship they will be working in conjunction
with the will of God in this situation, and likewise if the church seeks Christ
and His will and then decides to restore someone or allow them back into
fellowship, after having removed them, that the Lord will have guided them in
their decisions.
4.1.2. There are other scriptures
that teach that when we Christians pray to the Lord that we are guaranteed of
receiving what we ask for when we follow His criteria for prayer.
5.
VS 18:19-20 -
“19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything
that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their
midst.”” - Jesus teaches His
disciples that whatever they agree about it shall be done for them by His
Father who is in heaven
5.1.
As with verse 18 above, this verse is usually taught or explained out of
its context, for the context of these verses is church discipline and therefore
what we see Jesus teaching His disciples is again that when they come to Him
seeking His will concerning matters of church discipline that they are
guaranteed that He will show them what they are do in the situation.
5.1.1.
The two or three mentioned would then be the two or three brothers who
would go with a brother to confront and rebuke him for his sins, and then in
that situation Jesus guarantees that He will guide them in their understanding
and judgment about the situation for He will be ‘in their midst’ as they go.