The administration of the church in its locality is illustrated by the dealing with its members. Matthew 18:15 says, “Now if your brother sins, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” Here we see how to deal with an offending brother. If a brother sins or offends us, we must first go to him in love and point out his offense.
In verse 16 the Lord continues, “But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” If the brother will not listen to you, you should not give up. Rather, you should go to him with one or two witnesses, hoping that the brother will listen to you and be rescued. However, “if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church” (v. 17). If a brother sins, we first need to deal with him by ourself in love (v. 15), then with two or three witnesses (v. 16), and finally through the church with authority (v. 17).
The last part of verse 17 says, “And if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector.” If any believer refuses to hear the church, he will lose the fellowship of the church like the Gentile, the heathen, and the tax collector, the sinners who are outside the fellowship of the church. A Gentile or a tax collector is someone who does not have fellowship in the kingdom life or in the church life. To consider someone a Gentile or a tax collector does not mean to excommunicate him; it means that he is considered as one cut off from the fellowship of the church. Excommunication is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5. Whereas the church must excommunicate fornicators and idolaters, the offending brother who will not listen to two or three or to the church may not necessarily require excommunication. Although the situation with him is unpleasant, it is not in the same category as fornication or idolatry. He is cut off from the fellowship of the church in order that this loss of fellowship may encourage him to repent and to recover his fellowship with the church.
The church may deal with an offending brother with the authority given to the church to bind and loose what has been bound and loosed in the heavens. In verse 18 the Lord Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall be what has been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall be what has been loosed in heaven.” Here to bind means to condemn, and to loose means to forgive. As in 16:19, what we bind or loose on earth should be what has been bound or loosed already in heaven.
In order to deal with an offending brother, we must exercise the kingdom authority. Because the church today is weak, it does not realize its need to exercise this authority. The brother mentioned in 18:15-17 is first offending and then rebellious. First he offends someone. Then because he will not listen to the one he has offended, to two or three witnesses, or even to the church, he becomes rebellious. Because he rebels against the church, the church must exercise its authority to bind and loose. It binds when such a brother is rebellious and looses when he repents. Because such a rebellious brother will not listen to the church, the church must exercise the kingdom authority to bind him until he repents. But when he repents, the church must exercise the kingdom authority to forgive him and restore him to the fellowship of the church.
The dealing with the offending brother must be carried out by prayer in one accord. Verse 19 says, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask, it shall come to them from My Father who is in the heavens.” Strictly speaking, in verse 19 “ask” refers to prayer which deals with the brother who refuses to hear the church. If we pray according to the Lord’s promise, our prayer will be answered, and the offending brother may be recovered.
We should not think that because, as members of the church, we have the authority of the kingdom of the heavens to bind and loose, we can go ahead on our own to deal with the sinful brother. On the contrary, the dealing with such a brother must be with much prayer. The authority to bind and loose is carried out by prayer in one accord.
The situation among the believers today is abnormal. For this reason, one Christian may sin against another and the situation is not dealt with. There is no one accord, and there is not much prayer concerning such a dealing. As a result, the believers lose the ground, the position, and the authority to deal with a sinful brother. If we are in an abnormal situation and condition, we shall not be able to exercise the authority of the kingdom of the heavens to bind and loose. However, if we are in a normal condition and we pray together with one accord, we shall have the position to exercise the authority of the kingdom of the heavens given to the church to deal with a sinful brother.
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