Many times we feel that a certain saint is a hopeless case, and we stop with this feeling toward him in our small groups. We always end our small group meeting in verse 17. We would not take Christ as the heavenly ladder in verse 18 to climb up to the heavens with prayer that binds Satan and looses the sinning brother. We and the church may have no way with this brother, but should we give him up? The Lord Jesus said that we should let him be to us like a Gentile and a tax collector. But the Lord went on to say that we have to bind Satan. We have to bind the binding one and release the bound one by praying together in harmony.
We should not bring in any opinions by uncovering the fallen condition of the one for whom we are praying. We have to bind the binding one, Satan, and we have to release the sinning one, the one bound by Satan, through our prayer in harmony. To be in harmony is as musical sounds in harmony. When a piano is played properly, the many keys on the piano are struck in such a way so as to produce harmonious music. When we pray in harmony for certain backsliding, sinning ones, our prayer to recover them becomes like music to the ears of the Father in heaven.
After the Lord spoke this word, Peter came to the Lord to ask Him a question. Verses 21 through 22 say, "Then Peter came and said to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy times seven." It may have been that Peter was the one against whom a brother sinned. He did not want to forgive this brother again, so he asked the Lord, "How many times should I forgive him? Seven times?" The Lord said that Peter should forgive him seventy times seven, or four hundred ninety times. If we have a spirit to forgive a sinning one up to four hundred ninety times, surely that one will be recovered. Do we who are participating in the vital groups have such a spirit?
Our vital group may be reducing instead of increasing. Where are the others? Perhaps some have become degraded or backslidden and others are offended. We may have a reason for each one no longer meeting with us, but would the Lord agree with our reasoning? The Lord would ask, "Where is your brother?" In other words, the Lord would not let us give people up. We should not give up on anyone. We have to go to the Lord again and again with prayers touching heaven by binding and releasing in harmony. Heaven means God. We touch God, and God comes in to do something. This is what it means to live the kingdom life.
If someone wrongs us, we should not be offended but still love him. We should not go to others to talk about his case. Instead, we should go to him alone. We should cover his situation by going to him directly. But if he would not listen to us, we have to take with us one or two more to see him. Eventually, we may have to tell the church. This is the way of the kingdom life in Matthew 18, but we do not practice this. When people sin against us, we talk to our spouse or other saints about it. This is wrong.
The first lesson we must learn as members of the vital groups is not to uncover people's weaknesses. The story of Ham in Genesis 9 is an illustration of this. His father Noah became drunk, and he was uncovered in his tent. Ham saw his father Noah's nakedness and told his two brothers about it. But his brothers, Shem and Japheth, took a garment, walked backward, and covered the nakedness of their father. As a result of this, Ham was cursed but his brothers received the blessing (vv. 20-27). In the vital groups, we have to avoid this kind of uncovering talk. Our uncovering talk is a defect that will kill our vital groups. We must learn to cover others. When we become aware of someone sinning or of someone sinning against us, we should not talk to others but to the person directly. Our natural man always likes to tell others about a person's sins or mistakes. This is wrong.
The Lord gave us the step-by-step way in Matthew 18. These steps are to go to the person alone, then with one or two others, and finally to the church. If he even would not listen to the church, would we give up? We may stop with verse 17 of Matthew 18 by simply letting him be to us like a Gentile and a tax collector. If we stop here, however, our group will be reducing instead of increasing. Following verse17 is verse 18 where the Lord said that we have to learn to bind and to release. We have to learn to pray in harmony for a sinning one. Then the Father in heaven will perform what we ask and will be in our midst. We also have to learn to forgive others countless times. This is the reality of the vital groups.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 rebuked the Corinthian believers and charged them to remove a wicked one from their midst (v. 13). Paul's charge was somewhat comparable to that of the Mosaic law in the Old Testament (see Deut. 13:5; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7). But in 2 Corinthians Paul was tender, cautious, and considerate regarding this sinful person. After Paul told the saints to remove him, he did not have the peace, so he sent Titus to see the situation. Titus brought back the good news that this wicked man repented (7:6-13). Then Paul said that the saints should forgive and comfort this one. Otherwise, they could be taken advantage of by Satan (2:6-11).
A vital group is a real representation of the church. The church should learn how to deal with a sinning one by the example of Paul. Paul did not have the peace when this sinful one was removed, so he still did something to take care of the situation. The most important thing is to cherish and forgive. To visit is to cherish. Paul sent Titus to visit Corinth in order to cherish the Corinthians. Then Paul told them to forgive. Forgiving should follow cherishing. Then we can recover and gain people.