02.31. Becoming Spirit and Moral Features
Becoming Spirit and Moral Features
Here He shows the moral features and the spirit that suits the subjects of the kingdom of heaven. First, He set a little child in their midst as an example and taught them meekness, humility, littleness in their own eyes, and that true greatness is to humble oneself as a little child. He told them how much He valued a believing little one and what a serious matter it was in His eyes to offend one of these little ones.
He then taught them that they must guard against anything that would be a stumbling block to themselves or to others. The knife of self-judgment must be applied to all that offends in ourselves. Following these words, He illustrated the spirit of saving grace which characterized His mission of coming to save that which was lost. He also told them how the Father values every little one and desires that not one of them should perish.
After seeking to imbue the disciples with the spirit of humility and dependence, and with the spirit of tender love and seeking grace of the Father and Himself, the Lord now applies all this to their practical conduct one towards another. He says, as it were, "I want you now to become the channels of my seeking grace and love in looking after the straying and erring one and in bringing him back to the right path." They were to be severe towards any failure in themselves, but the spirit of gracious consideration for the welfare of others was to characterize them. This is the connection between the verses we will now consider on personal trespasses and the rest of the chapter. With this background, we are ready to examine the Lord’s instructions on our subject.
"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother" (Matthew 18:15).
First of all, I must be sure that my brother has actually trespassed against me. "If thy brother shall trespass against thee"-it is not if I think he has, or some "hear-say" that he has, but a definite case of one actually wronging another. It is not a case where both parties have wronged each other, but of one alone trespassing against the other. The word for "trespass" in the original Greek has the meaning of "missing the mark, to fail, do wrong, err or sin." The English meaning of the word is that of wilfully violating the rights of another, to pass the bounds of propriety or rectitude in the injury of another, or the violation of a positive law, rule, or custom. The First Step
"Go, reprove him between thee and him alone" (New Trans.). This is what the Lord said should be done as the first step on the part of the one who has been wronged. In comment upon the above, we would quote the fine words of Wm. Kelly:
"Supposing your brother does you wrong, something that may be very hard to bear, perhaps; an evil word, or an unkind action done against you-something that you feel deeply as a real personal trespass against you; the man has done it deliberately, and of course it is a great sin. Nobody knows it but himself and you. What are you to do? At once this great principle is applied, When you were ruined and far from God, what met your case? Did God wait till you put away your sin? It never would have been done at all. God sent His own Son to seek you, to save you. `The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.’ That is the principle for you to act upon.
"It is not merely that this is the way in which God acted. You belong to God: you are a child of God. Your brother has wronged you; go you to him and seek to set him right. It is the activity of love, which the Lord Jesus now presses upon His disciples. They are to seek the deliverance, in the power of divine love, of those who have wandered from God. It is not the flesh feeling its wrong, and resenting what has been done against itself ... I want you, He says ... to be characterized by grace, going out after that which has sinned against God-grace to seek the man that has gone astray.
"This is a great difficulty, unless the soul is fresh in the love of God, and enjoying what God is for him. How does God feel about the child that has done wrong? It is the loving desire to have him right. When the child is near enough to know the Father’s heart, he goes out to do the Father’s will. It may have been a wrong done against him, but he does not think about that. It is his brother who has slipped into evil, and he sorrows over him. It is a real desire of heart to have the person righted who had gone astray; and this, too, not in order to vindicate self, but that his soul may be restored to the Lord.
"He could not bear that another should know it It is not here the case of a sin known to a great many, but some personal trespass only known to you two. Go, then, to him and tell him his fault between you and him alone. A thing, no doubt, very contrary to the flesh, which would ever demand that the offender should first come and humble himself, or that would act on the worldly ground of not troubling itself about the man, but let him go from bad to worse. Love seeks the good, even of the one who has done ever so wrong." The course natural to our flesh would be to avoid the offending brother and to say nothing to him about his fault, but to tell it to others, or one might determine to bear the injury in long-suffering and "try to live it down," as people say. This might at first seem the right thing to do and to have the appearance of grace on one’s part, but it leaves out the most important matter of consideration-the spiritual condition of my offending brother. Therefore this is not the Lord’s way of treating the matter. Besides, staying away from the brother may leave a tinge of bad feeling in my heart. Love does not rest while knowing that the conscience of one’s erring brother is defiled. Leviticus 19:17-18 says, "thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people." The Lord does not say, "Go and write him a note." No, He says, "Go, reprove him." To send what I think may be a good and faithful letter may spare one’s feelings and suit pride, but it will not work the blessing of restoration like a face to face talk in love. Much mischief has come in among God’s people by such letter-writing instead of doing what the Lord instructed in the matter whenever possible. The original word, translated in our common version "tell him his fault," is "elegzon" and means to "cross examine with a view of convincing or refuting, to censure, to bring convincing proof." It is thus translated in other versions as "reprove him" or "shew him his fault." The injunction is to go and prove to him how he has erred and trespassed. This is to be done "between thee and him alone." Yet, alas, is it not all too common to discuss a personal trespass more publicly than this? Often it is passed on from one to another and distorted, and thus finally reaches the ear of the offending one in this round about way. The result, then, is hard feelings and the erring one is caused to drift farther astray, rather than gained and restored. In our selfishness, it suits us better to tell the story of our grievance to others who may be ready to sympathize with us and tell us how badly we have been treated and the like, than to go and seek to gain the one who has done us an injustice. This is not the spirit of Christ or obedience to God’s Word. It is rather only another form of the same flesh that manifested itself in our brother’s trespass.
"If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Love is ever bent on gaining the brother and not on vindicating self. It is not the offender, but "thy brother" that should be the thought before the heart. The Lord had told the disciples of the joy that the shepherd had when he found the straying sheep (Matthew 18:13), showing them that the delight of His heart was the recovery of those going astray. Such should be our purpose and delight too.
But, as another has well written, "This going to `gain’ him will necessarily put my own soul through deepest exercises. If, in true love to him, I am set upon his recovery in a righteous way, what godly watchfulness and carefulness will be wrought in me! With what earnestness and fervent desire shall I plead for him before God! When a bird has left his cage any rude hand or discordant voice can drive him further away, but how great the care and caution that is exercised by the one who really desires to bring him back to food and shelter! If my errand to my brother were only to pain him, the task might easily be accomplished without a particle of exercise; but if I am to gain him, then grace must work both in him and in me" (Geo. Cutting).
It is well to notice that nothing is said here about making satisfaction for the wrong done to one. The Lord does not say that "if he hear thee, all thy wrongs shall be put right," but "thou hast gained thy brother." Undoubtedly, if grace really works in his heart, if he is really gained, one of the earliest fruits of it will be a real desire to right the wrong or the injury he was guilty of. But the securing of this is not to be the motive leading one to go to him. Leaving our wrongs with the Lord we are to seek our brother’s blessing.
Second Step - If the first step of going alone to a brother and telling him his fault does not restore and gain him, but is fruitless, one is not to give up and take for granted that the erring one is beyond recovery. There is always the possibility that one’s manner of dealing with the sinning one may be at fault, so the Lord instructs that another effort must be made to gain the offending brother. A second step is to be taken.
"But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Matthew 18:16). This is the next step which is to be pursued in the matter. The erring one is to be visited again with one or two more who are to plead with him about his fault. It would undoubtedly be best that they should do the talking this time and seek to gain him. If he hears them and yields, the matter will be settled and no further step is necessary. But if he does not hear or yield to the pleadings and efforts of the two accompanying brothers, the case becomes more serious and another step must be taken. The case is now not just a matter of one saying this and another that, but of every word established by two or three witnesses.
Third Step - "If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church" (Matthew 18:17). The two efforts to restore the offending brother in a private way having failed, the matter is now to be made public to the Church. It is to be investigated by the Assembly and pronounced upon. The Assembly warns and entreats this man. If he hears and repents, it is well and he will be restored to the Lord and reconciled with his brother that he trespassed against.
"But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." If he refuses to hear the Assembly, the limit in seeking to restore and gain the erring one is reached and nothing more can be done. He is to be regarded by the offended brother as an heathen man and a publican; that is, you no more acknowledge him in his impenitent state as a Christian. A man who is called a brother in the verse before is like an heathen man and a publican now. A most solemn thing! He has shown a hardness of self-will and a spirit of self-justification. It might have arisen out of a small matter, but his unyielding pride about himself and his own fault is that on which God may pronounce him to be regarded as an heathen man and a publican. The Lord here shows how a great fire may be kindled out of a little spark. The end of this personal trespass might be that the Church is convinced that the man manifests not a trace of Christian life about him.
However, we should notice that Matthew 18:17 does not indicate any action of the Assembly as yet against the man. "If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." While the Assembly may not have acted in the case as yet, the individual trespassed against regards the unrepentant offender as an heathen and a publican.
Fourth Step - The Lord now goes on to speak of binding and loosing by the Assembly of even two or three gathered in His name. This is a fourth step - that of excommunication from the Assembly of the unbending, rebellious trespasser. "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 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. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:18-20).
Because the Lord Himself is in the midst of the gathered Assembly, it is responsible to purge itself of evil and is given the authority to bind or loose sins in a governmental way here on earth. The sin of the unrepentant one is bound upon him and he is put out of the Assembly as an evil person. Such an act, accomplished in the fear of the Lord and in His name and according to His Word, is bound in heaven, ratified there. The Assembly is also given the power and authority to loose sins in an administrative way on earth. In connection with this the Lord speaks of the power of united prayer in the next verse. This power the Assembly should use for the restoration of the one they have had to excommunicate from their midst, remembering that the object of all discipline should be the recovery of the erring one. When such an one is repentant and restored to the Lord, the Assembly looses or remits his sin and receives him again.
7. Putting Away Wicked Persons
We shall now consider the extreme form of discipline, or more properly speaking, the act of excommunication from the Assembly of one who fails to respond to all other forms of discipline and has to be put away as a wicked person. We have alluded to this act of putting away several times and have seen that it constitutes the fourth step in dealing with the matter of one who is unrepentant and unyielding in the case of a personal trespass.
Putting away is the most solemn and serious of all disciplinary measures and is only to be enacted as a last resort and when no other form of discipline can be applied. This action of excommunication from the Assembly cannot be taken by an individual, or by any group of individuals, not even by elders, or by those exercising oversight, but must be the action of the whole Assembly. For instructions as to this extreme discipline we must turn to 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. This chapter deals with the matter of one in the Corinthian Assembly who was guilty of fornication. The whole chapter is instructive and should be studied whenever evil has to be dealt with in the Church. We have already referred to several verses in this chapter in connection with the necessity of discipline and the manner of exercising it, so we shall only quote 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 here.
"Now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."