3. What it may well mean is that the relationships which we establish with our fellow-men last not only through time but into eternity--therefore we must get them right. This person may receive undue shame, embarrassment, and humiliation and may fall away from the faith as result. So we have a farther scene. Here we find our Lord, after sending out the chosen witnesses of the truth (so momentous to Israel, above all) of His own Messiahship, realizing His utter rejection, yet rejoicing withal in God the Father's counsels of glory and grace, while the real secret in the chapter, as in fact, was His being not Messiah only, nor Son of man, but the Son of the Father, whose person none knows but Himself. The very idea would have been incomprehensible to a Jew. We need to understand that in the spiritual realm and with the Lord, the time element is treated differently or maybe is non-sequitur. You are the most practical spiritual person I have known. It literally means belonging to the ages; there is only one person to whom the word aionios ( G166) can properly be applied, and that is God. PDF The Matthew 18 Principle for Solving School Problems - Providence Christian Since he was quite unable to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children, and all his possessions, and payment to be made. No sooner had Jesus taught his men his own prayer, than he went on to expand and explain one petition in it: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" ( Matthew 6:14-15). But our Lord with dignity demands of Peter, "What thinkest thou, Simon?" It may be taken purely personally. 3. (iii) Jesus goes on to say that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in the midst of them. Matt 18:17-18 is, or should be used, when defending the Church. Oh, for grace so to bow and bless God, even when our little travail seems in vain! In the chapter that follows we have a companion picture, carrying on, no doubt, the lord's presentation to Israel, but from a different point of view; for inMatthew 9:1-38; Matthew 9:1-38 it is not merely the people tried, but more especially the religious leaders, till all closes in blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. There was no other Church around at the time these words were penned. He had been there before. Here there may be a difference. So in this case there was brought to Him a paralytic man, lying upon a bed, "and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." I'll be better then you. "If he will not hear thee, yet do not give him up as in a desperate case; say not, It will be to no purpose to deal with him any further; but go on in the use of other means; even those that harden their necks must be often reproved, and those that oppose themselves instructed in meekness." God's delight is to pick out the hindmost for the first place, to the disparagement of the foremost in their own strength. If someone sins against us, it is our obligation to point out that sin to them so that they may be reconciled. Now, God would not command us to do the impossible. To lose a hand, to lose an eye by my own doing is just a horribly repugnant thought. In Luke 17:3-4 Jesus is teaching the disciples about forgiveness and says: Be on your guard! The Pharisees were enraged at a power they could not deny, which rebuked themselves so much the more on account of its persistent grace; but Jesus passes by all blasphemy as yet, and goes on His way nothing hinders His course of love. 17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The church may here mean the whole assembly of believers, or it may mean those who are authorized to try such cases - the representatives of the church, or these who act for the church. The Church Refugee sanity video you posted last week gave us some sanity. Your postings enrich life. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. So, if they want to be faithful to the Bible, then they have to follow the Church. hen a sinner has been rebuked with love and yet refuses to repent, he is no longer demonstrating the spirit of a sheep but rather of a wolf. Then inside the house we have not only the Lord explaining the parable, the history from first to last of the tares and wheat, the mingling of evil with the good which grace had sown, but more than that, we have the kingdom viewed according to divine thoughts and purposes. Those who, upon their repentance, are received by the church into communion again may take the comfort of their absolution in heaven, if their hearts be upright with God. Jesus used the word Church only two times in the New Testament: once in Matt 16:18 (where Jesus builds the Church upon the rock of Peter), and once in Matt 18:18. The "church" of Matthew 16:18 is the Messianic Church, Jews who had recognized Jesus as Messiah, Christ, the Son of Godthe profession that Peter made in verse 16. (iii) It has a warning to silence all evasion. In Matthew we have no distinction of their call from their mission. Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. "Verily, I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." The fact that you cannot see Him is of no import at all. It is easier to label and scapegoat someone as the cause of problems than to forgive them perpetually. Matthew 18:17 applies to local churches. Jesus says that, if two upon earth agree upon any matter for which they are praying, they will receive it from God. . If they listen to you, you have won them over. (iv) The love of God is a rejoicing love. He evinces, that at the very time when Peter forgot the vision and the Father's voice, virtually reducing Him to mere man, He was God manifest in the flesh. Thank you. Matthew 1:18-19. This was testing matters more closely. 18:21-35 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Note, The presence of Christ in the assemblies of Christians is promised, and may in faith be prayed for and depended on; There am I. If there is a mortal sin in many Matthew 18 disciplinary environments, it is alleged gossip and not following all the steps of Matthew 18 to address a problem in a local church. Some people think Matthew 18 is an early church version of a "Manual of Disciple.". But this does not help the body of Christ grow and mature as people or as a church. he is as a religious person z.''. Disease must obey Him, as the soldier or the servant obeyed the centurion, their superior. Silent Killers of Faith Oh my! [17 . Reproving a brother who had sinned was a positive command under the law. Do not stay till he comes to thee, but go to him, as the physician visits the patient, and the shepherd goes after the lost sheep." 19:15 and refers to witnesses of the subsequent confrontation . So, when more is added, He says, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Note, Those should think it high time to repent and reform, who see their misconduct become a general offence and scandal. Am I missing something, or did not the Church start soon after the death and resurrection of our LORD Jesus Christ? I love it.But He said. It ought to be so with every forgiven soul. The point of the passage, however, is for the restoration of the sinner to be reconciled to the body of Christ. The very size of the millstone shows the awfulness of the condemnation. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 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." But none the less do we find His affections engaged for the help of the helpless. It might be well enough for a Pharisee; it might be worthy of a legal formalist, but it would never do for God; and the Lord Jesus was come here not to accommodate Himself to their thoughts, but, above all, to do God's will of holy love in an evil, wretched world. Thus, in the scene of the leper, we have Jesus presented as "Jehovah that healeth Israel," as man here below, and in Jewish relationships, still maintaining the law. In the opening chapters of Amos there is a series of condemnations on the various nations for three transgressions and for four ( Amos 1:3; Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9; Amos 1:11; Amos 1:13; Amos 2:1; Amos 2:4; Amos 2:6). They have treated the Bible either with levity, or as too awful a book to be apprehended really; not with the reverence of faith, which waits on Him, and fails not in due time to understand His word. 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. (ii) It stresses the terror of the punishment of those who teach another to sin. The Greek word is constantly so used as an expression of contempt, "This [fellow] doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." Secondly, If that doth not prevail, then take with thee one or two more,Matthew 18:16; Matthew 18:16. The question of the disciples was: "Who will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" Perhaps modern interpretations of this verse are different, but in antiquity "telling it to the Church" was understood to mean to the rulers of the Church and not to some assembly of persons in general. 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. They are the circumstances that preceded the discourse upon the mount, as given in Matthew 5:1-48; Matthew 6:1-34; Matthew 7:1-29. , Synagoga Judaica, de Judaeorum fide, ritibus, ceremoniis, tam publicis et sacris quam privatis, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. 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. Mark gives them in the end of his second and the beginning of his third chapters. Not so. Thank you for all the people you are helping and all the help you have been to us. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously. A. R. S. Kennedy drew this vivid picture to contrast the debts. Jesus says to take the wayward brother to the Church for reproval. He is not going to lower Himself to a human measure. Matthew 18:15-20 . Who but God could heal? What is the case supposed? The faithful and true witness, it was His to display that power in goodness which shall be put forth fully in the world to come, the great day when the Lord will manifest Himself to every eye as Son of David, and Son of man too. Matthew gives no such details, but call and mission are together here. This finds its fitting place, not in Luke, but in Matthew, particularly as the details here (not in Mark, who only gives the general fact) cast great light upon God's dispensational ways. We get to that when we get to Luke's gospel. In the next discourse we may hope to have the rest of his gospel. If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the Pornography and Church Discipline | Desiring God By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. If the person with the concern has confronted the other, and that person denies it or the sins severity, take the next step and intervene on their behalf. "Their angels," said Jesus, "always behold the face of my Father who is in Heaven." All rights reserved. He was there for the express purpose of glorifying God. Thus the whole power of gospel ministers is resolved into the word and prayer, to which they must wholly give themselves. We are dependent, therefore, for determining this case, on the fact that Mark does habitually adhere to the chain of events. The spoken word can often settle a difference which the written word would only have exacerbated. - Rev. That is why the Catholic Church has been around for 2,000 years, and the Protestant sects continue to splinter by the thousands each year. At the close of this chapter 9, in His deep compassion He bids the disciples pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into His harvest. Thereon, coming into the ship, the wind ceases, and the Lord exercises His gracious power in beneficent effects around. Matthew 18:1-20. 15 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. But nothing turned aside the purpose of God, or the activity of His grace. And He came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them." For us, treating like tax collectors and Gentiles means: have no contact, turn them over to satan, or worsecondemn them to hell. He tells the believers in those churches not to associate with those who have resisted correction. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. So synagogue means congregation or assembly, which certainly fits the context of what Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18. "If he will not hear the church, will not stand to their award, but persists in the wrong he has done thee, and proceeds to do thee further wrong, let him be to thee as a heathen man, and a publican; take the benefit of the law against him, but let that always be the last remedy; appeal not to the courts of justice till thou hast first tried all other means to compromise the matter in variance. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. What could be said of her intelligence then? In Matthew 17:1-27 another scene appears, promised in part to some standing there in Matthew 16:28, and connected, though as yet hiddenly, with the cross. In short, he had a question because he was a man. In other words there is no reckonable limit to forgiveness. Mt 18:21-22 correspond to Lk 17:4; the parable and the final warning are peculiar to Matthew. It was necessary to complete the picture. If they listen to you, you have won them over. Note, Christ has been pleased to put an honour upon, and to allow a special efficacy in, the joint-prayers of the faithful, and the common supplications they make to God. It is the power of grace. Receiving a little child in Jesus' name refers to complete acceptance of a child-like believer because of his innocent and unrestrained trust in the Lord. In Judaea it was tragically easy for sheep to go astray. Chapter 8, which opens the portion that comes before us tonight, is a striking illustration as well as proof of the method which God has been pleased to employ in giving us the apostle Matthew's account of our Lord Jesus. Considerable time, it is true, elapsed between the two facts; but this only makes it the more sure and plain, that they are grouped together with a divine purpose. I love Jesus; He is a man's man. He also gives Peter the keys of the kingdom, as we see afterwards. Then, alas! The ignorance is wholly on our side: all they say or omit was owing to the far-reaching and gracious wisdom of Him who inspired them. (i) It can mean for my sake. The unparalleled grace of the Saviour must form and fashion the saints henceforth. Can we press behind it and come to the actual commandment of Jesus? In Matt 18:17-18, Jesus is clearly telling us that the Church is the final authority on questions of faith or discipline. Would any man make of the Messiah a mere man and a mere subject of the law given by Moses? 15. neg. Jesus takes it one step further . Get the BEST VALUE in digital Bible study as you prepare for Easter. Josephus calls hell an everlasting prison. I think each church leader needs to read these books, I may buy one for our leaders. What is the meaning of Matthew 18:18? - Quora (Matthew 19:30.) If they listen to you, you have won them over. ________________________________________________. There are those who never give of their best except on the so-called great occasion; but for Jesus Christ every occasion where even two or three are gathered in his name is a great occasion. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' Nothing that we have to forgive can even faintly or remotely compare with what we have been forgiven. Dissent or disagreement is viewed as disloyalty to the group, denomination, or an individual leader. And the servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, O Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. Matthew 18 is a principle especially directed to the Christians. ( Matthew 18:21 ), Now I imagine that Peter at this point thought I am really setting a great example here. Jesus takes it from confronting with one person [v15] to confirming it (in obedience to the Law) by 2 or 3 witnesses [v16] to an even larger group in the church [v17].