SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/9/2023 9:29 AM
My Worship Time
Focus:
PT-3 “The Process And The Place For Discipline”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
18:16-17
Message of the verses: “16 But if he does
not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be
established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 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 collector.”
We have been talking about the church, and what
Jesus was referring to when He was using this word Ekklesia. I mentioned that we
would continue to talk about it in the SD for today as I think that there is
some misunderstanding concerning what Jesus was referring to, so I think it is
best for us to look at another quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary.
“Some
commentators maintain that Jesus was referring to the Jewish synagogue, which
also has the root meaning of assembly or congregation. But Jesus always used another term (sunagoge) when referring to a synagogue,
which in any case would never have gathered in His name. And although He frequently taught in
synagogues and called the worshipers there to believe in Him, His purpose was
not to revise or reform the synagogue but to establish His own ekklesia, the church.
“No organizational structure is mentioned or
intimated here. The reference is not to
a committee, board, or other group of leaders, but to the entire body. There is no higher court beyond the local
congregation in which discipline is to be administered. No bishop, cardinal,
synod, conference, or council has the responsibility for discipline. To delegate discipline to an individual or group
beyond the local church is to go beyond the Word of God. Whether a local church is composed of a
handful of believers or of several thousand members, whether it is a highly
organized urban congregation or an informal group of five or six believers on a
remote mission field, that is where, discipline is to be administered.”
Now
I have written about this subject before, but feel it necessary to do it
again. A number of years ago my wife and
I spent some time in Florida and decided to go to a Presbyterian church near where
we were staying as it was closer to us than the Baptist church, which was the kind
of church we were going to every since we became saved back in 1974. I liked the church because of the sermons
that we heard there, but one Sunday the pastor said something that I did not
believe was accurate, as he spoke about the church being in the Old
Testament. I wrote to him and asked him
if he made a mistake in what he said about the church being in the Old
Testament. He said no it was not a mistake,
and so I wrote back and told him that I believe the Bible teaches us that the
Church began on the day of Pentecost found in Acts chapter two. He did not write back to me and so we did not
go back there but took the longer trip to the Baptist church from then on. Now
as I read this passage in Matthew 18:16-17 I can understand why most
Presbyterian churches teach this, even though it goes against what the Bible
teaches. Many Presbyterian churches also
teach that there is no rapture, and no tribulation period which is taught in
the book of Revelation. They also teach
that Israel has no longer a place in the world today as they were responsible
for the death of Christ which ended Israel.
All of what happened to Israel was in the total plan of God, and if one
bothers to go the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy they will see what
Moses prophesied about Israel. I
remember a sermon where John MacArthur was talking about when he was in
Jerusalem and one of these kind of preachers, who was standing right there in
Jerusalem said that Israel had no future.
Wow talking about being blind, he truly was. I believe that in this passage that Jesus not
talking about the NT church, but I believe that when it comes to discipline in
the NT church we have to follow what He is instructing here. Again the NT church began on the Day of Pentecost
after the preaching of Peter’s sermon found in Acts chapter two.
One
more point that I want to make before we move on to the fourth and final step
of church discipline, which is ostracism, as we will talk about that, Lord
willing, in our next SD.
The church is not to take discipline to any kind of a secular court for resolution as Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 6:1-3. “1 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The
highlighted portion seen above blows my mind, as I can’t imagine doing
this. Perhaps Paul is talking about the
angels who fell when Satan took a third of the angles to be with him. I don’t know, but that is the only thing that
makes sense to me.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to trust the Lord to either find a
place for my wife and me to winter in or to take this idea out of my head. I truly want to go some place to unwind,
especially after finishing my teaching of Hebrews which has been a great burden
to me, and I need a rest from teaching.
I have set up our Sunday school class for me to be replaced for at least
three months, and I am thankful for the three men who will be teaching it on a
subject that I have been reading about for some time now.
1/9/2023 10:16 AM
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