Title: Matthew 18:15-20
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Blog Entry: 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. 16 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. 17 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. 18 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. 19 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. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. One thing that shouldn’t be in the church is division. Jesus says if a brother offends you discuss it with him. If he want hear you then take it first to two or three witnesses and then to the church. Paul teaches that are civil matters should be taken care of within the church without getting outsiders involved. It is an awful thing when petty disputes ripes a church apart. It is something I have seen happen in two different churches. One of the churches lost its pastor and the other a large part of its congregation. As Jesus says a house divided cannot stand and it is certain it can’t do the Lord’s work when its members are arguing with one another. What I am talking about is disputes over things like funds, events, and other little things that shouldn’t be allowed to tear people apart. But if a member of the church or a group of members are trying to promote a false doctrine inside of the church then they should be confronted and if they refuse to stop then they need to be asked to leave. False doctrine is a cancer that if not stopped just grows until it consumes all of the good within the body. Verse 20 I think is one of the best arguments for church attendance. A lot of Christians want to argue they can be good Christians at home on Sunday also. That may be true but you are missing a lot of benefits of church attendance when you do and verse 20 is one of them.
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