God's Pattern for Church Discipline and Restoration

That is powerful. He's saying, you guys are forgiving this man who's done wrong things in your midst. I'm on board and ready to forgive them. You forgave him. God forgave him. I forgive this man who was hurtful to me. He says, indeed, what I have forgiven, if I've forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ. Every step of the way that the the desire, the intention is that repentance would be the action of the individual to bring them back into a close relationship with Christ. [00:22:23] (36 seconds)  #ForgiveToRestore

But here's the thing, Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us, has a bride. Jesus has a bride and Jesus' bride is the church, God's people. And God is actively purifying his bride, the church, as we look forward to the day when we will be a part of, in heaven, the marriage supper of the lamb, where the bride, you and I, will be united with Christ for all eternity without any presence of sin. [00:04:37] (31 seconds)  #PurifyingTheBride

Second, we're to lend a hand. That is to bring some comfort to them. Verse seven actually continues. It says, you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him. Wow. When this person repents, they come back and, hey, brother, I got a seat for you right next to me. Hey, sister. Let me give you a hug. I'm so thankful for what God's doing in your life. Is there anything I can do for you? Could I could I bake you a meal? I know you've got some some challenges going on in life right now. Can I bring some comfort to you? The truth is that sin affects hurt. Sins affects hurt, and comfort is needed after repentance. [00:25:48] (40 seconds)  #ComfortAfterRepentance

God cares about you so much that he is willing to address the sin in your life. And I'm gonna include myself in this, in my life as well. Each one of us has sin that needs to be addressed. God loves us, and he is purifying us in that way. But it's not only to purify each individual Christian on an individual level. God's desire through church discipline is to protect the church as a whole. [00:05:30] (30 seconds)  #PurifyAndProtect

It's a one on one conversation to go between two different people and say, brother, sister, so thankful that God's put us in each other's lives. I appreciate what God's done in in both of us, but I gotta share something with you. The road that you're starting to go down in the area of your purity, it is not of God. The relationship that you are starting to engage in, no, that is not what God has for you. [00:12:21] (31 seconds)  #SpeakTruthInLove

But as we walked through it, so many people said, wow. I'm so thankful. That we are encouraging everybody in our church to walk faithfully in their marriages, that we were able to stand up and advocate for this woman and for her children and the abandonment that was taking place. And so our hope all along is never to be hard hearted or harsh or hurtful, but always to bring restoration at the very high stakes that God outlines in his pattern for church discipline. [00:20:42] (33 seconds)  #RestoreWithGrace

So my friends, let's be people who walk in this pattern, who see, yep, we need God to be purifying us individually. We need God to be protecting us corporately. So we submit to God's plan for church discipline. As we engage in that, I believe we'll see God's best. I believe we'll see his purity coming to fruition, the the purity that he designed for us to be coming to fruition as his church is cared for and protected. [00:33:27] (28 seconds)  #SubmitToGodsPlan

And by God's grace, most of the problems, most of the issues that need to be addressed by church discipline are resolved here. By God's grace, with the work of the Holy Spirit, indwelling both of those believers, by God's grace, most of the problems are healed and restored there. Where that person's able to say, you know what? You're right. [00:13:12] (24 seconds)  #SpiritRestores