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Jesus. You could be seated. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are holy. Holy are you Lord God Almighty. And worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are Holy are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy are you, Lord God are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Righteous is the Lamb. Righteous is the Lamb. Faithful is the Lamb. Consistent is the Lamb. Mighty is the Lamb. Majestic is the Lamb. Majestic is the Lamb. Matchless is the Lamb. Coming is the Lamb. Yes, Coming is the Lamb. Coming is the Lamb. Amen. Before we jump into the proclamation of God's word, I just want to call us together as a church to remember those whose lives have been devastated by Hurricane Helene. For this very week, families are planning funerals, people have lost homes and people are suffering. I want us to be a people that are not self absorbed and selfish. Even if our personal lives have not been hit, we care enough to pray for the lives of those who have been devastated in our nation. I want us to pray for government agencies like FEMA and ministries on the ground in cities where people have been devastated all across states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, praying for brothers and sisters to get the help that they need. And always praying in tragedy. I do that people who are far from God would be brought nigh to him and that God would be exonerated from the false belief of those who blame him for evil and suffering. That we understand theologically that we suffer not because God is not good, but there are storms and there is death and there is brokenness because of the rebellion of human beings that created a Genesis 3 world, a fallen humanity. And so why God is never to be blamed for evil. He's able to step into evil and bring about good in the middle of evil. So I want us to be a church that is praying as we see devastation around the country and praying as we see drama in the Middle East. The scripture teaches us in Psalm 126 that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That is the city that has God's name on it. It is the place where Jesus will live when he returns back to this world. Amen. Anybody you know? I wish I had the ears of some of the politicians in Washington. I would tell them that they're wasting their time trying to bring peace in the Middle East. I would tell them that the scripture says there will be no peace in the Middle east until the Antichrist has come. And according to the scriptures, he signs a seven Year peace treaty with Israel. And until that day comes, there will be no peace in the Middle East. And that the more we see war in the Middle east, the more we should see that we're getting closer and closer to the end. Because in order for that peace treaty to be signed, there must be drama in the Middle East. But since so many of our politicians have no relationship with God, and because they don't have any relationship with the Scriptures, they have no idea that they're wasting their time in diplomacy. There will be war in that part of the country. And more so because that war would create a cry in the earth for somebody to do something about it. And the scripture says at that time the Antichrist will emerge and he will sign that treaty that will fall apart in three and a half years. And I just want to keep reminding everybody that we don't have that much time left. That I will be a broken record. That you will make the most of your days. That your prayers will have more power and more meaning. That your time will have more meaning. I don't care. They can persecute me, but they can't shut me up. And they can lie, but they can't shut me up. Time is running out. And what we need right now in the west is an awakening. Not just services called revival, we need revival, a mass turning back to Christ before it's too late. Amen. Anybody? If you are guests, we welcome you to 2819. If you are a digital disciple watching me live in cities across the country right now, we welcome you to 2819. If you're sitting in that overflow room, we're so glad that you're here. We welcome you to 2819. And if you're not a follower of Christ, we know that you're in the room. Some of you are sitting in that overflow. Some of you are watching me across this camera live right now. If you're not a follower of Christ, we welcome you to our family, these local community of disciples. We want you to know that you could belong before you believe. You could be amongst us before you believe. You can keep listening to these holy conversations that we are having together about the Lord Jesus Christ. We want you to know that you are Hebrew, Israelite. You can be here, but you cannot spread your doctrine here. You cannot give our pamphlets in the parking lot. We will hunt you down and put you out. Or we will win you to the Lord Jesus. You cannot spread your false doctrine here. You will be exposed. You cannot preach that false doctrine here. But you're welcome to be here among us. But you're not welcome to spread your false doctrine here in Jesus name. And I said that we are in a series right now on the end of a series called Wisdom and Wonder. We are walking through Matthew chapter 12 through 20 together. Just two more chapters in that series and this series will be over. We don't want to presume that you know who Matthew was. So I want to tell you that Matthew was a Jew who lived in the first century A.D. who was outcast from his community. He was converted to Christianity by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Matthew went on to be a follower of Christ, an eyewitness of his ministry, and he wrote the gospel that bears his name before he was brutally executed in the first century A.D. he died as a martyr for what he saw, a resurrected Christ and for what he believed. And we are studying together the book that bears his name. For all of our note takers today, we'll be In Matthew, chapter 18, verse 15:20, a very difficult passage of Scripture, often ignored by the Western church. For if any church would take up this responsibility right here, they put themselves in jeopardy in Western culture. But we cannot skip over what the Lord has given us in his text, albeit difficult and painful to some of us. We must deal with the weight of the text of what the Lord Jesus has said to us. I said to my wife in the back before I came out here, one of my biggest frustrations with the church in the west is that Christ is Savior, but he's not Lord. That we treat this like suggestions and not commandments. We treat this like options and not precepts. And there's so much going on in the church in the west because we don't read and because we don't follow the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. His words are only good for us when it's convenient. But when it's not convenient, we want nothing to do with His Word. But so many of our lives will change, so many of our communities will change, so many of our churches will change if we start reading and obeying the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. At some point in time, he has to be more than Savior. He has to be the authority figure in our life that we have to hear what he says, read what he says, watch this word, and then obey what he says. I'm going to tag a title to this message today. I'm going to call this message a Righteous Confrontation, Eternal God and ever wise Father, we humble ourselves right now in your presence. We feel your love, we feel you among us. We feel you walk in these aisles and these rows. We feel you in that overflow room. We feel you across that camera. And Father, albeit difficult, I pray that as this word is proclaimed, your very words, that you will give us a heart to yield and to obey and to take seriously what you have declared to us through the pages of your word. I pray you would give me strength, God, to proclaim this truth to these, your sons and daughters, and to these, the unbelievers who are in the room. We pray, God, that there will be a harvest of souls even as the word is being proclaimed, that you would convert those who belong to you even from the foundation of the world, God. More than sermons, we want to be awakened. More than sermons, we want to be challenged. More than sermons, we want to yield to your Word. And so, Father, we just pray you would breathe on this time together and that you would awaken now your sons and daughters. I ask for help in my own weakness, in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. And amen. And amen. A righteous confrontation Family, I want to begin this message talking to you about a word that you all love. Because we are American Christians, and that is the word blessings. And when you hear the word blessings, you will stream to it to every conference, you will stream to it to every book and podcast. Wherever there is talk about blessings, there you go, chasing behind us. And when I say the word blessing to you, oftentimes for us who are American Christians, the first thing that comes to your mind are things that are tangible, things that are materialistic in nature. I say blessing and you hear things like homes, you hear things like cars, you hear things like jobs, you hear things like get into another bag, you hear things like God being your genie. And generally, these are the things we think about when we hear the word blessing. But I want to tell you, man, that there are blessings that are far more powerful than that, that they are intangible blessings in this life. That after the blessing of salvation and after the blessing of health and after the blessing of time, perhaps the greatest gift that God has given to all of us is the blessing of kingdom relationships, kingdom marriages, kingdom mentors, kingdom coaches, kingdom brothers and sisters, kingdom spiritual mothers and fathers, shoulders for you to cry on ears to listen to your troubles. One of the greatest blessings God has given you is people who are in the kingdom. For as you grow in Christ, you will look over your shoulder and realize that some of the greatest blessings God has brought into your life have come into your life on two legs, that as you look on your shoulder, you see some of the greatest things God has done in your life. He has done it through the blessing of a relationship, he has opened doors through relationship, he has given you opportunities through relationship, he has counseled you through relationship, he has comforted you through relationships, he's loved on you through relationships. It is one of the most valuable and precious gifts that God has given to his children. And that is the blessing of kingdom relationships. And it is your adversary, that ancient serpent called the devil, that dragon of all who works cleverly and aggressively through people to do anything he can to dismantle and to destroy and to hinder kingdom relationships, even working through people in your own church to hurt you and to egregiously sin against you, that he may bring division between brothers and sisters. In the context of biblical community, relationships, how difficult they are to build and how quickly and easy they are thrown away and destroyed because of the flesh that manifests itself in the offenses we commit against each other. In the context of biblical community, my brothers and my sisters. The Lord Jesus, when he gave birth to the church through the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, envisioned a church, a gathering of people, the Ecclesia in Greek, the called out ones from the world. He envisioned a growing gathering of people who will live with such a purity and such a holiness and such a unity that puts his Christ or puts his name on display, that the outsider will see such a love amongst brothers and sisters, such a unity amongst brothers and sisters, that they would be even jealous of what we have and will run to see. Man. How can it be a part of that gathering? So what the Lord does for us In Matthew chapter 18 is gives us ethical teaching and values that he built in framework, watch, to guide and to govern and to protect this beautiful organism called the church. So it's in Matthew 18 he taught us that in the context of biblical community, we need to be humble. In the context of biblical community, he said we need to be childlike. In the context of biblical community, we need to treat each other like we're talking to Christ. In the context of biblical community, we need to not cause each other to sin. In the context of biblical community, we need to deal aggressively with our own sin so we don't hurt ourselves and then we hurt others. In the context of biblical community, we need to not despise other brothers and sisters and see the value in brothers and sisters. And we need to go after other brothers and sisters when we see them straying from the context of biblical community. So the Lord built in all of these metrics that we will protect ourselves from hurting ourselves and protect ourselves from hurting people. But what the Lord gives us next is probably at the pinnacle of how we protect ourselves from hurting ourselves. After he says, be childlike. After he says, be humble. After he says, treat others like you treat me. After he says, don't lead them into sin. After he says, deal with your own sin. After he says, don't look down upon other children of God. After he says, go after the wanderer, the very next thing he says in the context of community, Matthew 18:15, he says, if your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Now, what we have here from Christ is a framework listen for dealing with conflict resolution inside the context of community. And I want to draw your attention to a few words in the text. The first word I want to draw your attention to is the Word. If what the Lord does with the word, if it presupposes that in the context of biblical community, there will always be a possibility that you may get hurt deeply from somebody inside the church. And what the Lord takes off the table from you and me is this. This false narrative that you keep going, that you can join a church and be a part of a church and never get hurt from somebody in that church. So there's a lot of us who come into gatherings and then be a part of gatherings. And you think, because the people are supposed to be holy, I will be here for weeks, and I'll be here for months, and I'll be here for years. And I expect nobody to ever inflict any pain on me at all. And that what we have is an American context for church, but not a biblical context for church. The Lord taught us right here before the church was formed, as long as you are in community with brothers and sisters, there will always be the potential for you to get wounded as a result of somebody else sinning against you. So I want to draw your attention to this next word, sin. Now, let me tell you what is not in view. Annoyance is not in view. Some of y'all are very petty. Being hyper emotional is not in view. Being rubbed wrong is not in view. Being frustrated is not in view. The Lord does not have those things in view. Because if the Lord was telling us to confront somebody every time he was annoyed, man, we would not survive this. We will be in the lobby and in the parking lot, running up on each other all the Time having beef with people all the time, confronting people all the time. Every time you get annoyed, you got to go say something to somebody. No, that's not in view here, family. Because when we are mature, there's some things, man, you take to your prayer closet, they offend you. You take that to prayer, they annoy you. You take that to prayer, they frustrate you. You take that to prayer. It's only immature believers got to always say something every time you feel something that somebody else has did to you. When we are mature, watch this word. We learn how to absorb certain pains. Like, man, they pissed me off in the parking lot, but I'm just going to pray for her when I get home. Man, they talked to me funny when I was in the lobby, but I'm just going to pray for her when I get home. I don't like the way they're acting on this team, but I'm just going to pray for them when I get home. It's not meant for you to say everything. Every time you feel emotional, you make your ignorance and your immaturity palpable. Every time somebody says something to you or you feel emotional, you got to say something to them. That's not what the Lord is talking about here. The Lord did not envision a church that will be fighting against each other every week because we are so sinful. Man, you will rub people wrong all the time. You cut people off in traffic. He doesn't want you hopping out the car in the parking lot and giving the middle finger and a fist to another brother or sister. That's not in view here. But somebody slandering your name in the church, destroying your witness and your character, tearing up the team that you built on. The Lord has that in view here. He's talking about when people in a church egregiously sin against you. Listen to what the Lord says. Watch. Do something about it. Don't be quiet about it. The Lord is saying, when your brother or sister egregiously sins against you, when it is a legitimate sin that's committed, a bench when you've been wounded, when you have been hurt, the Lord has given you, watch this. A license to go and address the issue. So look at what the first thing he says. He says when this happens to you, he says, go. You know what go is? That is don't be passive about your pain. Don't be indifferent about your pain. If you're up at night wounded all the time. If you feel grieved by what that person is doing you, the Lord is giving you permission to go talk to another brother or sister. So he says, go now. What happens if you don't go? Well, if you don't go, you give the temptation for the pain that you're carrying to ripen into resentment, hatred, unforgiveness, pain. You let that thing on the side, you grow into a whole tree when it started out as just a little bush. So what the Lord said to protect your heart from carrying wounds that deep, I am encouraging you to go talk to your brother and sister. Now, I know it is not easy for us to always go. I know for some of us, we may be shy. You may think, man, I don't want to be confrontational. I don't want to step out of my comfort zone. So you're content to just be a doormat and let people sin against you. So I get it. For some of you, this may be difficult, but if, man, if you can pray when people sin against you and move on, then praise God, you're going to do that. But I want you to see right here in the text, the Lord has given us grace to have healthy conflict amongst ourselves. He is not telling you you're going to be in church and never get wounded. He has given you the presupposition that as long as you are part of a church, and no matter how great that church is, how good the preaching is, how good the worship is, you love the church. You post about the church. You tell testimonies about the church. As soon as somebody hurts you, you take flight, you vomit on social media. You get mad all the time because your expectation was, I would never get hurt in Christian context. No. The Lord says, as long as you're around brothers and sisters, fallen followers, listen, the temptation is always there for somebody to sin against you. So he says, God, the next word I want to draw your attention to is the word tell. You know what tell means? That doesn't mean fight. It doesn't mean argue. It doesn't mean go and attack the person who sinned against you. Jesus said, tell. Tell is have an intelligible conversation. It is articulate your feelings. It is, tell them the tears you've been shedding and the wound you've experienced. It says, tell the person what has been happening to you, man. It's just like, man, there was a sister who used to work for our church maybe five years ago, and she and I had a falling out. She used to work for me, and then she was removed and had to go her separate way. And it was just like A month ago, man, I was on my face in prayer and the Lord showed me her face in my prayer time, man, I don't know if her number changed. So I just got in the dm, it's five in the morning in prayer and I just shot her DM and say, sister, I see your face in my prayer time. I don't know if your number has changed. I don't know how you feel about me, but I just want you to know, man, I'm praying for you in this moment. To my surprise, she's up and she dm's me right back. It's so good to hear from you, man. I've been thinking about you too. And before she could get any other letters out, man, I start typing back. Listen, if I hurt you in any way, if I sinned against you when you were scared, in any way, if I was not a good employer, if I was not a good shepherd, if I was not a good boss, if I hurt you in any way, I want you to hear that. I'm sorry for how I hurt you, man. I take responsibility for the wound that you incurred. I take responsibility for your tears. I am deeply sorry for how I hurt you. Now I'm waiting. I'm waiting for the bubbles to return. And I see the bubbles and here's her response, man, I'm sorry for hurting you too. And I'm sorry for the things that I said and I'm sorry for the things that I'd done. And then here we are at five in the morning having this beautiful back and forth exchange. It's like, man, tranquilo. It's like, man, everything came down and now I'm loving on her and now she's loving on me. And we're apologizing to one another and in the DMs, we're trying to outdo one another with honor. And just a couple weeks ago, she's going through a difficult season and she reaches out to me, can you pray for me? I said, I'll do you want better come to the house? And she comes to the house with her children and she goes down in our basement and she stays in our basement for the whole weekend. And my wife and I, we just love on her and we just feed her and we wrap our arms around her and we listen to her tell her story and we watch her shed her tears and we're there in her presence. And all of this is happening where the next word alone. Not on social media, not blowing her up for everybody to know her not Blowing me up for everybody to know. The Lord said, when you have grief with your brother or sister, go to them. How? In private. Seek private reconciliation before public reproach. Try to deal with the matter in private. But we do just the opposite, don't we? Somebody sins against you in the church, and the first thing you do is air your grievance on social media. You go back to your team, you air your grievance on the team. You go back to your squad, you air your grievance on the squad. And as soon as somebody hurts you, instead of listening to the words of the Lord, the first thing you do is run and tell everybody in the church, church so and so hurt me. So and so said this, so and so said that. And what the Lord is trying to protect us from. Watch this word is acquired offense. He's trying to protect innocent brothers and sisters from being soiled in their heart by the hurt that you're carrying because you did not take the time to go and talk to that brother and sister in private. And because you got hurt and aired your grievance, now you are in sin. And what the Lord is trying to teach us in this first verse is do your best to watch this. Mitigate beef between brothers and sisters. Wow. In private. Now follow the text. When this is written, there is no chapters and verses. The original manuscripts have no breaking points. This is one argument that Jesus is making. Watch. Pastor, I don't get it. So if we are humble, if we are childlike, if we treat other people like they are Christ, if we are not causing others to sin, if we are dealing with our own sin, if we have the character he taught us about in the beginning of the chapter, then when somebody confronts us, we have the character to hear what they have to say. Because what the Lord expects in this moment, that if these two believers have biblical character, then they both desire the same thing. What do they desire? Look at me. They desire peace and reconciliation. But, you know, some of y'all, you like what I used to be. You love to keep drama going. You. You got a spirit of revenge. It been at me, too. You hit me, I'm gonna hit you. You don't like me? I don't like you. You unfollow me, I'mma unfollow you. You shoot at me, I'm gonna. And some of us, our hearts are so dysfunctional. You thrive on drama. You love to keep drama going. You love to hold people in your heart. You love to keep grudges. You love to be killing your own heart. Keeping people pimped up inside of there. So they wounded you out of church, they grieved you deeply. And instead of using the framework, God did watch this to release that tension from your heart. Instead, you bottle up on the inside, and you been dying on the inside. So if two believers make it to this point where you have to be confronted because you sinned against me, what the Lord expects, if we're following the rest of the chapter, is that it ends right there. But look at what the Lord says in the same verse. He says, if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Powerful words of Jesus. He says, if the sister or brother listens to you, watch. You have gained them, you have won them back. This word gain in Greek is the type of word that talks about things that are material or valuable. That is, if you go to the brother and you talk to the brother, and you're humble with the brother and you're loving with the brother, and you're just telling them, this is what you did to me. This is how I feel. I'm not coming to fight. I'm just telling you how I was wounded. And the other brother's like, dang, I didn't know I did that. And he says, man, if the brother, listen, man, you've gained. You've won back something valuable. You got back fellowship, you got back peace. You got back intimacy, or you got back just grace? We good now. No more beef. Ain't got to carry that to my grave. Listen, peace is a valuable thing. But watch the master teaching of Jesus, he uses another if, which means that there's sometimes you'll go and talk to someone and they will not listen to what you have to say. Because some people dead watch. They're too immature to listen. Their hearts are too hard to listen. They're too insecure to listen. They're too prideful to listen. They're too arrogant to listen. Why some people would not listen, because when you confront people about stuff, the only thing you get back from them is character. It does not matter how loving you are. It doesn't matter how kind you are. It doesn't matter how gentle you are. When you talk to people about sinning against you, the only thing you get back from them is their character. And if they have good character, they probably yield. If what you're saying is loving, humble, godly, receivable. But if they don't have good character and love, keep drama going. You know what the Lord says, just leave it alone. No, no, no, no. That's not what he said, come on, you're supposed to be reading. He didn't say, leave it alone. Y'all like, mmm. You agree? No, don't agree. The Lord didn't say, leave them alone. He said, if they don't listen to you, man, take it to the next level. Why? Because the Lord is serious about his children not being in beef. And anybody who's a parent with two kids understand this. Go and talk to your brother and sister. Make it right. They don't want to talk to me. Go back up there again and talk to them again. The Lord wants us to be in peace with one another. So watch. If they don't listen, he ain't say, just leave it alone. No. The Lord says if they don't listen, he gives you a second step. But if he does not listen. Verse 16. Take one or two others along with you. Gosh. That every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. So the Lord is going back to Old Testament doctrine. Let not no charge come without two or three witnesses. So here's what the Lord is saying. If somebody sins against you in the church, it is egregious, it is hurtful, it has wounded you. Go and talk to that brother or sister alone. If you win them, it's over. Watch, listen. The drama is supposed to stop right there. It's done. No need to air them out. No need to put it on social media. It just dies right there. But if they don't want to listen, The Lord cares about his children being in unity so much. He says if they don't listen, go get two or three other people and go back and talk to them. And go second time. Now watch what the Lord does not say. He does not tell us who to bring. So we got to use biblical wisdom on who to bring and who not to bring. So I'm going to tell you who I do not bring to this conversation. I don't bring somebody who is an instigator. I don't bring somebody that likes to keep drama going. I don't bring a hothead. I don't bring somebody who's subjective. I don't bring somebody that doesn't want peace. I don't bring somebody who's immature. I don't bring somebody that likes to throw gasoline on fire. I don't gang up people from my squad who already won over to myself and say, now let's go pounce on this person that sinned against me. No, I bring someone who is objective. I might bring someone who has more authority. I Might bring someone who's more mature. I might bring someone who has some word on the inside of that. Why? With the hopes that if I can't convince them with my words, hopefully the two or three I brought with me might be able to say something to the person that I was not smart enough to say. This happened to me all the time. Many years, man. Some team member is going through something, say, pastor, can you talk to this team member for me? And here we go, two or three of us to talk to some team member, to be diplomatic, to help them to see the error of their ways, with the hopes that we can watch mitigate the sin issue in the person's life. It's at this point, look at me. 99% of all conflict in a church should end. Let me say this to you one more time, because I'm almost finished. Listen to me, American Christians who love to keep drama going. It's at this point, look at me, 99% of conflict you have in the church should end. Let me remind you, the Lord is saying to you, if you attend a church, you will have the opportunity you may have. It's a very strong possibility you may get hurt by somebody. But when you get hurt by somebody, if it is a sin against you, I want you to go and talk to them in private. I want you to mitigate the issue in private. I want you to do everything you can to win back your brother or sister, to help them to see the error of their ways if they don't listen, I'm so concerned about your relationship, that thing that's so valuable. Go get two or three other people who are wise, God fearing, who can talk to them on your behalf. Now, at that point, if we are mature, if we are humble, if we are Christlike, if we are Godlike, if we treat each other like Christ, it should end right there. 99% of all church conflicts should end right there. But y'all already know that's not the reality, right? Because some of y'all have been in churches. That stuff is getting tore up all the time. And we don't want to end the drama. We want to keep the drama going. I know I'm not the only one that's ever been in a church where you see people fighting and they like to keep the drama going. They. They're fighting to win, but they're not fighting for reconciliation. They're fighting with hatred, but they're not fighting with love. And so we hear stories, ongoing stories. They've been at it for months. They've been at it for years. They hate each other. They trashing each other on social media. It went from DMs to squads. It went from teams to so, man. And they keep the drama going. Now y'all got 10 people involved, 20 people involved, 50 people involved. Now you split the church because he wasn't godly enough to end the drama at that point. So now the Lord says, man, if they don't listen to two or three people, man, listen, just leave them alone. No, he didn't say that. Now, the next verse. The next verse is the most difficult one, because when I read to you next verse, you're going to be like, nah, Jesus ain't. Something like that. Jesus don't talk like that. No, he's cutesy, he's demure. He floats around, man. My Lord will never talk to us like that, right? So here is a church with a brother who has sinned against a sister. Her. He tried to molest her in the bathroom. And now she goes back and talks to him like, yo, that thing you did to me in the bathroom, man, it was so wrong, man. It really hurt me. It scarred me. I've been up at night thinking about this all the time. He says, I don't give a darn how you feel. You was giving me some vibes. So I went after that vibes in the bathroom. You was acting like you really wanted. So I don't care. She comes back a week later with an elder and an associate pastor to try to talk to him again. He said, I don't care what none of y'all have to say. She was giving me vibes, like I felt some motion. So I did what I wanted to do. I ain't got to care what none of y'all got to say. I could lead his church. I could. They don't want to listen. The Lord says, man, this man is in trouble. So if they don't listen in a private conversation, and they don't listen with two or three, there is a third and final step that we hopefully never get to. But with some people, you got no choice but to go there with them. So the Lord says, if an unrepentant sinner is tearing up a church, hurting people, inflicting wounds, they won't repent. They won't listen. They won't be coached. They won't be counseled. They won't yield. They won't say sorry. Then you do this next option with them, which is the last and final option. The Lord says, this is what you do to them, verse 17. Since you sense he thinks he's so cutesy and demure, if he refuses to listen to them, I know you can read. It's on the screen behind me, shocked. Go air them out to the whole church. How could Jesus say something like that? No, he's not advocating for slander. He's advocating for accountability. He's saying, if they won't listen, go tell the authority figures of the church. Church. Tell the pastors and elders, Tell the people on your team. Tell as many people as connected to the situation as possible so that people will be held accountable. So, man, when they run from me and they bump into somebody else and they try to tell their story, they'd be like, nah, we don't want to hear that story. We heard about what you did in the bathroom. You need to go and repent. And then they go to somebody else squad and they try to tell their little sorrow story. And we say, no, we don't want to hear your little sorry story. We heard what you did to her in the bathroom. You need to go and repent. And every time they keep hopping to different places, they keep bumping into Christians that obey God's word and say, brother, we not going. Brother, you, brother, you need to repent. Because he says, if they refuse to listen, tell it to the church and let him be to you as a gentile or as a tax collector, that is that if the person will not repent, treat them like an outsider. Gosh. And some of you think, oh, man, how is Jesus so aggressive? The reason he's so aggressive is because he's fighting for unity in his church. So what the Lord is doing right here is putting a boundary of accountability around an unrepentant, sinful person who's tearing up a church and say, listen, I want y'all want the whole church know, block him out altogether. Exonerate him, put him out. Not exonerate, excommunicate him, put him out. If he try to bump into you, don't give him nothing. That is watch. If you can't honor the principles of community, deny him the blessings of community. Since you can't respect the principles of community, the unity of community, we together are going to block you from enjoying the blessings of community. You can't come to the crib, can't come to the squad, can't serve on this team, can't preach no more, can't sing no more. We're going to block you from feeling the blessings of community with the hope that he feels so isolated that it forces him to go back to that sister who he touched in the bathroom and repent. But you know what we like to do? They come to you with a little sorry story, and you coddle them because they're your friend and because there's affinity and because you don't want to hurt them. Because God knows his heart. Yeah, he tried to rape a girl in the bathroom during the gathering. But God knows his heart. Yes, he knows his heart is wicked and full of sin. And the Lord wants him to repent because the Lord loves him. The Lord wants him to be changed. And if we help him in his sin, he will never be changed. So love says, throw him out. Now, in 12 years of pastoral ministry, I've only had to do this one time. One time, a brother was tearing up the church and sowing. Sees a discord and so. And sees a slander. And I went to him privately and he cursed me out in that private meeting. And I tried to talk to more people. He. He fussed it out. And I said, brother, look, if this is the way you feel, you can't stay here any longer. Splits, the church, takes people with him. I mean, just aggressive in his sin. Never came back, never apologized. Never heard from that brother again. Have no idea where he is and what the Lord has given us. Right here. Here it is. Is. Watch the metrics for church discipline. Because nowhere in the scriptures are you ever called an adult. You're only called child of God. And children who disobey need to be disciplined. Gosh. And what the Lord is saying that a church should deal like this with a person who's tearing it up and unrepentant. Now, I know y'all think that is harsh. You know what's more harsh? To dismantle a whole family. Because we don't have the courage to deal with one person, to ruin a whole team. Because we don't have the courage to deal with one person, to ruin a whole ministry because we don't have the courage to deal. We don't have the testicular fortitude to deal with one person. Right? So the Lord is saying, treat them like an outsider. Now watch when the Lord is teaching this. The church did not exist. The church will be born a couple months later on the day of Pentecost. Is there any evidence in the New Testament that they actually listened to what the Lord said? Any evidence that they carried this out? That they treated holiness serious? Purity serious, Unity serious? Is there any evidence that after the God is raised and after the Lord is resurrected, is there Any evidence after the Lord is gone that they actually listened to his words? First Corinthians, chapter 5. The apostle Paul, a former murderer turned Christian, writing to a crazy church full of gifted people, but reckless. Listen to what he says to them in chapter five, verse one. I'm almost done. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that is not even tolerated among pagans. For a man has his father's wife in your church. A man is banging his father's wife in the church. A man is taking down his father's wife in the church. A man is digging in the box of his father's wife in the church. Y'all know this is happening in the church. Y'all are talking about it, laughing about it, DMing about it. Ain't nobody doing nothing about it. That's what Paul is saying. He says, are you arrogant? Ought you not rather to mourn? That is, should your heart not be broken over the sin of this brother that's taken down his father's wife? Should your heart not be grieved to see how this one young man is destroying a family and destroying a church? Should your heart not be broken? He said instead, you're just letting this happen like it's nothing. Watch. It's going to make sense to you in a second. Second. Let him who has done this be now. Watch. You read that word and that's foreign to you. You know why that's foreign to you? Because in the first century, people did not church hop. In the first century, churches were so close knit that to be excommunicated from a church would cause a person to feel so much pain they will fight to get back into that church. But it's only in the west and it's only in modern culture. We're not really a church. We're just loose coalitions of people that sit in rooms all around the country. So as soon as you're sinful and as soon as you're nasty, and as soon as we try to help you with your sin, instead of yielding to church discipline and being transformed in your character, you say, I don't like the fact that y'all confronted me, you bail and you end up in another church to tear that church. Now you 10 churches in, you done destroyed hundreds of relationships, Lips. And nobody don't got the courage to confront you. And every time you get confronted, you put on sneakers and you bail instead of put on prayer and deal with your heart. Come on, man. Come on, man. I know you feel convicted because this is your fifth church. And then you try to come to 2019 with the same sinful practice. And if we find you and confront you, here is your first opportunity. Run again. Or say, you know what, watch. It's time for me to deal with my sinful ways. But see, in the first century, churches were so close knit that if a person was removed from the fellowship, they would feel the pain of the loss of fellowship. It would cause them to think, is it worth me being out here by myself? See, now watch, that don't matter to some of y'all because we live in an individual, individualistic society where you got Christians who think this is not necessary, that is a demonic doctrine. No, I don't care. I'm about to get in trouble. You got people say, I love Jesus, but I don't need the church. Here come the emails. I love Jesus and he and I got something going on, but I don't need the church. If the church is his body, then how do you love him? You can't find no doctrine in New Testament that give you license to be solo. He calls all of his children to community because he does his best work in your life through the sanctifying work of community. Rubbing you, coaching you, you, loving you, disciplining you, training you, breaking you, building you, comforting you. He does his best work through community. But because we live in a radically individualistic society, you have Christians all over social media who say, we love God, but we don't need the church. You have been deceived. Verse 3. For though absent in the body, I am present in spirit. And as if I am present in spirit, Watch. He says, I have already pronounced what judgment on the one who did such thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord. Watch. With the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. That's Jesus talking. He's saying, if somebody's unrepentant, pray them into the hands of the devil. Not now. I lay me down to sleep. Pray them into the hands of the devil. Why we care so much about you. We'd rather you feel the pain of your sin than die and go to hell for all eternity. So man, since you won't repent, since you won't listen, I'm not praying. Bless them. I'm praying, Lord. Deal with them aggressively. Release them to the hands of the devil. Wreck their Whole life. Tear everything out. Put them in a place where they come to a point of extremity, where they have no other option but to repent. See, you don't pray like that. So you let people get away with nonsense. The Lord said, turn them over to Satan so he could wreck their flesh. Punch them in their soul with the hopes that the pain of that discipline will cause them to repent. Why? Because it's better for them to be afflicted now than being hell forever. How's that for American doctrine? You ain't hear that at no conference. Not reading that in no book, don't hear that no podcast. But these are the words of the one you call Savior. See? And then you're gonna go out of here and tell people Pastors. That dude Philip Anthony Mitchell. Oh, he's a hellfire. I hear people trashing me on TikTok or I'm hellfire and brimstone preacher. He's aggressive. I'm reading to you the words of the one you call Lord and Savior. What are you talking about? I'm not mad. I'm not angry. I'm reading to you the words of Christ. I'm reading to you the words of the apostles. Watch this. Watch this. I'm actually teaching you the scriptures. We've heard a lot of sermons, but we have not heard the scriptures. A lot of conferences, no scriptures. A lot of podcasts, no scriptures. A lot of books, no scriptures. A lot of gatherings, no scriptures. A lot of preaching, no scriptures. Nobody. A lot of series, our new series, our next series, A lot of series, no scripture. Just the opinions of men. Google articles, three points in a poem. Jesus is fluffy. He don't care about your sin. Tear up the church. Do what you want. Live and sin. Preach and sin. Sing and sin. Serve and sin. Lead and sin. Do whatever you want. Fluffy. Fluffy. Fluffy. Fluffy. Fluffy. Half of us going to hell. You know what? I'm sick. I don't care. People don't like me no more. I don't care if they don't like me when I get to glory. And there going to be people behind me that says, thank you, Pastor Phillip Anthony Mitchell, for preaching to us the war unadulterated truth. Thank you very much for telling us the truth for all those years. I made it because of the word of God. Somebody give him praise in this house. We made it because of the Word. We made it because of the Word. We made it because of the Word. Somebody said, I made it because of the Word. Give me this camera. This one right here. And for all a soft, cowardly. I call ourselves pastors. Let me help you. You want counsel? Here is counsel. The law said by the Spirit through Paul to Timothy. Preach the word in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. What we talking about? Somebody thank God for the word. Halleluj, Lord. Thank you for your word, Lord. We gonna make it because of the word. We're gonna arrive because of the Word. We're gonna be safe because of. I won't burn because of the truth of this word. I wish I in America would just get sick and tired of cotton candy gospel and get fed up of that nonsense lies in the pulpits and doctrines of demons. We want the word of God. Jesus, I appreciate you. Thank you. They don't like me for this. They're trying to call me out my name right now. They're attacking me on social media right now, trying to come after my character. You know what I'm saying? Like, what we talking about? Like, I ain't bruising my knee in prayer and trying to wring out my own sin. I never said I was perfect. What are we talking about? You don't know me. Are you talking about. I'm gonna tell you about your little dream, your little revelation that came from the devil. You don't know me. Like, the devil don't mess with people minds when they sleep. Come on, sir. Oh, no. Come to 2819. Come and sit down. Come and feel the presence of God. Just come. Come spend time with me. Send me a dm. Ask me a. All right, let me. Let me finish. Because I know you got to get to your restaurant, right? No, it's America. Don't tell me, take my time. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Y'all don't want this right here. You want a different kind of food. You don't want this food right here. You. You want a different kind of food. You don't want this food right here. You want food that's temporary. You don't want food that's eternal. I take my time. No, no, no, no. Ain't no take my time. I see y'all itching. You want to get to the car to beat people out the parking lot? Jesus cannot proceed. Can I proceed? If you want to. So is there any evidence that this man that they threw out felt the pain of his sin and probably came back and said, I'm sorry. Is there any evidence of that? This is First Corinthians, one letter. Then some time will pass. Paul will write Second Corinthians, Another letter. And in Second Corinthians, right? Chapter two, verse five. Paul says, now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it. Not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority, that's the church, is enough. He's come back now. Gosh, that's so powerful. So you should block him. No, rather turn to forgive. Remember what happened in the bathroom all them years ago? I'm sorry. I recognized I was wrong. I was too pigheaded to see. I was too hardened to see. I was too much in my flesh to see. I was too lustful to see. I've been running from y'all for years. I've been in multiple churches. I'm coming back where I belong to say I'm sorry. Would y'all invite me back into the fellowship? I just want to be loved and accepted again. So you should rather turn to forgive him and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive. I also, indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake. In the presence of Christ. So that we fellowship. So that we, the fellowship. Watch this. So that we, the fellowship, would not be outwitted by Satan. We're not going to let him trick us. Us, we're going to love each other so hard. The Devil does not get the last laugh, for we are not ignorant of his designs. Now, let's finish. Last three verses. Everybody listen. Watch this. Now, here's a verse you use out of context all the time. The Lord knew. I'm done. Look at me in overflow. Look right at me. Look right here. The Lord knew that exercising this level of church discipline would be difficult. It would not be easy. It would be stressful for a leadership team. So what the Lord does next, he said, if you ever have to deal with a sister or brother like this, what he gives the church is. Watch this. A group of two sets. That is. I got you. If you got to do this. Here is the text we use out of context. Verse 18. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Now, whenever we quote this, we attach it to prayer. And I've been there, too, man. Like, we get mad at the Devil. He's attacking your kid. Satan. We Bind you in the name of Jesus, we lose loose blood. And if that makes you feel thugged out in your prayer, then do that. But that's is taking a text and making it something else. But in this proper context. You know what this is really saying in the Greek. This is past tense. That is, whatever you bind on earth, I have already bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth, I have already loosed in heaven, said preacher. I don't get it. This is about church discipline, what the Lord is saying to leaders who have to do this. If you put someone out, out, bind, I will back your decision from heaven. And then if you loose that person, that is invite them back into fellowship, I will back your decision from heaven. So if you bind, I back your decision by not letting that person feel peace. I will deal with their soul until they repent. They have been bound. Wow. But then if you they come back in humility and you loose them, I will now loose them from heaven. I will deal now gently with their soul. I give you this authority that if you have to do this, I'm going to back you. If you got to do this, that is, you could bind them and they go out and they trash you on social media, talk about you on TikTok, call you out your name on Instagram, put blogs about you on Facebook. All of that, they could do all of that. But in the courts of heaven, been, they have been bound. Dang, that's so powerful. Ain't nobody getting away with nothing. But if at some point in time, man, they have humility, the Lord says, then I will loose you bind. I bind you loose, I loose. That is, I'll back your decision if it's done right, if it's righteous, if it's holy, if it's godly, if it's in the context of what I've taught you. And then because he knows that will be so difficult, he gives them one more assurance. And then he says to them, watch, man, if your heart is heavy because you got to deal with people like this, he says, again, I say to you, verse 19, if two of you agree on earth about anything, that word, anything in the Greek is a word that means tasks, situations, conflicts. If y'all agree about the conflict, watch in context. And if you ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst. Say, preacher, I don't get it. The Lord says, man, if y'all come together to pray for that brother who assaulted that Sister in the bathroom. Y'all pray for him. What kind of prayers are we praying, Lord? Kill him. No, Lord. Deal with him, Lord. Save him, Lord. Deliver him, Lord. Open his eyes, Lord. Let him feel your love, Lord. Bring him back, Lord. Crush his soul. We're praying that he would repent. And the Lord said, if you cry out for somebody who's in a sinful, unrepentant, rebellious state, the Lord said, I will hear from heaven to deal with that person. That is love. The Lord is not calling us, man, to confrontations of warfare. He's calling us to confrontations of love. He's not calling us to be fighting brothers and sisters. He's calling us to. To seek after reconciliation. He's not calling us to throw people away. He's calling us to fight to keep the community of saints. Watch this word together. Listen. Of all the things the Lord is about to give birth to a church, and of all the things he can address first. He didn't address teaching first. He didn't address serving first. He didn't address giving first. Of all the things the Lord would give, give to his church first. The very first teachings he gives his church is be humble, be childlike. Treat each other like you treat me. Deal with your sin. Don't sin against each other. Don't cause each other to sin. If somebody sins against you, confront them. Can you hear what the Lord is trying to do? He's actually trying to create bodies of believers that live in. Watch this word harmony and peace and holiness. Watch. Because this right here feels more enjoyable when we're not at each other's throat all the time. And that when we do have conflict, we deal with in such a way that we come back to a place of peace and fellowship. That way, man, we grow in character together. We grow in morality together. We grow in witness together. And then we have testimonies of not people running from conflict. We have testimonies of people being reconciled through conflict. What a beautiful church it is to deal with people's sin. And we come out on the other side. Watch this with stronger relationships. This is what the Lord wants for us. This is what the world wants for his church globally. And this is my prayer for you that you would remember the words of Jesus. Watch this. Who led by example. Example because it was you and I who sinned against the Lord. You were born in sin and you've committed so much sin. And the Lord could have left you out there in the sin, but he didn't do that. But what Jesus did through the Holy Spirit was watch come. After you left, the 99 confronted you with conviction and trying to woo you back to the Father, say, come back to the Father. Come back to the fellowship. Come back to the gathering. And what the Lord did was woo you into Philip. Jesus came, he lived, he died. And then he used the Holy Spirit to woo you to the cross, not leave you out there in sin. Woo you back to the Father, woo you back to fellowship instead of letting you be out there headed for damnation. He wooed you back watch in reconciliation with the Father. So in the same way you have been reconciled. He says, go to others and watch reconciliation, reconcile. Be a people that's continuously loving each other deep because love covers a multitude, sin, eternal God and of a wise Father. Don't move. We thank you, Lord, for the power and the truth of your word. We thank you, Lord, for your holy teachings. We thank you, Lord, for your wisdom and for your genius. I pray right now for the gathering of 2019 local and abroad, all of our digital disciples. I pray for the church in the West, I pray for the church globally, Lord, that we would turn from secular humanistic doctrines. We will turn from the ways of the world. We will turn to the Word. We will turn to your teachings, we will turn to your exaltations. We'll turn to you, Lord, in every way. I pray God, especially in the west, there would be revival and outpouring of repentance upon this nation. In the name of your son, we pray your church will move on from empty sermons and empty gatherings and empty conferences and empty books and all these things that are dead, God, that are empty of the Scriptures. And we pray there will be a revival, God, in this nation, God, of people being raised into an Acts 2 church that is deeply devoted to these scriptures. We want you to be Lord and Savior. And so I pray for healing, for wounds. I pray for reconciliation, for broken relationships. I pray this week phone calls will be made, DMs will be sent. Relationships will be restored. Husbands will love wives, wives will love husbands. Friends will say, I'm sorry, relationships will be put back together. Do it through us, Lord. Asking the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you receive that, give God praise right here in the room. Come on, give him praise in the overflow. Hallelujah. Somebody give Jesus praise. If you receive this Word into your heart, Hallelujah. Hallelujah.