Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00014B
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00:01 Welcome back, we're discussing
00:02 Matthew Chapter 18 and we are exploring 00:06 how we should treat one another 00:07 within the family, faith, within the church. 00:10 And Jesus has some very specific instructions. 00:13 Let's go little further and answer your questions. 00:15 Okay, it's not hard in the church, 00:18 to be loving towards people 00:20 who are loving towards us and who are okay. 00:22 Jesus is not talking about that. 00:24 He is talking about the church 00:25 where there are people who are lost. They've seen us. 00:31 And Jesus says, like the shepherd 00:34 going out to look for lost sheep, 00:36 so we have to go and find those lost sinners, okay. 00:40 So what are the steps that Jesus here prescribes 00:44 telling us how we are supposed to go 00:46 and to see the sheep. 00:48 It's those of well-known verses 15. 00:51 Let's go there. Jesus says, who is-- 00:54 I want to reemphasize that this context, 00:57 we often read verses 15 and following. 01:00 Without remembering what comes before or after. 01:03 So in the context of seeking the lost sheep 01:06 let's go to Matthew Chapter 18. 01:07 So we are looking for a lost sheep, 01:11 who is that lost sheep. 01:12 Well, there is so much to be said here. 01:14 How does, Glenn, how does verse 15 begin? 01:18 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, 01:21 go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. 01:24 If he hears you, you have gained your brother." 01:26 Glenn, how does Jesus refer to that little one 01:32 that lost sheep in the church? 01:34 Brother. Your brother. 01:37 Keep in mind that person who lost in the church 01:41 is my brother, not the sinner 01:43 that I have despised him, that I have to remove him, 01:47 I have to distance myself from him, he is my brother. 01:52 Glenn, there is something that comes to my mind. 01:54 It's also in the synoptic. 01:56 It's not in the Gospel of Matthew. 01:57 Do you remember when that young man 02:00 in the Parable of the Prodigal Son 02:02 came back to the father? 02:04 His older brother came. 02:07 Everybody was celebrating. 02:09 They're rejoicing, or repentance 02:11 of that young man, but his brother did not 02:14 want to even to enter the house. 02:16 And the father comes out. 02:18 And he says to the father, 02:20 you know how a long time I have been faithful to you. 02:24 But when your son came-- 02:27 He doesn't call him his brother? 02:28 --when your son came 02:30 what is that the father says to him, 02:33 "my son, yeah, everything what you said is okay. 02:36 You are faithful to me. 02:38 But you should come and to see your brother who came." 02:42 This is exactly the point judging you. 02:44 We have to understand when we have 02:45 the person in the church, who is weak in faith, 02:49 who has a spiritual problems etcetera. 02:51 Jesus says, he is your brother. 02:54 Go and talk to him. 02:56 This is the first step how we should go 02:59 and look for the lost sheep. 03:01 And that first step Ranko, is first to go 03:03 our brother or sister. Sister. 03:05 How? One to one. One to one. 03:08 Not to spread around. 03:09 He is your brother, keep in mind. 03:11 You love your brother. She is your sister don't go-- 03:12 You keep--your sister, you keep you reputation. 03:16 Go, pray with that person, talk to him. 03:19 If that person recognizes his condition comes back, 03:25 the whole heaven rejoices. 03:27 But if not there is a second step verse 16. All right. 03:30 "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more 03:35 that by the mouth of two or three witnesses 03:37 every word may be established." 03:39 This text is very much misunderstood. 03:41 If he doesn't obey me, let me take one or two witnesses 03:45 that I have the evidences that he screwed up. 03:47 I cannot number and intimidate 03:49 and take the evidence. 03:50 Actually this is not what Jesus tried to say. 03:52 Usually the Christians they do when they read the Bible 03:55 they don't connect verse 16 with verse 19 and 20. 03:59 Glenn, would you this text. 04:01 Verse 19? And 20. 04:02 "Again I say to you that if two of you." 04:04 Okay, what is the beginning of this text? Again. 04:07 What does it mean, again I say to you? I'm going by. 04:09 The Jesus said it before, okay. Let's go on. 04:12 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree 04:15 on anything on earth that they ask, 04:18 it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 04:21 For where two or three are gathered 04:23 together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." 04:26 So number one, Jesus said, 04:27 "Again I say to you if two or three 04:31 are gather in My name" 04:33 where did Jesus talk before about two and three. 04:36 He just mentioned it back in verse 16. Verse 16. 04:39 Why here we have take one or two, 04:41 here we have two or three. 04:43 You see, if you take, you are one 04:45 and if you take one or two then you are two or three. 04:50 Why are you supposed to take to find 04:53 one or two people with you to go with that brother? 04:56 Not to have witness to use against Him. 04:59 According to Jesus, you are supposed to pray for them. 05:04 You invite people who are spiritually strong, 05:06 who also love that person. 05:08 And you explain the situation, 05:10 you pray together you ask God. 05:12 But as you pray, as you discuss about the brother 05:15 what is that that you have to keep in mind? 05:17 That Jesus is present with you so the question 05:22 that you have to ask yourself, 05:24 Jesus, we tried to deal with his brother to help him. 05:28 How would you relate to him? 05:30 How would treat to him? 05:32 We must keep in mind always 05:34 awareness of Jesus presence with us. 05:37 We have to treat that brother in Jesus spirit 05:41 as we try to restore him into 05:43 the fellowship of the believers. 05:44 This passage is often thought of as a redemptive-- 05:47 as a discipline thing. 05:48 But you're saying there's a redemptive function here. 05:52 It's discipline. But it's redemptive. 05:53 Yeah, you and me, we had our kids 05:55 when they were a-- we disciplined our kids. 05:57 For what purpose, to kill them? 06:00 They thought so, sometimes. No. 06:02 It was redemptive. Yes. 06:04 Because we wanted to put them on the right path. 06:06 This is discipline. That's right. 06:07 But no discipline that's usually many people think 06:11 it's about is discipline to save a person. 06:14 So this is not the point of cleaning the church books 06:16 and kicking out of those who don't measure. No. 06:19 It's to treating people in love of Jesus. 06:21 And let me say and finally 06:22 they were successful, Praise God. 06:24 They won't have any rejoices 06:26 but the person is still stubborn. 06:28 What is the next step? 06:29 "And if he refuses to hear them tell it to the church. 06:33 But if he refuses even to hear the church, 06:36 let him be to you like a heathen 06:37 and a tax collector." Let's talk here. 06:39 So present to the church 06:41 what is the church supposed to do? 06:43 To plan. In the same spirit. 06:45 To plan how to work with that person 06:47 with the same spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 06:50 As the church is, is relating to that lost brother 06:54 that little one they must think about Jesus Christ 06:57 whom they serve. 06:58 If that person admits and that person comes back, 07:02 Praise God, the whole heaven the entire church rejoices. 07:06 But if not then the church has to take one step 07:10 and what is the step. 07:11 And unfortunately these steps have been 07:14 so much misused. Oh, yes. 07:16 People say you see, "Jesus said, 07:18 kick out that person from the church." 07:20 And Glenn, I just want to tell you, 07:22 I hear her in one place even people say, 07:26 well, Jesus said when there is garbage in the church, 07:29 take that garbage and throw it out. 07:31 And we would have to say that sadly 07:35 there have been injustices, as people been mistreated 07:38 and greatly hurt by the church. 07:41 But the description here is "let them be to you 07:44 like a heathen." What does it mean? 07:45 Glenn, Glenn, what Jesus said here, 07:48 does it imply that you have to do 07:50 the fellowship that person. Yes. 07:52 To treat them like a heathen. 07:53 Yes, tax collectors and sinners 07:56 are outside the church, that's fellowshipping. 07:58 But there is something very interesting. 08:00 In the New Testament there is a technical Greek word 08:04 for this fellowshipping which is the word 08:07 "Ballo" or "Exballo." 08:08 It means cuss them out from the Church. 08:11 But amazingly Jesus is not using this expression here. 08:16 Yeah, Jesus said his fellowship to the person. 08:19 It's clearly there, there are some people who said no, 08:21 there is no this fellowshipping. 08:23 Jesus says this fellowship, but Jesus used expression, 08:26 "make that person to be to you, 08:30 as a sinner and tax collectors, why? 08:33 Because even the sinners and tax collectors 08:37 were the object of Jesus greatest love. Yes. 08:40 It means put that person 08:43 outside of the Church and do what? 08:46 You know, when you see tax collectors or sinners, 08:48 what do you do? You want to preach the gospel to them. 08:52 You pray for them, you make great effort 08:55 to bring them to the church. 08:56 So Jesus says, put those people outside of the church 08:59 that they realize their condition. 09:01 And then work, make the same effort 09:04 to bring them back to the church 09:06 as you do with tax collectors and sinners. 09:08 What a wonderful savior! 09:11 Your ministry is not over. 09:13 So even then you, these fellowship people 09:15 from the church it's not punishment, 09:19 it's to help them. 09:21 It's to discipline them to restore them 09:24 into the fellowship with, with, with God. 09:26 You've cleared up one often misunderstood text 09:29 but another one is verse 18. Yeah. 09:32 "Assuredly I say to you whatever you bind on earth 09:35 will be bound in heaven, 09:36 and whatever you loose on earth 09:38 will be loosed in heaven." 09:39 This text has been so misunderstood. 09:42 I just want to tell you 09:43 when I was a young Pastor in ministry. 09:45 I saw they bring people 09:47 before the church board sometimes. 09:49 And you know, the person, yeah is guilty, 09:52 is not guilty you know whatever it is. 09:54 But they say, you know, you, 09:56 we have a right to do it because whatever we do, 09:59 Jesus said, God will seal it there in Heaven. 10:02 Is that indeed what Jesus said. 10:04 Glenn, I don't know 10:07 what you have in your English translation. 10:10 Can you read this text one more time in-- 10:12 "I say to you assuredly whatever you bind on earth 10:15 will be bound in heaven, 10:17 whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 10:19 You know, we don't like to talk 10:21 too much about Greek language. 10:22 But please allow me 10:24 to say exactly how it looks in Greek. 10:27 And Glenn, English is your language 10:30 and please I would like you to explain 10:31 to me grammatically what it means there. We'll try. 10:33 Actually in Greek, if you want to translate literally, 10:36 it says, "Truly I say to you whatever you bind on earth, 10:41 it shall-have been-bound in heaven." 10:48 And then it says, "And whatever 10:50 you loose on earth it shall have been loosed in heaven." 10:56 You know, binding means to accept someone in church. 10:59 To loose, it means somebody's fellowship on the Church. 11:02 Glenn, what does grammatically 11:04 these saying of Jesus tells us? 11:06 You're dealing with tenses and we're dealing with times. 11:08 Yes, it's the future perfect tense. 11:10 So what--the text says, is it, 11:13 is it that the Heaven follows the decision of the Church? 11:17 No. Or what does the text say? 11:19 What you just said, is that "It happens in Heaven first." 11:23 So the Church has to follow the decision of Heaven. 11:26 What the text tell us what ever you bind on earth, 11:29 be careful that it is in accordance 11:33 what was done there in the Heaven. 11:34 I wanna make sure we got that, Ranko, that the church 11:37 needs to follow the decision of Heaven. 11:38 Of heaven. Not the Heaven for instance. Heaven leads. 11:41 You know that the medieval theology, 11:43 medieval persecution is, is whatever we do with people, 11:47 God will seal there in Heaven. 11:49 How much in people can misunderstand the Bible 11:52 and misuse the Bible in order 11:55 to support their theology and ideas. 11:57 What a savior we have. Yes. 11:59 Savior, who cares both for the righteousness 12:03 for those who are spiritually strong 12:06 but His love is equal towards those who are weak, 12:11 those who are lost, those who are struggling spiritually. 12:14 Jesus love, try to reach everybody. 12:18 We have to understand that 12:20 Jesus is anchor chain to reach people. 12:22 But He is using me, me and you 12:26 in order to find those, 12:28 those who were lost in the Church. 12:29 And although we can't go in to it, let's remember 12:32 that there is a parable that comes right after this. 12:34 We will come to that in the next lessons. 12:36 I would like to, to say something to the viewer, 12:39 I know that there are many Christians, 12:41 they stopped going to the Church. 12:43 And they don't go any Church to worship Christ. 12:46 They distance themselves from the community of believers 12:48 because of the mistakes that people made. 12:51 And some of them they feel even a bitterness. 12:55 I just want to tell you something. 12:56 Don't look at people. 12:59 Don't look at people's mistake. 13:01 Look at the Jesus Christ. 13:03 There are still many loving Christians 13:05 that Jesus Christ is using to reach people for, for Him. 13:09 Come back to Jesus Christ 13:11 and you'll be accepted by Him. |
Revised 2014-12-17