📖 Whether They Listen or Not, Ezek 2:5, Jn 12:48, Mt 18:17: Church Discipline's Part of Great Commission, Disciples Made By Teaching All, Mt 28:19-20

[Chrysostom]

You have spoken truly that we are commanded to speak whether they listen or not. The prophet was sent with this very word, whether they hear or refuse to hear, and the Lord Himself told Moses that Pharaoh would not listen and yet sent him still. Our task is not measured by reception or popularity or public opinion, but by obedience. The Great Commission does not end with going and baptizing, but continues, teaching them to observe everything Christ has commanded. That teaching belongs to the making of disciples, and for this reason church discipline itself belongs to the Commission. When the Lord says if he does not listen to two or three witnesses, tell it to the church, He shows that love does not leave sin unaddressed but seeks to win the brother or sister.

Your desire to see this carried out for the sake of repentance and holiness in the community is right and according to love. The word that is spoken will itself judge on the last day, as Christ said, and whether men receive it now or reject it, we must still speak the truth in love and leave the result to God. This is not man centered but God centered, for we seek to please Him and not men.

Be encouraged that repentance remains open. It is not excluded. There is no second baptism, but there is repentance and it has great power to lift even one who has fallen into the depth of wickedness, if he will lay hold of it. The medicine of repentance is first the condemnation of our own sins, to confess them openly before the Lord, to accuse ourselves and not excuse ourselves, declaring our sins that we may be justified. For the righteous man is an accuser of himself at the first speaking.

Yet we must also understand what true repentance is. Esau sought the blessing carefully with tears and found no place of repentance, not because repentance was denied to him, but because his tears were not repentance as it ought to be. He did not condemn his own sin as he should, and his later intent to kill his brother proved it. In the same way, many may show sorrow and speak general and polite words, but true repentance condemns the sin, turns from it, and seeks to be cleansed and to walk in the light as He is in the light.

Therefore continue in prayer and in faithful witness. Bring the matter as the Lord directed, with witnesses, and then to the church, not from a spirit of contention but from love that desires that none should perish and that the church should be kept holy. Do not be discouraged if the response seems vague or slow, or if your words are answered only indirectly. The apostles and the prophets spoke often to those who would not hear, and Christ Himself came to His own and His own did not receive Him. The sower still sows, and the Lord still gives wisdom and a mouth which adversaries cannot resist, and He is with us to the end of the age.

Pray that all, both those who correct and those who are corrected, may repent and believe the gospel, fear God and keep His commandments, and be strengthened to obey all that He has spoken, whether they listen or not. May the Lord guard your heart with His peace and form Christ again in those who have fallen, that they may find forgiveness and walk in holiness.

 

[Silas]

Your desire to see obedience to everything Jesus commanded is right and biblical, and your burden to speak whether people listen or not reflects what Scripture itself teaches. The Lord told Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious house whether they listened or not, and Jesus said the word He spoke will judge on the last day. Faithfulness is measured by obedience to the commission, not by the response. From Adam and Eve, to Pharaoh, to Israel in the wilderness, to those who rejected Jesus though He was their Maker and came to His own, God still commanded His messengers to speak. Even the seventy He sent out were told to shake the dust from their feet where they were not received. Reception and popularity were never the measure.

The Great Commission is not only to go and to baptize, but to teach disciples to observe all that Christ commanded. That includes calling people to repent and believe the gospel, to walk in the light as He is in the light, and to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins. We cannot pick and choose which commands to teach. If we do, we are not making disciples as He defined it.

Jesus gave a clear way for settling sin and differences within His people. First go privately to the brother or sister. If there is no hearing, take one or two witnesses so that every matter may be established. If there is still no hearing, tell it to the church. If there is refusal to hear the church, then that person is to be regarded as outside the fellowship, as one who still needs to be evangelized. Though Jesus taught this before the church was formed, this is the pattern He established for maintaining relationships and for purity. Its aim is not punishment for its own sake but restoration, the hope of bringing a person to repentance and to holiness in the community. John reminds us that if we walk in the light and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse.

That purifying work is part of why the church exists. Jesus said His people are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. If the church loses its saltiness and ceases to be a preserving and purifying influence, it becomes good for nothing and is trampled. A church that exists only as a social center has lost its calling. Our mission is spiritual and moral, to open eyes and to hold forth the gospel with grace and truth. God uses ordinary people with the same weaknesses we all have, yet He calls us to do this work with a right heart. A person can be busy with many good works around the church, but if the attitude is wrong, God looks past the activity to the heart. Speaking the truth in love requires both truth and love, with humility and self examination.

I understand your frustration in sending messages to those with responsibility and receiving only polite generalities in return, and sensing that public posts are an indirect answer. Continue to follow the order Jesus gave, patiently and without striving for attention or public opinion. The Scriptures were not written to be man centered or to please seekers, but to be God centered. Do not be driven by whether you are heard or affirmed. Settle it in your heart to speak faithfully and to trust the Lord for the outcome, knowing He promises to give wisdom to His witnesses and that He is with His people to the end of the age, and that He will guard with His peace those who bring their requests to Him.

Pray that all involved, including yourself, would repent where needed and believe the gospel, would fear God and keep His commandments, and would walk in obedience to every word that comes from His mouth. Pray for a spirit of confession and cleansing, for holiness, and for reconciliation where it is possible. Pray that leaders would lovingly apply what Jesus taught about discipline, not to harm but to rescue, and that the one you are concerned for would come to repentance and to a life that honors the Lord in purity. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and the pattern He gave for marriage and for sexual purity is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with sexual union and living together belonging only within that covenant. Ask God to bring all hearts into conformity to that good design, and to make His church a faithful light in a dark world.

May the Lord strengthen you to set your hope fully on the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ, to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony, and to remain sober and faithful whether others listen or not, trusting that His word will accomplish His purpose.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf. We are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer concerning obedience to all that Jesus commanded and the carrying out of church discipline according to Matt 18:17 and Matt 28:19.

We have continued to pray with you that we would be faithful to teach all that Christ commanded whether they listen or not as spoken in Ezek 2:5, and that we would remember that the Word itself will judge on the last day as in John 12:48. We have asked the Lord to give courage and wisdom to you as you have reached out to the person with authority, and to work in the heart of that leader and in the heart of the one you desire to see brought to repentance and holiness according to 1 John 1:7. We have prayed that the Great Commission would be fulfilled not only in going and baptizing but in teaching to obey everything Jesus commanded, Matt 28:20, and that God would be glorified whether the response is repentance or rejection, knowing that He is with us even to the end of the age.

If your request has been answered and you have seen obedience and repentance or a clear step forward, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice with you. If your request does not yet seem to have been answered, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

We pray that the Lord will strengthen you to continue to speak the truth in love with grace and perseverance, and to trust Him for the fruit in His timing as you seek to overcome through the word of your testimony, Rev 12:11.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in Jesus Name, Amen.