Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector. Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst. Then Peter came and said to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy times seven. Matthew 18:15-22
The Lord gave us the step-by-step way in Matthew 18. These steps are to go to the person alone, then with one or two others, and finally to the church. If he would not listen even to the church, would we give up? We may stop with verse 17 of Matthew 18 by simply letting him be to us like a Gentile and a tax collector. If we stop here, however, our group will be reducing instead of increasing. Following verse 17 is verse 18 where the Lord said that we have to learn to bind and to release. We have to learn to pray in harmony for a sinning one. Then the Father in heaven will perform what we ask and will be in our midst. We also have to learn to forgive others countless times. This is the reality of the vital groups.
In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers and charged them to remove an evil one from their midst (v. 13). Paul’s charge was somewhat comparable to that of the Mosaic law in the Old Testament (see Deut. 13:5; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7). But in 2 Corinthians Paul was tender, cautious, and considerate regarding this sinful person. After Paul told the saints to remove him, he did not have the peace, so he sent Titus to see the situation. Titus brought back the good news that this evil man had repented (7:6-13). Then Paul said that the saints should forgive and comfort this one. Otherwise, they could be taken advantage of by Satan (2:6-11). (Excerpt from The Vital Group, Ch. 1)
These days the Lord's speaking is on the matter of fighting the good fight against the works of the enemy and also fighting for the saints and the church. Yesterday, we had the church's ministry meeting in which we listened to the message spoken by brother Witness Lee on the vital group. Today, in our Wednesday coworkers' fellowship, the same message was played. The Lord's speaking is also being followed by His hands.
Immediately after I got the light on the matter of taking care of the sinning ones, based on Brother Witness Lee's message, I received a phone call from a brother concerning a new couple who just started coming to the church. Though they are not legally married, they have been living together as a couple. We have already fellowshipped with them to set their relationship right before God and man, which they are willing to do whenever they could as that involved money which they do not have at the moment. Meanwhile, they were caught red-handed yesterday in a very embarrassing situation of a physical fight due to a relationship issue between the brother and the sister. When another brother narrated to me what he witnessed of the entire situation as we both are shepherding them from the very beginning, I was reminded of the way the Lord dealt with a woman caught in adultery in her very act, and how the Lord did not condemn her but forgave her and asked her to sin no more. And the message I just enjoyed on the vital group concerning dealing with a sinning brother just matched the experience I am facing with the new ones.
The light I got from the message is a salvation indeed for me. I was saved from condemning the sinning ones so easily and lightly. In my natural man, I would react in a way of cutting off the couple from further fellowship who are not morally or ethically up to the Christian as generally understood. I could have easily ended at the verse in Matthew 18:17 "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector." It is very easy to conclude this verse by dubbing the sinning ones as "Gentile and tax collector." But, I was deeply enlightened to see further, in verse 18, "Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens." Verse 17 ended so low, yet verse 18 opened up the need to pray with the twos and threes praying an authoritative prayer of binding and loosing such sinning ones. Such sinning ones should not be given up, but be prayed for, for God to release them from the bondage of Satan who binds them. Only by such prayer in harmony among the vital members, exercising the heavenly authority, can the sinning ones be fully delivered. Then, once the Lord releases them, we have to forgive them, love them, and continue to shepherd them. Then, the sinning ones would repent and be recovered. Even, perhaps, be revived!
Therefore, yesterday when my vital partner called me, my innate response was not to pass any judgement, but to pray a releasing prayer. So we prayed together for the couple. Last night too, I prayed such a releasing prayer for the Lord to release them. Advice and so called "fellowship" will not work when one is under the bondage of Satan. What they need is the Lord's deliverance from the bondage of Satan. And today evening, I called up the brother whose sister had "cheated" him with an immoral activity that ended up in their fight. I called him to shepherd him, and then prayed for them.
In fact, just last Lord's day, as a part of caring for the needy saints, a considerable amount of money was loaned to the couple as they lost their job for months now and were in urgent need to pay their house rent. I personally took the burden and fellowshiped with a responsible brother in the church and made arrangement for them financially. A thought passed through my mind if I had done the right thing, but the message confirmed that the needy saints should be taken care of and prayed for. This is how I fight the good fight in prayer and also in deed by practically caring for their need.
The Lord's hand does follow His speaking. I am glad I have been graced to fight the good fight for the saints in prayer.
May the Lord shepherd and release the sinning ones and fully recover them.
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