It is a serious thing for a sinner saved by grace to excommunicate another sinner saved by grace. We are not sitting on a throne of judgment; we are not the judge.
We should have a proper attitude toward a brother who has sinned. We must be humble. If we are proud, we will fall as well. First Corinthians 10:12 says, "So then let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Tonight while we are sitting here, we have to ask ourselves, "What is our attitude toward our brother who has sinned?"
The Bible does not have the so-called missions that we see today. Co-workers were free to come and go, and no one could stop them. They bore a direct relationship with God. Philippians 1:15 says, "Some preach Christ even because of envy and strife, and some also because of good will." Paul was not under anyone, and no one was under him. The Lord said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you" (Matt. 20:25-26a).
Does this then mean that the workers are free to do whatever they like? No. Acts 13:1-3 speaks of the laying on of hands. Laying hands on someone is being identified with someone and being bound to someone. In the Old Testament, when the priests offered the sacrifices, they laid hands on the head of the animals being offered. This signifies that the one who offers the offerings is one with the offerings. In Acts 13, Barnabas and Saul received the laying on of hands from the other prophets and teachers. We think that apostles are greater than prophets and that the apostles should have therefore laid hands on the prophets, but in Acts 13 we see prophets laying hands on the apostles. This shows that the laying on of hands is not a matter of being greater or smaller. It is a matter of union and limitation. Concerning the co-worker whom we are excommunicating, we can testify that we have never laid hands on him. We did not excommunicate him earlier because we did not have any definite proof. Even if we had proof in the past, we could not have excommunicated him because the other brothers and sisters would not have let him go. But the Lord has done a work today and personally stepped in to clear up the matter.
A worker must be tested before he can be qualified to be a worker. One who has failed the test is not qualified to be a worker.
Recommendation implies consent. However, we have never recommended this brother to anyone.
The church does not have the power to guarantee that any believer will be kept from sinning, but it does have the power to put away believers who are sinning. We are ashamed that such things have happened among us, but we cannot allow sin to remain in the church. It would have been easier to cover this matter up than to deal with it. Yet covering things up is a shame. We cannot guarantee that a lump will be free from leaven, but when there is leaven, we have to put it away (1 Cor. 5:6-7a). Strictly speaking, no one has the power to excommunicate another brother. A person first puts himself away before the Lord; he first loses his fellowship with the Lord. Afterwards, the church executes the putting away. This is like a house whose electric power has been cut off. The light bulbs in the house will not shine; there is no need for anyone to turn the switch off. In the same way, a man is excommunicated from the church because he is first excommunicated from the presence of God.
First Corinthians 5:2 tells us that when someone has sinned in the church, we should not be boastful; rather, we should mourn. We should realize that we also have sins. Perhaps we have hidden sins. We must be humble and ask God to cleanse us from our sins. We are here to judge sin, not our brother. Were it not for the grace of God, we would be worse than he is. Why is it that so many have wept this time?
If anyone asks about the excommunication of our brother, we can answer in a simple way, "It is necessary for the church to be holy. According to the teaching of the Scripture, we have to excommunicate him." We should not speculate if certain brothers or sisters have any sinful relationship with him.
In 1927 while I was in Nanking, through Brother K. H. Weigh's introduction, this brother came to me and was saved after talking with me. While he worked in the Customs Department, he became fallen. Later he repented but fell again when he worked for the Political Party Office in Foochow. (Brother Faithful Luk's sister-in-law can testify to this.) Then he repented again and went to study in Cheloo University in Shantung. When I was conducting meetings in Shantung, he was revived. Later, he came to Shanghai and went with my mother to visit places like Swatow, Amoy, and Canton. In Tsinan, Shanghai Ching-Shin Girls' School, Foochow, Swatow, as well as Canton, he sinned by seducing women. Although he repented, he could never overcome this sin.
