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In this message we shall continue to see the revelation of the mystery of Christ, the church, given by Christ in the Gospels.
The church was revealed by Christ the first time in Matthew 16:15-20. The second time the church is revealed by the Lord is in Matthew 18:15-20.
In Matthew 18:15-20 we have a revelation of the local church. Verse 17 says, “But if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.” The church revealed in Matthew 16:18 is the universal church, which is the unique Body of Christ, whereas the church revealed here is the local church, the expression of the unique Body of Christ in a certain locality. Chapter sixteen relates to the universal building of the church, whereas chapter eighteen relates to the local practice of the church. Both indicate that the church represents the kingdom of the heavens, having authority to bind and to loose.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus says, “On this rock I will build My church.” This is the universal church. But in 18:17 we have the local church, for this verse speaks of a church to which we can go when we have a problem. Matthew 18:17 says that if we have a problem to be solved by the church, we must go to the church. If this church is not the local church but the universal church, we would not be able to “tell it to the church.” In fact, Matthew 16:18 is included in 18:17. We cannot have 16:18 without 18:17. However, if we have 18:17, we have 16:18.
According to the context of 18:17, in the local church we have both the reality and the practicality of the kingdom of the heavens. This means that if we would be in the kingdom of the heavens in a practical way, we need to be in a local church. In a chapter dealing with relationships in the kingdom, the Lord Jesus eventually speaks concerning the church. This proves that the practicality of the kingdom today is in the local church. Without the local church, it is impossible to have the practicality and reality of the kingdom life. Many Christians talk about the kingdom life, but without the practical local church life, this talk is in vain.
In chapter sixteen the Lord Jesus revealed the universal church. But the universal church requires the practicality of the local church. Without the local church, the universal church cannot be practiced; rather, it will be something suspended in the air. The local church is the reality both of the kingdom and of the universal church.
The revelation of the church in Matthew 18 is, in particular, for the administration of the church in its locality. In 18:15-20 we have the administration, or the government, of the church. In the church there is the need of administration, of government. If we have a problem with a brother which we cannot solve with two or three, we should bring it to the church. The church has government.
The administration or government of the church is in the local churches. If we do not have the local churches, we do not have this government. In the local church there is the government which is a real restriction and test to the flesh and the self. If we know how independent our natural self is, we shall be willing to submit to the government, the administration, in the church. We all need to learn submission because of our independent self. This is why we need the government and restriction of the local church.
The administration of the church in its locality is illustrated by the dealing with its members. Matthew 18:15 says, “Now if your brother sins, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” Here we see how to deal with an offending brother. If a brother sins or offends us, we must first go to him in love and point out his offense.
In verse 16 the Lord continues, “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.” If the brother will not listen to you, you should not give up. Rather, you should go to him with one or two witnesses, hoping that the brother will listen to you and be rescued. However, “if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church” (v. 17). If a brother sins, we first need to deal with him by ourself in love (v. 15), then with two or three witnesses (v. 16), and finally through the church with authority (v. 17).
The last part of verse 17 says, “And if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector.” If any believer refuses to hear the church, he will lose the fellowship of the church like the Gentile, the heathen, and the tax collector, the sinners who are outside the fellowship of the church. A Gentile or a tax collector is someone who does not have fellowship in the kingdom life or in the church life. To consider someone a Gentile or a tax collector does not mean to excommunicate him; it means that he is considered as one cut off from the fellowship of the church. Excommunication is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5. Whereas the church must excommunicate fornicators and idolaters, the offending brother who will not listen to two or three or to the church may not necessarily require excommunication. Although the situation with him is unpleasant, it is not in the same category as fornication or idolatry. He is cut off from the fellowship of the church in order that this loss of fellowship may encourage him to repent and to recover his fellowship with the church.
The church may deal with an offending brother with the authority given to the church to bind and loose what has been bound and loosed in the heavens. In verse 18 the Lord Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall be what has been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall be what has been loosed in heaven.” Here to bind means to condemn, and to loose means to forgive. As in 16:19, what we bind or loose on earth should be what has been bound or loosed already in heaven.
In order to deal with an offending brother, we must exercise the kingdom authority. Because the church today is weak, it does not realize its need to exercise this authority. The brother mentioned in 18:15-17 is first offending and then rebellious. First he offends someone. Then because he will not listen to the one he has offended, to two or three witnesses, or even to the church, he becomes rebellious. Because he rebels against the church, the church must exercise its authority to bind and loose. It binds when such a brother is rebellious and looses when he repents. Because such a rebellious brother will not listen to the church, the church must exercise the kingdom authority to bind him until he repents. But when he repents, the church must exercise the kingdom authority to forgive him and restore him to the fellowship of the church.
The dealing with the offending brother must be carried out by prayer in one accord. Verse 19 says, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask, it shall come to them from My Father who is in the heavens.” Strictly speaking, in verse 19 “ask” refers to prayer which deals with the brother who refuses to hear the church. If we pray according to the Lord’s promise, our prayer will be answered, and the offending brother may be recovered.
We should not think that because, as members of the church, we have the authority of the kingdom of the heavens to bind and loose, we can go ahead on our own to deal with the sinful brother. On the contrary, the dealing with such a brother must be with much prayer. The authority to bind and loose is carried out by prayer in one accord.
The situation among the believers today is abnormal. For this reason, one Christian may sin against another and the situation is not dealt with. There is no one accord, and there is not much prayer concerning such a dealing. As a result, the believers lose the ground, the position, and the authority to deal with a sinful brother. If we are in an abnormal situation and condition, we shall not be able to exercise the authority of the kingdom of the heavens to bind and loose. However, if we are in a normal condition and we pray together with one accord, we shall have the position to exercise the authority of the kingdom of the heavens given to the church to deal with a sinful brother.
The prayer in one accord to exercise the authority given to the church to bind and loose what has been bound and loosed in the heavens should be in the gatherings of two or three with the Lord’s presence. There is no need to have a big meeting but simply a meeting of two or three gathered into the name of the Lord. When we are gathered into the Lord’s name, we are gathered into His person. Then surely we have Him with us. We have His presence, and His presence is the authority of the kingdom of the heavens for us to deal with a sinning brother. Actually, we do not deal with the brother but with the Devil and with the demons. If we attempt to exercise the kingdom authority without the Lord’s presence, it will not work. Exercising the authority of the kingdom of the heavens to bind and loose must be done in the Lord’s presence.
The context of Matthew 18 indicates that the reality of the church is the Lord’s presence. The church must be certain that it has the presence of the Lord as its reality; otherwise, it has no genuine authority. The real and practical authority of the church is the Lord’s presence. If anyone does not listen to the church, he rebels against the Lord’s presence. The church has the ground to exercise authority in the presence of the Lord over any case of rebellion.
We need to consider 18:20 in some detail. In this verse the Lord says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” These two or three meeting in the Lord’s name are not the church but members of the church. However, we may think that as long as two or three meet in the name of the Lord and have His presence, they are the church, and the reality of the church is there. But if we read Matthew 18 carefully, we shall see that the two or three mentioned in verse 20 are not the church. These two or three are the two or three in verse 16. They may gather together in the Lord’s name, but they are not the church, for if there is some problem, they need to tell it to the church (v. 17). If those two or three were the church, there would be no need for them to take the problem to the church. The fact that they need to “tell it to the church” proves that they are not the church but rather part of the church. They belong to the church and they are members of the church, but they are not the church.
In Matthew 16 and 18 the universal church and the local church are unveiled not in a doctrinal way but in a very experiential, practical way. In Matthew 16 the Lord unveiled the universal church by saying that He would build His church on the rock of the divine revelation concerning Christ. Then in Matthew 18 the Lord unveiled the local church in an experiential way by telling us how to recover a sinful brother. In His fellowship concerning how to recover a sinful brother, the Lord opened a window for us to see how the believers in a local church should meet.
First, the Lord’s word in 18:20 indicates that the basic way to meet with the saints in the local church is by two or three. Due to tradition and to our environment we may not consider a gathering of two believers a Christian meeting. Nevertheless, the Lord’s word indicates that a local church should have meetings by two or three. Basically speaking, we should meet not in large meetings but with a small number. The smallest number for gathering is two. Without two, we cannot have a gathering.
From the Lord’s word in 18:20 we can realize that in the Lord’s intention He did not want to have big gatherings in the local church for practical help. Big gatherings can only be good for general teaching, but they cannot be good to give some practical help. It is nearly impossible to render any practical help in a big meeting. For this we need a gathering of just two or three believers. We need a small number for our meetings so that we can take care of everyone’s need practically.
In 18:20 the Lord did not speak of two or three meeting together but of two or three gathered together. The verb is not in the active voice but in the passive voice. The two or three do not meet together; they are gathered together. By whom are they gathered? They are gathered by the Lord. If we say that the two or three meet together, this meeting is initiated by those who meet. For two or three to be gathered together, however, indicates that someone is doing the gathering. These two or three are gathered by the unseen Lord because they love the Lord and are concerned for His members. The fact that the verb here is in the passive voice indicates that whenever we come together to meet we should not be the ones who take the initiative. Rather, it must be the Lord who takes the initiative. He gathers us. The meeting is initiated not by the meeting ones but by the unseen Lord who gathers them. The Lord initiates the meeting, motivating us and gathering us. This means that every time we meet our meeting should not be from us but from Him. Our meeting, therefore, is not initiated by anyone except the Lord Jesus. Every time we meet it should be He who gathers us together.
The Lord takes the initiative to gather us together into His name. The believers are gathered together not in the name but into the name. The proper translation of 18:20 is not that two or three are gathered together “in My name” but “into My name.” The Lord does not mean that we simply gather together in His name or meet in His name. To meet in His name is much different from being gathered together into His name. Because the name denotes the person, to be gathered together into the Lord’s name is to be gathered together into His person. We are gathered by the Lord Jesus into His name, into His person.
In order for someone to come into something he must come out of something. To be gathered into the name of the Lord means to be brought out of anything that is other than the Lord Himself. We need to be rescued by the Lord from so many occupying things and be gathered into His name, that is, into Himself as a living person. Especially we need to get out of the self. If we are to be gathered by the Lord Jesus into His name, we must get out of the self. If we remain in the self, we cannot be gathered into the name of the Lord. It is when we are gathered out of ourselves and out of all things other than the Lord and into Him that He is among us.
The most crucial thing in the believers’ meeting is to be gathered into the Lord’s name. Because we are the Lord’s and have been saved by His name, we should gather only into that name and meet in that name. We must not gather into and meet in any other name. In a locality we should meet by small numbers, and we should meet by being gathered into the Lord’s name. We need to be gathered out of so many things into His name, into His person.
Matthew 18:20 also tells us that where two or three are gathered into the Lord’s name He is in their midst. Because we have been rescued and brought into the Lord’s name, surely He is with us. Now when we are gathered into His name, we enjoy His presence in a special way. His presence brings us enlightenment, grace, supply, and all kinds of blessing.
In Matthew 18:15-20 we have a picture of a local church. A local church is an expression of the Body of Christ in a certain locality composed of saints who mainly meet in small groups. They meet in the way of having been rescued out of all earthly occupations into Christ Himself. Having been gathered into Christ, they meet in Him and have Him with them. Because they meet in Him with His presence, they surely have the authority of the kingdom of the heavens. They may exercise this authority to deal with the Devil and the demons behind, upon, and within a sinful, rebellious brother. This is the practice of the local church life revealed by the Lord Jesus to the first group of apostles.
