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Chapters Matt. 18, Matt. 19 and Matt. 20 are a distinct section of the Gospel of Matthew dealing with the relationships among the kingdom people. In previous chapters we have seen the King’s decree of the constitution of the kingdom, the King’s ministry, and the revelation of the mystery of the kingdom. We have also seen the pathway to glory and the practical matters that followed the Lord’s transfiguration. Now we must see the relationships among the kingdom people, that is, how to be related to one another in the kingdom. This is a practical matter. It is not merely doctrinal, as the constitution of the kingdom, or prophetic, as the mystery of the kingdom. In particular, chapter eighteen deals with how to be in the kingdom of the heavens: it is to become as little children (Matt. 18:2-4); not to stumble others or to set up any stumbling block (Matt. 18:5-9); not to despise even a little believer (Matt. 18:10-14); to hear the church and not be condemned by it (Matt. 18:15-20); and to forgive a brother to the uttermost (Matt. 18:21-35). All this indicates that to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we must be humble and not despise any believer, but love our brother and forgive our brother.
Before we consider Matt. 18:1-20, we need to have an overall view of these three chapters, which cover five matters. The first is pride. If we would relate to others in a proper way in the kingdom, our pride needs to be dealt with. We need humility. Not one of us is a humble person. Every fallen person is proud. In the past certain brothers and sisters have told me that their wives or husbands were humble. Later these brothers and sisters had to admit that their wives or husbands were not that humble. Some brothers who had told me that their wives would never give them a problem later came to me in tears telling me of the trouble they were having with their wives. There is no such thing as a humble person.
Being in the kingdom is a corporate matter, not an individual matter. However, whenever we come together as a company, there will be difficulties. This is the reason certain young people do not want to get married. Although it will cause them problems, the young people nevertheless need to get married. Because it is difficult to be together in company, Matthew includes these chapters covering our relationships with one another. We have no choice concerning this. If I had my choice, I would prefer to stay by myself, devote all my time to prayer, and wait alone for the kingdom to come. But we have been predestinated to be together. However, in our being together pride is the first problem.
The second problem is our inability to forgive others. The matter of forgiveness is covered in the second half of chapter eighteen. We all must learn to forgive others, something that none of us enjoys doing. Deep within our heart, we do not want to forgive others.
According to the Bible, to forgive is to forget. For us, to forgive a person may mean that we simply do not care about the particular offense. However, we still remember it. How difficult it is to forget an offense against us! Without the Lord’s mercy and grace, we would remember others’ offenses even in eternity. But when God forgives, He forgets. Hebrews 10:17 says, “And their sins and their lawlessnesses I will by no means remember any more.” To forgive something absolutely is to forget it. Our Father in heaven considers us as if we have never sinned, for He has forgiven and forgotten our sins. But when we forgive an offense, we often remind others of it. For example, a sister may say, “The elders treated me very poorly; however, I have forgiven them. But let me tell you a little about what happened.” Genuine forgiveness means that we forget the offense.
The root of our unwillingness to forgive others lies in our dispositional anger. No matter how nice you may be, you still have dispositional anger. The reason you are offended is that you have such a disposition. I may strike a chair again and again, but the chair will not be offended because it has no disposition. But if I strike you, you will be offended because of the dispositional anger hidden within you. We all are subject to dispositional anger. Sometimes when I have offended a brother, he has said that he does not care about the offense. Actually, we all care when we are offended. The outward reaction or appearance may be different, but the dispositional anger, the anger hidden in our disposition, is the same. Because of our dispositional anger, it is difficult to forgive others.
This dispositional anger shows up between husbands and wives. I advise the young sisters never to offend their husbands. If they do, it will be hard for their husbands to forget that offense. Although your husband may say that he has forgiven you, deep within he has not done so. Every man has a disposition that makes it easy for him to be offended, especially by his wife. Women find it easy to complain to their husbands. The reason there are so many separations and divorces is that the women complain and that the men find it difficult to forgive. Sisters, try your best not to complain to your husband. If he is late, forget about it. Do not make an issue of it. Brothers, I advise you to ignore the complaints of your wife. I advise the sisters not to complain and the brothers not to be offended.
We have seen the matters of pride and of our inability to forgive others. Now we come to the problem of lust, which is indicated in chapter nineteen. In the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens lust was thoroughly dealt with. It was also touched in chapter thirteen, the chapter concerning the mystery of the kingdom of the heavens. Lust is a great problem to the kingdom people. Many separations and divorces are related to lust. Therefore, in chapter nineteen the Lord Jesus touched this matter of lust. Apart from the Lord’s grace, none of us is able to overcome it.
The fourth problem is the problem of riches. It is very difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, even more difficult than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The matter of riches is a great frustration to the kingdom life, and it is also dealt with in the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens and in the parable of the sower in chapter thirteen.
The last problem is ambition, which is covered in chapter twenty. Zebedee’s wife, ambitious that her two sons would enjoy a high position in the kingdom, said to the Lord, “Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and one on Your left, in Your kingdom” (20:21). The Lord told her that she did not know what she was asking. Matthew records the story of Zebedee’s wife making requests for her sons, but John does not record it because his Gospel is not the Gospel dealing with the kingdom. Matthew records this incident because in the kingdom there is the problem of ambition for position.
Ambition has been a problem both in the East and in the West. Many times when elders were appointed in the churches, brothers were offended because others were appointed instead of them. Although, at the most, a church needed three or four elders, the number of self-appointed candidates for eldership might have been more than fifteen. Whether or not those brothers prayed about being appointed elders, I do not know. But I am rather certain that they expected to be appointed. When they realized that they had not been appointed elders, they began to speak negatively about the church, simply because they did not receive the position they desired. We have encountered this problem in the church in Taipei, a church with more than twenty thousand members. Every time a new home meeting was opened, there was a need to appoint two or three leading brothers and leading sisters to manage the practical affairs of that home meeting. Nearly every time the leading ones were appointed, some sister was offended because she was not among those appointed. Because they were offended, they stopped coming to the meetings for a period of time. This exposes the problem of ambition.
These three chapters actually cover these five things. They deal thoroughly with pride, dispositional anger, lust, riches, and ambition. All these problems are within us. If we would get into the depths of these chapters, we would certainly be touched. For instance, we would see that we are people full of pride and that anger is hidden in our disposition. No matter how patient or forbearing we try to be, anger is still deeply rooted in our disposition. This is what makes it difficult for us to forgive others. Furthermore, we are troubled by lust and riches, both of which damage the kingdom life. Finally, there is the problem of ambition. Matthew purposely covers these five problems in his Gospel to show that we must take care of them in order to be in the kingdom. Pride, dispositional anger, lust, riches, and ambition are all “scorpions.” We need a divine pest control to kill these “scorpions.” Under God’s inspiration, Matthew selected various cases and put them together in order to expose these things. Now we need to consider them one by one.
In the kingdom life, humility is required (18:1-4). In principle, all the kingdom people must be little children. To be humble is to be like a little child. If we are not humble, we shall either be offended by others or we shall offend others, that is, we shall either be stumbled by others or stumble others. All stumbling takes place because of pride. If we were not proud, we would not be stumbled. The fact that we can be stumbled proves that we are proud. If a little child is offended, the offense will be forgotten in just a few minutes. But once adults are offended, they are stumbled because of their pride. Furthermore, the stumbling we cause to others also issues from our pride.
It is a serious matter to stumble someone. Verse 6 says, “And whoever stumbles one of these little ones who believe in Me, it is better for him that a great millstone be hanged around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.” In these verses the Lord warns us to deal with this matter. If the hand, the foot, or the eye causes us to stumble, we must deal with these causes of stumbling in a serious way. Otherwise, we shall not be one in the proper kingdom life. In order to be in the proper kingdom life, we need to be humble. Then we shall not be stumbled or be a cause of stumbling to others. All stumbling must be abandoned.
No matter how small we are, we are lovely in the eyes of the Father, and He cares for us. He does not like to see anyone stumbled. We so easily offend the little ones for whom the Father cares, and as little ones ourselves we are easily stumbled. If we would avoid being stumbled and stumbling others, we need to be humbled. Humility will rescue us.
Verse 15 says, “Now if your brother sins, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” In this section we also 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.
Verse 16 says, “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.
Verse 17 says, “But if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.” If a brother sins, we need firstly 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 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. The church must excommunicate fornicators and idolaters. But 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.
In order to deal with such 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 this portion of the Word 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 to loose. It binds when he is rebellious and looses when he repents. In verse 18 to bind means to condemn, and to loose means to forgive. 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 to 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.
All this should be done in the Lord’s presence. If you attempt to exercise the kingdom authority without His presence, it will not work. Verse 20 points out the need for the Lord’s presence: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”
Verse 17 says, “But if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.” The church revealed in 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 order to be in the kingdom of the heavens in a practical way, we need to be in a local church. According to the context of verse 17, both the reality and the practicality of the kingdom are in the local church. In a chapter dealing with relationships in the kingdom, the Lord speaks eventually of 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 today talk about the kingdom life, but without the practical local church life, this talk is in vain.
In chapter sixteen the Lord 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.
Many Christians 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. However, if you read this portion of the Word carefully, you will 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.
Do not think that two or three meeting in the name of the Lord with the Lord’s presence are the church. If we believe this, then it is possible for a church of three hundred members to be divided into one hundred churches, with every group of two or three thinking that it is a church. What a mess this would be! Two or three may meet in the name of the Lord and the Lord may truly be in their midst, but this does not mean that they are the church.
The church has the authority, and we must listen to the church and submit to the church. If we do not submit to the church, we are through with the kingdom, for the kingdom life is a life of submission to the church.
The context of Matthew 18 indicates that the reality of the church is the Lord’s presence. The Lord’s presence is the authority of the church. 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.
The basic factor that causes trouble in the church is pride. Pride is what causes a brother to offend the one who comes to him in love, it is what makes him unwilling to listen to two or three or even to the church, and it is what causes him to rebel against the church. We all must kill the “gopher” of pride. Let us humble ourselves and always listen to the church and submit to the church. May the Lord grant us mercy for this.
