In vv.1-4, we noted 3 areas Paul gives for our Trust within the faith. Transparency in our Sincerity. Flexible Dependability. Love. In vv.5-11 Paul adds a fourth “mark” — Forgiveness. Church Discipline is one of 9 Marks of the NT church that we try our best to exercise. Preaching, Biblical Theology, The Gospel, Conversion, Evangelism, Membership, Discipline, Discipleship, Leadership. Swindoll wrote, “…failure to grant forgiveness to a genuinely repentant person can lead to deep wounding, permanent scarring, and an irreparable relationship between two people.” Gary Millar, “The absence of church discipline in many of our churches, then, may actually be an indictment of our lack of love for one another, flowing from a shallow grasp of the love which God has shown us in Christ.” MacArthur, “This passage is one of the best texts in all of Scripture on the godly motivation and rationale for forgiveness.” Hughes says, “We must take to heart that the commitments of praying for the church, participating in the regular services and ministries of the church, supporting its ministries and missions with our resources, and submitting to the constituted leadership are not options but rather Biblical imperatives.” Christian Love, v.5-8. v.5-6 - One had caused trouble in the church and been brought under discipline. By Paul’s wording here, it seems the process had been effective. Still, vv.7-8 lead us to think some still were not forgiving him. Paul insisted that the church ought to forgive and comfort the man they had disciplined. Forgive him. (7a) Comfort him. (7b) Relieve him of his sorrow. (7c) How? (8) In confirming that you love him. Pratt, “Sorrow should not always be avoided. In fact, it often leads to repentance. Even so, once repentance has occurred, a serious danger lurks for those who are not restored to good standing in the church: they run the risk of too much sorrow. Discouragement of this sort may actually lead the weakened believer into worse sin. Therefore, Paul urge[d] the Corinthians to reaffirm their love for the disciplined man.” There are other portions of scripture that we need to be clear on as we explore this text: Hebrews 12:1-2, 5-11, 15-17. Matthew 18. Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” The Biblical Process, Matthew 18, v.15-17. Go and talk to the person who has sinned against you. (15) Wiersbe says to Keep the matter private. “Approach the person who sinned and speak with him alone. It is possible that he does not even realize what he has done. Or, even if he did it deliberately, your own attitude of submission and love will help him to repent and apologize.” “Above all else, go to him with the idea of winning your brother, not winning an argument. It is possible to win the argument and lose your brother.” “We must lovingly seek to help him in the same way we would want him to help us if the situation were reversed.” Go again, this time taking one or two others with you. (16) Bring the matter before the church. (17) The Church’s Authority, Matthew 18, v.18-20. “If we practice love without truth, it is hypocrisy. But if we try to have truth without love, it may be brutality.” -Wiersbe Forgiveness, Matthew 18,v.21-22. You never forgave to begin with if you have been counting up their faults. Forgive without limits, this is how you’ve been forgiven by God. John Wesley once had the occasion to drive this truth home. He had offended the British General Oglethorpe who exploded, “I never forgive!” To which Wesley replied, “Then, Sir, I hope you never sin.” A debtor, forgiven, Matthew 18, v.23-27. A creditor, unforgiving, Matthew 18, v.28-30. A Warning, Matthew 18, v.35. Christ, v.9-10. v.9 - Paul explained that he had instructed the church to discipline the man to see if the church would be obedient, even in difficult matters. v.10 - Paul states further: If you forgive, so do I. (i.e. Don’t fear gong against my command to discipline by forgiving one who is repentant) Further, as before Christ — we are to forgive. Satan, v.11. Just as Satan can wreck and assembly who will not practice discipline… He can wreck one that does, but never forgives. Barnett says, “Satan, who is ever ready to destroy churches, will, in the absence of love and forgiveness, quickly bring bitterness and division.” We grieve the Holy Spirit and “give place to the devil” when we harbor an unforgiving spirit (Eph. 4:27–32). (Wiersbe) Conclusion: Ills: Corrie ten Boom recalled in her book The Hiding Place a postwar meeting with a guard from the Ravensbrück concentration camp where her sister had died and where she herself had been subjected to horrible indignities: It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbrück. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there—the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,” he said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Colossians 3:12, 13, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” God’s grace is a higher standard than the world’s wisdom. God’s discipline is ultimately restorative. When the church disciplines us, we should consider the charges seriously and submit to discipline, not simply adopt a defensive stance.