“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
(Matthew 18:15-20 ESV)
Many people seem to like to use the last verse of this famous passage from the Bible as justification for any kind of prayer meeting or church service that God is blessing. How often have you heard people say this in a prayer when there is only two or three gathered there? Put the verse into context and we see that this is related to church discipline. Jesus is saying that when there are two or three agreeing on a topic of church discipline or disciplining a brother in Christ in agreement with each other, He is there with them agreeing with them. Of course, it's not vogue to exercise church discipline, but it is Biblical. Thoughts?
Absolutely dead on the money about this topic!
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