"Church Discipline"

I'll never forget it as long as I live. I had been preaching for two or three years. We had a family among us that seemed bent on causing disturbances. Anytime I left town for anything, it seemed the husband or wife would stir something up by trying something. They were in their fifties. As things progressively got worse in regard to them, she became so brazen that she decided to have an affair, and get this, with her husbands approval! I spoke with them both about what was going on. Everyone knew it! I guess being young and green and they being 'experienced' put them in the mind set of control or power. They were unrepentant! That morning, my palms were sweating, my heart rate had increased but I knew what the Lord wanted. I had to trust, never having done this before. I stood up in the assembly, read a few verses from the word of God and then I said in a few words that we must dismiss this man and woman (calling them by name) from the assembly with them sitting there. I gained a new, inner strength. I continued to point out that the Lord does not tolerate such and because of their refusal to repent when spoken to, we must do this as a whole. Some began to cry while others sat there in shock. They had never personally witnessed anything like this. It was over and I asked this couple to leave the assembly of the saints and not return unless they were repentant. They both walked out! I don't remember much after that, except a lot of praying.

It hurts to discipline people but discipline has always a twofold purpose: (1) To turn people around and give them a right frame of mind toward right. (2) To send fear into the rest so they will not wander from the path of truth and righteousness. (The same can be said in regard to disciplining children.) There has been so much preaching/teaching on the love of God (which is the very being of God) that we embrace people that continue to walk in a stubborn path of sin. We say they need encouraging and we need to love them anyway. Sometimes people do need encouraging but when someone continues to walk in the path opposite of God, there needs to be rebuking and eventually a withdrawal. It's not in the spirit of meanness but of love. Do we not realize this is part of the love of God? It is to try to get them to come to their senses and repent. That is why in the body of Christ we are losing our sense of the holiness and righteousness of the Lord. That's why there is so much entertainment and lack of reverence and respect. People just embrace the thinking, "We all sin!" or take the attitude, "He who is without sin cast the first stone!" God calls us upward into Him. He has imputed to us His righteousness in the name of the Lord Jesus. We have been sanctified (set apart as holy) by the blood of Christ and justified (declared righteous) because of His resurrection (Rom. 4:25). In the name of the Lord, we need to take our sins and the sins of others seriously! Otherwise, the death and resurrection of Christ become a mockery and empty in result. How would you like to explain that to Him? Oh...by they way, the couple repented!!!