音频：

视频：

马太福音18：15-17

15 倘若你的弟兄得罪你，你就去趁着只有他和你在一处的时候，指出他的错来。他若听你，你便得了你的弟兄。
16 他若不听，你就另外带一两个人同去，要凭两三个人的口作见证，句句都可定准。
17 若是不听他们，就告诉教会。若是不听教会，就看他像外邦人和税吏一样。

在这一章的这一点上，耶稣已经警告我们不要让这些小子在他们的信心上跌倒。若是他们中间已经有一个人跌倒了，我们该怎么办呢?耶稣告诉我们怎样做才能赢回他们。首先，你要对他们说，而且就在你们两人之间私下说，要把他们从迷惑他们，败坏他们信心的罪中争取过来。你对待他们就像对待兄弟姐妹一样，带着耶稣在本章教导我们的爱和怜悯。如果他们不听，带个人一起去。找一个基督徒的朋友或家人，和他们说话，为他们祷告。在许多场合对他们讲话之后，如果他们仍然不听，你也要把这件事带到教会，这样教会中的每个人都可以对他们讲话。最后，如果他们不听，你就把他们当作异教徒或税吏，换句话说，当作不信的人。

我们称之为逐出教会，这可能是今天教会中最被误解的词。问100个基督徒这个词是什么意思，99个会告诉你它的意思是“把某人赶出教会”。“撒旦已经把爱的行为变成了卑鄙的行为!”把他们当作不信的人来对待，就是告诉他们，他们的不悔改已经摧毁了他们的信心。这意味着你把他们当作一个有盼望的任务。这意味着你不会停止敲他们的心门、为他们祈祷、善待他们或为他们做见证。你对待他们就像耶稣的羊群中迷失的羊一样，耶稣使用你来寻找他们。

祈祷:主耶稣，请为迷失的羊群给我你的爱心，这样你就可以用我来聚集你失去的羊。当那人使我厌烦的时候，求你赐我忍耐。又求你赐我胆量，将律法与福音都传给他们。给我一颗不要失去希望心，因你拯救的臂膀永远环绕我们 !  阿们

Matthew 18： 15-17 “If your brother or sister sins,  go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

         Up to this point in the chapter, Jesus has been warning us not to cause one of these little ones to stumble in their faith. But what should we do if one of them has stumbled in their faith? Jesus shows us what to do to win them back. First, you speak to them just between the two of you to win them over from the sin that has captivated them and ruined their faith. You approach them as a brother or sister with all the love and compassion that Jesus teaches us in this chapter. If they don’t listen, take someone with you. Take another Christian friend or family member and speak with them and pray for them. If they still won’t listen, even after speaking to them on numerous occasions, you bring the matter to the church so that everyone in the Christian family can speak to them as well.  Finally, if they refuse to listen, you treat them as a pagan or tax collector, in other words, as an unbeliever.

We call that excommunication, which is perhaps the most misunderstood word in the church today. Ask a hundred Christians what that word means, and 99 will tell you it means you “kick someone out of the church.” Satan has managed to turn an act of love into an act of meanness!  Treating them as as an unbeliever means you tell them that their impenitence has destroyed their faith. It means that you treat them as a mission prospect. It means you don’t stop beating down their door or praying for them or treating them with kindness or witnessing to them.  You treat them as that one lost sheep in Jesus’ flock, the one he’s using you to look for in his name.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, give me a heart for the lost so that you can use me to gather in your lost sheep. Give me patience when that person puts me off. Give me boldness to proclaim both law and gospel to them. Give me a heart that does not lose hope, because your arm is never too short to save! Amen.