I invite you now to turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 2. You can find that on page 964 of your Pew Bibles. And in the verses just before this, Paul revealed his heart for the Corinthians as he ministered to them with very sincere tears. Paul wants their relationship to be restored before he visits again, and he continues to stay on this theme of reconciliation. as Paul now gives instructions to the church in Corinth on how to forgive and reconcile and to be restored with someone who has sinned against them and has been under church discipline, but has now come to repentance. So 2 Corinthians 2, verses 5 through 11. Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him, for this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive, indeed that I have also forgiven. If I have forgiven anything, it has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs. Praise God for the instruction that he gives us in his word. Let's pray. Our blessed Lord, You have caused the Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, so grant now that we, as we have read and heard them, help us to learn and to inwardly digest what you have for us, and that through the comfort of your Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of eternal life, which you have given us in our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Well, I know that most of us here are OPC veterans, and we know, we've heard, at least heard a rumor that there's something called the Book of Church Order. And this is a book. It takes biblical instructions and principles and explains how they're to be worked out in the running of the church. And it has three major sections. The first section is the form of government. And this section explains how Christ's headship and shepherding is is worked out through the various officers in the church and in the congregation. The second section is called the Book of Discipline, and it goes into detail on how to keep records and how to shepherd the congregation. And section three is the Directory of Public Worship. I'm pretty sure you can figure out what that one is about. And so the reason I bring this up is because our passage this evening, it explains how we're to work out something that we have directions for in our book of discipline. And it's good for us to reflect on this from time to time because we want to see that in our book of discipline and in our constitutional standards as the denominations that these come right out of the principles that are based on the truths that are found in the Word of God. want to see that they're an application of these things. And when we think of discipline, most of us do tend to think of something negative because we don't like discipline. It's difficult. But godly discipline is not negative, it's positive. And in the book of discipline, there's two types of discipline. There's administrative discipline. This has to do with keeping membership roles and records and things like that. And then the second is what we probably normally think of discipline as, and that's… it's called judicial discipline. And this has to do with, and I'm quoting the book of discipline here, prevention and correction of offenses, an offense being defined as anything in the doctrine or practice of a member of the church which is contrary to the Word of God. So judicial discipline involves taking care of and protecting the congregation from external and internal threats, and it has three purposes. The purposes of judicial discipline are to honor Christ. to promote peace and purity in the church, and the third is to reclaim the offender. And it's this third purpose, reclaiming the offender, that we see Paul addressing in our passage this evening. The Bible gives us clear directions on how to do this, on instructing Christians to forgive and to comfort those sinners who are truly sorry for their sins and have turned away from them. Paul's calling those in Corinth, and by extension, all of us as New Testament Christians, to forgive and to comfort the repentant sinner so that that sinner doesn't lose hope and so that Satan doesn't get a foothold in the church of Christ. We'll look at this under three headings this evening. The first one is forgiveness is needed. The second, forgiveness is given. The third, forgiveness is only found by and in Christ. So, in verse 5, Paul begins setting up a situation here. Something's happened in the church in Corinth. Forgiveness is needed. He says it like this, now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you. Now, Paul presents this as a hypothetical if anyone has caused pain, but we know that someone has caused them pain because this is specific. Someone has definitely caused sorrow and grief by their actions. And Paul doesn't name him, but we can be certain that the church in Corinth have a name that's coming to mind here, or perhaps names. But Paul does. He speaks broad enough here so that the church will know that, hey, this doesn't just... This doesn't just apply to this one situation, but to similar situations. So Paul points out that the church of Corinth is the one that has original jurisdiction, meaning that they're the ones that are supposed to deal with this. This person has sinned against someone or against the church in Corinth. and it's the church in Corinth who has the first responsibility to deal with this brother. Those in the local congregation have primary responsibility to shepherd their own members. Discipline issues should first be handled in the immediate circle of those involved, and this is one of the principles that we've worked out in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We don't have someone that's far, far away in another another place with a bunch of power coming in and telling us how to discipline a member or that we should. It's first up to the local congregation and their leadership, if necessary, to do this. And then if we need help with this, then we can appeal to the regional church. But in verse 5, Paul's saying essentially this, look, in this situation when someone's caused the body of Christ harm, yes, the universal church is definitely affected. It does affect the broader church of Christ. However, it's the local body who's most affected and it's his local body that should be primarily dealing with this brother. So there's some kind of situation here where someone has sinned and the church has been very, very hurt. And this is not a surprise to us, for we know that the church is not full of perfect people that never do anything wrong, and we know that because we're in it. The people in the church are often just as sinful and struggle just as much as even those out in the world. And if you're in the church long enough, if you haven't experienced this already, you're going to be wronged and you're going to be hurt by people that are in the church. And sometimes this is because there are some that are in the church that are even members that don't love Christ. That happens sometimes. But oftentimes it's also because we're just really pieces of work. Works in progress. We're not finished finished works. So sometimes even as the family of God, we do things or say things that hurt each other. Sometimes we're very selfish, speak without thinking, saying hurtful things. And again, this isn't a surprise to us, for we know in our natural families that sometimes brothers and sisters or even spouses can be awful, awful to each other. Well, we're the family of Christ here and sometimes this happens here as well. Knowing this, We must not use the excuse that someone in the church hurt me, so I don't like the church. We must not use that as an excuse to keep us away from Jesus. If you haven't already, you're going to be disappointed, you're going to be wronged, and you're going to be hurt, and perhaps hurt severely. Well, we might ask, okay, well, if the church is so full of hurt, If this is going to happen to me, why would I want to be a part of it? How is the church then any different than the world? Why would I want to be a party to and plug into a place that's just going to hurt me at some point or time? Why would I want to do that? Well, Paul's going to flesh out the answer to that question in the next few verses. And it's rooted in this. The answer to the question begins with seeing the difference between how the church and the world handle pain, handle hurt, handle wrong. It's a night and day difference. In the world, when someone is wronged, actions are immediately justified, excuses are made, defenses are given, sides dig in, grudges are formed, bitterness grows, and lasting conflict and war and ruined relationships is the result. But here in the church of Christ, this must not be so. The relationships in the church are marked by healing, restoration, forgiveness. And in verses 6 through 9, Paul instructs Christians to forgive and to comfort a repentant sinner. He continues to give us just a few more details about the situation. I think he doesn't give us too many details because then we would say, oh, see, that only applies to that situation, right? Paul, as he's inspired by the Spirit, is smarter than that, knows that we would tend to do that. So in verse 6 he says, for such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So it sounds like most of the church, they had been involved in an action of the body in dishing out some consequences for someone that hurt them. And they probably did that in response to one of Paul's previous letter, the one before this, and they probably followed Paul's directions and put someone out of the church. By saying what he does here, we can imply that this person received some sort of excommunication or suspension or something like that. but now we can imply that the person is repentant, and at this point, the church has been slow to restore him. It seems that in this case, church discipline was fruitful. It actually worked. And this is exciting to see because a lot of the times, we think that, man, this is never going to work. We're going to suspend or excommunicate this person, and we're never going to see them again. But here it seems that the person is repentant, and they want to be a part of Christ's church. And so in verses 7 and 8, Paul gives them instructions. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. So Paul's begging them to restore this repentant brother. It seems that the brother is in pain. Perhaps even to the point of excessive sorrow, he's ready to even perhaps end his life. He's well aware of what he did, that it was wrong, and he knows how it's crushed others and how he's hurt others, and he understands the depth of the pain that he's caused. Well, we can understand something of this as well. For some of us, we understand it because we've lived it, but even if we haven't lived this circumstance, we know how bad we feel when we sin against a stranger, but how much worse we feel, how much terrible pain we feel when we sin against someone that we love and that we know that loves us. In that case, we desperately need that person to forgive us or we might feel like we can't go on, and that's where this brother seems to be right now. So Paul says, turn to forgive and comfort him. In essence, this language here, turn to forgive. turn toward Him to forgive Him and comfort Him. So it sounds like in addition to church discipline, they've turned their back on Him. And He certainly deserved it, we can tell that. But they did this, they should have done it at least, not because they hated Him or they wanted to make Him suffer or seek revenge or make sure He paid enough. But this is done so that he might understand what he's done, how bad it is, how evil it is, how hurtful it is, and so that he might repent and seek forgiveness. The purpose of this discipline is to restore. And in verse nine, we see that the Corinthians follow the directions of Paul's last letter about disciplining this man. And now he writes, asking if they will also follow his instructions to restore him. He calls them not just to say, I forgive you, water under the bridge." But then they get to hold on to all their bitterness and not seek further reconciliation. Paul calls them to deal with their pain, their resentment, and to even give up their right to inflict suffering and instead to seek and comfort Him. They're once again to enfold Him into full fellowship. They're to reclaim and restore Him. They were vigorous and firm in their discipline against him. They must be equally vigorous in seeking out restoration as well. Essentially, Paul says to the Corinthians and to us, remember why you put him out of the church in the first place. You were hoping that this would lead to repentance, that he would change his ways. Well, that has happened in this case, and we praise God for that. So now, it's your responsibility to receive him again, to forgive him, to comfort him, and to show your love for him. For us, this is a helpful reminder. what the goal of church discipline really is. That yes, we are to protect the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to certainly guard the peace and purity of the church. We are to keep our doctrine straight. But the heart motive of all church discipline must be a godly desire to see the person that hurt us restored to full fellowship. This is how the church is different than the world. When we are hurt, we don't look for revenge. We don't look to punish an offender out of spite. When someone sins against us, instead, we think about their own welfare instead of our own. They are the ones, yes, who have wronged us. But even so, we desire their good. We pray for them. Even if they show themselves to be our enemies, we want them to see their sin and to turn to Christ. The world says what comes around goes around. Karma, karma will get them. I want them to hurt as much as I hurt. The world seeks an eye for an eye. Strict justice for justice sake. They want that. They want that when it comes to the other person, not when it comes to themselves, but that's what they want. It's not so in the church. Yes, we still hurt each other, but instead of seeking revenge, we seek mercy, and we seek grace, and we seek restoration. Even while we're walking around wounded and injured, we're called to be concerned with the state of our attacker's soul. For we know that this is hard, and it might take a long time for us to heal. But we know that we will heal because Christ is our Savior and loves us. We know that someday there'll be some hurts we carry to glory, but in glory, they'll be gone. So we know that our hurt is deep, but we also know it's temporary. But we also know that if they don't repent of their sins, they are going to suffer in hell where the fires never cease and the worm never dies. Those that hurt us the most, if we truly love them, we won't wish ill upon them. We desire that they stop their self-destructive ways and that they would turn back to Christ so that we might experience fellowship together again. There is true forgiveness. It is not found in the world. It is only found here in the body of Christ. That's the only place it can be found. And we want to be people that can do this, right? And it sounds really good. And we know that we should want this. We know that instead of holding a grudge, we should turn, forgive, and comfort. We know that. We know that's what we're called to do. But if the hurt is incredibly deep, how do we do that? How can we approach this? When we've been wronged, how do we turn? How do we forgive? How do we comfort? This seems like an impossible task. How can we do this when the pain runs so deep? Well, Paul also answers this question for us in verse 10. He says, anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ. Essentially, Paul says again, you should be the ones that take care of this situation. I trust you to do so. If you forgive him, then in my eyes, he's forgiven as well. Again, we ask, Paul, how can we do this? How can we forgive and seek this restoration when it's so hard? Well, we can and must do this because Paul says this, that his forgiveness is rooted in the very presence of Christ, that Christ is present with His people. And it's only by the work of Christ that any sin is ever forgiven, and it's through the very continued presence of Christ as He's present by His Holy Spirit in the church. It's only through the work of the Spirit that we can bring ourselves to forgive one another. This is how we start to forgive and seek reconciliation and restore. The Spirit of God is the one that works this in us so we can forgive and we can actually comfort the one who sinned against us. Paul knows that he lives every second as do we in the very presence of Christ, that we are the body of Christ, that we are his temple, that we are born again by the Spirit. And this is why we pray every week in the Lord's Prayer for this. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In Matthew 6, right after the Lord's Prayer, Jesus says, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Colossians 3.12, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Ephesians 4.32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God and Christ forgave you. So how do we forgive and even comfort and have restoration with someone who's caused us so much pain and sorrow? How do we do that? We look to Christ. We remember that we are in the presence of Christ and we're only here because while we were still sinners and hurting Christ and causing him pain as he took upon the wrath of God, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is how we do this. Think of all your sins, even all the sins that you continue to commit. Think of that selfishness and evilness that still resides in your heart. And then remember, if you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. See, it is Christ who has forgiven us for all that we have done. We can think like this. Even though it was my sin, that nailed Him to the cross. It was my sin that caused Him to take on the very wrath of God. Even though all of this is true, Christ still comforts us with the gospel of forgiveness and full reconciliation to the Father. If anyone ever in the history of the world had a legitimate beef to hold on to, to hold a grudge, to act cold to anyone, it would be the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is the opposite of what He's done and what He does for us. We have all hurt Christ and caused Him unimaginable pain as He suffered on the cross, and grief and sorrow. And yet, what does He continue to do as we repent of our sins? He forgives us and He comforts us. We're called to do the same, as the Spirit of Christ works in us. We're called to comfort those with the comfort that's been given to us. We're called to remember how Christ forgave us and how he keeps on forgiving us. Paul calls us to extend this tender heart to those who are seeking repentance. It's only though in the power of the Spirit, as we also reflect on what Christ has done for us, that we can even begin to do this. We remember these words of Jesus as a broken and sinful woman bathes his feet with her tears and kisses his feet. He said this, therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, He who is forgiven much, loves much. To be able to forgive and comfort someone who's caused you pain and has also now shown the fruits of repentance, it still sounds impossible sometimes. And for the world it is, they can't do it. But that's not how it is for us who are in Christ, as we remember that we are only in the presence of Christ because he has secured forgiveness for us, and he did that even after we caused him the greatest of pain. So Paul calls us to forgive as we have been forgiven. And there's one more reason that's important, and this is important to the peace and purity of the church. Paul calls us to be a forgiving people and to restore, verse 11, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs. The devil doesn't make it a secret. He hates Christ and he hates the church. The devil wants nothing more than to cause us to… he knows we're going to hurt each other, so he's just going to try to capitalize on it, help us to like justify our long grudges, to be cold to one another. This is his goal 24-7 because he can't touch us. We can't lose our salvation. God will keep us. We're Christ. We're safe. So all he can do is try to stir up dissension in the body of Christ, and this is his goal. But since we know this, then, we must strive all the more to forgive and comfort one another so the devil does not get a foothold here in this place. We must always remember that the real enemy is not the repentant brother or sister in the Lord, but the real enemy is the deceiver, the accuser, and the father of lies. And one of the most effective weapons against Satan's battle plans is to forgive, even when it seems impossible. As we close tonight, we'll revisit Paul's goal in these verses is very clear. It's very clear. He's calling the Corinthians and all Christians to forgive and comfort the one who has caused great pain, but is now legitimately sorry for their sins and they've repented. We're not to hold this person at arm's length, but we are to lovingly reclaim them as one of us and restore them to full fellowship. And we do this so the one who has caused pain, but is now repentant, is not without hope. And we do this so that Satan cannot cause bitterness and division in Christ's church. And most of all, we do this because of what Christ has done for us. We have injured Him, but He has forgiven and comforted us, and now we're called to forgive and comfort others. There's one last thought. Something we want to address here. So far in this sermon, we've been speaking of and identifying with those who are the ones who have been hurt and are called to forgive. Well, there could be someone here tonight where you're the one that has caused the church great pain, sorrow, and grief. If this is you, hear this. There is forgiveness and comfort waiting for you. There is no sin too great or wound too deep that Christ cannot forgive and heal. So if you know that you have grieved a brother or sister in the body of Christ, repent of your sins, trust in Christ, come back. And when you do, as a body, we promise you that just as Christ has forgiven and comforted us, we will turn to forgive and comfort you as well. And it might be hard work, it might be very, very messy and difficult, but we will seek to do it together by the grace of God. Beloved in the Lord Jesus, there is much pain and hurt even in the church, but our God is greater than all of our sin, he's greater than all of our hurt, and he's greater than all of our pain. So let us forgive each other, and as we do, We praise God that Jesus did not hold a grudge against us even though we hurt him, but instead he secured the forgiveness of our sins and continues to comfort us. Jesus has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. May we do the same in our own hearts as we forgive and comfort one another. Let's pray. Dear Lord, it seems to us that you often ask the impossible, yet we know that all things are possible with you. We ask for a greater measure of your Holy Spirit so that if there is someone that is sorry for their sins and has shown the fruit of repentance and desiring to be restored, Lord, help us to forgive them, help us to receive them, and let us once again experience joy together. And Father, heaven forbid, Lord, that one of us in the future does one of these things. At some point, we do something awful to someone else in the body of Christ. Lord, bring this sermon, this chapter, this section to mind so that we might remember that there is forgiveness and comfort at the cross and in Christ's church. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.