How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part IX

IX. Allowing Wolves to Live Among the Sheep

Titus 3:10-11

Introduction:

There are three truths we must realize if we are to protect ourselves against these wolves.

A story was told about a lone gunman entering a church and shooting up the place, killing several people, at last turning the gun on himself. Churches immediately started taking measures to protect their people physically. But what about those who are on the prowl to attack and destroy us spiritually?

Truth #1 – We’ve Been Warned

II Corinthians 11:14; I Peter 5:8

If we are going to be prepared, we must know who our enemy is.

• Fact #1 – Spiritual wolves are masters of deception; they disguise themselves as sheep and make themselves look like super Christians
• Fact #2 – Spiritual wolves are dangerous.
• Fact #3 – Spiritual wolves are evil – “Satan’s servants”
• Fact #4 – Spiritual wolves always reveal themselves. Don’t label a person a wolf on one incident; a wolf will have a consistent pattern.
• Fact #5 – Good people can morph into wolves. Some will distort the truth to gain a following
• Fact #6 – Spiritual wolves love power. They are “upwardly mobile” – false prophets, teachers and apostles.

Truth #2 – We’ve Been Hesitant

• We foolishly believe people will change without discipline.
• The intertwining of personal relationships.
• We’re afraid of collateral damage.
• We don’t know what to do.

Truth #3 – We’ve Been Instructed

Conclusion #1 – No one should get a free pass for bad behaviour.
Galatians 6:1 Do all in humility, gentleness and love. We need to keep the goal in view that we may restore the offender without becoming a wolf ourselves.

Conclusion #2 – Not all bad behaviour makes a person deserving of confrontation or removal from the church.
Don’t confront someone just because they get on your nerves, or disagree with you, etc.

Conclusion #3 – Biblical discipline is a process, not an act.
Titus 3:10-11 There must be a first warning, then time allowed to pass for them to correct the situation; then a second warning. When adequate time has passed after the second warning, they should be put out.

Conclusion #4 – Biblical discipline should be carried out with patience, but not to an extreme.
Warn once, twice – no more. More warnings, more time would tend to undermine authority.

Conclusion #5 – The removal of a person from the church's fellowship should be a last resort.

Conclusion #6 – There should be no guilty feelings on the part of the church leaders who exercise church discipline…and no animosity directed toward them by members of the congregation. They are following the process of scripture.


Conclusion:

Our goal is not to move them out, but to see them transformed into sheep through repentance.