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Restoring a Repentant Adulterer · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Well. One of the dominant themes throughout the history of
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  Speaker 1: this podcast asked Pastor John is looking at the local church.
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  Speaker 1: How do I find a good local church? When should
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  Speaker 1: I leave my local church? Can I attend multiple churches?
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  Speaker 1: How do you respond to someone who says I won't
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  Speaker 1: leave Jesus, but I'm done with the local church and
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  Speaker 1: it's failed leaders, etc. A lot of ground has been
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  Speaker 1: covered on these topics of the church and how it
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  Speaker 1: functions locally, as you can see in the EPGA book
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  Speaker 1: and beginning on page four seventeen. Yesterday we read Collations
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  Speaker 1: six together in our Bible reading, which relates to the
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  Speaker 1: local church and how it functions into a specific situation
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  Speaker 1: that we want to ask you about today. Pastor John's
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  Speaker 1: an anonymous email from a listener Pastor John, Hello, my
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  Speaker 1: son in law committed adultery and lied to the church
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  Speaker 1: elders about it. For it, they removed him from church membership.
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  Speaker 1: Since his transgression, he ended the adulterous relationationship and repented
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  Speaker 1: and has been working hard to restore trust in his marriage,
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  Speaker 1: but the church has not reached out to him to
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  Speaker 1: restore his membership. He has continued to attend church and
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  Speaker 1: hasn't taken the Lord's supper. The church does not allow
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  Speaker 1: him to attend the small group that they were a
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  Speaker 1: part of, or go to membership potluck dinners. How and
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  Speaker 1: when does a church wisely restore the repentant as a pastor?
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  Speaker 1: What fruit were you looking for? What were your steps forward?
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  Speaker 1: How did those who are spiritual quote restore him in
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  Speaker 1: a spirit of gentleness? As Paul says in Galatians six'.
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  Speaker 2: One, well it's always, dangerous isn't it to give local
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  Speaker 2: church advice from a. Distance oh, my there's so much
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  Speaker 2: of this yeah on the, internet and it's so often
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  Speaker 2: quite harmful when people pontificate from a distance about what's
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  Speaker 2: happening in a local church thousands of miles. Away from a,
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  Speaker 2: distance we see all, them see all the factors that
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  Speaker 2: go into choices that elders and members are. Making and
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  Speaker 2: so without telling this church what to do in any specific,
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  Speaker 2: case let me give MAYBE i don't know five or
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  Speaker 2: six several biblical guidelines or principles THAT i think will
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  Speaker 2: provide some guidance in this. SITUATION i have an, opinion
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  Speaker 2: But i'm so hesitant to put it forward as anything like.
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  Speaker 2: Absolute so Here's principal number One church discipline is a good.
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  Speaker 2: Thing the guidelines for practicing it are Given matthew eighteen
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  Speaker 2: fifteen to. Seventeen examples of it are given In Verse
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  Speaker 2: christians five and Second thessalonians. Three the principle behind it
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  Speaker 2: is that the church is made up of baptized believers In,
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  Speaker 2: jesus born again spirit and dwelt christ obeying. People the
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  Speaker 2: expectation is that the church is to use the words
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  Speaker 2: Of peter in On peter to eate a chosen, race
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  Speaker 2: a royal, priesthood a holy, nation a people Of god's own,
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  Speaker 2: possession that we may proclaim the excellencies Of him who
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  Speaker 2: called us out of darkness into marvelous. Light and to
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  Speaker 2: the degree that a local church ceases to be a
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  Speaker 2: distinct and holy, people to that degree do we cease
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  Speaker 2: to be a true, church bearing witness to our our
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  Speaker 2: calling out of darkness into the light the light of.
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  Speaker 2: Holiness discipline is the way that The church exhorts itself
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  Speaker 2: to walk in holiness and puts out of the church
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  Speaker 2: those whose unholiness brings reproach Upon. Christ so principal number
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  Speaker 2: one discipline is good number. Two the aim of all
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  Speaker 2: discipline in the church is not destruction or nation or,
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  Speaker 2: alienation but rather restoration and. Salvation we see that repeatedly
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  Speaker 2: In matthew, eighteen where the aim is to gain the
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  Speaker 2: brother who has. Sinned we see it In galatians, six
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  Speaker 2: where the aim is to restore the one overtaken in.
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  Speaker 2: Sin we see it in One corinthians.
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  Speaker 3: Five where the hope is that even in the last
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  Speaker 3: day after, death the discipline will have brought someone to
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  Speaker 3: repentance and.
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  Speaker 2: Salvation so that's number. Two the aim is restoration and.
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  Speaker 2: Salvation number. Three the restoration to church membership does not
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  Speaker 2: imply that sins have no ongoing. Repercussions there are several
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  Speaker 2: levels of. Restoration we know this because the standards for
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  Speaker 2: becoming an, elder for, example in Verse timothy three And titus,
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  Speaker 2: one are. Higher those standards are higher than for an
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  Speaker 2: ordinary church. Member now that would imply it seems to
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  Speaker 2: me in principle that there are various roles of leadership
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  Speaker 2: in the church for which a person may not qualify
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  Speaker 2: even though he is restored to membership in the. CHURCH
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  Speaker 2: i think The New testament shows that the door to
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  Speaker 2: membership is very, wide and the door to, eldership for,
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  Speaker 2: example is very, narrow AND i think the implication of
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  Speaker 2: this is that we should not exclude from membership a
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  Speaker 2: person who gives genuine evidence of, repentance even if we
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  Speaker 2: think that person's trustworthiness is tarnished enough that he would
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  Speaker 2: not yet qualify for certain roles until he has recovered
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  Speaker 2: the trust that he once had and squandered through some.
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  Speaker 2: Sin number. Four there are degrees of, betrayal degrees of,
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  Speaker 2: shortcoming degrees of. Waywardness it's not helpful to say that
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  Speaker 2: all sins are equally, flagrant equally. Harmful they're. Not for,
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  Speaker 2: example in First grinton, Six paul believes that the ideal
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  Speaker 2: reaction for a person who's been wronged is not to
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  Speaker 2: take the brother to. Court he, says why not rather
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  Speaker 2: just be wronged verse. Seven but when they fail in that,
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  Speaker 2: ideal his next best thing is to, say, well at
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  Speaker 2: least in The christian, community there certainly is a judge
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  Speaker 2: who could help you sort this out instead of going
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  Speaker 2: to pagan. Judges in other, Words paul does not jump
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  Speaker 2: immediately to church. Discipline at the first level of. Shortcoming
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  Speaker 2: he sees the degrees of. Shortcoming we take this into
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  Speaker 2: account when we restore a. Believer and number five there
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  Speaker 2: are genuine and counterfeit tears of, repentance which implies that
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  Speaker 2: leaders must be discerning when they assess a person's readiness for.
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  Speaker 2: RESTORATION i was always amazed WHEN i bump into this
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  Speaker 2: every TIME i read through The. Bible In Two corinthians,
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  Speaker 2: seven ten and, eleven Where paul says godly grief produces
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  Speaker 2: repentance that leads to salvation without, regret whereas worldly, GRIEF
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  Speaker 2: i think about that worldly grief. Tears worldly tears produces.
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  Speaker 2: Death for see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in.
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  Speaker 2: You so most of us who have dealt with repenting
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  Speaker 2: people over the decade have discovered that there are tears
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  Speaker 2: that are only because of the consequences of, sin not
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  Speaker 2: the evil of. Sin tears for the misery the sinner,
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  Speaker 2: feels not tears because they've done dishonor To god's. Glory
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  Speaker 2: so leaders have to be very discerning as to what
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  Speaker 2: repentance really, is whether penitence and tears are really signs
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  Speaker 2: at a heart is broken for the godwardness of the,
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  Speaker 2: sin not just to mess up life it brought them.
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  Speaker 2: Into and then, finally number. Six this implies that spiritually
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  Speaker 2: discerning leaders may see in a person such a divisive
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  Speaker 2: spirit that they encourage the church to have nothing more
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  Speaker 2: to do with him as a. Believer titus three ten
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  Speaker 2: as for a person who's up, division after warning him
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  Speaker 2: once then, twice have nothing more to do with. Him
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  Speaker 2: so those are my sixth. Principles so my conclusion is
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  Speaker 2: that WHILE i don't know enough of the details of
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  Speaker 2: the situation we're being asked, about, NEVERTHELESS i would say
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  Speaker 2: that as far as membership, goes the door should be
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  Speaker 2: wide for restoration unless there's some very good reason to
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  Speaker 2: think that a person's repentance is not.
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  Speaker 1: Sincere it's very pastorally sensitive AND whi is, Here Pastor,
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  Speaker 1: john thank you for that, Council and if you want
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  Speaker 1: more on the local church and how it should, function
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  Speaker 1: or how to find a good local, church when to
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  Speaker 1: know it's time to leave a, church or if you
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  Speaker 1: hear someone Say i'm not going to Leave, jesus But
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  Speaker 1: i'm done with the local church and it's failed, leaders et.
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  Speaker 1: CETERA a lot of ground like questions like, that topics
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  Speaker 1: like that covered over the years in THE apj, podcast
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  Speaker 1: and you'll see that in THE apj book on pages
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  Speaker 1: four seventeen to four twenty a little index to help
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  Speaker 1: you find your way around our extensive audio archive when
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  Speaker 1: you need it. Well paul prayed That christians would have
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of your hearts, enlightened that you may know
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  Speaker 1: what is the hope to Which he has called, You
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  Speaker 1: what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in The? Saints,
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  Speaker 1: WOW a text like, that an awakening like, this is
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  Speaker 1: necessary if we're ever going to escape the clutches of our,
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  Speaker 1: culture our entertainment, culture and to find personal awakening and global.
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  Speaker 1: Revival but to embrace a text like That ephesians one
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  Speaker 1: eighteen and to feel its influence in our lives requires
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  Speaker 1: that we first understand. It fijians one, Eighteen what does it?
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  Speaker 1: Mean that's? Up next? Time i'm toty, reki see you On.
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  Speaker 1: Thursday