What Is Your Understanding Of Matthew 18:19

Matthew 18:15-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
Dealing with a Sinning Brother

15)"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between the you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16)But if he will not hear , take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.17) But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

18)Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

19)Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For when two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.."

It is my understanding that Jesus was teaching His Disciples how to deal with a sinning brother (a member of the church) in verses 15-20. In dealing with the sinning brother Jesus told His Disciples that if a brother sins against you that they and we should first go to our brother and try to settle the matter between ourselves and if the brother who caused the offense hears and owns up to his offense then the matter will be settled in peace and the brother will still be your brother. If that brother refuses to hear and own up, then the innocent party is to take one or two witnesses to try to settle the matter again. If the brother who offended still will not hear the matter it is to be brought before the church and if with the whole church involved the brother who offended still does not own up to his offense...then the church is to no longer treat the brother like a brother or member of the church. If he owns up and repents then he is still a brother.

Jesus told His Disciples if two of them were in agreement on a church issue then that issue would stand not only on earth but in heaven also. And vice versa.

Verse 19 is a continuation of the dealing with matters that come before the church in my understanding whether it be dealing with a sinning brother or other problems arising within the church. The Disciples were to be the Shepherds of the Church once Jesus went to sit at the right hand of His Father and in these verses Jesus was teaching His Disciples how to handle matters in the Church. And He was assuring them that when they were gathered in His name praying,etc. in agreement for the Father's will to be done...Jesus would be there in Spirit assuring them God had heard and was doing what they had asked of Him.

Although I believe that Jesus was speaking of how to handle things in the church and with it's members, I do believe that when believers gather together (two or more) and pray in agreement with God's will, then they can be sure Jesus is in the midst of them and God is doing His will in answering their prayers too. We sometimes don't recognize that God has done what we asked of Him because He has done it the way it should be done and not always the way we think it should be done.

 

Compare to Mark 11:23

It is curious to some that in one verse (Matt. 18:19) Jesus states that where 2 (or more) are gathered together for an asking but in another (Mark 11:23) we have Jesus indicating that only one is necessary to move an entire mountain. (Hyperbolic perhaps)
Note that the petitioners are believers in the Lordship of God.(and the Son in the former verse)

There should be no confusion because Matt. 18:15-20 in it’s entirety is directed to the “body” of believers and the unifying factors that must be had within the church for it to truly succeed and how to handle any splintering factors as it pertains to any person’s indifference toward anyone or anything within the church.
The singular verse, 18:19 in particular further establishes and insists on that unity of believers whilst they deal with those things pertaining to man’s faith relationship with God.

One verse gives power to an undoubting individual in Christ, whilst the other gives power to the unified church, in Christ. The unwritten warning is that if the body of Christ, (the church) is in disagreement among themselves then they can do very little if anything to further that church much less enjoy the rewards of a unified petition.

 

Yes it can be and often is. Many "Christian" husbands will use the verse about "wives submitting to their husbands" to control their wives...but if they read all the verses to get the whole picture of what is being said about husbands and wives in marriage it is mutual submission, etc. and so much more that is expected of both spouses to have the definition of marriage that God intended.

 

I was asked to teach (preach) a message regarding 1 Cor. 11:3 some years ago. I already knew that this was dangerous territory because it can be so widely misunderstood so like a good child of God, I prayed about it a lot and indeed did ask for some wisdom.

It wasn’t until I stood behind the pulpit that I found some peace. I didn’t really have it down pat as to what I was going to say but what I was led to say was pretty profound if I do say so myself.
“(Near quote) It is true that the scripture does say that the head of Christ is God and the head of man is Christ and the head of woman is man. But what of the heart?
Is not Christ the very heart of God? Is not woman the very heart of man?
As we cannot separate God and Christ, how can man and woman be separated because one is the head, and the other is the heart and without working in unity , they cannot function.”

To tell the truth, at the beginning of the teaching, the ladies were somewhat grim but at the end I never saw so many smiling ladies and nods in my whole life.