140th Post Jesus Said On Hell Con't. - Matthew 18: 15 - 17.

Matthew 18: 15 - 17 continued. Ex-communication is a very serious matter indeed. For this to be considered, the person must have done something that would affect the whole church; and be an offense to God. Verse 17 speaks to the gravity of this situation. When Jesus said to Peter upon this rock I will build My church (Matthew 16:18), this is the church Jesus' is talking about. Your local church is just one small part of the total flock. If you find it necessary to ex-communicate someone, be very sure you are dealing with an offense of this level. If not, then don't use these verses. But if the offense is this serious, then the steps that are spelled out in these verses must be applied to the letter and without changing the order in which they are stated. When you are in the tell it to the church stage, this means the whole church, not a very small committee of members and in secret, the whole church hears the offense and then votes to ex-communicate or not. If the church agrees that the offense is serious enough to ex-communicate, then you proceed. Ex-communication, does not have the same meaning as it once did, because of over use. When you choose to ex-communicate someone, you are not only shedding them from your small flock, but also Jesus' flock! This is why God will judge, the parties involved and He will judge correctly. This is included in the Hell section, because of the ex-communication part. Ex-communication means you are handing this person over to Satan. This is very serious indeed!!