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Matthew Porter: Welcome to Key Life. If we haven't met, I'm Matthew Porter, executive producer for Key Life. All this week, we've been enjoying a sermon from Steve Brown called Harmony in the Band. Steve gave this sermon way back on March 27th, 1988. If my math is right, that was about 13,906 days ago.

Yesterday, Steve spoke about the necessity of confrontation and the importance of communicating, referencing Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 17. If you're wondering how we are hearing a sermon so clearly some 38 years later, the answer is the Vault Project. Over the last several years, we've been digitizing hundreds of these timeless messages of grace, and now we're ready to share them with you at KeyLife.org/vault.

With your ongoing financial help, we're adding more every single month. More about the vault later, but for right now, settle in and let's enjoy the conclusion of the sermon called Harmony in the Band from 1988. Here's Steve.

Steve Brown: Last week, we talked about excommunication. We said that excommunication was not a residual holdover from your Roman Catholic past. We said that it's clearly taught in the Scripture, the practice of church discipline. Further last week, we saw that excommunication never has to do with sin, or nobody would be left.

We saw that excommunication only has to do with repentance. When somebody doesn't repent, when their sin is public, when they bring shame on the body of Christ, then something needs to be done. But I'm going to give you another reason for excommunication, and it is as follows: because rebellion and sin against God is catching.

If you've been listening when we've been reading from the regular lectionary, we've been reading from the book of Joshua, as Steve has on Sunday mornings. You listened as we read about the seventh chapter of Joshua and the sin of Achan. They lost the battle at Ai because Achan had done something in disobedience to God, and then they were cut off from the people of God.

Some of you, when that was read, said, "How could they do such a horrible thing?" Let me tell you why they could do such a horrible thing: because Joshua, listening to God, knew that that kind of thing was catching and it moves through the people of God. So it's important that we understand how contagious sin really is.

When something gets public, and we don't do it very often—by the way, I'm not talking about excommunication because you blink funny, or because your doctrine wasn't exactly right, or because you didn't like the pastor, or because you didn't sit right in your chair, or because you're having marital problems. That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about extreme public sin where there is no repentance and it brings shame on the people of God and is contagious within the people of God. You need to know that we practice that in this church. Then there's also the problem of one person being divisive.

Did you hear about the man who was driving by a pond on a farm and he heard these millions of bullfrogs? He thought, "I could make a fortune if I could buy that pond. If I could buy that pond, I could make a fortune selling frog legs to restaurants in my city." So he went to the farmer, negotiated for a price, drained the pond, and found out there was only one bullfrog making all that noise.

That can happen in the church, and sometimes, though not the formal process of discipline, you'll find one of the elders saying, "Wouldn't you be happier some other place?" I want you to see, fifthly, not only the imperative of caution, the necessity of confrontation, the importance of communication, and the reality of contagion, I want you to see the power of collaboration.

Look at Matthew 18:18-19. Stay awake because this is good. "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. 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."

In the novel *The Bastard* by John Jakes, if you read that in that series, you will remember that John Jakes talks about a man by the name of Philip who's being taught how to shoot a Brown Bess. I don't remember who was teaching him, but whoever it was said, "When after it's loaded, when you pull the trigger, close your eyes, or you can blind yourself with all of the stuff that comes out of the back of a Brown Bess."

He said, "I don't see how anybody can hit anything with their eyes closed." The person who's teaching says to him, "When a thousand British infantrymen close their eyes and pull the trigger, they can destroy anything that's in front of them." I think Jesus was saying that, but I also think that he's saying something far more than that.

This text has been used out of context in a lot of areas. Jesus is talking about the process of discipline. He's saying this: when you guys agree, God agrees. When you guys agree, God agrees. The reason discipline doesn't work in the church anymore is that we say, "Big deal. I'll go down the street to another church where the pastor is nicer, and the elders are kinder, and the people speak to me." I'm not going to stay there, but don't fool around with that.

When the people of God together proclaim loosing or binding, God says, "Right on," and the angels say, "Amen." That's what happens, for instance, in our marriage ceremonies. At the end of a ceremony, I say, "By the power vested in me as a minister of the Church of Jesus Christ," that means a representative of all you guys, "I pronounce..."

At that point the angels go, "Amen," and God says, "Right on." What is done here is done in heaven and affirmed there. When we commission people—and we do it a lot—when we did Debbie a couple of Sundays ago, we all love Debbie. She's pretty and we're nice, and it was a warm, cuddly feeling, and all that stuff was there.

But something else was going on. When the elders placed their hands on her head, the angels surrounded and said, "Amen," and God said, "Right on." When we ordain elders and deacons in this church, we're not just setting nice guys who say nice things and who smile nice aside to be leaders of the church.

When hands are placed on their head, something is happening in heaven as the people of God affirm the reality. The angels say, "Amen," and God says, "Right on." When we get together, folks, when we're unified, there's no power on the face of the earth that can stand against God's people.

That's why it's so important that we get it straight because of the supernatural principle that when we agree, God agrees. When we agree, God agrees. Finally and quickly, I want you to see not only the imperative of caution, the necessity of confrontation, the importance of communication, the reality of contagion, and the power of collaboration, I want you to see the essence of conciliation.

Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." Everything that I've said up to this point can be applied in a secular milieu to one degree or another. The principles I've taught you this morning work in your business, they work in your neighborhood, they work in the school, they work in the classroom, they work in your relationships with other people, because they're built into the nature of the universe.

God isn't just giving this to his people; he's giving it to everybody. If you want things to go better and to be smoother, then exercise all of the principles I've given you up to this point. But as we get to this point, we leave the secular milieu, and this one won't work. Because the essence of conciliation is the presence of Christ in the midst of his people.

There is one more person here than the ushers counted. Jesus of Nazareth is in the midst of his people, and it is that and his amazing love which draws us together. Some of you were rather shocked at how I wrote that man I told you about. I could see it in your face, but you're a pastor.

I am not the kind of person who just loves everybody. Will Rogers lied about it, and I refuse to. There are some people you just can't love. But let me tell you something else. I wrote another letter after the first letter that I sent, and it was far softer. I didn't change my mind. I didn't change a thing that I said because I had spoken truth.

I didn't back off on that, but every time I would kneel down, Jesus was there, and he wouldn't speak to me until I spoke to my brother and softened up and got it better. Jesus Christ in our midst is the thing which forces us to get it working with one another. It is so important. If your devotional life stinks, that may be the reason.

I've got one story and then we're finished. Maybe you've heard that when Da Vinci did *The Last Supper*, he was having an awesome quarrel with another painter. But he had a way to get back at him. When he did this magnificent painting, he started with Judas, and he painted this man's face on Judas.

He was so pleased with himself because, after all, psychologically he had the emotional release of revenge, and he knew because he knew how good he was that for centuries people were going to look at this turkey man and they were going to know the truth.

But after he kept working, he got finally to the figure of Christ, and he couldn't paint him. He tried. He really tried because he wanted the revenge, but he simply couldn't get the figure right until he painted a proper face on Judas and went and got it straight with his brother.

That brings me to a final principle: Jesus won't sit for a portrait painted by an artist who paints those for whom he died with anything less than love. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter: And we will think about that. Thank you, Steve. And with that, we wrap up an amazing week of teaching, listening through a full sermon from Steve called Harmony in the Band from way back in 1988.

If you enjoyed this week's sermon, I have some great news. This sermon, not to mention the other 131 sermons in this Matthew series, can be heard right now at KeyLife.org/vault. Of course, the Vault is our ongoing effort to preserve and curate these classic sermons.

For as little as $5 a month, you can access and support this important work. Get all the details and see our behind-the-scenes video at KeyLife.org/vault. That's V-A-U-L-T. Be sure to join us again tomorrow for Friday Q&A. Tomorrow our good friend Pete Alwinson will stop by to hang out with Steve, and together they'll answer the challenging questions you've sent in. Questions like this one: what about fasting? Tune in for their answer.

The world of music has something called the power trio. Every generation has their favorite: the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, the Police, Nirvana, Muse. Well, you might be surprised to know that Satan has his own power trio, something that Steve actually refers to as the devil's trinity. That lineup features shame, fear, and guilt. Yeah, we know that playlist.

Steve readily admits that these still sometimes get him, but in a message that he gave at the Billy Graham Training Center, Steve explains that there's an answer to these persistent challenges. We put that entire talk on a CD that we would love to send to you for free. If you ever struggle with shame, fear, or guilt, this one is for you.

So call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at Steve@KeyLife.org to order that CD or to mail your request. Go to KeyLife.org/contact for our mailing addresses. Again, ask for the CD called The Devil's Trinity.

Finally, would you join in the work of Key Life by giving? It's easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply take out your phone and text KeyLife to 28950, then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada and we are a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.