Another Aspect of Church Discipline

# 152 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:2b-5, “ I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. 3 "Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you." 4 And they said, "You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man's hand." 5 Then he said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." And they answered, "He is witness." Samuel's farewell address. He reminds the people that in all his service as judge and priest, he has not cheated anyone nor has he perverted justice for the sake of a bribe. He has judged Israel with impeccable integrity and honesty. Then he says something that is a little disturbing. He says, “The Lord is a witness AGAINST you this day.” He didn't have to say that. He could've just said, “the Lord is my witness,” but he throws in the word “against.” What was the Lord testifying to here that is “against” the people? He was testifying against the people's desire to have an earthly king rule over them. He was saying that there is no need for an earthly king, when your leaders follow the Lord and His ways. God's Word and the Holy Spirit are sufficient to rule in our lives. I am reminded of an incident in Corinth that we read about in 1 Cor 6. In verse 1 we read, “ Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?” Now, I understand that there are times when civil laws are broken, and when that occurs, God has given the government the sword to take care of it. But many times we go running to the earthly king to settle our disputes rather than allowing the church to work out differences in accordance with the Scriptures. This is another aspect of “church discipline” that seems to have been forgotten by the church.