All true discipline, whether
directly from the hand of the Lord upon the believer, or under the Lord’s
authority through His people, has one special object in view, namely, the
correction of the wrong that necessitated the discipline. In every case where
the wrong is judged and confessed, grace flows from the Lord immediately; there
is forgiveness, and, as a result, restoration of heart to Him. There may be yet
in the individual, while enjoying His forgiveness, a bitter sting left upon the
heart and mind for long. This will, as the person grows in nearness to God,
produce self-abasement and a careful, lowly spirit, while there is the
enjoyment of forgiveness and restoration. The Lord, in all His dealings, thus
is seen to be perfect in His HOLINESS as well as in His GRACE.

This principle of God’s dealings
with us, whether in holiness or grace, we need to remember and carefully
consider. If not, we may fail in maintaining the holiness of His house as a
people left here for His honor, or fail in the grace that He extends in
restoration. In our limited knowledge of God or understanding of His ways, we
are very liable to run from one extreme to the other; at times, under the plea
of holiness we may fail in the grace urged upon us; and at others, in extending
grace we may forget the sanctity of God’s house and what is due to the Lord
because of what He is.

In all cases, even when the
extreme act of discipline is incumbent upon an assembly, there is the deepest
need of a chastened and broken spirit in each one concerned. Would that such a
spirit were always seen at such times in those who act; then might the same be
the sooner expected in the offender.

A great help in possessing such
a spirit is to keep before our heart and mind the object of discipline—the restoration
of the person. Have we not failed again and again in this:lacking the
chastened spirit in the sight of God in such times? not keeping in view what
the discipline is intended to produce? "And ye have not mourned" was
the apostle’s reproach to the Corinthian saints on a similar occasion, while he
wrote to them "with many tears." Have we not too often sought to get
rid of the trouble by getting rid of the troublesome person, and thus get
through with the matter? But this is not God’s end, for the person is a brother.
When this has been the case, what exercises will be needed to return to the
place where the true path with God has been missed, that His object may be
fully attained! How good to deliver ourselves, at any cost, when we have done
wrong to His name by the misuse of what He has ordained for blessing! How
refreshing to watch every indication of recovery and restoration of heart! We
need to challenge ourselves before the Lord about these things.

It is a lamentable fact that in
the many cases of putting away, so little effort is put forth for the recovery
of the erring; and, accordingly, few are recovered. What voice has the Lord for
us in this? Could it be again Ezekiel’s complaint against the shepherds of
Israel:"The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed
that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither
have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that
which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they
were scattered, because there is no shepherd:and they became meat to all the
beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all
the mountains, and upon every high hill:yea, My flock was scattered upon all
the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them" (Ezek.
34:4-6).

If we
have lost the sense of the sanctity of God’s house, we will do well to take up
1 Corinthians 5 again, and go over every part of it with care, that we may
recover it. Or, if we have lost the true object of discipline, we will do well
to consider afresh, with the same earnest care, 2 Cor. 2:6-11. In it, we shall
see the grace of the Lord in the apostle, two years after the man was put away,
urging not only forgiveness, but also to comfort such a one. If we fail in this
grace, those yet dear to Christ, notwithstanding past failure, are made to
suffer by our indifference or hardness. (See Prov. 24:11,12.) Our Lord sits
upon a throne of grace; our dispensation is one of grace, and the
gospel we announce tells of grace flowing out to the ends of the earth.
We ourselves are daily the subjects of grace—oh, how much! Let us, then, beware
lest we fail in that grace to others.