There are several noticeable results about churches which exercise church discipline.
1. They are, as a rule, Spirit led, consecrated and devoted to the Lord and His Word.
2.They live morally clean lives and keep united in fellowship and brotherly love.
3.They have the confidence of the world. The outsider who looks on soon decides that such a church is no place for criminals and crooks to harbor.
4. They have the blessings, smiles and approval of heaven upon them. Living a separated life is a doctrine that is taught from one side of the Bible to the other. God has always taught His people to live separate and apart from the world.
5. Churches which practice church discipline will find that worldly minded and hypocritical members and certain kinds of people of the world will frown upon them. They will also find that the Lord and His consecrated saints will smile upon them.
6. Churches which practice strict discipline are, as a rule, humble, Biblical, spiritual, steadfast, unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, I Cor. 15:58.
7. Churches which practice strict discipline are, usually, soul-winning churches and are not mere member-getters. They believe in regeneration before church membership.
May God help all His churches to see and know the value of the precious doctrine of strict church discipline. We are taught in the Word to adorn the doctrines of our Saviour in all things, Titus 2:10. The doctrine of church discipline should be honored, taught and obeyed along with all other fundamental doctrines of the New Testament.
[Conviction for an offense, as a rule, means an exclusion from the church, although the congregation, the church, in minor cases, may inflict such penalties as demanding an apology, or a public expression of wrong-doing, repentance and a desire for forgiveness.]
From Church Discipline by Lester Stewart Walker, 1913--1982
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