Matthew 18:15-20
These words of the Lord Jesus contain an expression which has often been misapplied. The command to “hear the Church” has been so interpreted as to contradict other passages of God’s Word. It has been falsely applied to the authority of the whole visible Church in matters of doctrine, and so been made an excuse for the exercise of much ecclesiastical tyranny. But the abuse of Scripture truths must not tempt us to neglect the use of them. We must not turn away altogether from any text, because some have perverted it and made it poison.
Let us notice in the first place, how admirable are the rules laid down by our Lord for the healing of differences among brethren.