In Luke 17:3 Jesus said, “Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” Paul said something similar about focusing on ourselves in Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on ourselves, lest we be tempted.” In Judges 20 we see the lessons God wanted eleven tribes to learn when confronting Benjamin and it helps us see what we should focus on when rebuking others.

Table of contentsFamily Worship GuideSermon NotesLesson One: God must use sinners to rebuke sinners.Lesson Two: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, but (Part One) be careful of pride.Lesson Two: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, but (Part Two) with brokenness over your sin.Lesson Two: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, but (Part Three) with gentleness.

https://youtu.be/nYaQPX_GfNQ
Jesus said, “Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him” (Luke 17:3). Judges 20 teaches us what to focus on.

Family Worship Guide

Directions: Read the following verses and then answer the questions:

Day 1: 2 Chronicles 6:36, Proverbs 20:9, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8, Habakkuk 1:3-13, 2:16-17: Why does God use sinners to rebuke sinners? Can you think of biblical examples of people rebuking each other? Do you think they obeyed Luke 17:3 and Galatians 6:1? Why or why not?

Day 2: Matthew 7:3-5, Luke 17:3, Galatians 6:1, Judges 20:12-28: What temptation do we face when God leads us to rebuke people? Why did the eleven tribes keep losing against the tribe of Benjamin? Describe the changes that took place with the eleven tribes over the course of their defeats. What evidences do you see of their brokenness before God finally gave them victory?

Day 3: Judges 20:47-48, 21:2-3, James 1:20, Romans 2:4: What mistake did the eleven tribes make after God gave them victory over the tribe of Benjamin, and why do you think they made this mistake? What lesson can we learn from this regarding rebuking others? How does God lead us to repentance and what application does this have for us when we rebuke others?

Sermon Notes

The title of this morning’s sermon is, “If Your Brother Sins Against You, Rebuke Him, But…”

On Sunday mornings we’re working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse, and we find ourselves at Luke 17:3, but you can stay in Judges 20 because it’s where we will be for most of the sermon.

I have four questions for you. The first question is a simple one…

Who is a sinner?

Everyone!

Listen to these verses:

2 Chronicles 6:36 There is no one who does not sin

Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, “I am clean from my sin”?

Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who…never sins.

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

Now here’s the second question…

If everyone is a sinner, who must God use to rebuke people in sin?

Other sinners!

And this brings us to lesson one…

Lesson One: God must use sinners to rebuke sinners.

Here’s the third question…

If God uses sinners to rebuke sinners, what is the difference between the rebuker and the person being rebuked?

Unrepentant sin.

They are both sinners, but the person being rebuked is in unrepentant sin and God wants to see repentance.

Think about the Old Testament when God used nations to rebuke other nations…

There were no sinless nations, so He had to use sinful nations to punish other sinful nations. Then He had to punish the sinful nation that punished the other nation because of that nation’s sins.

For example:

God used Assyria to conquer the northern kingdom of Israel.

Then God used Babylon to conquer Assyria and later Judah.

Then God used the Medes and Persians to conquer Babylon.