One of the most popular arguments against the doctrine of the Sabbath is the purposed silence of the Early Church fathers on the issue. While it is true that the early writers did not use the language of “Christian Sabbath,” they did have an almost uniform Lord’s Day observance.
“Why doesn’t church discipline ever seem to work?” By that this person meant, “why haven’t we seen any of the excommunicated members repent and be restored?” This person had heard my previous statement about the goal being restoration and had assumed that restoration was the only goal, or perhaps even the primary goal. This is not the case. In fact, there are several goals in mind when a church practices discipline.