WEBVTT 1 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:44.460 Well, if you would open your Bible to First Corinthians chapter 5 . 2 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:50.640 We’ve been talking about authority in the church for the past couple of weeks. 3 00:13:50.640 --> 00:13:56.700 And the underlying issue has been the authority. 4 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:04.560 There’s a presumed authority that has come about in the Corinthian church. 5 00:14:04.560 --> 00:14:12.760 And so Paul has had to deal with that in these first few chapters, chapters 1 through 4. 6 00:14:12.760 --> 00:14:24.400 So, last week, as we looked at this, we pointed out that Paul ‘nthetically’ confronted the church. 7 00:14:24.400 --> 00:14:27.520 That’s the language that the Greek uses here. 8 00:14:27.520 --> 00:14:30.120 He made a confrontation. 9 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:34.220 He confronted them with a love that corrects. 10 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:38.140 And so he did that in chapter 4. 11 00:14:38.140 --> 00:14:40.720 He asked them, you remember, three questions. 12 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.520 He says, “Who considers you superior?” 13 00:14:43.520 --> 00:14:46.800 Or “who concedes to you any superiority?” 14 00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:50.100 One translation says, “Who made you so important?” 15 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:57.800 And so the question is really saying, you are presuming so much authority, where is that authority coming from? 16 00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:00.620 Where do you get the authority? 17 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:04.600 And then he says, “What do you have that you did not receive?” 18 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:11.220 If you’ve received it, why are you boasting, you know, as if you had not received it from the Lord? 19 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:19.000 So, just those three questions is a strong confrontation and it should have settled it, but it didn’t. 20 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:19.560 Apparently. 21 00:15:19.560 --> 00:15:29.080 So Paul continues in his letter, and the next section is one that is loaded with sarcasm. 22 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:35.440 He’s pointing out how wonderfully they think of themselves. 23 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.420 You have already become rich. 24 00:15:39.420 --> 00:15:42.200 You are already kings. 25 00:15:42.200 --> 00:16:00.240 And then he contrasts that with the apostles and the apostles’ view of themselves, which, you know, when you think about that in light of the teaching of the Lord Jesus, in his upside-down view of what Christian life is, then it becomes clear. 26 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:17.240 And just to remind you of that, let me read just a few verses from Luke 6: The Lord Jesus raised his eyes toward the disciples and he began saying, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. 27 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:21.820 And blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. 28 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:25.120 And blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 29 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:36.660 And blessed are you who when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and scorn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 30 00:16:36.660 --> 00:16:42.960 Rejoice on that day and jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. 31 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.960 For their fathers used to treat the prophets in the same way. 32 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:54.520 But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. 33 00:16:54.520 --> 00:16:58.820 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will be hungry. 34 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:01.980 Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 35 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:09.460 Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.” 36 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:24.080 And so, when with this biting sarcasm, as he compares their perspective on themselves with the actual circumstances and the attitude of the apostles. 37 00:17:24.080 --> 00:17:33.060 He really, in the sharpest way, brings about this correction. 38 00:17:33.060 --> 00:17:37.180 They have become arrogant, he says. 39 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.140 He confronts them for their arrogance. 40 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:54.140 And as I’ve been thinking about this for the past weeks, one of the things, you know, if you find a person who is conceited, we all have a tendency to dislike that person. 41 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:57.700 That came up in a conversation around the house recently. 42 00:17:57.700 --> 00:18:04.200 We’re just talking about television characters and various things. 43 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:09.060 But conceit is something that is repugnant. 44 00:18:09.060 --> 00:18:10.530 It’s sort of repugnant. 45 00:18:10.530 --> 00:18:16.960 It’s a dislike that you have for somebody who is always praising themselves or something like that. 46 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:20.760 I don’t think that’s what’s going on here in First Corinthians. 47 00:18:20.760 --> 00:18:30.960 I don’t think these people are, there’s some of that, they’re bragging about the things that they’re doing, and they certainly think that they’re really well off. 48 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:32.960 They have spiritual superiority. 49 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.200 All of that’s true. 50 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:38.840 But I don’t think they’re going around bragging about themselves all the time. 51 00:18:38.840 --> 00:18:41.420 He calls this arrogance. 52 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:51.660 And I think the key to understanding the arrogance is that they are assuming an authority that does not belong to them. 53 00:18:51.660 --> 00:19:00.500 They’re assuming an authority in the church that, and doing certain things that God has not prescribed. 54 00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:27.920 And so as Justin pointed out a few weeks ago, in verse 6, when he says, “so that you may learn not to exceed what is written,” that becomes a key element in understanding this whole, this whole first section of Corinthians, because they, they are doing things that is not prescribed in the Word of God. 55 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:39.430 They’re taking an authority to themselves that is not given and made authoritative through, through the teachings of the apostles. 56 00:19:39.430 --> 00:19:41.800 And so they’ve assumed an authority. 57 00:19:41.800 --> 00:19:59.140 And as a result of assuming that authority, forming these little groups and things that they’re doing, taking great pride in what they’re producing, they are creating, first of all, this division that’s taking place in the church. 58 00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:09.660 So, part of the question, and as a result of that, if you remember these first four chapters, they began to question the apostles’ authority. 59 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:19.100 So, assuming an authority for themselves has led to a discounting of the authorities that God has given and entrusted to the church. 60 00:20:19.100 --> 00:20:21.980 So, there’s that issue. 61 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:24.800 It’s a serious, serious issue. 62 00:20:24.800 --> 00:20:40.180 Now, when, if you want to, you don’t have to look far for, for finding illustrations that illustrate the problem that we have when God-given authority is minimized. 63 00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:49.860 In fact, this morning, here, with the yellow tape in front of marking off this street, it’s a good example. 64 00:20:49.860 --> 00:21:03.720 When you think about our recent history politically, and how for a year now, God-given authority, which is law enforcement, has been minimized. 65 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:12.510 And as it’s been minimized, there’s been more and far more violent crime. 66 00:21:12.510 --> 00:21:16.300 You know, it’s a, it’s a serious issue. 67 00:21:16.300 --> 00:21:40.600 You know, when God, when God gave authority to governments to govern, and he established that through the agencies of government, you know, as it says in Romans 13, it says, “If you don’t want to fear the authority, do what’s good, and you’ll, you’ll have praise from them.” 68 00:21:40.600 --> 00:21:52.140 Because that agent, that, that, that magistrate, that police officer, is a servant of God for your good. 69 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:59.240 But if you do what’s evil, be afraid, for the magistrate doesn’t bear the sword in vain. 70 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:00.220 That’s what he’s saying. 71 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:03.260 The police officer doesn’t carry a gun for no reason. 72 00:22:03.260 --> 00:22:05.940 We should be afraid of such authority. 73 00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:16.280 And when, when that is minimized, when that becomes a minimal thing in people’s mind, when they think, “How dare they have a right to have authority?” 74 00:22:16.280 --> 00:22:20.980 Then you end up with the kind of chaos that we’ve experienced. 75 00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:28.220 Well, in this, in First Corinthians, the authority that he’s talking about is the authority that is within the church itself. 76 00:22:28.220 --> 00:22:43.140 And in the first few chapters, one of the problems that he’s dealing with is that the problem of division that comes about, a divisive spirit, and division that comes about within the body, which breaks the unity of the church. 77 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:59.640 And so now as we move into chapter 5, the issue is that this type of arrogance also often results in immorality. 78 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:03.020 So, with that, let me read the text, the chapter. 79 00:23:03.020 --> 00:23:11.560 I’ll just read through chapter 5 and then we’ll explore some of this this morning. 80 00:23:11.560 --> 00:23:15.200 This is God’s inerrant word. 81 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:19.630 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you. 82 00:23:19.630 --> 00:23:27.460 And immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. 83 00:23:27.460 --> 00:23:39.240 You’ve become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who has done this deed would be removed from your midst. 84 00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:49.400 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. 85 00:23:49.400 --> 00:24:06.180 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you’re assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I’ve decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 86 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:09.200 Your boasting is not good. 87 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:14.940 Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 88 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:23.960 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. 89 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:29.060 For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 90 00:24:29.060 --> 00:24:38.680 Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 91 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:43.280 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people. 92 00:24:43.280 --> 00:24:53.940 I did not at all mean with immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 93 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:58.480 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother. 94 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:09.360 If he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler, not even to eat with such a one. 95 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:14.220 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? 96 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:18.080 Do you not judge those who are within the church? 97 00:25:18.080 --> 00:25:22.360 But those who are outside, God judges. 98 00:25:22.360 --> 00:25:29.400 Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. 99 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:34.480 Let me ask the Lord to bless his word as we seek it today. 100 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:42.640 Father, as we approach this passage, as we think about it and meditate on it, we ask Father for your blessing, for your protection. 101 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:49.020 Guide us into your truth and help us to understand a little better this important chapter from your word. 102 00:25:49.020 --> 00:26:06.500 And we ask Father, as we, we understand this better, that you would use this as a means of grace in each of us, to help purify us, to protect us, to help us submit to you in all things. 103 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:10.300 We ask this Father for your blessing. 104 00:26:10.300 --> 00:26:21.680 We pray Father that you, that you enable us through the power of your Holy Spirit to both comprehend and to apply your truth to our hearts. 105 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:23.800 We pray in Jesus’ name. 106 00:26:23.800 --> 00:26:30.640 Amen. 107 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:37.860 So, what happens when arrogance leads a church to move beyond the things that are written? 108 00:26:37.860 --> 00:26:41.700 Well, moral failure can happen. 109 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:55.340 And arrogance, by the way, I mean this, this pride that they have, which is causing them to assume authorities that are not God-given, that’s a sin in itself. 110 00:26:55.340 --> 00:26:58.300 That’s a moral failure of its own kind. 111 00:26:58.300 --> 00:27:01.340 But it leads to other kinds of sin. 112 00:27:01.340 --> 00:27:04.460 It tends to lead to other kinds of sin. 113 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:14.460 So that’s what Paul does next with this next, this next correction. 114 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:19.060 Verse 1, it says, It is actually reported, there’s immorality among you. 115 00:27:19.060 --> 00:27:24.610 And immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles. 116 00:27:24.610 --> 00:27:32.680 That’s a, the word immorality is the word where we get words like pornography. 117 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:34.380 It’s the word porneia . 118 00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:37.260 And it means sexual sin. 119 00:27:37.260 --> 00:27:44.720 Usually, the basic meaning is sexual sin outside of marriage, but it can mean any type of sexual sin. 120 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:57.800 And he is confronting an individual in the church in this chapter, dealing with this issue of immorality. 121 00:27:57.800 --> 00:28:06.620 Paul is an apostle, founder of this church, and he is makes a judgment concerning this individual. 122 00:28:06.620 --> 00:28:18.820 And so he confronts the church, first of all, and he gives his judgment about this individual and the sin that he was involved in. 123 00:28:18.820 --> 00:28:40.140 He points out that, in this very direct way, he points out that the sin of this member was not only something that’s forbidden in the Old Testament, the law of, the law of God, such as Leviticus 18:8, Deuteronomy 22:30, and there are others. 124 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:47.900 It’s a sin that wasn’t even accepted in the culture that they lived in. 125 00:28:47.900 --> 00:28:57.900 And that’s saying quite a lot, considering that this is being written from Corinth, where the word Corinthianize means to lead somebody into sexual immorality. 126 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:00.800 It was the common thing of Corinth. 127 00:29:00.800 --> 00:29:01.430 It was everywhere. 128 00:29:01.430 --> 00:29:10.160 They had with all the, the paganism and the prostitution that was part of their worship and everything else that went on in Corinth. 129 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:20.420 And so here is a sin, and the sin was, apparently, he had, he was, he had taken his stepmother and they were cohabiting. 130 00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:22.980 He’s cohabiting with his stepmother. 131 00:29:22.980 --> 00:29:25.860 And that’s incest. 132 00:29:25.860 --> 00:29:28.360 Roman law and laws today. 133 00:29:28.360 --> 00:29:31.560 So, it was something that was repugnant. 134 00:29:31.560 --> 00:29:34.020 It was sinfully wrong. 135 00:29:34.020 --> 00:29:40.250 Something that should have been corrected, and yet it wasn’t dealt with by the church. 136 00:29:40.250 --> 00:29:43.420 They seemed to be something of the opposite. 137 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:45.640 And it’s something that was well known. 138 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:49.080 It’s been reported, he said. 139 00:29:49.080 --> 00:29:50.970 The news is out there. 140 00:29:50.970 --> 00:29:55.340 Paul is a long ways from this city, and he’s getting reports about it. 141 00:29:55.340 --> 00:29:56.980 This incredible thing. 142 00:29:56.980 --> 00:30:02.440 You have this church that wants to be a witness to the community that they’re in. 143 00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:10.940 And there’re, there’re within that church, there’s an individual who’s committing a sin that not even that community would approve of. 144 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:15.380 You can see how that’s a bit of a problem. 145 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:42.990 I think when you have a situation in a church where there are all sorts of structures that might take place in the church, it’s just presumed where divisions began to form, and where authority is questioned, it’s probably pretty normal in such churches where immorality grow up. 146 00:30:42.990 --> 00:30:53.120 And I think that’s pretty much the case with the world we live in, in the 21st century in the United States of America. 147 00:30:53.120 --> 00:31:03.360 We have all sorts of problems in with, you know, since the word is porneia , and I need to, we need to think about it how we apply this to ourselves. 148 00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:13.660 We have all sorts of problems here in our country with this, with this issue of sexual immorality in the church. 149 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.660 We have a problem with it as a nation, of course. 150 00:31:17.660 --> 00:31:31.500 I mean, pornography in the United States is, it’s, it’s more than a 13 billion dollar industry just here in the United States. 151 00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:42.140 That’s, if you take, you know, the NFL and the NBA and Major League Baseball, it’s far more than that. 152 00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:48.800 The porn industry, last year, you know, worldwide, it’s about 44.8 billion. 153 00:31:48.800 --> 00:31:56.400 And a huge amount of that is made in the United States. 154 00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:07.180 The porn industry made more last year than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, Netflix, and EarthLink combined. 155 00:32:07.180 --> 00:32:09.080 Think about that. 156 00:32:09.080 --> 00:32:12.760 It’s just an incredible industry. 157 00:32:12.760 --> 00:32:15.540 And it destroys marriages. 158 00:32:15.540 --> 00:32:18.420 It causes all sorts of problems. 159 00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:37.440 In fact, one of the terrible problems that this has resulted in in the United States, is that young people, young men seeking, you know, when should they get married, whether they’re not getting married. 160 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:53.900 But when they do get married, they have difficulty pursuing a normal relationship in their, with their wife, because their mind has been so conditioned by the pornography. 161 00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:56.480 They can’t function. 162 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:58.320 And that’s a fact. 163 00:32:58.320 --> 00:33:00.940 And that’s a serious, serious problem. 164 00:33:00.940 --> 00:33:06.240 I mean, just think about that as a problem for a nation to have. 165 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:12.080 So pornography is a problem. 166 00:33:12.080 --> 00:33:18.240 It’s a problem for all kinds of, of kinds of reasons. 167 00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:33.220 And the sad thing is, when you look at the evangelical church, or just people who identify as Christians, it’s hardly any better. 168 00:33:33.220 --> 00:33:49.580 There’s, a Barna Group, in, in their surveys, discovered that there’s virtually no difference in the monthly pornography use of non-Christian men versus Christian men. 169 00:33:49.580 --> 00:33:53.930 Non-Christian men, about 65% use pornography once a month. 170 00:33:53.930 --> 00:34:00.560 Uh, Christian men use pornography, about 64% of them use pornography once a month. 171 00:34:00.560 --> 00:35:09.760 And that’s a problem. 172 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:13.100 For people who profess to be Christians. 173 00:35:13.100 --> 00:35:16.600 You don’t hear a lot of confrontation about this. 174 00:35:16.600 --> 00:35:19.340 It’s, it’s a devastating thing. 175 00:35:19.340 --> 00:35:22.740 It’s a serious problem. 176 00:35:22.740 --> 00:35:37.340 A sociology professor, his name is Samuel Perry, did a great deal of research on the impact of pornography, using 3,000 people over a six-year period of time. 177 00:35:37.340 --> 00:36:03.760 And he says, among other things, there’s, there’s a lot of things, but any porn use, he said, and this is somebody from the outside really, any porn use is associated with a decline in religious commitment and behavior, like praying or going to church, and an increase in religious doubt. 178 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:16.920 Now, I, dealing with people over my lifetime in counseling situations, I can tell you, when somebody comes to you with questions of doubt, it’s not necessarily that there’s sin in their life. 179 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:27.180 But one of the things that you really do need to explore is whether there are some prevailing sin that is, that is causing, that is at the bottom of the thing. 180 00:36:27.180 --> 00:36:35.700 Because when people become involved in sexual sin in particular, it really leads to, to religious, to Christian doubt. 181 00:36:35.700 --> 00:36:38.240 It leads them doubting of God. 182 00:36:38.240 --> 00:36:40.900 They are committed to their sin. 183 00:36:40.900 --> 00:36:54.120 And so like the Corinthian problem, they begin to doubt the authority of God and question the, the, the deity and, and the authority of God. 184 00:36:54.120 --> 00:37:05.160 So, all you have to do, if you’re Satan at work in this thing, to try to get people to stop going to church, is increase the pornography use. 185 00:37:05.160 --> 00:37:29.480 And so, you know, it, it, it results in a decline in religious commitment and behavior, such as tending services and prayer, increases religious doubts, and as a result, people, even the ones who attend, continue to attend church, are less willing to do things within the church, to submit. 186 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:32.020 So, it’s a problem. 187 00:37:32.020 --> 00:37:33.100 It’s a problem. 188 00:37:33.100 --> 00:37:35.660 So, he confronts it directly. 189 00:37:35.660 --> 00:37:40.280 He, he points out the issue, and he makes his judgment of this individual. 190 00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:43.760 He says, It’s actually reported that there’s immorality among you. 191 00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:52.960 And that immorality of such a kind that does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. 192 00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:55.260 So, he spills that out. 193 00:37:55.260 --> 00:37:59.700 And then a little later he tells them what his judgment is about it. 194 00:37:59.700 --> 00:38:06.810 But then he deals in verse 2 with the even more serious issue. 195 00:38:06.810 --> 00:38:12.020 That, that’s an incredibly serious issue, but there’s an even more serious issue. 196 00:38:12.020 --> 00:38:14.680 And that is that they have become arrogant in this. 197 00:38:14.680 --> 00:38:19.580 And so, let’s go back to that same idea of what arrogance is. 198 00:38:19.580 --> 00:38:26.380 They’re acting in a way that is contrary to what God has provided. 199 00:38:26.380 --> 00:38:30.820 So, they’re becoming arrogant in their church practice. 200 00:38:30.820 --> 00:38:46.040 And, and I mean, in this sense, it’s an example of heterodoxy, where Paul has told them exactly, they’ve had the instruction of an apostle, exactly what to do in a situation like this. 201 00:38:46.040 --> 00:38:50.580 And instead of doing that, they’re going to, they do something else. 202 00:38:50.580 --> 00:38:55.340 In this case, there’s, first of all, a lack of any action. 203 00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:56.880 They’re not responding. 204 00:38:56.880 --> 00:38:58.190 They’re not, they’re not acting. 205 00:38:58.190 --> 00:39:02.180 They’ve become arrogant. 206 00:39:02.180 --> 00:39:08.820 So, they’re not, they’re not going to deal with this issue. 207 00:39:08.820 --> 00:39:15.460 He says, you’ve become arrogant and have not mourned instead. 208 00:39:15.460 --> 00:39:17.980 You should be mourning over this. 209 00:39:17.980 --> 00:39:24.580 The, the word there is used for grieving over the death of someone. 210 00:39:24.580 --> 00:39:30.380 And really, if you think about that, that’s Paul’s point. 211 00:39:30.380 --> 00:39:46.640 Somebody in your church falls into a sin and they’re persistent in that, and they will not repent of that, that’s a point of, you need to be grieving over that person, because you’ve lost that person from your congregation. 212 00:39:46.640 --> 00:39:50.320 And so, you should be grieving over the loss of that person. 213 00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:55.700 You should care so much about this that it brings you to grief. 214 00:39:55.700 --> 00:39:59.360 You should, you should be sorrowing. 215 00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:02.240 Instead, they’ve become arrogant. 216 00:40:02.240 --> 00:40:10.670 They have, and even more exaggerated sense of, of, of this sense of authority. 217 00:40:10.670 --> 00:40:18.700 You know, that God has not actually given to them. 218 00:40:18.700 --> 00:40:22.000 So, Paul gives his judgment in verse 3. 219 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:33.600 He says, For I on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. 220 00:40:33.600 --> 00:40:41.900 Paul is doing this according to the authority that God has given him. 221 00:40:41.900 --> 00:40:50.340 And he, even though he is not there, which is a pretty good excuse not to act in one of these difficult situations. 222 00:40:50.340 --> 00:41:11.540 And by the way, there’s hardly anything that a pastor or a church, or the leaders of a church, least want to do than to confront somebody with their sin and then follow up on it in the way that Paul is instructing, to bring about church discipline. 223 00:41:11.540 --> 00:41:16.000 Nobody, it’s not something anybody would want to do. 224 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:17.760 And Paul is not there. 225 00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:21.020 And that’s a great excuse not to deal with it. 226 00:41:21.020 --> 00:41:23.160 He didn’t have to deal with this. 227 00:41:23.160 --> 00:41:26.320 And yet, he does have to deal with it. 228 00:41:26.320 --> 00:41:29.260 He’s going to submit to the Lord. 229 00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:35.370 So, he says, even, even though absent in body, present in spirit. 230 00:41:35.370 --> 00:41:46.330 I, I think that especially means conveying this message through the letter that he’s, he’s sending to them. 231 00:41:46.330 --> 00:41:52.780 I’ve already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. 232 00:41:52.780 --> 00:41:59.520 And then, this question of authority in verse 4. 233 00:41:59.520 --> 00:42:02.700 You see his authority. 234 00:42:02.700 --> 00:42:07.520 In the name of our Lord Jesus. 235 00:42:07.520 --> 00:42:19.460 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus. 236 00:42:19.460 --> 00:42:22.780 So, that’s, that’s the apostle’s authority. 237 00:42:22.780 --> 00:42:32.940 He’s appealing to the name and the attributes of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, the one who commissioned him into the apostleship that he has. 238 00:42:32.940 --> 00:42:39.960 And he’s appealing to the authority and the power that comes through the Lord Jesus. 239 00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:56.680 And he says in verse 5, I’ve decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 240 00:42:56.680 --> 00:43:00.520 So, he says, “Hand him over to Satan.” 241 00:43:00.520 --> 00:43:08.240 And that’s a, that’s a startling thing to come to, when you come to this passage, when you get to verse 5. 242 00:43:08.240 --> 00:43:11.190 He says, “I’ve decided to deliver such a one to Satan.” 243 00:43:11.190 --> 00:43:17.660 You know, it’s a phrase that you don’t find often in the Bible. 244 00:43:17.660 --> 00:43:23.860 In fact, the only, only other place I think that it occurs is in First Timothy 1:20. 245 00:43:23.860 --> 00:43:36.040 When the apostle Paul is in that letter, to Timothy, and he’s explaining how people have abandoned him, his co-workers and helpers have abandoned him. 246 00:43:36.040 --> 00:43:46.520 He said, Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. 247 00:43:46.520 --> 00:43:49.740 So, it happened there. 248 00:43:49.740 --> 00:43:51.840 What does it mean? 249 00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:56.080 What does it mean to be handed over to Satan in this way? 250 00:43:56.080 --> 00:43:57.880 You’re a member of the church. 251 00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:04.220 You’re caught up in a sin. 252 00:44:04.220 --> 00:44:06.480 What does it, what does it, what happens here? 253 00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:13.350 Well, one thing that is pretty clear in this passage is the person is excommunicated from the church. 254 00:44:13.350 --> 00:44:22.440 He is, he is excluded from the church, participation in the church. 255 00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:40.340 And you can see that, you know, back in verse 2, you know, when he tells them, you’ve become arrogant and not mourned, so the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. 256 00:44:40.340 --> 00:44:44.840 And you can see it, you know, in verse 7. 257 00:44:44.840 --> 00:44:53.680 You can see it at the end, the very last verse here, when he says, Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. 258 00:44:53.680 --> 00:44:57.420 He’s talking about excommunication, first of all. 259 00:44:57.420 --> 00:45:11.020 And as he, as he’s talking about that, I think that he is, you know, here’s a situation where you have a person who is unrepentant. 260 00:45:11.020 --> 00:45:14.760 They’re, they have stubborn unrepentance. 261 00:45:14.760 --> 00:45:16.740 They’ve been confronted with their sin. 262 00:45:16.740 --> 00:45:22.300 It’s escalated to the place where it’s very clear, made public. 263 00:45:22.300 --> 00:45:31.000 And so, you have to treat them as Jesus said in Matthew 18, as, treat them as an unbeliever. 264 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:35.700 Treat them as someone, you know, like a Gentile. 265 00:45:35.700 --> 00:45:48.740 You know, an interesting thing, there’s something very interesting that I find in this, in this section, because Paul assumes, probably, he’s an apostle, he probably knows that this man is a believer. 266 00:45:48.740 --> 00:45:51.340 I think that’s pretty clear here. 267 00:45:51.340 --> 00:46:12.920 But in an actual church situation, when you go through something like this, and somebody falls into a pattern of sin and they will not repent of that sin, and they’re confronted by the church leaders, or it, it leads to that, and they still refuse to repent, and the thing is brought before the church as, as the instruction is in Matthew 18. 268 00:46:12.920 --> 00:46:16.360 And they still refuse to repent. 269 00:46:16.360 --> 00:46:21.560 You know, a person like that, you don’t even know if they’re a believer or not. 270 00:46:21.560 --> 00:46:24.320 There are unbelievers in the church. 271 00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:33.640 And so, what Jesus is instructing them to do in Matthew 18 is, you treat this person as if they’re an unbeliever. 272 00:46:33.640 --> 00:46:35.880 They’re, they’re an outsider. 273 00:46:35.880 --> 00:46:42.680 You’re among those who, in this passage, Paul says, “God judges those people on the outside.” 274 00:46:42.680 --> 00:46:47.720 And so, they’re sent out into the world. 275 00:46:47.720 --> 00:46:53.660 And they’re removed from the church, and they’re placed in the domain of Satan, really. 276 00:46:53.660 --> 00:46:58.530 That means that they’ve lost the protection of the church. 277 00:46:58.530 --> 00:47:09.410 First John 5:19 says, the apostle John said, We know we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 278 00:47:09.410 --> 00:47:19.860 And what Paul is saying, you know, you, you exclude them from the church, and they’re, they’re out in the world, where Satan has dominion. 279 00:47:19.860 --> 00:47:24.720 So, that, we might understand, the next part is a little more difficult. 280 00:47:24.720 --> 00:47:28.210 For the destruction of the flesh. 281 00:47:28.210 --> 00:47:32.340 And there’s a couple of possibilities here. 282 00:47:32.340 --> 00:47:53.500 I mean, it could be that he’s talking about the destruction of the flesh in the sense of the, uh, sinful pattern of life that an unsaved person has, you know, when you become a Christian, you still have those old habits and patterns and things. 283 00:47:53.500 --> 00:47:54.910 For that to be eliminated. 284 00:47:54.910 --> 00:47:58.630 You know, and then they can be restored to the church. 285 00:47:58.630 --> 00:48:01.100 That, that’s a possibility. 286 00:48:01.100 --> 00:48:09.820 It’s hard maybe to see how sending them out into the world would do that, but that may be a possibility. 287 00:48:09.820 --> 00:48:20.460 But it’s far more likely that he’s talking about the physical consequences. 288 00:48:20.460 --> 00:48:25.640 That too is, is, you know, a challenging thing for us to think about. 289 00:48:25.640 --> 00:48:36.130 But, uh, if the person is a believer, it’s highly probable that God will allow Satan to bring judgment against that person. 290 00:48:36.130 --> 00:48:45.760 He will, to bring them to repentance, and to bring them to him. 291 00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:47.990 That’s a, that’s a real possibility. 292 00:48:47.990 --> 00:48:52.740 So, you have that with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. 293 00:48:52.740 --> 00:48:57.340 You might remember the blindness of Elymas in Acts 13. 294 00:48:57.340 --> 00:49:02.620 And even Paul talks about his thorn in the flesh. 295 00:49:02.620 --> 00:49:08.320 And when he talks about that, he says it was a messenger from Satan. 296 00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:10.660 So, that’s an interesting thing. 297 00:49:10.660 --> 00:49:12.300 It’s a different situation. 298 00:49:12.300 --> 00:49:13.100 It’s an interesting thing. 299 00:49:13.100 --> 00:49:22.980 He makes that connection with, with the suffering, the physical suffering, and connecting that with Satan. 300 00:49:22.980 --> 00:49:29.020 So, he’s, I think he’s saying that this is likely to result in physical consequences. 301 00:49:29.020 --> 00:49:37.080 Being withdrawn from the church, where there is protection, grace, and mercy. 302 00:49:37.080 --> 00:49:45.100 Then, he says, “so that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord.” 303 00:49:45.100 --> 00:49:48.770 That means he believes that he will be saved in the day of the Lord. 304 00:49:48.770 --> 00:49:48.900 So, the assumption here is that you’re dealing with a Christian who is caught up in this. 305 00:49:48.900 --> 00:49:48.940 Maybe, didn’t know much better. 306 00:49:48.940 --> 00:49:48.960 He’s a new believer. 307 00:49:48.960 --> 00:49:49.020 But, when confronted and corrected, he didn’t repent. 308 00:49:49.020 --> 00:49:49.200 That person needs to be put out, in order to suffer the consequences of that removal of grace, so that to bring about a repentance. 309 00:49:49.200 --> 00:49:49.310 And, as a result, one way or the other, that person may be saved. 310 00:49:49.310 --> 00:49:49.450 And it is talking about real salvation, because he’s talking about saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 311 00:49:49.450 --> 00:49:49.530 Not just healed or some other use of the word saved. 312 00:49:49.530 --> 00:49:49.540 Ultimate salvation. 313 00:49:49.540 --> 00:49:49.650 So, that, you know, we might understand the next part is a little more difficult. 314 00:49:49.650 --> 00:49:49.690 For the destruction of the flesh. 315 00:49:49.690 --> 00:49:49.770 So, that this is likely to result in physical consequences. 316 00:49:49.770 --> 00:49:49.850 Being withdrawn from the church where there is protection, grace, and mercy. 317 00:49:49.850 --> 00:49:49.970 Then he says, so that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord. 318 00:49:49.970 --> 00:49:50.080 That means he believes that he will be saved in the day of the Lord. 319 00:49:50.080 --> 00:49:54.940 So, the assumption here is that you’re dealing with a Christian who is caught up in this. 320 00:49:54.940 --> 00:49:57.120 Maybe, didn’t know much better. 321 00:49:57.120 --> 00:49:58.340 He’s a new believer. 322 00:49:58.340 --> 00:50:01.740 But, when confronted and corrected, he didn’t repent. 323 00:50:01.740 --> 00:50:17.420 That person needs to be put out in order to suffer the consequences of that removal of grace, so that to bring about a repentance. 324 00:50:17.420 --> 00:50:23.360 And, as a result, one way or the other, that person may be saved. 325 00:50:23.360 --> 00:50:31.460 And it is talking about real salvation, because he’s talking about saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 326 00:50:31.460 --> 00:50:36.940 Not just healed, or some other use of the word saved. 327 00:50:36.940 --> 00:50:46.000 Ultimate salvation. 328 00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:49.300 So that’s Paul’s judgment of the individual. 329 00:50:49.300 --> 00:50:52.080 Then he deals again with the church. 330 00:50:52.080 --> 00:50:59.600 He says, you’re boasting about this. 331 00:50:59.600 --> 00:51:02.720 That tells you something of their attitude. 332 00:51:02.720 --> 00:51:05.160 I don’t know what was going on there. 333 00:51:05.160 --> 00:51:15.660 I mean, I really don’t know, but it seems to me in some way it must have been some type of antinomian idea that, “Look, the grace of God is so rich. 334 00:51:15.660 --> 00:51:19.980 We have this person who, look at the terrible sin that they’re in and yet they’re saved. 335 00:51:19.980 --> 00:51:21.610 They’re part of us. 336 00:51:21.610 --> 00:51:24.400 Isn’t it wonderful?” 337 00:51:24.400 --> 00:51:27.480 Something like that must have been going on because he calls it boasting. 338 00:51:27.480 --> 00:51:29.520 Your boasting about this is not good. 339 00:51:29.520 --> 00:51:34.160 And then he corrects it. 340 00:51:34.160 --> 00:51:40.280 He says, “Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” 341 00:51:40.280 --> 00:51:50.540 For about at least 600 years when preachers preach this, they’ll usually talk about apples. 342 00:51:50.540 --> 00:51:58.880 But I actually came across something that was several hundred years old using the same illustration. 343 00:51:58.880 --> 00:52:03.800 You know, you put apples together and you have one bad apple. 344 00:52:03.800 --> 00:52:12.240 The next apple, touching it, soon the corruption spreads from one to the other to the other. 345 00:52:12.240 --> 00:52:31.980 He says, a little leaven — take a little pinch of leaven and work that into the dough a little bit, pretty soon, that whole lump of dough begins to expand with the effect of leaven. 346 00:52:31.980 --> 00:52:38.700 And so he’s saying, “Clean out the old leaven.” 347 00:52:38.700 --> 00:52:53.100 He says, “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump just as you are unleavened.” 348 00:52:53.100 --> 00:53:04.300 I think maybe for me, one of the most surprising, in some ways one of the most surprising verses in this text in this chapter, is that verse. 349 00:53:04.300 --> 00:53:12.600 Because he’s saying, the Corinthian church — and I think we probably need to change our thinking about the Corinthian church. 350 00:53:12.600 --> 00:53:21.920 What we tend to do is we think about the Corinthian church and they are a church with all these problems and they do have all these problems and Paul is confronting them with problem after problem. 351 00:53:21.920 --> 00:53:29.180 It’s easy to think, “Well, glad we’re not like the Corinthian church.” 352 00:53:29.180 --> 00:53:34.500 What he’s saying here is, you are an unleavened lump. 353 00:53:34.500 --> 00:53:40.940 Paul is saying that God has done a work bringing you out of this culture. 354 00:53:40.940 --> 00:53:48.120 He has saved you and you’ve become new creatures in Jesus Christ and you are unleavened. 355 00:53:48.120 --> 00:53:49.540 That’s who you are. 356 00:53:49.540 --> 00:53:52.940 There’s a difference between you and the community. 357 00:53:52.940 --> 00:53:57.280 You’re an unleavened group. 358 00:53:57.280 --> 00:54:16.020 I think when we begin to see that we — it’s easier for us to identify with these sins because they may not be things we do the same thing and not think anything about it, but these are the kinds of sins that bring about division, that bring about immorality. 359 00:54:16.020 --> 00:54:22.900 We need to be careful, we need to apply this to ourselves. 360 00:54:22.900 --> 00:54:30.560 You’re a new lump, in fact unleavened, for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 361 00:54:30.560 --> 00:54:35.720 Christian life, all of the Christian life is a celebration of the Passover. 362 00:54:35.720 --> 00:54:41.060 “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.” 363 00:54:41.060 --> 00:54:45.740 And he gives that illustration to them knowing that they know exactly what it means. 364 00:54:45.740 --> 00:55:07.600 In the Passover celebration, in the time of the Apostle Paul, when they practiced the Passover celebration they would remove all of the yeast from their home for days, days before the Passover. 365 00:55:07.600 --> 00:55:17.820 Sometimes they would hide a little bit of yeast in the house and all the kids would search for that little bit of yeast to remove. 366 00:55:17.820 --> 00:55:23.200 I think that might be how we ended up with Easter egg hunts, but I’m not sure. 367 00:55:23.200 --> 00:55:35.740 But it was important that the yeast be removed before the Passover sacrifice in Jewish practice in Paul’s day. 368 00:55:35.740 --> 00:55:42.580 You get all that yeast out of there and then comes the Passover sacrifice. 369 00:55:42.580 --> 00:55:46.460 And Paul says, “Remove the yeast. 370 00:55:46.460 --> 00:55:50.680 Our Lord, our Savior has already been sacrificed. 371 00:55:50.680 --> 00:55:55.410 Our Passover has already been sacrificed. 372 00:55:55.410 --> 00:55:59.960 Don’t bypass removing the yeast. 373 00:55:59.960 --> 00:56:08.320 Get this yeast out from your congregation, from your people, remove this, deal with this. 374 00:56:08.320 --> 00:56:17.180 We are in fact an unleavened lump and so we don’t want to introduce any yeast in our midst.” 375 00:56:17.180 --> 00:56:19.800 Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 376 00:56:19.800 --> 00:56:30.700 By the way, just as a little quick aside, it’s interesting when you’re looking at this that my Bible says “Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.” 377 00:56:30.700 --> 00:56:38.320 But many passages, if you look at the ESV at the end, it just says “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” 378 00:56:38.320 --> 00:56:42.140 Just as a little side, that word “lamb” isn’t in there. 379 00:56:42.140 --> 00:56:44.150 It’s not even a variant. 380 00:56:44.150 --> 00:56:55.200 It’s just supplied in so maybe you’d understand better, but that’s sort of wrong because you don’t have to sacrifice a lamb for the Passover sacrifice. 381 00:56:55.200 --> 00:57:00.300 You can sacrifice a goat as a Passover sacrifice. 382 00:57:00.300 --> 00:57:12.520 Paul didn’t use either one of those, he just simply said, “Christ, our Passover has been sacrificed for us” and everybody understands it means the Passover sacrifice. 383 00:57:12.520 --> 00:57:21.280 So he goes on and says, “Clean out the old leaven, just so you may be a new lump. 384 00:57:21.280 --> 00:57:26.140 Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, therefore, let us celebrate the feast.” 385 00:57:26.140 --> 00:57:41.080 A life-long celebration, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 386 00:57:41.080 --> 00:57:53.280 All right, I think one of the things that occurred to me some time ago, a little bit ago, thinking about the book of First Corinthians. 387 00:57:53.280 --> 00:58:04.480 And it occurred to me, I don’t think I’ve seen this word in First Corinthians so far and the word is “joy.” 388 00:58:04.480 --> 00:58:12.600 And so, I looked up the concordance and look at it and the word “joy” is not found anywhere in First Corinthians. 389 00:58:12.600 --> 00:58:14.560 Not one place. 390 00:58:14.560 --> 00:58:25.040 We go to Second Corinthians and it shows up a few places including Paul saying, “I’m working for your joy. 391 00:58:25.040 --> 00:58:31.940 I’m not trying to rule over anything in you, I’m a coworker working for your joy.” 392 00:58:31.940 --> 00:59:01.920 I think the Christian practice in the First Corinthians church was probably all kinds of celebrations, especially with the description of chapter 11, with the way they participated in the Lord’s table, which was probably enjoyable in all kinds of ways — though it’s called problems and made some of them sick, apparently, because of the judgment of God. 393 00:59:01.920 --> 00:59:16.600 But you had that kind of emotion going on in the church, but probably the most significant emotion, because of their sinful patterns, was broken up. 394 00:59:16.600 --> 00:59:21.280 They weren’t experiencing the joy that they should have had. 395 00:59:21.280 --> 00:59:25.660 The Christian life is a Passover celebration. 396 00:59:25.660 --> 00:59:33.620 It’s a place where we know that Jesus Christ died for me, because He died for me I’ve been made right with God. 397 00:59:33.620 --> 00:59:38.960 I’ve become a new creation and I have a place in heaven. 398 00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:45.860 I’ve got a relationship with Him that is eternal and there should be incredible joy in that. 399 00:59:45.860 --> 00:59:48.620 It’s a celebration. 400 00:59:48.620 --> 00:59:54.060 And there’s joy in that. 401 00:59:54.060 --> 00:59:56.740 “Let us celebrate the feast!” 402 00:59:56.740 --> 01:00:00.880 But let’s not do it with anything sinful. 403 01:00:00.880 --> 01:00:03.760 Let’s exclude the sinful things. 404 01:00:03.760 --> 01:00:11.620 Not with leaven or malice or wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 405 01:00:11.620 --> 01:00:13.660 Truth is important here. 406 01:00:13.660 --> 01:00:26.920 And then in these last verses, He talks about a letter that He had written to them, not to associate with immoral people, which was the instruction they should have followed in the case of this man. 407 01:00:26.920 --> 01:00:31.640 And this is a letter, a previous letter, before First Corinthians. 408 01:00:31.640 --> 01:00:39.900 There are a handful of people who try to say that this is that letter, but it’s highly unlikely. 409 01:00:39.900 --> 01:00:43.480 And He says, this is what I said, then He gives an explanation. 410 01:00:43.480 --> 01:00:50.800 He says, “I’m not talking about don’t associate with immoral people up in the world because you’re not going to be able to do that. 411 01:00:50.800 --> 01:00:59.160 There’s no way in the world you’re going to remove yourself from all the sinful people, immoral people, and all the people on the world. 412 01:00:59.160 --> 01:01:07.380 But don’t associate with somebody who’s calling themselves a Christian and behaves this way. 413 01:01:07.380 --> 01:01:14.420 Because if you do, then you’re leavening the church.” 414 01:01:14.420 --> 01:01:21.660 And then He further explains, “I’m not about judging those people outside. 415 01:01:21.660 --> 01:01:23.320 God judges those people.” 416 01:01:23.320 --> 01:01:35.160 And then He just drops this prescription home again and says, “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” 417 01:01:35.160 --> 01:01:37.080 So it’s an interesting passage. 418 01:01:37.080 --> 01:01:43.540 It’s an interesting passage about judging rightly in the church. 419 01:01:43.540 --> 01:01:58.100 It comes in contrast to his instruction earlier that says, “Making no judgments until the coming of Christ” — different subjects, different issues. 420 01:01:58.100 --> 01:02:04.660 He’s talking about evaluating a brother in Christ’s work or Christian ministry’s work. 421 01:02:04.660 --> 01:02:09.060 “Don’t make any judgments about how wonderful that is until Christ makes those judgments.” 422 01:02:09.060 --> 01:02:11.140 That’s what He’s saying there. 423 01:02:11.140 --> 01:02:16.780 Jesus says, “Judge not lest you be judged.” 424 01:02:16.780 --> 01:02:23.540 And in the next verses, He says, you will know the truth. 425 01:02:23.540 --> 01:02:26.800 And so He’s saying judge rightly. 426 01:02:26.800 --> 01:02:31.080 Don’t judge anybody by a standard that you don’t want to be judged by. 427 01:02:31.080 --> 01:02:35.120 Don’t have hypocrisy in your judgments. 428 01:02:35.120 --> 01:02:42.500 Judge according to the word of God and obedience to the word of God because every church has to make judgments. 429 01:02:42.500 --> 01:02:52.210 In order to be obedient to God’s word, they have to do evaluations and they have to minister to people in a way that actually works. 430 01:02:52.210 --> 01:02:59.300 And so Paul is concerned about the church and he’s concerned about this individual. 431 01:02:59.300 --> 01:03:09.020 And his heart goes out to this individual who has allowed sin to stride and have his life ruined by his immorality. 432 01:03:09.020 --> 01:03:18.640 And so he wants that person called back in or at least delivered to Satan so the church protects itself. 433 01:03:18.640 --> 01:03:23.460 It’s a ministry of love. 434 01:03:23.460 --> 01:03:45.040 When Jesus introduces this in the book of Matthew, when that story is introduced about bringing judgment and the method of church discipline, the thing that comes right before that is the shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep to go after the one that walks away. 435 01:03:45.040 --> 01:03:47.820 It’s a message of love. 436 01:03:47.820 --> 01:03:52.040 So there’s a procedure and the care is for that person. 437 01:03:52.040 --> 01:03:54.160 “I want to bring this person back. 438 01:03:54.160 --> 01:03:57.580 I want this person to be restored.” 439 01:03:57.580 --> 01:04:05.080 And out of that heart God brings unity and purity in His church. 440 01:04:05.080 --> 01:04:13.100 We live in a time when people believe that we can do pretty much anything we want to in our church. 441 01:04:13.100 --> 01:04:17.440 I think that as a result it’s led to all kinds of immorality within the church. 442 01:04:17.440 --> 01:04:21.680 Look at all the scandals that you read about. 443 01:04:21.680 --> 01:04:28.230 And the damage that that’s done to the church — people aren’t going to church. 444 01:04:28.230 --> 01:04:44.180 I mean the leaving of the church is incredible these days because of all of these things going on. 445 01:04:44.180 --> 01:04:49.140 We need to take a passage like this one seriously to heart. 446 01:04:49.140 --> 01:04:55.200 I mean that not just corporately as a church but as individuals. 447 01:04:55.200 --> 01:05:05.360 Whenever you see a confrontation of sin in scripture it’s a great opportunity for each one of us to examine our own heart. 448 01:05:05.360 --> 01:05:09.560 Are we doing things that are immoral secretly? 449 01:05:09.560 --> 01:05:12.920 This was a public sin and it was dealt with publicly. 450 01:05:12.920 --> 01:05:17.680 God calls us to repentance for sins that are private. 451 01:05:17.680 --> 01:05:19.820 They’re destructive. 452 01:05:19.820 --> 01:05:26.040 They’re destructive to the body of Christ and destructive to families. 453 01:05:26.040 --> 01:05:35.540 Some people these days — it’s hard for me to comprehend it — but they introduce pornography as couples in their marriage. 454 01:05:35.540 --> 01:05:51.000 And when that happens, as you would expect, the chances that they will become involved in extramarital relationships multiplies, like 320%. 455 01:05:51.000 --> 01:05:56.400 It’s way higher than something that’s already pretty high. 456 01:05:56.400 --> 01:06:00.620 So it’s destructive. 457 01:06:00.620 --> 01:06:03.420 Any type of immoral sin like this is destructive. 458 01:06:03.420 --> 01:06:11.160 God calls us, the Lord Jesus calls us to recognize that these things flow out of our heart. 459 01:06:11.160 --> 01:06:20.460 So when we introduce these things into our mind, cultivate them in our mind, it carries and brings about all kinds of consequences. 460 01:06:20.460 --> 01:06:23.500 So it’s a warning to us. 461 01:06:23.500 --> 01:06:33.420 This generation has been brought up with the internet, has been brought up with internet pornography and it’s prevalent and it’s destructive. 462 01:06:33.420 --> 01:06:40.480 We’re beginning to see the effects of this destructiveness on the whole church of God. 463 01:06:40.480 --> 01:06:45.240 That’s one of the things that’s bringing about this decline. 464 01:06:45.240 --> 01:07:00.180 So let’s, to whatever degree it may be true of any of us, it’s a good time to turn to the Lord in repentance of these things personally, and let’s pray for the church. 465 01:07:00.180 --> 01:07:12.580 Let’s pray for strength, for purity, for a church that has unity that’s based on the truth that God gives and the love that Christ has. 466 01:07:12.580 --> 01:07:14.440 Those two things. 467 01:07:14.440 --> 01:07:17.060 Let’s do that right now. 468 01:07:17.060 --> 01:07:33.420 Father, as we reflect on this very serious passage of scripture, we ask Father that Your Holy Spirit would evaluate us, search for Your word as the psalmist prays. 469 01:07:33.420 --> 01:07:34.760 Try me. 470 01:07:34.760 --> 01:07:38.690 See if there’s any evil way within me. 471 01:07:38.690 --> 01:07:43.060 We want, each of us, to do this now. 472 01:07:43.060 --> 01:07:48.940 Lord, help us individually to do this. 473 01:07:48.940 --> 01:07:53.600 Are we being practical and obedient? 474 01:07:53.600 --> 01:08:02.500 Are we being carried away into immorality that leads to a destructive pattern of life? 475 01:08:02.500 --> 01:08:07.200 Father, let us look that up to You now for repentance. 476 01:08:07.200 --> 01:08:12.140 If we have addictions in these areas, You give us help. 477 01:08:12.140 --> 01:08:20.020 You can change us by Your Spirit and You certainly can change us as we deal with these things together. 478 01:08:20.020 --> 01:08:24.680 We ask Father for Your grace in this. 479 01:08:24.680 --> 01:08:28.360 Lord, I pray for the unity of this church. 480 01:08:28.360 --> 01:08:37.360 I ask that You do a work of grace here and bring us into unity and that the love of Jesus Christ will be evident among all of us. 481 01:08:37.360 --> 01:08:52.820 And I pray that You help us to have a heart that is willing to reach out and to bring back the stray and to bring restoration and blessing. 482 01:08:52.820 --> 01:08:55.780 Thank You Father for Your care, Your mercy. 483 01:08:55.780 --> 01:08:58.020 We ask for Your help and blessing. 484 01:08:58.020 --> 01:10:06.080 In Jesus’ name, Amen.