WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Today we're entering into an explosive chapter 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:05.500 in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church. You've 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:07.320 probably already felt the weight of the service, 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:11.080 and that's because we're walking into a bit of 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.880 a minefield. By the way, I hope you all got my 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.059 warning from earlier in the week about the mature 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.469 themes that we'll be discussing today. If you 00:00:20.469 --> 00:00:22.870 didn't or you're visiting with us this morning, 00:00:23.030 --> 00:00:25.410 let me just restate that for you. Some of the 00:00:25.410 --> 00:00:27.589 things that are going to come up in the text 00:00:27.589 --> 00:00:29.530 of Scripture may not be appropriate for young 00:00:29.530 --> 00:00:33.549 ears. So this may be a good time for you to take 00:00:33.549 --> 00:00:35.789 advantage of our wonderful ACORN ministry and 00:00:35.789 --> 00:00:38.490 check your kids in. And if you choose not to, 00:00:38.570 --> 00:00:41.429 that's obviously within your realm of freedom. 00:00:41.509 --> 00:00:44.490 Just know you might have some conversations with 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:48.130 your kids later on. So just know that. Well, 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:50.929 chapter 5 in 1 Corinthians revolves around something 00:00:50.929 --> 00:00:55.109 that is common to all of humanity, all of us, 00:00:55.149 --> 00:00:58.890 something every single person in this room has 00:00:58.890 --> 00:01:01.490 dealt with to some degree, including myself. 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:04.810 Whether we want to admit it or not, this is true 00:01:04.810 --> 00:01:07.409 of us. We're talking about the temptation of 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:12.069 lusts and our potential to choose sexual sin. 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:15.780 Now, the core theme of 1 Corinthians 5 is not 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:19.280 really about sexual sin itself. It's about how 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.439 the church should respond when sexual sin happens 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.459 within the body of Christ. Nevertheless, we should 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:28.840 acknowledge up front that sexual sin among believers 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:32.000 is a very, very serious issue that God warns 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.219 us about repeatedly in His Word. So before we 00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:38.140 just dive into today's passage, I thought I'd 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:40.280 take a few moments on the front end of this message. 00:01:40.909 --> 00:01:44.629 to talk about why that is. Why is God so serious 00:01:44.629 --> 00:01:46.569 about this issue? And this is just going to be 00:01:46.569 --> 00:01:49.469 a quick run through. This subject is going to 00:01:49.469 --> 00:01:52.709 come up multiple times in our series in 1 Corinthians. 00:01:52.909 --> 00:01:55.329 And when we get there, we will dive in all the 00:01:55.329 --> 00:01:58.129 deeper. But it's important that we understand 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:01.329 why we're driven to lust and what we're called 00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:03.650 to do about it. And we will get to that, I promise. 00:02:03.689 --> 00:02:05.150 For this morning, I just want to give you... 00:02:05.450 --> 00:02:09.550 Four quick reasons why sexual sin is such a prominent 00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:12.349 theme in the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. 00:02:12.629 --> 00:02:15.449 And here's reason number one. For the believer, 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:19.349 your body does not belong to you. For the believer, 00:02:19.550 --> 00:02:24.349 your body belongs to God. And we will study this 00:02:24.349 --> 00:02:27.870 very closely in the very next chapter of 1 Corinthians, 00:02:28.030 --> 00:02:30.490 chapter 6, where Paul writes, do you not know 00:02:30.490 --> 00:02:34.789 that your bodies are members of Christ? Feel 00:02:34.789 --> 00:02:37.870 the weight of that. Your bodies are members of 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:40.430 Christ. Shall I take away the members of Christ 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:44.069 and make them members of a prostitute? He asks. 00:02:45.009 --> 00:02:47.610 And of course, he answers his own question. God 00:02:47.610 --> 00:02:51.270 forbid, may it never be. If you belong to Christ, 00:02:51.349 --> 00:02:53.449 you are in union with him. That means that your 00:02:53.449 --> 00:02:56.509 body is, how you deal with your body is very, 00:02:56.550 --> 00:02:59.250 very important. Your body has been sanctified 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:02.229 as a vessel for God's glory. It is one with Christ. 00:03:03.689 --> 00:03:06.090 And so Paul asks another question in the same 00:03:06.090 --> 00:03:07.750 chapter. Do you not know that your body is a 00:03:07.750 --> 00:03:10.810 temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you and that 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:13.389 you are not your own? How many of us think about 00:03:13.389 --> 00:03:17.789 our bodies in this way? There's also a worship 00:03:17.789 --> 00:03:20.430 aspect to it, right? In Romans 12, we find this 00:03:20.430 --> 00:03:24.710 command to present our bodies to God as what? 00:03:24.870 --> 00:03:28.729 As a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:33.979 him, which is our spiritual act of worship. So 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:36.439 there's a lot just in that first point, and we'll 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:39.139 get to that in the next chapter. Here's the second 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:42.740 reason. Sex is a sacred gift from the Lord designed 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:45.180 to be used within the boundaries that he has 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:48.740 given to us. And we're told this right out of 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:51.780 the gate in Genesis 2 when God uses this phrase, 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:54.699 one flesh. And that's a word picture that Paul 00:03:54.699 --> 00:03:57.199 is going to pick up and use in his argument for 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:59.699 sexual purity in the next chapter of this letter, 00:03:59.860 --> 00:04:03.490 one flesh. That act of becoming one flesh in 00:04:03.490 --> 00:04:06.909 a sexual union is not to be distorted or abused. 00:04:07.129 --> 00:04:09.830 It was designed by God. It was given to us as 00:04:09.830 --> 00:04:13.129 a gift to be enjoyed as long as we enjoy it within 00:04:13.129 --> 00:04:16.269 the confines and the boundaries of covenant marriage. 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:19.389 See, God designed sex to be more than just a 00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:23.649 biological urge. It connects us deeply. Not just 00:04:23.649 --> 00:04:26.189 physically, it connects our hearts, our emotions, 00:04:26.310 --> 00:04:29.149 our very lives. And it's the means by which we 00:04:29.149 --> 00:04:32.269 bring forth new life and form our families. So 00:04:32.269 --> 00:04:35.009 this concept of one fleshness makes the marriage 00:04:35.009 --> 00:04:38.069 relationship absolutely unique among all human 00:04:38.069 --> 00:04:41.750 relationships. And it's not to be shared with 00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:44.949 anyone but our spouse. That's the second reason 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:47.370 why this matters so much to God. Number three, 00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:51.670 sexual sin destroys the picture of the covenant 00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:54.029 that God has established with us, his people. 00:04:54.709 --> 00:04:57.990 It taints that picture. that he's given to us. 00:04:58.029 --> 00:05:00.209 The New Testament uses marriage as a metaphor 00:05:00.209 --> 00:05:03.050 to describe the covenant relationship that Jesus 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:06.629 has with his bride, which is the church, the 00:05:06.629 --> 00:05:08.449 very people that he's purchased with his own 00:05:08.449 --> 00:05:11.230 blood. And that means there's a spiritual significance 00:05:11.230 --> 00:05:15.709 to how we express ourselves sexually. And of 00:05:15.709 --> 00:05:17.509 course we know what God has created is good. 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:20.129 Satan tries to twist. And so we're always under 00:05:20.129 --> 00:05:23.470 the temptation to satisfy our lusts outside of 00:05:23.470 --> 00:05:26.490 God's perfect design and to defile the beauty 00:05:26.490 --> 00:05:30.629 of that gift that he has given us. And so engaging 00:05:30.629 --> 00:05:33.970 in sexual sin quickly and easily devolves into 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:38.490 idolatry. Idolatry. It's a betrayal of his covenant 00:05:38.490 --> 00:05:42.069 faithfulness to us. It's heavy stuff, isn't it? 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:44.600 That's the third reason. Finally, reason number 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:46.680 four, and if you're just looking for a practical 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:49.939 reason not to engage in sexual sin, this is it. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.240 It has a devastating cost to our lives. A devastating 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:58.720 cost. When sexual sin is uncovered, it is utterly 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.139 destructive. And not just to the one who has 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:05.519 sinned, but it has a ripple effect that goes 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.420 out, it spreads, and it goes to spouses and children. 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:12.829 and friends and fellow church members into extended 00:06:12.829 --> 00:06:17.670 family. It destroys marriages, reputations. It 00:06:17.670 --> 00:06:20.910 wrecks careers. It disqualifies ministries. It 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:23.230 alienates people from their children. It ruins 00:06:23.230 --> 00:06:28.730 us financially and more. It's a long list. And 00:06:28.730 --> 00:06:31.269 when you stop and consider how much damage is 00:06:31.269 --> 00:06:34.490 caused by this sometimes brief and fleeting nature 00:06:34.490 --> 00:06:37.089 in the pursuit of pleasure, think about that. 00:06:37.250 --> 00:06:41.019 How much damage is wrought by it? It is the epitome 00:06:41.019 --> 00:06:46.360 of foolishness. Sexual sin will darken your thinking. 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:49.680 It will twist and pervert your affections. It 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.439 will cause you to physically waste away, and 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:54.540 it will block the power of the Holy Spirit in 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.699 your lives. Did you hear the call to worship 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:01.360 from earlier, from Proverbs 5, the warning? I'm 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.740 going to put it on the screen since you didn't 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:04.639 see it earlier because it's worth looking at. 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:09.300 Heed the warning. The lips of an adulteress drip 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:13.220 honey. Don't think of that in just one context. 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:18.980 The allure of sexual sin drips honey. Smoother 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:21.959 than oil is her speech, but in the end she is 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.899 bitter as wormwood and sharp as a two -edged 00:07:24.899 --> 00:07:29.420 sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps head 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:33.680 straight for Sheol. Keep your way far from her. 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:36.930 Do not go near the door of her house. Don't even 00:07:36.930 --> 00:07:41.310 flirt with it. Or you will give your vitality 00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:44.509 to others and your years to someone cruel. You'll 00:07:44.509 --> 00:07:48.209 give it all away to somebody else. At the end 00:07:48.209 --> 00:07:49.970 of your life, it goes on, at the end of your 00:07:49.970 --> 00:07:53.029 life, you will groan when your flesh and your 00:07:53.029 --> 00:07:55.730 body are consumed and you will say how I've hated 00:07:55.730 --> 00:07:58.750 instruction. In other words, I was warned and 00:07:58.750 --> 00:08:01.930 I hated it. I didn't want to hear it. I wanted 00:08:01.930 --> 00:08:05.660 pleasure and I hated instruction. How my heart 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:08.620 despised correction. I heard it preached in church 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:11.500 and I said, I don't want that correction. I want 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:15.240 what I want. I've not listened to the voice of 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:17.720 my teachers nor inclined my ear to my instructors. 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.079 I am on the verge of complete ruin. How practical 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.939 is that? In the midst of the assembly in the 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:27.740 congregation. May we have ears to hear that as 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:30.660 a warning. from the Lord himself. All right, 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:32.720 grab your Bibles with that heavy introduction. 00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:39.580 We're going to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:41.480 chapter 5. Once again, let me say that today's 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:45.240 message is not about sexual sin itself. The passage 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:47.019 we're about to study is about how the church 00:08:47.019 --> 00:08:50.500 should respond when sexual sin is uncovered in 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:53.299 the congregation. And the instruction that we 00:08:53.299 --> 00:08:55.179 have here actually covers the entire chapter. 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:58.860 All 13 verses are sort of one big idea on this 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:01.320 same subject matter, how the church deals with 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:03.600 this. And that made me think, I can do this whole 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.000 sermon, this whole chapter in just one sermon. 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:09.039 And the elders were like, don't do it. Don't 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.740 do it, Jeff. We don't have all day. So thanks, 00:09:11.820 --> 00:09:13.940 guys. I appreciate that. So we've broken it up 00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:17.639 into two. This is what this means. This is part 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.659 one of two. It's really one message. And I dislike 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:23.440 doing this because sometimes people will make 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.960 it to part one and miss part two or vice versa. 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:29.399 So everybody who's here this morning, raise your 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:31.340 right hand. Promise me you'll be back next Sunday. 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:33.929 No, I'm just kidding. At the very least, make 00:09:33.929 --> 00:09:36.210 sure you listen online if you miss next Sunday. 00:09:36.429 --> 00:09:38.049 Otherwise, you're going to go home and go, man, 00:09:38.110 --> 00:09:40.129 there were so many things, so many questions 00:09:40.129 --> 00:09:42.950 I had, so many unanswered things. I know, there's 00:09:42.950 --> 00:09:45.250 a lot of nuance to this. That's why it's really 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:48.049 going to take two Sundays. Now, let's recall 00:09:48.049 --> 00:09:50.570 the first four chapters of this letter have been 00:09:50.570 --> 00:09:53.330 pretty much about Paul's focus on one really 00:09:53.330 --> 00:09:57.000 big issue, and that is disunity. in the church 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.860 in Corinth. And now in chapter five, he sort 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:01.940 of turns the corner and now he's going to deal 00:10:01.940 --> 00:10:05.220 with the next big problem. And what it turns 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:07.159 out is, is not only the Corinthians struggling 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:10.840 with fleshly thinking, they're also struggling 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:13.000 with fleshly lives. That's what we're going to 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:15.720 see here. So look at verse one. Paul says this, 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:19.080 it's actually reported that there's immorality 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:23.259 among you. An immorality of such a kind as does 00:10:23.259 --> 00:10:27.440 not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:31.559 has his father's wife. And I want you to hear 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:36.039 in Paul's voice there his shock and dismay at 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.120 what's going on. He says it's actually being 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:44.620 reported that this is going on. It's being reported 00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:49.899 that sexual immorality is open, alive, and active 00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:55.360 in your church family. It's become common knowledge, 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:59.039 right? It's gone viral, we would say, right? 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:02.820 In today's verbiage. People are talking openly 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:06.940 about how you tolerate blatant sin within your 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:09.659 church. And what a sad and destructive testimony 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:11.419 this would have been in that day, right? What 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:14.679 a dragging through the mud of the holy name of 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:19.399 Jesus. And among unbelievers who are talking 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.500 about this. Part of Paul's shock is the type 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:24.860 of sin that he's referring to here. Look, it's 00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:27.559 one thing, disunity is bad enough, right? But 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:30.340 this sin, this is something that not even the 00:11:30.340 --> 00:11:33.100 pagans of Greece and Rome would tolerate in their 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:36.120 families. Think about that. When the world is 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:39.740 shocked by our sin, we're in trouble. We're in 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:43.820 deep trouble. And so Paul uses a particular word 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:45.740 to describe what's going on here. It's not a 00:11:45.740 --> 00:11:48.539 surprising word. In the Greek, it's porneia. 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:52.750 We all know what the basis of pornography is, 00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:55.870 pornia. In that day, it was sort of a catch -all 00:11:55.870 --> 00:12:00.629 for all kinds of sexual sin. In the old -fashioned 00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:04.269 English, we call this fornication, right? But 00:12:04.269 --> 00:12:07.029 it's sexual immorality. It can refer to a whole 00:12:07.029 --> 00:12:10.309 list of very ugly things. Everything from adultery 00:12:10.309 --> 00:12:15.230 to prostitution to homosexuality to incest to 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:19.220 polygamy and even more. Even worse things, which 00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:22.980 I won't even mention in church. Any kind of perversion 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:26.320 of God's design for human sexual expression is 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.159 caught up in this word, porneia. And here in 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.659 verse 1, Paul describes for us what kind of expression 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:34.320 specifically was happening in the Corinthian 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:37.220 church. He says, someone has his father's wife, 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:40.039 which is a very polite way of saying there is 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:42.919 a guy in your church who has an openly sexual 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:47.769 relationship with his stepmother. That's what's 00:12:47.769 --> 00:12:50.610 going on here. And it's written in the present 00:12:50.610 --> 00:12:53.649 tense. This accusation is in the present tense. 00:12:53.809 --> 00:12:56.629 Listen, Paul isn't writing, look, there's a guy 00:12:56.629 --> 00:13:00.350 in your church who once had a relationship with 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:03.250 his stepmother. Or in the past, he fell into 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:06.009 sin with this woman. This is the present tense. 00:13:06.110 --> 00:13:09.909 It's still going on. It is active and ongoing. 00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:12.990 It's a relationship that everybody knows is going 00:13:12.990 --> 00:13:15.669 on. And they're not doing anything about it. 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:17.960 From an Old Testament perspective, by the way, 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:20.539 this would be considered incest. Even though 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:22.740 they're not biologically related, that intra 00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:26.480 -family relationship, this would qualify as incest 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:28.960 in the Jewish community. It's really, really 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.200 bad. Now, trying to explain the details of how 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.110 this came about. We don't know. And it would 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:38.110 require too much speculation, things I don't 00:13:38.110 --> 00:13:40.730 want to even walk through in a worship service. 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:43.629 I think we can just agree that however it came 00:13:43.629 --> 00:13:46.230 about, however this relationship started, it 00:13:46.230 --> 00:13:49.629 is repulsive in the eyes of Paul and is a blasphemy 00:13:49.629 --> 00:13:52.389 in the eyes of God. And if you just want to make 00:13:52.389 --> 00:13:55.090 it worse, if you want to put an ugly cherry on 00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:57.610 top, the fact that Paul's going to talk about 00:13:57.610 --> 00:14:01.009 only disciplining the man tells us that this 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:04.570 stepmother is likely not a Christian. So not 00:14:04.570 --> 00:14:07.950 only is the relationship illicit, it is a professing 00:14:07.950 --> 00:14:11.309 believer engaging in the sin with an unbeliever. 00:14:12.370 --> 00:14:16.809 Think of the testimony in that. Bottom line, 00:14:16.830 --> 00:14:18.830 what we see happening here is the believers in 00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:21.970 Corinth have once again shown themselves that 00:14:21.970 --> 00:14:24.470 the surrounding culture that they're living in 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:27.610 is seeping into the church. And it's affecting 00:14:27.610 --> 00:14:29.750 their thinking and their living. And they're 00:14:29.750 --> 00:14:32.190 inviting the world to basically mock and ridicule 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:34.529 the name of Christ. And that's what we're going 00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:37.029 to focus on this morning, the church's atrocious 00:14:37.029 --> 00:14:40.169 response to what's happening in that church. 00:14:40.370 --> 00:14:42.470 So let's look at how Paul describes the response. 00:14:42.649 --> 00:14:45.850 Look at verse 2. Everybody understand the setting, 00:14:45.929 --> 00:14:50.029 what's going on here? What does Paul say about 00:14:50.029 --> 00:14:53.409 the church's response? You become arrogant, he 00:14:53.409 --> 00:14:57.279 says, and have not mourned instead. so that the 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.879 one who has done this deed would be removed from 00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:04.700 your midst. Again, you can hear his frustration 00:15:04.700 --> 00:15:08.080 in his words here. Now to understand the situation 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.059 completely, you have to consider what did the 00:15:11.059 --> 00:15:13.379 Greco -Roman world think about sexual expression? 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:16.440 Pagans in the first century, it was very simple. 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:20.179 Sex was a biological urge, just as the body needs 00:15:20.179 --> 00:15:24.070 food and water and exercise and sleep. And it's 00:15:24.070 --> 00:15:26.429 true, intrafamily relationships were frowned 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:29.070 upon, but almost everything else was fair game. 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:34.470 Homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery, concubines, 00:15:34.470 --> 00:15:38.149 both male and female prostitution. We know, obviously, 00:15:38.269 --> 00:15:40.789 we talked about this earlier, in the city of 00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:43.549 Corinth, there were temples dedicated to gods 00:15:43.549 --> 00:15:46.490 and goddesses and filled with prostitutes. And 00:15:46.490 --> 00:15:49.330 you would come in and you would engage in sexual 00:15:49.330 --> 00:15:52.110 union with a prostitute under the banner of worship. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:57.240 in that culture. So it was a culture that was 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.759 impacting this particular church. The believers 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:03.179 there are struggling to keep the world out of 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:05.679 their fellowship and to renew their thinking. 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:07.899 And they should have known better. If you drop 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:09.980 your eyes down to verse 11 really quickly, we'll 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:12.759 look at this more in detail next week. Paul says, 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:16.059 I previously wrote to you about this. This is 00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:19.059 what we call the first lost letter. Paul to the 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:22.419 Corinthians. I wrote to you about this very thing, 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:27.019 and clearly you didn't get it. Clearly you didn't 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:30.159 get it. I wrote to you, he says, not to associate 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:34.039 with any so -called brother if he's an immoral 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.100 person. And the root word there is the same in 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:39.360 the Greek. Paul's talking about a man who is 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.919 professing to trust in Christ. He is in the body, 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.820 yet he is a pornos. He is a man who's living, 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.120 it's not just falling into sin, he's living a 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.899 outwardly sinful lifestyle right in the face 00:16:53.899 --> 00:16:59.360 of God and worshiping in the body. And obviously, 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:01.580 Apollos, when he arrived, he would have reinforced 00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:04.200 the same teaching that Paul wrote about, right? 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.700 How the believers have to bring their sexual 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:09.039 impulses under the restraint of the Holy Spirit 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.299 and he would have taught them that if anyone 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:13.779 in the church claims to belong to Christ but 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:17.000 is living this this lifestyle in direct opposition 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.099 to apostolic teaching, that type of person should 00:17:20.099 --> 00:17:23.500 not be associated with because he's a liar and 00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:26.839 he's a fraud and he's a threat to the overall 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:30.099 health of the body. Paul says, I wrote to you 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:34.039 about this, but you didn't get it. It wasn't 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:36.740 happening. To Paul's shock, not only were the 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:38.859 Corinthians not dealing with this man as they 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:41.559 should have, get this now, they were actually 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:45.159 boasting in that sinful relationship. They're 00:17:45.159 --> 00:17:47.380 boasting in it. They become arrogant about it, 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.420 which is mind -blowing. You have to think, right, 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.480 how is that possible? What kind of twisted theology 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:56.480 do you need to have where you'd end up boasting 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:59.660 in this kind of immorality? Now, I wish we had 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:01.420 a little more information from Paul here about 00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:05.099 why, why this is happening, but we can speculate 00:18:05.099 --> 00:18:07.059 just a little bit based on the culture of the 00:18:07.059 --> 00:18:10.180 day. It's possible that there was a thread of 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:13.420 ancient Gnosticism there in the church of Corinth. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.440 The idea that sexual sin is actually meaningless 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:20.440 to God because the physical is already condemned. 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:22.980 It means nothing. Only the spiritual matters. 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:25.859 So some might have thought, hey, look, I have 00:18:25.859 --> 00:18:28.440 a Gnostic view of life. I can do as I please 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:30.220 with my body because it really doesn't matter 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:32.220 in the end. It's all about the spiritual stuff. 00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:36.559 That's possible. More likely, what was going 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:39.269 on? was this, and this is something we see in 00:18:39.269 --> 00:18:41.609 our world today. The Corinthians had come to 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:43.769 a place where they were proud of having a very 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:46.670 liberal view of grace and Christian freedom. 00:18:47.250 --> 00:18:50.930 They were proud of this. We hear this in liberal 00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:53.049 churches today. We hear this in various liberal 00:18:53.049 --> 00:18:56.390 parts of our society, places where open -mindedness 00:18:56.390 --> 00:18:59.970 and tolerance are said to be the highest of all 00:18:59.970 --> 00:19:03.569 virtues. You know what I'm talking about? Places 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:07.589 where the mantra is, do not judge, Do not lay 00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:10.829 your beliefs on me. These are the same places 00:19:10.829 --> 00:19:13.470 where you'll find the world redefining and co 00:19:13.470 --> 00:19:16.630 -opting the definition of love. They'll say, 00:19:16.670 --> 00:19:20.390 oh, love is love, right? The LGBT community says. 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:23.809 They co -opt a biblical word and use it against 00:19:23.809 --> 00:19:26.890 us by redefining it. So -called gay -affirming 00:19:26.890 --> 00:19:30.190 churches will boast in the fact that love is 00:19:30.190 --> 00:19:33.269 love. We're open. We're accepting. You guys are 00:19:33.269 --> 00:19:38.420 bigots. You guys are unloving. They obviously 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:40.839 confuse God's grace and freedom in Christ with 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:45.059 lawlessness, using it as an opportunity for the 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:48.779 flesh, as Paul says in Galatians 5. So you can 00:19:48.779 --> 00:19:51.000 almost hear these Corinthians, these boastful 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.579 Corinthians going, look, who am I to judge this 00:19:53.579 --> 00:19:58.720 guy? Right? Who am I to judge this guy? I may 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.960 not agree, really, with what he's doing. I know 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.759 I wouldn't sleep with my stepmother, right? But 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:06.279 you know what? I know him. Seems like a good 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:09.529 guy. You know what? I'm not going to get involved 00:20:09.529 --> 00:20:11.450 in his business. I'm not going to stick my nose 00:20:11.450 --> 00:20:16.130 in that mess. Live and let live. You can almost 00:20:16.130 --> 00:20:19.569 hear that, right? And to Paul's dismay, taking 00:20:19.569 --> 00:20:22.809 that kind of hands -off approach was something 00:20:22.809 --> 00:20:24.710 that Corinthian believers were actually boasting 00:20:24.710 --> 00:20:27.369 in. They were proud of that liberal view. We're 00:20:27.369 --> 00:20:30.589 super tolerant. Super tolerant here in Corinth. 00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:33.329 But Paul's gonna make the case. And again, we'll 00:20:33.329 --> 00:20:35.230 save the details for next week. If you look at 00:20:35.230 --> 00:20:37.470 verse six real quick, he says, guys, your boasting 00:20:37.470 --> 00:20:40.089 is not good. Don't you know that a little bit 00:20:40.089 --> 00:20:44.349 of leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Don't 00:20:44.349 --> 00:20:46.329 you know this, he asks? You let that kind of 00:20:46.329 --> 00:20:50.930 sin remain in your body and like a cancer, like 00:20:50.930 --> 00:20:53.809 a cancer, it spreads to every corner of the church 00:20:53.809 --> 00:20:56.910 and it rots the church from the inside out. Don't 00:20:56.910 --> 00:21:01.890 you know this? Back to verse two then. Paul says, 00:21:01.970 --> 00:21:03.890 this is how you should be responding. He says, 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:07.109 you should mourn over this. You should be grieved 00:21:07.109 --> 00:21:10.049 over this sin. And furthermore, you should take 00:21:10.049 --> 00:21:13.130 immediate action to remove this man from your 00:21:13.130 --> 00:21:17.069 congregation. Now, let's take a deep breath. 00:21:18.069 --> 00:21:21.049 And I want you to think carefully about the principle 00:21:21.049 --> 00:21:25.750 here. If this man had sinned, even in this heinous 00:21:25.750 --> 00:21:30.289 way, but he had turned away from it, Right? He 00:21:30.289 --> 00:21:33.910 had rejected it, renounced it, repented. This 00:21:33.910 --> 00:21:36.710 would be a very different conversation. Right? 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:40.750 There would be no call for his removal if he 00:21:40.750 --> 00:21:43.529 had done this in the past but had repented of 00:21:43.529 --> 00:21:46.690 it. Now, clearly, if he was at Oak Hill, we'd 00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:48.809 say, bro, you still need to come in for some 00:21:48.809 --> 00:21:51.250 counseling because we got to figure out what 00:21:51.250 --> 00:21:53.569 was going on in your heart that led you down 00:21:53.569 --> 00:21:56.549 the path where you got here. But you know what? 00:21:56.589 --> 00:21:58.230 There's grace for this. There'd be no church 00:21:58.230 --> 00:22:01.339 discipline. If he'd repented of it. In fact, 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:03.559 in the midst of that counseling, we would praise 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:06.819 God for his heart of repentance. Because we all 00:22:06.819 --> 00:22:09.059 fall into sin, right? Guys, we have to understand 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:12.579 this. The local church is a community of repenting 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:16.480 sinners. I'm going to say that again. Because 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:20.079 this is so important. The church, our church, 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.460 is a community of repenting sinners. That's who 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:27.299 we are. We don't live life together going around 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:30.079 acting like we're perfect or free from sin because 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.619 we're not. But we do strive together to maintain 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:36.859 purity in the body for the sake of Christ and 00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:40.619 for our testimony in this community. And that 00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:44.339 means calling sin what it is, what God says it 00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:47.519 is. That means battling for righteousness together 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:51.180 as a family. And yes, it means from a heart of 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:53.990 love holding one another accountable. to biblical 00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:57.569 living. This is at the core of one of our most 00:22:57.569 --> 00:23:00.789 important covenant items in our church covenant, 00:23:00.829 --> 00:23:03.930 where it says, we will walk together in brotherly 00:23:03.930 --> 00:23:08.970 love, exercising an affectionate care and watchfulness 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:12.970 over one another, and faithfully admonishing 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:15.910 one another when the occasion arises. Guys, that 00:23:15.910 --> 00:23:19.470 is an essential principle for any healthy church. 00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:23.329 All of us together being committed to the truths 00:23:23.329 --> 00:23:25.970 of Scripture. All of us together encouraging 00:23:25.970 --> 00:23:29.289 one another to live those principles out. All 00:23:29.289 --> 00:23:31.609 of us together, when we fail in that, when we 00:23:31.609 --> 00:23:34.609 come up short, being willing to confront ongoing 00:23:34.609 --> 00:23:40.230 sin out of love, motivated by care and concern. 00:23:41.109 --> 00:23:43.529 That's a healthy church that can do those things. 00:23:45.069 --> 00:23:47.569 Ephesians 5 .11 commands us, have no fellowship 00:23:47.569 --> 00:23:51.190 with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead, 00:23:51.349 --> 00:23:55.049 what? Expose them. They've got to be brought 00:23:55.049 --> 00:23:58.390 to the surface and dealt with. We all need that, 00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:01.170 me included. We all need this in our lives, right? 00:24:02.609 --> 00:24:04.829 Don't do what the Corinthians were doing. Don't 00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:07.750 tolerate sinful lifestyles and say that's okay. 00:24:08.430 --> 00:24:12.259 Because God says it's not. Don't cover up sinful 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:14.640 acts. Don't think it's okay to just look the 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.859 other way, like I'm not involved in this. You 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:22.980 are. You are your brother's keeper. The truly 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:25.240 loving thing to do is to go to your friend, go 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:28.700 to your brother, help them see the error of their 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:31.559 ways by pointing to Scripture and then walking 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:34.400 with them through a process of repentance and 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.259 restoration. Now, that's a tricky thing to do. 00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:39.720 It has to be done carefully. It has to be done 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:42.240 with compassion. It can't be done hypocritically. 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:45.319 But the Bible gives us a path on how to do that 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:48.440 well. We just need to be faithful to do what 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.480 God says. The one thing we can't do is ignore 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:57.720 a cancerous cell in the body. Can't do it. And 00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:01.039 it's not loving to do that. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:03.799 if you know who he is, wrote a famous book called 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:07.380 Life Together. And look what he says about this. 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:10.220 And it's the act. absolute opposite of what the 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:12.460 world thinks. And that's what makes it so brilliant. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:16.579 He says this, nothing can be more cruel than 00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:22.059 a leniency which abandons others to sin. Nothing 00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:24.880 can be more compassionate than a severe reprimand 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:27.700 which calls another Christian in one's community 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:30.660 back from the path of sin. Do you believe that? 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.460 Because much of the evangelical church, they 00:25:34.460 --> 00:25:37.809 don't like that quote much. Because it's messy, 00:25:37.890 --> 00:25:41.509 isn't it? And it's hard. But that's a brilliant 00:25:41.509 --> 00:25:44.849 truth. We call this the ministry of loving confrontation. 00:25:45.529 --> 00:25:48.329 Anybody want to sign up for that? Right? We all 00:25:48.329 --> 00:25:52.089 go, oh man, that's so hard. It is. But this is 00:25:52.089 --> 00:25:54.730 what scripture calls us to. See, when a local 00:25:54.730 --> 00:25:56.750 church gets to a place where it's not grieved 00:25:56.750 --> 00:26:00.190 over open sin and it becomes a haven for the 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:03.150 tolerance of all things, it forfeits its right 00:26:03.150 --> 00:26:07.339 to be called Jesus' church. It forfeits that 00:26:07.339 --> 00:26:11.099 right. And when I look around at this part of 00:26:11.099 --> 00:26:13.839 the world, in my opinion, this may be one of 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:17.039 the most neglected practices in the evangelical 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:21.259 church. One of the most neglected. Churches that 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:24.140 are either looking away from sin intentionally, 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:29.339 choosing not to get involved, or churches that 00:26:29.339 --> 00:26:32.339 are so big they're not even aware of the sins 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:35.759 that are happening in their body. I know of churches 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:40.259 where there is a sort of a rumor that is, look, 00:26:40.339 --> 00:26:43.559 if you're openly gay, if you're living with your 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:45.640 boyfriend or girlfriend, that's a place that 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.680 you can go to and you'll be quietly accepted 00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:52.500 and you can worship there and hide. Nobody's 00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:55.779 going to ask you questions. That ought not to 00:26:55.779 --> 00:27:00.920 be in Jesus' church. For other churches, this 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:02.859 is a matter of strategy and branding because 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:05.160 of church growth. We just don't want to be known 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:07.700 as that kind of church, they say. You know, the 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:09.539 church that gets in everybody's business, that's 00:27:09.539 --> 00:27:12.900 just not who we are. We don't want people to 00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:16.640 think that we're judgmental or legalistic, which 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.119 is a complete misnomer, legalistic. So they choose 00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:22.099 to ignore biblical commands. And then sadly, 00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:24.220 there's other churches that have just made a 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:28.299 practical calculation out of ignoring discipline. 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:31.900 We'll offend people, they say. If we do church 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:34.480 discipline, we will offend people. And if we 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:36.859 offend people, we're going to drive them out 00:27:36.859 --> 00:27:38.900 of our church, maybe to another church down the 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:41.680 street. We're going to stop growing. Giving is 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:44.940 going to slow down. So it's best if we just ignore 00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:48.160 this. Guys, can I just tell you that oftentimes, 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:53.279 be careful when you choose a church. In the evangelical 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:56.859 world today, numbers and money often... are the 00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:01.500 leader of decisions made by leadership. It's 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:05.019 sad, but true. And failing to deal with sin in 00:28:05.019 --> 00:28:06.980 the body hurts the testimony of every Christian. 00:28:07.539 --> 00:28:10.740 Have you ever felt this? Another prominent pastor 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:14.680 or church leader is caught in sexual sin, and 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:16.400 it affects all of us, doesn't it? It affects 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:20.140 our testimony, and it hinders the gospel when 00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:23.180 these things happen, right? It gives unbelievers 00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:25.980 another reason to mock us, another excuse not 00:28:25.980 --> 00:28:28.000 to consider their own depravity because they 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.039 look at the church and go, see how messed up 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:34.460 they are? If unbelievers look at the church and 00:28:34.460 --> 00:28:37.140 they realize, look at all the sin happening there 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:39.940 that nobody's dealing with, they don't perceive 00:28:39.940 --> 00:28:41.539 that it's different than the world that they 00:28:41.539 --> 00:28:43.599 live in, why would they give the church even 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:49.019 a second thought? So this is a messy issue. That 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:51.200 we can't just ignore. It's got to be dealt with. 00:28:51.259 --> 00:28:53.279 So what should the Corinthians do? Let's look 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:56.880 at verse 3. Paul's going to tell us. This is 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.839 really hard. Are you ready for this? Now remember, 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.779 before we dive into verse 3, where's Paul writing 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:07.980 from? You guys remember? He's writing from across 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:10.359 the Aegean Sea from Corinth. The other side of 00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:14.059 the sea, he's writing from Ephesus. So you've 00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:16.559 got to imagine, he would love to be present in 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.880 Corinth to deal with this. But back in the first 00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:22.660 century, you didn't just hop on a plane, right? 00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:24.900 So this is hard for him. He can't be present. 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:26.980 So what does he write in verse three? He says, 00:29:27.059 --> 00:29:30.880 for I, on my part, though absent in body, but 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.400 present in spirit, have already judged him who 00:29:35.400 --> 00:29:38.059 has so committed this as though I were present. 00:29:39.420 --> 00:29:44.220 This is Paul invoking all of his apostolic authority. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.940 And his authority as a spiritual father. the 00:29:47.940 --> 00:29:50.099 one who planted this church, the one that led 00:29:50.099 --> 00:29:53.140 many of these Corinthians to faith. He is invoking 00:29:53.140 --> 00:29:55.019 that authority, and he's saying, look, I may 00:29:55.019 --> 00:29:57.599 not be with you physically, but you know I'm 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:00.480 always with you in spirit, in my prayers, in 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.099 my love for you, my concern for you, and now 00:30:03.099 --> 00:30:06.799 in my command to discipline this man, I am spiritually 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:09.779 present with you, and I have come to a conclusion 00:30:09.779 --> 00:30:13.019 about this situation. I have judged it already, 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.039 he says, which this tells me that whoever reported 00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.220 this situation to him, it's a reliable source. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:22.920 He knows that it's true and he knows what has 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:25.599 to be done. And since the Corinthians have failed 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:28.140 to take action, he says, look, I'm stepping in 00:30:28.140 --> 00:30:31.700 and I'm acting as if I were there with you. And 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:34.359 here's what you should do. Verse four, in the 00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:37.140 name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:40.180 and I with you in spirit with the power of our 00:30:40.180 --> 00:30:44.000 Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:47.279 one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:50.220 so that his spirit may be saved in the day of 00:30:50.220 --> 00:30:56.740 the Lord Jesus. Whew. Yeah. Yeah. That's not 00:30:56.740 --> 00:30:59.759 the most seeker -friendly verse that you'll read 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:02.680 in the New Testament. But man, is it important. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:05.599 Okay, a whole bunch of things to talk about here. 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:07.420 The first thing I want you to see in these verses 00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:10.819 is that church discipline is congregational. 00:31:12.019 --> 00:31:16.140 This often gets ignored in evangelical churches. 00:31:16.500 --> 00:31:20.579 It's congregational. Paul didn't say, look, I 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:22.980 want you elders to get together and go deal with 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:26.140 this man. Doesn't say that. He doesn't say, hey, 00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:29.299 grab the bishop and make sure he deals with this, 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:32.200 or go out and call the denominational officers. 00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:36.220 Put together a committee to deal with this, right? 00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:39.859 He says, no, the church should gather and they 00:31:39.859 --> 00:31:41.920 should handle this. The members of that local 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:45.279 church, they're given jurisdiction. They have 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:48.480 autonomy over their own local body. It's not 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:51.759 farmed out to some individual somewhere or to 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:55.319 a committee outside, right? Because it's the 00:31:55.319 --> 00:31:57.880 members, the ones who love this person who's 00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:00.799 in sin, who love each other and have to do this 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:03.799 work. Where there is unrepentant sin in the body, 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:06.660 the body as a whole should come together in unity 00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:10.779 and confront it. And take whatever steps are 00:32:10.779 --> 00:32:13.420 necessary to remedy the problem. Now, next Sunday 00:32:13.420 --> 00:32:15.900 we're going to see that Paul didn't come up with 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:19.759 this on his own. This plan came from Jesus himself. 00:32:19.859 --> 00:32:23.279 He told the disciples in Matthew 18 about how 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:27.019 to do this. And you notice here, how many times 00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:29.640 does Paul drop Jesus' name in these two verses? 00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:33.539 Three times. He's making sure you see this is 00:32:33.539 --> 00:32:37.279 not just his teaching, it's the Lord's. And that's 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:39.779 important. The church is to assemble, he says, 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:43.019 in the name of the Lord Jesus and with the power 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:46.759 of the Lord Jesus. That's important. So lest 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:48.799 you think that church discipline is just an earthly 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:51.759 formality, Paul is setting us straight here. 00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:54.319 He's making it clear that when done biblically, 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:57.579 church discipline is executed only under the 00:32:57.579 --> 00:33:00.759 authority and lordship of Christ, which, and 00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:02.740 this is where it gets important, is something 00:33:02.740 --> 00:33:06.000 that Jesus himself promise to the church. Did 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:09.180 you know this? In Matthew 18. We're going to 00:33:09.180 --> 00:33:11.160 look at Matthew 18 next week, but I'm going to 00:33:11.160 --> 00:33:14.039 put this on the screen. Oh, wow. I'm way behind. 00:33:14.539 --> 00:33:16.960 Okay. I'm going to put this on the screen because 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.839 it's so important. Jesus says to the disciples, 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:23.559 I say to you that if two of you agree on earth 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:26.099 about anything that they may ask, it shall be 00:33:26.099 --> 00:33:28.579 done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:31.279 For where two or three have gathered together 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:34.839 in my name, I am there in their midst. How many 00:33:34.839 --> 00:33:37.859 of us recognize that verse? How many of us have 00:33:37.859 --> 00:33:40.059 heard it quoted out of context a million times? 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:45.380 As if it applies to everything. But the context 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:49.440 here is Jesus promising to be in the midst of 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:54.539 the church when discipline is required. Where 00:33:54.539 --> 00:33:59.359 you gather for discipline, I am present in your 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:03.680 midst. So the church acts on God's behalf. in 00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:07.960 disciplined situations, with Jesus present, using 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:10.340 what we call the keys of the kingdom. And again, 00:34:10.360 --> 00:34:12.079 we're going to touch more on this next week. 00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:15.219 Here's how Jesus describes the keys that the 00:34:15.219 --> 00:34:18.039 members of the local church wield when it comes 00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:21.360 to discipline. He says in this same chapter, 00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:25.440 Matthew 18, whatever you, the church, bind on 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:30.119 earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever 00:34:30.119 --> 00:34:33.619 you loose on earth shall have been loosed in 00:34:33.619 --> 00:34:38.300 heaven. So take a step back. Here's what Paul's 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:40.860 saying to the Corinthians. I will be with you 00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:46.019 in spirit when you assemble and Jesus will be 00:34:46.019 --> 00:34:48.639 present in your midst. He promised that. And 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:51.739 you church members gather together in his name 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:55.300 and in his power, you take hold of these keys 00:34:55.300 --> 00:34:58.960 and you deal with this problem. That's what he's 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:01.260 saying here. You're going to have to use these 00:35:01.260 --> 00:35:04.409 keys as a church body, you're going to have to 00:35:04.409 --> 00:35:09.909 bind this man as guilty of unrepentant sin, of 00:35:09.909 --> 00:35:13.050 an unrepentant lifestyle. And when you do that, 00:35:13.090 --> 00:35:17.349 know that that decision done in the name of Jesus 00:35:17.349 --> 00:35:20.449 will have already been authorized in the heavenly 00:35:20.449 --> 00:35:28.010 realms. Now, as you hear this laid out, a couple 00:35:28.010 --> 00:35:29.550 things you have to know. Number one, this is 00:35:29.550 --> 00:35:33.329 a very, very serious thing, isn't it? Very serious 00:35:33.329 --> 00:35:35.789 step for the church to take. A huge responsibility. 00:35:36.630 --> 00:35:38.670 And by the way, we talk about this with membership. 00:35:38.829 --> 00:35:41.690 More on that next week. When you come and become 00:35:41.690 --> 00:35:44.650 a member of Oak Hill, one of your promises is, 00:35:44.750 --> 00:35:47.789 if discipline in the body is necessary, I will 00:35:47.789 --> 00:35:51.369 participate in this. I will be a part of wielding 00:35:51.369 --> 00:35:53.269 the keys of the kingdom. It's a huge responsibility. 00:35:54.829 --> 00:35:58.369 You're dealing with eternal souls here. The second 00:35:58.369 --> 00:36:00.809 thing is, it has to be done with great soberness. 00:36:01.530 --> 00:36:04.530 has to be done with grief and mourning. That's 00:36:04.530 --> 00:36:06.090 what Paul said to the Corinthians. You should 00:36:06.090 --> 00:36:08.389 be mourning over this. You should be grieving 00:36:08.389 --> 00:36:10.849 over it. And by the way, in verse 5, it gets 00:36:10.849 --> 00:36:13.949 even more serious. In unity, not only do you 00:36:13.949 --> 00:36:17.309 wield the keys, but you deliver this man over 00:36:17.309 --> 00:36:22.889 to Satan. Remember, not just the pastor, not 00:36:22.889 --> 00:36:26.210 just the elders, the body, the members, deliver 00:36:26.210 --> 00:36:30.019 this man over to Satan so that... his flesh is 00:36:30.019 --> 00:36:36.619 destroyed. What does that mean? It means removing 00:36:36.619 --> 00:36:40.000 the unrepentant sinner from the fellowship of 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:43.559 the body. You've got to remove him from fellowship. 00:36:43.699 --> 00:36:46.280 And in particular, you've got to tell him that 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:49.920 he is disqualified in terms of coming to the 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:53.760 Lord's table, to receiving that sacred meal. 00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:57.599 Not because the church is acting out of hate 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:01.079 or vengeance. This is an obedience to Christ's 00:37:01.079 --> 00:37:03.380 commands. It's for the protection of the whole 00:37:03.380 --> 00:37:06.099 body. And it's done to protect our testimony 00:37:06.099 --> 00:37:10.079 in the community. If we don't understand the 00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:11.780 motivation of this, we're going to be all confused 00:37:11.780 --> 00:37:14.639 and upset about it. But that motivation matters. 00:37:14.900 --> 00:37:18.179 And above those reasons, there are two purposes 00:37:18.179 --> 00:37:21.000 that Paul tells us about here in verse 5. First, 00:37:21.059 --> 00:37:24.119 immediately, it's done so that his flesh might 00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:27.199 be destroyed. And then second, in a greater context, 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:32.519 so his spirit might be saved in the end. Those 00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:35.000 are important. Notice the first purpose up there 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:40.159 is physical. The second one is spiritual. So 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:42.559 you put this man out of the fellowship, you put 00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:46.960 him into the world, into Satan's domain, so that 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:50.079 he might reap the physical and emotional consequences 00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:53.739 of this sinful lifestyle that he refuses to give 00:37:53.739 --> 00:38:00.980 up. Right? You let the world sift him in this 00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:04.280 habit that he has, in this lifestyle. You let 00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:07.239 Satan sift him for a time. Let him feel the weight 00:38:07.239 --> 00:38:11.570 of the destruction that he has wrought. The devastation 00:38:11.570 --> 00:38:14.570 to his friendships and to his career, reputation, 00:38:14.969 --> 00:38:17.489 finances, whatever it might be, let him feel 00:38:17.489 --> 00:38:20.050 the weight of that apart from the fellowship 00:38:20.050 --> 00:38:26.289 of the church. Let the destruction of his flesh 00:38:26.289 --> 00:38:31.030 bring him back to his senses. Pray that it will 00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:33.010 bring him to a place of repentance, that he would 00:38:33.010 --> 00:38:36.269 return and realign himself under the authority 00:38:36.269 --> 00:38:40.630 of God's word and back to, full fellowship in 00:38:40.630 --> 00:38:43.550 the body of Christ. And if he stubbornly refuses, 00:38:43.809 --> 00:38:47.969 and this happens, if he rejects the discipline 00:38:47.969 --> 00:38:50.230 of the church and goes on in his lifestyle, then 00:38:50.230 --> 00:38:52.710 the truth about his heart will be revealed to 00:38:52.710 --> 00:38:57.570 all. As heartbreaking as that is, in the words 00:38:57.570 --> 00:39:01.269 of John the Apostle, they went out from us because 00:39:01.269 --> 00:39:04.510 they were never really of us. Because if they'd 00:39:04.510 --> 00:39:06.610 been of us, they would have remained with us. 00:39:07.670 --> 00:39:09.789 But they've gone out to show that they never 00:39:09.789 --> 00:39:16.650 really belonged to the body of Christ. Guys, 00:39:16.670 --> 00:39:19.090 this is never an easy thing to do, right? And 00:39:19.090 --> 00:39:20.849 here at Oak Hill, in the 20 years of our church, 00:39:20.929 --> 00:39:22.869 we've had to do this a number of times. It is 00:39:22.869 --> 00:39:26.769 always distressing. It is always grievous. But 00:39:26.769 --> 00:39:28.449 it has to be walked through because it's what 00:39:28.449 --> 00:39:31.750 the Lord tells us to do. Just know this. The 00:39:31.750 --> 00:39:34.630 goal is never, well, we just want to throw people 00:39:34.630 --> 00:39:37.530 out of the church. That's never the goal. The 00:39:37.530 --> 00:39:39.789 goal is not, well, we want to play the role of 00:39:39.789 --> 00:39:43.710 judge and jury and Pharisee. We're not trying 00:39:43.710 --> 00:39:47.070 to embarrass people or lord our authority and 00:39:47.070 --> 00:39:50.269 power over them as a body. The motivation, again, 00:39:50.349 --> 00:39:53.489 is obedience to Christ. It's love and concern 00:39:53.489 --> 00:39:56.730 for that person's eternal soul. And the true 00:39:56.730 --> 00:39:59.329 goal is always to win our brother or sister back, 00:39:59.570 --> 00:40:03.110 to bring them to this point of repentance and 00:40:03.110 --> 00:40:05.789 restore them to membership in the church. As 00:40:05.789 --> 00:40:08.989 Paul puts it, so that he himself might be saved 00:40:08.989 --> 00:40:11.130 on the day of the Lord. And can I share some 00:40:11.130 --> 00:40:14.409 good news for you, with you? There's grace for 00:40:14.409 --> 00:40:18.429 this. This sin, this is a heinous sin. There 00:40:18.429 --> 00:40:21.030 could be even worse, but God's grace is still 00:40:21.030 --> 00:40:24.630 sufficient for any sexual sin. It's sufficient. 00:40:25.250 --> 00:40:28.510 There's hope for forgiveness, but it might require 00:40:28.510 --> 00:40:31.949 some pain to get there. And that's by God's design. 00:40:32.539 --> 00:40:34.940 to walk through that pain so that we come to 00:40:34.940 --> 00:40:39.619 our senses and say, God's ways are best. But 00:40:39.619 --> 00:40:41.960 we as a body have to be willing to walk into 00:40:41.960 --> 00:40:46.420 this process to help that person see those things, 00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:50.280 amen? So let me just close with one last thought. 00:40:50.679 --> 00:40:54.460 I realize this is a scary concept. The whole 00:40:54.460 --> 00:40:57.820 time I was writing this week, I'm like, man, 00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.369 this is gonna freak some people out. And I'm 00:41:00.369 --> 00:41:01.989 watching to see if anybody gets up and leaves. 00:41:02.489 --> 00:41:08.090 Okay. If you didn't grow up in a church that 00:41:08.090 --> 00:41:10.570 practices church discipline, I know this is scary. 00:41:10.750 --> 00:41:13.469 If as an adult you came to a church and you haven't 00:41:13.469 --> 00:41:16.510 seen it practiced, I know this chapter can be 00:41:16.510 --> 00:41:19.849 off -putting and difficult. But let me reassure 00:41:19.849 --> 00:41:22.710 you of the one foundational truth that will ease 00:41:22.710 --> 00:41:25.929 your heart. If you are worried that someday it's 00:41:25.929 --> 00:41:28.070 going to be my name that gets put forward for 00:41:28.070 --> 00:41:31.150 church discipline, There is a very simple remedy. 00:41:32.789 --> 00:41:38.170 Repent. Don't be afraid. Just be repentant like 00:41:38.170 --> 00:41:41.610 all the rest of us. Again, what is the body? 00:41:42.369 --> 00:41:47.550 A group of repenting sinners. That's it. This 00:41:47.550 --> 00:41:49.489 applies to every one of us here, me included. 00:41:49.590 --> 00:41:55.130 Don't be afraid. Just be ready to repent. I'll 00:41:55.130 --> 00:41:58.269 say it again for the third time. Every local 00:41:58.269 --> 00:42:00.530 church is filled with repenting sinners. We are 00:42:00.530 --> 00:42:04.210 imperfect. We are in process. We are growing. 00:42:04.309 --> 00:42:06.650 We are maturing. We are being slowly transformed 00:42:06.650 --> 00:42:09.070 into the image of Christ, but we still have to 00:42:09.070 --> 00:42:11.510 repent. In fact, that should be a daily habit 00:42:11.510 --> 00:42:15.429 of yours, a daily spiritual discipline to continue 00:42:15.429 --> 00:42:19.230 to repent. First, repenting of sin before the 00:42:19.230 --> 00:42:21.840 Lord in prayer. And if necessary, to go to a 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:24.000 trusted friend in the body of Christ and saying, 00:42:24.099 --> 00:42:26.300 I need to confess some sin. I need to let you 00:42:26.300 --> 00:42:28.780 know that I fell into this, but I'm repentant. 00:42:29.400 --> 00:42:32.659 That too is biblical and healthy. This needs 00:42:32.659 --> 00:42:35.099 to be a discipline in our lives. And when we're 00:42:35.099 --> 00:42:37.780 living that kind of life together, guess what? 00:42:38.440 --> 00:42:41.159 We will welcome a brother or sister who comes 00:42:41.159 --> 00:42:43.960 to us humbly and says, hey, can I talk to you 00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:45.980 about something? I see this in your life and 00:42:45.980 --> 00:42:50.159 it concerns me. If we're a repentant body, we 00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:53.480 will welcome that. We will welcome it. I know 00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:55.340 it's hard, but we'll welcome it. And if that 00:42:55.340 --> 00:42:57.320 brother or sister is right and we do need to 00:42:57.320 --> 00:43:01.420 repent, we will have no problem doing so. Because 00:43:01.420 --> 00:43:03.320 we're not stuck in our pride. We're not stubborn 00:43:03.320 --> 00:43:06.019 in our lifestyles. Like, no, we want to live 00:43:06.019 --> 00:43:09.500 lives that please Jesus. Which means if we're 00:43:09.500 --> 00:43:11.380 always repentant like that, guess what? We will 00:43:11.380 --> 00:43:15.820 never be put up for church discipline. Listen, 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:18.960 God has been so gracious to give us the gift 00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:21.099 of church discipline, and we really should see 00:43:21.099 --> 00:43:23.880 it as a gift. He's given you and I, people who 00:43:23.880 --> 00:43:27.179 love one another deeply, the privilege of living 00:43:27.179 --> 00:43:30.260 life together in both purity and accountability. 00:43:31.639 --> 00:43:34.460 It's a life that glorifies him and is beneficial 00:43:34.460 --> 00:43:37.500 to us, as we always say, right? For God's glory 00:43:37.500 --> 00:43:41.340 and for our good. Church discipline is that thing. 00:43:42.199 --> 00:43:47.000 Don't be afraid. Just repent. Amen? There's much 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:50.260 more to talk about in part two. I saw you guys 00:43:50.260 --> 00:43:54.119 promise to come back. Why don't we bow our heads? 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.800 I'm going to give you guys a little bit of time 00:43:58.800 --> 00:44:01.539 on your own to talk to the Lord about this. And 00:44:01.539 --> 00:44:03.679 this is a time to bring Him your fears, if you 00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:07.539 have them. Or to bring Him your confession and 00:44:07.539 --> 00:44:10.539 repentance. Whatever the Spirit put on your heart. 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:13.750 Take a few moments and pray. And then Grant is 00:44:13.750 --> 00:44:15.170 going to draw us out.