1 00:00:16,380 --> 00:00:20,260 It is actually reported that there is sexual 2 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:24,380 immorality among you and of a kind that 3 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:26,880 does not occur even among pagans. 4 00:00:27,860 --> 00:00:32,000 A man has his father's wife and you 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:32,680 are proud. 6 00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:36,500 Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief 7 00:00:36,500 --> 00:00:38,960 and have put out of your fellowship the 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:40,100 man who did this? 9 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,920 Even though I am not physically present, I 10 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,540 am with you in spirit and I have 11 00:00:46,540 --> 00:00:49,180 already passed judgment on the one who did 12 00:00:49,180 --> 00:00:51,940 this, just as if I were present. 13 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,200 When you are assembled in the name of 14 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,700 our Lord Jesus and I am with you 15 00:00:57,700 --> 00:01:00,780 in spirit and the power of our Lord 16 00:01:00,780 --> 00:01:04,840 Jesus is present, hand this man over to 17 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,440 Satan so that the sinful nature may be 18 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,600 destroyed and his spirit saved on the day 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:13,420 of the Lord. 20 00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:16,420 Your boasting is not good. 21 00:01:17,660 --> 00:01:19,900 Don't you know that a little yeast works 22 00:01:19,900 --> 00:01:21,620 through the whole batch of dough? 23 00:01:22,380 --> 00:01:24,880 Get rid of the old yeast that you 24 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,380 may be a new batch without yeast as 25 00:01:27,380 --> 00:01:28,440 you really are. 26 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,780 For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed, 27 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,660 therefore let us keep the festival not with 28 00:01:36,660 --> 00:01:39,340 the old yeast, the yeast of malice and 29 00:01:39,340 --> 00:01:43,340 wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread 30 00:01:43,340 --> 00:01:44,920 of sincerity and truth. 31 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,380 I have written you in my letter not 32 00:01:48,380 --> 00:01:52,940 to associate with sexually immoral people, not at 33 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:54,840 all meaning the people of this world who 34 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,580 are immoral or the greedy and swindlers or 35 00:01:57,580 --> 00:01:58,340 idolaters. 36 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:00,980 In that case, you would have had to 37 00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:03,660 leave this world, but now I am writing 38 00:02:03,660 --> 00:02:06,660 you that you must not associate with anyone 39 00:02:06,660 --> 00:02:11,800 who calls himself a brother, but is sexually 40 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,140 immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, 41 00:02:16,620 --> 00:02:18,340 a drunkard or a swindler. 42 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,560 With such a man do not even eat. 43 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,640 What business is it of mine to judge 44 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:28,620 those outside the church? 45 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,940 Are you not to judge those inside? 46 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,100 God will judge those outside. 47 00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:41,060 Expel the wicked man from among you. 48 00:02:51,980 --> 00:02:54,080 Now I'd be glad if you'd have your 49 00:02:54,080 --> 00:03:00,840 Bible open at 1 Corinthians 5, and that 50 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,440 you really rise to the challenge of disciplining 51 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:11,020 your concentration, and following the melody from the 52 00:03:11,020 --> 00:03:18,250 pulpit, as much as the melody from outside. 53 00:03:20,290 --> 00:03:21,630 In fact, I think we've got a break 54 00:03:21,630 --> 00:03:22,330 to start with. 55 00:03:22,850 --> 00:03:24,490 Would you like to read through that chapter 56 00:03:24,490 --> 00:03:26,350 again, just for a moment, until this band's 57 00:03:26,350 --> 00:03:26,690 gone by? 58 00:03:28,270 --> 00:03:30,850 Well, let's come to the content of this 59 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:32,650 particular passage of Scripture. 60 00:03:33,070 --> 00:03:34,830 I want to preach to you on the 61 00:03:34,830 --> 00:03:37,870 twin concepts of purity, the purity that there 62 00:03:37,870 --> 00:03:41,450 should be in the local church, and separation, 63 00:03:41,670 --> 00:03:45,390 that the Bible teaches we should apply in 64 00:03:45,390 --> 00:03:51,630 certain circumstances to specific individuals. 65 00:03:52,470 --> 00:03:54,810 Now, as I mentioned before, this is not 66 00:03:54,810 --> 00:03:56,110 the easiest passage. 67 00:03:56,730 --> 00:04:01,290 One of the benefits of expository preaching and 68 00:04:01,290 --> 00:04:04,490 working our way through passages of Scripture is 69 00:04:04,490 --> 00:04:06,990 that you have to deal with matters which, 70 00:04:07,410 --> 00:04:09,590 at the human level, you would probably duck, 71 00:04:10,090 --> 00:04:13,410 simply because they seem to be so sensitive, 72 00:04:14,130 --> 00:04:17,149 and sometimes, perhaps, because the teaching of the 73 00:04:17,149 --> 00:04:19,990 Word of God does seem to be very 74 00:04:19,990 --> 00:04:20,550 harsh. 75 00:04:21,350 --> 00:04:24,710 But God has prescribed His Word for us 76 00:04:24,710 --> 00:04:27,890 in its entirety, and we are not to 77 00:04:27,890 --> 00:04:31,610 shelve, we're not to vault over any particular 78 00:04:31,610 --> 00:04:36,390 passage, simply because it might our own sensitivities. 79 00:04:36,970 --> 00:04:40,610 Here, we're going to be looking at immorality, 80 00:04:41,010 --> 00:04:44,070 as was exampled in some areas. 81 00:04:44,310 --> 00:04:47,490 One area in particular, in the church at 82 00:04:47,490 --> 00:04:50,550 Corinth, we're going to be thinking about the 83 00:04:50,550 --> 00:04:54,870 whole business of excommunication, and then, as I 84 00:04:54,870 --> 00:04:57,930 intimated a moment or so ago, we have 85 00:04:57,930 --> 00:05:00,470 to look at the teaching of the Bible 86 00:05:00,470 --> 00:05:04,690 as to when and how we should separate 87 00:05:04,690 --> 00:05:08,050 ourselves from certain individuals. 88 00:05:08,970 --> 00:05:12,470 Well, I'm breaking this up into five specific 89 00:05:12,470 --> 00:05:13,230 sections. 90 00:05:13,650 --> 00:05:16,050 I'll give you a little title when we 91 00:05:16,050 --> 00:05:18,370 come to each section, which will help you 92 00:05:18,370 --> 00:05:22,170 to have the whole precede and summarize. 93 00:05:22,750 --> 00:05:24,870 Maybe, if you take notes, that you'd like 94 00:05:24,870 --> 00:05:27,950 just to jot down the headings, which will 95 00:05:27,950 --> 00:05:30,810 be a skeleton for you, if you want 96 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:33,990 to come back and consider the outline afresh 97 00:05:33,990 --> 00:05:35,530 later on today. 98 00:05:36,090 --> 00:05:39,290 In the first two verses of this chapter, 99 00:05:39,790 --> 00:05:42,870 there is what I would call a concession 100 00:05:42,870 --> 00:05:44,130 to be corrected. 101 00:05:44,830 --> 00:05:47,410 A concession to be corrected. 102 00:05:48,190 --> 00:05:51,070 Here is the Apostle, and he is reviewing 103 00:05:51,070 --> 00:05:54,890 the situation from a distance that has fallen 104 00:05:54,890 --> 00:05:58,850 out amongst Christian people in this Greek city 105 00:05:58,850 --> 00:06:00,490 of Corinth. 106 00:06:01,250 --> 00:06:04,270 And, alas, some of the reports that he 107 00:06:04,270 --> 00:06:07,310 has heard fills him with a sense of 108 00:06:07,310 --> 00:06:07,890 alarm. 109 00:06:08,470 --> 00:06:11,790 It is actually reported, he says in the 110 00:06:11,790 --> 00:06:16,430 opening verse, that there is sexual immorality among 111 00:06:16,430 --> 00:06:16,790 you. 112 00:06:17,350 --> 00:06:19,590 And, as the authorized version of the Bible 113 00:06:19,590 --> 00:06:22,830 indicates, that report was common. 114 00:06:23,370 --> 00:06:25,890 It was held all over Corinth. 115 00:06:26,730 --> 00:06:29,690 The Christians had become, if you please, can 116 00:06:29,690 --> 00:06:32,230 you believe this, the talk of the town. 117 00:06:32,870 --> 00:06:35,650 You remember there were certain servants from the 118 00:06:35,650 --> 00:06:39,070 household of Chloe, to whom references is made 119 00:06:39,070 --> 00:06:40,230 in the earlier chapter. 120 00:06:40,690 --> 00:06:43,670 I referred to them some weeks ago, who 121 00:06:43,670 --> 00:06:45,970 had met up with Paul at Ephesus. 122 00:06:46,430 --> 00:06:49,610 And, doubtless, it was they who had reported, 123 00:06:49,910 --> 00:06:52,910 though they weren't Christian people, just what was 124 00:06:52,910 --> 00:06:56,350 happening, at least in one area of the 125 00:06:56,350 --> 00:06:59,310 Christian assembly at Corinth. 126 00:06:59,910 --> 00:07:03,870 And Paul is very, very alarmed indeed. 127 00:07:04,210 --> 00:07:05,350 The talk of the town. 128 00:07:06,010 --> 00:07:08,730 A particular sin had broken out. 129 00:07:08,930 --> 00:07:11,910 And, if you could credit it, some of 130 00:07:11,910 --> 00:07:14,610 the believers at any rate there had made 131 00:07:14,610 --> 00:07:17,970 concession regarding that sin. 132 00:07:18,830 --> 00:07:21,650 You are proud, says the Apostle in the 133 00:07:21,650 --> 00:07:22,370 second verse. 134 00:07:22,690 --> 00:07:23,970 You are arrogant. 135 00:07:24,650 --> 00:07:26,090 You are puffed up. 136 00:07:26,590 --> 00:07:32,070 You believe that when this sin was evidenced, 137 00:07:32,110 --> 00:07:34,390 when it was seen amongst you, when you 138 00:07:34,390 --> 00:07:38,250 heard report of it, that somehow or another, 139 00:07:38,430 --> 00:07:40,470 because of a liberty that you claim for 140 00:07:40,470 --> 00:07:44,550 yourself, which I never taught, you can overlook 141 00:07:44,550 --> 00:07:44,990 it. 142 00:07:45,770 --> 00:07:48,830 One of the slogans apparently that was going 143 00:07:48,830 --> 00:07:51,950 around Corinth at this time was, everything is 144 00:07:51,950 --> 00:07:53,090 permissible for me. 145 00:07:53,410 --> 00:07:54,890 You get it in the twelfth verse of 146 00:07:54,890 --> 00:07:55,690 the sixth chapter. 147 00:07:56,210 --> 00:07:58,870 It's repeated again in the twenty-third verse 148 00:07:58,870 --> 00:07:59,950 of the tenth chapter. 149 00:08:00,210 --> 00:08:03,250 Here are these Christians at Corinth, and they've 150 00:08:03,250 --> 00:08:06,810 gone beyond the simple ethical statement and standards 151 00:08:06,810 --> 00:08:09,690 of the Apostle, and confronted with a sin, 152 00:08:10,210 --> 00:08:13,270 a pretty awful sin, in arrogance. 153 00:08:14,110 --> 00:08:16,650 They decide not to do anything about it. 154 00:08:16,750 --> 00:08:19,590 Their liberty is such that they can live 155 00:08:19,590 --> 00:08:23,690 alongside such a manifestation of evil. 156 00:08:23,850 --> 00:08:28,210 Why, says the Apostle, this particular malpractice is 157 00:08:28,210 --> 00:08:31,549 of a kind that does not even occur 158 00:08:32,570 --> 00:08:33,809 among pagans. 159 00:08:34,429 --> 00:08:37,809 He doesn't go into any specific detail as 160 00:08:37,809 --> 00:08:39,610 to the nature of the sin. 161 00:08:40,150 --> 00:08:42,850 We're told in the end of the first 162 00:08:42,850 --> 00:08:45,190 verse that a man has his father's wife, 163 00:08:45,790 --> 00:08:47,910 but we don't know whether this refers to 164 00:08:47,910 --> 00:08:49,550 the man's stepmother. 165 00:08:50,030 --> 00:08:52,510 We don't know whether she was as old 166 00:08:52,510 --> 00:08:55,730 as the man concerned who had engaged in 167 00:08:55,730 --> 00:08:56,790 an immoral act. 168 00:08:56,990 --> 00:08:59,010 We don't know whether the father was dead 169 00:08:59,010 --> 00:09:01,510 or not, but what we are aware of, 170 00:09:01,550 --> 00:09:04,510 and it's sufficient to say this, here was 171 00:09:04,510 --> 00:09:09,670 a sin of grievous proportions, and the church 172 00:09:09,670 --> 00:09:14,150 at Corinth had not taken the offending man 173 00:09:14,150 --> 00:09:15,210 to task. 174 00:09:15,730 --> 00:09:20,710 They had made concessions, and that concession, says 175 00:09:20,710 --> 00:09:23,910 the Apostle Paul, must be corrected. 176 00:09:24,790 --> 00:09:28,010 Instead of being proud, verse two, you should 177 00:09:28,010 --> 00:09:30,290 have been filled with grief. 178 00:09:30,790 --> 00:09:32,470 You should be in a state of mourning. 179 00:09:33,170 --> 00:09:35,850 You should have put out of your fellowship 180 00:09:35,850 --> 00:09:38,690 the man who did this. 181 00:09:39,190 --> 00:09:41,050 Well, that's all that I want to really 182 00:09:41,050 --> 00:09:43,190 say about the nature of this sin. 183 00:09:43,510 --> 00:09:45,570 The principle is what is important. 184 00:09:46,350 --> 00:09:48,550 They had made concessions at Corinth. 185 00:09:49,590 --> 00:09:53,010 There had been an erosion of standards, and 186 00:09:53,010 --> 00:09:55,390 they believed that somehow they had a liberty 187 00:09:55,390 --> 00:10:01,290 which gave them greater degree of flexibility in 188 00:10:01,290 --> 00:10:04,410 ethics, as opposed to what the Apostle Paul 189 00:10:04,410 --> 00:10:07,550 had humbly taught them when he'd been present, 190 00:10:08,150 --> 00:10:11,750 bringing that church together from infancy. 191 00:10:12,670 --> 00:10:15,670 Now, when you move on from the third 192 00:10:15,670 --> 00:10:18,970 verse right up to the fifth, having been 193 00:10:18,970 --> 00:10:21,370 confronted with the thought of a concession to 194 00:10:21,370 --> 00:10:24,290 be corrected, here, I say, is a decision 195 00:10:24,290 --> 00:10:27,390 to be applied, a decision to be applied. 196 00:10:27,930 --> 00:10:30,850 Here is the Apostle Paul miles away from 197 00:10:30,850 --> 00:10:31,390 the scene. 198 00:10:31,710 --> 00:10:33,230 He tells us that, doesn't he, in the 199 00:10:33,230 --> 00:10:36,610 third verse, though I am not physically present. 200 00:10:37,550 --> 00:10:41,490 He already knows, however, what he would do, 201 00:10:42,090 --> 00:10:45,110 what his decision is on this particular matter. 202 00:10:45,110 --> 00:10:47,310 He tells us later on in the third 203 00:10:47,310 --> 00:10:51,010 verse, I have already passed judgment on the 204 00:10:51,010 --> 00:10:55,490 one who did this, as though I were 205 00:10:55,490 --> 00:10:55,930 present. 206 00:10:56,810 --> 00:11:00,130 What authority, what right had Paul to make 207 00:11:00,130 --> 00:11:01,530 judgment in such a case? 208 00:11:01,590 --> 00:11:03,850 Well, you remember, he was the founder of 209 00:11:03,850 --> 00:11:04,330 the church. 210 00:11:04,530 --> 00:11:07,070 He was absent from them, but nonetheless he 211 00:11:07,070 --> 00:11:09,730 was president of the church, so to speak, 212 00:11:10,030 --> 00:11:10,710 at Corinth. 213 00:11:11,010 --> 00:11:13,890 He was the Apostle who, under God's authority, 214 00:11:14,110 --> 00:11:17,290 had brought these people into a living relationship 215 00:11:17,290 --> 00:11:19,370 with the Lord Jesus Christ. 216 00:11:19,530 --> 00:11:22,310 All right, says the Apostle, though I'm not 217 00:11:22,310 --> 00:11:24,790 with you physically, I'm still with you in 218 00:11:24,790 --> 00:11:25,150 spirit. 219 00:11:25,410 --> 00:11:26,710 But what does he mean by that? 220 00:11:27,130 --> 00:11:29,010 Well, he doesn't mean the same sort of 221 00:11:29,010 --> 00:11:31,850 excuse that's sometimes put up in evangelical circles 222 00:11:31,850 --> 00:11:34,630 today, to excuse absence at a meeting. 223 00:11:34,750 --> 00:11:36,050 You know, I'll not be with you, brother, 224 00:11:36,130 --> 00:11:37,430 but I will be with you in spirit. 225 00:11:38,250 --> 00:11:39,970 No, Paul is not as facile. 226 00:11:40,750 --> 00:11:42,570 He's not as shallow as that. 227 00:11:42,570 --> 00:11:45,350 What he means is that the very testimony 228 00:11:45,350 --> 00:11:49,030 that he maintained at Corinth during the months 229 00:11:49,030 --> 00:11:51,390 that he was in that Greek city, it 230 00:11:51,390 --> 00:11:52,030 lives on. 231 00:11:52,830 --> 00:11:55,370 They know what his own reaction would have 232 00:11:55,370 --> 00:11:58,870 been to this sort of situation. 233 00:11:59,430 --> 00:12:02,150 My presence is still with you. 234 00:12:02,650 --> 00:12:05,350 You know what my convictions are. 235 00:12:06,170 --> 00:12:11,510 And he gives them this particular decision, which 236 00:12:11,510 --> 00:12:14,210 seems to be a very, very strict one 237 00:12:14,210 --> 00:12:14,790 indeed. 238 00:12:15,370 --> 00:12:18,910 He tells them later on in the fifth 239 00:12:18,910 --> 00:12:25,230 verse, hand this man over to Satan. 240 00:12:26,010 --> 00:12:29,790 Hand this man over to Satan. 241 00:12:30,430 --> 00:12:34,130 Here is a brother who'd been involved at 242 00:12:34,130 --> 00:12:39,150 least in some form of an incestuous relationship. 243 00:12:39,850 --> 00:12:41,830 He was unrepentant. 244 00:12:42,690 --> 00:12:45,930 And so the Apostle, having first corrected the 245 00:12:45,930 --> 00:12:49,690 concession that the elders and the people in 246 00:12:49,690 --> 00:12:53,690 authority had had made towards this brother, he 247 00:12:53,690 --> 00:12:56,910 gives them a decision which has to be 248 00:12:56,910 --> 00:12:57,510 applied. 249 00:12:57,510 --> 00:13:03,730 Hand over this man to Satan, so that 250 00:13:03,730 --> 00:13:07,470 the sinful nature may be destroyed, and his 251 00:13:07,470 --> 00:13:09,630 spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 252 00:13:10,190 --> 00:13:11,630 What are we to make of this? 253 00:13:12,750 --> 00:13:15,910 Well, let my first comment about this particular 254 00:13:16,910 --> 00:13:20,210 decision that Paul arrived at be this. 255 00:13:20,910 --> 00:13:22,230 It was not novel. 256 00:13:22,970 --> 00:13:24,150 It was not new. 257 00:13:24,730 --> 00:13:28,030 It was not something that Paul had contrived 258 00:13:28,030 --> 00:13:28,670 himself. 259 00:13:29,470 --> 00:13:32,830 We are told by our Lord Jesus Christ 260 00:13:32,830 --> 00:13:39,690 in the 18th chapter of Matthew's Gospel about 261 00:13:39,690 --> 00:13:45,770 certain acts which do require disciplining in the 262 00:13:45,770 --> 00:13:47,090 kingdom of God. 263 00:13:47,910 --> 00:13:51,950 We're told about men who might harm another's 264 00:13:51,950 --> 00:13:52,390 faith. 265 00:13:53,270 --> 00:13:56,950 And Jesus said, it would be better if 266 00:13:56,950 --> 00:13:58,930 that man had not been born. 267 00:13:59,650 --> 00:14:01,350 Let me read to you from the sixth 268 00:14:01,350 --> 00:14:03,910 verse of the 18th of Matthew's Gospel. 269 00:14:04,290 --> 00:14:07,350 If anyone causes one of these little ones 270 00:14:07,350 --> 00:14:10,310 who believe in me to sin, it would 271 00:14:10,310 --> 00:14:12,870 be better for him to have a large 272 00:14:12,870 --> 00:14:15,930 millstone hung around his neck, and to be 273 00:14:15,930 --> 00:14:17,890 drowned in the depths of the sea. 274 00:14:18,690 --> 00:14:20,490 Woe to the world because of the things 275 00:14:20,490 --> 00:14:22,090 that cause people to sin. 276 00:14:22,630 --> 00:14:26,210 Such things must come through, but woe to 277 00:14:26,210 --> 00:14:28,250 the man through whom they come. 278 00:14:28,830 --> 00:14:31,270 If your hand or your foot causes you 279 00:14:31,270 --> 00:14:35,170 to sin, cut it off and throw it 280 00:14:35,170 --> 00:14:35,650 away. 281 00:14:36,190 --> 00:14:38,530 It is better for you to enter life 282 00:14:38,530 --> 00:14:41,950 maimed or crippled, than to have two hands 283 00:14:41,950 --> 00:14:46,350 or two feet, and be thrown into eternal 284 00:14:46,350 --> 00:14:46,950 fire. 285 00:14:47,650 --> 00:14:51,350 When our Lord continues in this tremendously somber 286 00:14:51,350 --> 00:14:56,190 teaching about sin, and stimulating sin in the 287 00:14:56,190 --> 00:14:58,770 lives of others, he goes on in the 288 00:14:58,770 --> 00:15:01,050 15th verse and says, if your brother sins 289 00:15:01,050 --> 00:15:03,630 against you, go and show him his fault 290 00:15:03,630 --> 00:15:05,030 just between the two of you. 291 00:15:05,650 --> 00:15:07,470 If he listens to you, you've won your 292 00:15:07,470 --> 00:15:07,790 brother. 293 00:15:08,390 --> 00:15:10,270 But if he will not listen, take one 294 00:15:10,270 --> 00:15:12,810 or two others along, so that every matter 295 00:15:12,810 --> 00:15:15,590 may be established by the testimony of two 296 00:15:15,590 --> 00:15:16,490 or three witnesses. 297 00:15:16,990 --> 00:15:18,690 Now listen, verse 17. 298 00:15:18,970 --> 00:15:21,610 If he refuses to listen to them, tell 299 00:15:21,610 --> 00:15:22,450 it to the church. 300 00:15:22,890 --> 00:15:25,510 And if he refuses to listen even to 301 00:15:25,510 --> 00:15:28,650 the church, treat him as you would a 302 00:15:28,650 --> 00:15:31,570 pagan, or a tax collector. 303 00:15:32,110 --> 00:15:34,250 I tell you the truth, whatever you bind 304 00:15:34,250 --> 00:15:37,530 on earth will be bound in heaven, and 305 00:15:37,530 --> 00:15:38,050 so forth. 306 00:15:38,130 --> 00:15:38,890 You see the point? 307 00:15:39,350 --> 00:15:41,350 I read at length from the teaching of 308 00:15:41,350 --> 00:15:44,190 our Lord Jesus, to demonstrate the fact that 309 00:15:44,190 --> 00:15:47,790 when Paul here deals in a very stern 310 00:15:47,790 --> 00:15:51,370 fashion with this situation at Corinth, it is 311 00:15:51,370 --> 00:15:53,370 nothing new, it is nothing novel. 312 00:15:54,050 --> 00:15:57,370 Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, well that may 313 00:15:57,370 --> 00:16:00,210 be the way that children address our Savior, 314 00:16:00,690 --> 00:16:03,310 and in some respects there is right so 315 00:16:03,310 --> 00:16:03,730 to do. 316 00:16:04,190 --> 00:16:08,110 But don't overemphasize his gentleness and his meekness 317 00:16:08,110 --> 00:16:10,710 to the degree that you feel that Jesus 318 00:16:10,710 --> 00:16:13,030 Christ will never discipline anyone. 319 00:16:13,810 --> 00:16:16,530 And that goes for his body in the 320 00:16:16,530 --> 00:16:18,730 20th century, the Christian church. 321 00:16:18,970 --> 00:16:24,130 It is called upon sometimes to exercise discipline. 322 00:16:24,370 --> 00:16:26,290 This was nothing new. 323 00:16:27,090 --> 00:16:29,810 Well what does it mean, hand this man 324 00:16:29,810 --> 00:16:31,110 over to Satan? 325 00:16:32,050 --> 00:16:34,050 Well if you were to read from Colossians 326 00:16:34,050 --> 00:16:36,950 chapter 1 and 13, you would discover that 327 00:16:36,950 --> 00:16:39,170 the church, and there are many other references 328 00:16:39,170 --> 00:16:41,710 I could give you, the church is referred 329 00:16:41,710 --> 00:16:43,850 to as the kingdom of light. 330 00:16:44,270 --> 00:16:46,770 The world is referred to as the kingdom 331 00:16:46,770 --> 00:16:47,490 of darkness. 332 00:16:48,090 --> 00:16:50,590 A man who is not a Christian, spiritually 333 00:16:50,590 --> 00:16:52,250 speaking, is in darkness. 334 00:16:52,950 --> 00:16:55,970 That's why we sometimes refer to conversion, not 335 00:16:55,970 --> 00:16:58,450 just in terms of being born again, but 336 00:16:58,450 --> 00:16:59,450 seeing the light. 337 00:17:00,110 --> 00:17:02,890 Well here is a brother who has sinned 338 00:17:02,890 --> 00:17:06,250 grievously, he's not dependent, and so Paul says, 339 00:17:06,730 --> 00:17:09,670 hand him back to Satan, withdraw from him 340 00:17:09,670 --> 00:17:14,150 the privileges of the redeemed community, be to 341 00:17:14,150 --> 00:17:17,730 him as though he was still a stranger 342 00:17:18,329 --> 00:17:23,170 outside of the church, handed over to Satan. 343 00:17:24,670 --> 00:17:28,090 But the apostle goes on to tell us 344 00:17:28,090 --> 00:17:32,290 the reason for this particular stern advice, so 345 00:17:32,290 --> 00:17:37,450 that the sinful nature may be destroyed, and 346 00:17:37,450 --> 00:17:39,670 the spirit saved on the day of the 347 00:17:39,670 --> 00:17:39,830 Lord. 348 00:17:39,870 --> 00:17:43,150 What does that mean, the sinful nature being 349 00:17:43,150 --> 00:17:43,730 destroyed? 350 00:17:44,670 --> 00:17:46,770 Well I would have to confess it's not 351 00:17:46,770 --> 00:17:50,090 easy to answer the question, but I can 352 00:17:50,090 --> 00:17:52,170 at least give you two or three pointers 353 00:17:52,170 --> 00:17:56,430 wherein you might find some satisfactory explanation. 354 00:17:57,250 --> 00:18:01,530 You remember though the circumstances were completely contrasting, 355 00:18:01,650 --> 00:18:02,650 completely different. 356 00:18:03,510 --> 00:18:06,250 In the old testament you are confronted with 357 00:18:06,250 --> 00:18:07,930 a man by the name of Job. 358 00:18:08,770 --> 00:18:12,370 Now to vindicate Job's faith in God, that 359 00:18:12,370 --> 00:18:15,110 it is a genuine one, the Lord in 360 00:18:15,110 --> 00:18:19,550 an extraordinary fashion allows Satan to attack the 361 00:18:19,550 --> 00:18:20,790 body of Job. 362 00:18:21,530 --> 00:18:24,270 There isn't time to go into the unpleasantness 363 00:18:24,270 --> 00:18:27,110 of the experience, and to to labour the 364 00:18:27,110 --> 00:18:29,590 point as to why the Lord let this 365 00:18:29,590 --> 00:18:29,990 happen. 366 00:18:30,390 --> 00:18:33,270 Ultimately it was for Job's good, but the 367 00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:36,190 point that I'm emphasizing at this moment is, 368 00:18:36,730 --> 00:18:40,330 Satan had some effect upon the physical body 369 00:18:40,330 --> 00:18:41,770 of Job. 370 00:18:42,650 --> 00:18:43,950 Now I said I'd give you two or 371 00:18:43,950 --> 00:18:45,670 three pointers, if you were to go to 372 00:18:45,670 --> 00:18:47,250 the fifth chapter of the Acts of the 373 00:18:47,250 --> 00:18:49,630 Apostles, you come across two people by the 374 00:18:49,630 --> 00:18:51,290 name of Ananias and Sapphira. 375 00:18:51,550 --> 00:18:54,010 They were guilty, at least Ananias was guilty, 376 00:18:54,390 --> 00:18:56,730 of lying against the Holy Ghost. 377 00:18:57,550 --> 00:19:01,250 That was a very terrible sin, and one 378 00:19:01,250 --> 00:19:08,410 of those colossal outpourings of God's judgment occurred 379 00:19:08,410 --> 00:19:10,290 in the early church. 380 00:19:11,510 --> 00:19:17,230 Ananias and Sapphira died because of their hypocrisy. 381 00:19:18,030 --> 00:19:22,210 They lied against the Spirit, and they suffered 382 00:19:22,210 --> 00:19:24,130 in their body. 383 00:19:25,190 --> 00:19:27,750 That I suggest to you is another pointer, 384 00:19:28,750 --> 00:19:31,610 yielding some information as to what must be 385 00:19:31,610 --> 00:19:33,950 at the back of the Apostle's mind when 386 00:19:33,950 --> 00:19:36,990 he talks about handing an individual over to 387 00:19:36,990 --> 00:19:39,950 Satan, so that his sinful nature may be 388 00:19:39,950 --> 00:19:40,470 destroyed. 389 00:19:41,210 --> 00:19:43,330 The third pointer I would give you would 390 00:19:43,330 --> 00:19:44,770 be later on, as I say, if we 391 00:19:44,770 --> 00:19:46,670 had time in the in this epistle, but 392 00:19:46,670 --> 00:19:48,990 you have memories that will bring this passage 393 00:19:48,990 --> 00:19:50,430 back to your mind, I'm sure. 394 00:19:50,670 --> 00:19:53,790 When Paul lays down instructions about coming around 395 00:19:53,790 --> 00:19:55,830 the Lord's table, he said that you have 396 00:19:55,830 --> 00:19:58,690 to eat and to drink if you're in 397 00:19:58,690 --> 00:20:00,530 a right relationship with the Lord. 398 00:20:00,950 --> 00:20:04,150 In other words, if a hypocrite someone comes 399 00:20:04,150 --> 00:20:06,450 to the Lord's table and they have unconfessed 400 00:20:06,450 --> 00:20:09,550 sin, the penalty for that, says the Apostle 401 00:20:09,550 --> 00:20:14,050 Paul, might well be a sickly disposition. 402 00:20:14,530 --> 00:20:17,390 For this reason, says Paul, many of you 403 00:20:17,390 --> 00:20:20,690 are sickly and not a few sleep. 404 00:20:20,950 --> 00:20:21,170 Why? 405 00:20:21,790 --> 00:20:25,610 Because of their hypocrisy, because they haven't confessed. 406 00:20:25,610 --> 00:20:29,290 They've taken the bread and the wine in 407 00:20:29,290 --> 00:20:31,690 an unforgiven state. 408 00:20:32,410 --> 00:20:34,810 Now, I suggest to you that all this 409 00:20:34,810 --> 00:20:36,890 is at the back of the Apostle's mind 410 00:20:36,890 --> 00:20:40,030 when he says, hand this man over to 411 00:20:40,030 --> 00:20:40,330 Satan. 412 00:20:41,250 --> 00:20:44,430 Let him physically deteriorate. 413 00:20:45,270 --> 00:20:48,730 Let him somehow or other come up against 414 00:20:48,730 --> 00:20:50,050 the pressures of the devil. 415 00:20:50,950 --> 00:20:53,150 Now, and this is the most important factor 416 00:20:53,150 --> 00:20:54,970 which I want you to take home with 417 00:20:54,970 --> 00:20:57,670 you, even if you forgotten those pointers which 418 00:20:57,670 --> 00:20:58,950 I've brought to your attention. 419 00:20:59,710 --> 00:21:02,590 Why does Paul hand a man over to 420 00:21:02,590 --> 00:21:02,850 Satan? 421 00:21:03,590 --> 00:21:07,810 Not because Paul has a punitive nature, not 422 00:21:07,810 --> 00:21:10,650 because he takes great delight in the thought 423 00:21:10,650 --> 00:21:12,810 of someone being punished for their sins. 424 00:21:13,790 --> 00:21:17,730 Completely the difference, completely the opposite, rather, is 425 00:21:17,730 --> 00:21:18,210 the case. 426 00:21:18,590 --> 00:21:22,010 Hand him over to Satan, so that on 427 00:21:22,010 --> 00:21:25,350 the day of the Lord, even though his 428 00:21:25,350 --> 00:21:29,850 body may be destroyed, even though his fleshly 429 00:21:29,850 --> 00:21:35,370 nature may have suffered great pressure, he will 430 00:21:35,370 --> 00:21:36,110 be saved. 431 00:21:36,890 --> 00:21:38,690 Do you remember how earlier on in this 432 00:21:38,690 --> 00:21:42,030 epistle, Paul has referred to those who on 433 00:21:42,030 --> 00:21:45,090 the day of the return of Christ will 434 00:21:45,090 --> 00:21:46,530 have their works tested. 435 00:21:46,890 --> 00:21:49,070 They'll have nothing to offer for the Lord. 436 00:21:49,550 --> 00:21:51,630 They will come through the fires of testing 437 00:21:51,630 --> 00:21:53,290 with absolutely nothing. 438 00:21:53,470 --> 00:21:56,770 Yet, says the Apostle Paul, they themselves, chapter 439 00:21:56,770 --> 00:22:00,010 3 and verse 15, they themselves will be 440 00:22:00,010 --> 00:22:00,430 saved. 441 00:22:01,550 --> 00:22:03,750 It's not that they'd gone back on the 442 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:04,950 benefits of their salvation. 443 00:22:05,050 --> 00:22:05,630 How could they? 444 00:22:05,770 --> 00:22:08,590 Because they're not responsible for their salvation, only 445 00:22:08,590 --> 00:22:09,410 the Holy God. 446 00:22:09,750 --> 00:22:12,010 And he will not take back what has 447 00:22:12,010 --> 00:22:12,570 been given. 448 00:22:13,590 --> 00:22:15,750 But it is possible to be so sinful, 449 00:22:16,130 --> 00:22:20,250 to be such an unrepentant person, that you 450 00:22:20,250 --> 00:22:23,350 can be handed over to Satan, and suffer 451 00:22:23,350 --> 00:22:26,290 the consequences of backsliding. 452 00:22:26,450 --> 00:22:28,810 Well, here is the Apostle Paul, and as 453 00:22:28,810 --> 00:22:31,530 I say, as he writes to the Corinthians, 454 00:22:32,270 --> 00:22:35,770 as he thinks of their situation, he says 455 00:22:35,770 --> 00:22:37,790 that the concessions they've made, they have to 456 00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:38,310 be corrected. 457 00:22:39,010 --> 00:22:41,570 There is a decision that has to be 458 00:22:41,570 --> 00:22:42,410 applied. 459 00:22:42,790 --> 00:22:44,390 This man is to be handed over to 460 00:22:44,390 --> 00:22:44,650 Satan. 461 00:22:45,150 --> 00:22:46,950 He has let the Lord down. 462 00:22:47,310 --> 00:22:50,010 He has, in one sense, endeavored to destroy 463 00:22:50,010 --> 00:22:51,770 the temple of God, to which reference is 464 00:22:51,770 --> 00:22:53,690 made, you remember, in the fourth chapter. 465 00:22:53,910 --> 00:22:55,750 Now, you can't do that sort of thing, 466 00:22:55,850 --> 00:22:56,970 and get away with it. 467 00:22:57,310 --> 00:22:58,790 God does not play with us. 468 00:22:59,390 --> 00:23:02,690 If you engage in sinfulness as a Christian, 469 00:23:02,970 --> 00:23:06,410 and you are constantly in an unrepentant state, 470 00:23:06,910 --> 00:23:09,290 then I cannot impress upon you the seriousness 471 00:23:09,290 --> 00:23:12,870 of your disposition, of your position before a 472 00:23:12,870 --> 00:23:13,570 Holy God. 473 00:23:15,050 --> 00:23:17,410 Well, let's move on to the sixth, and 474 00:23:17,410 --> 00:23:18,590 through to the eighth verses. 475 00:23:20,050 --> 00:23:23,690 Here is an expulsion, which has to be 476 00:23:23,690 --> 00:23:24,430 effected. 477 00:23:24,850 --> 00:23:28,090 An expulsion, which has to be effected. 478 00:23:28,170 --> 00:23:30,490 If you expel something, you get rid of 479 00:23:30,490 --> 00:23:30,590 it. 480 00:23:30,670 --> 00:23:31,750 Look at the seventh verse. 481 00:23:32,290 --> 00:23:35,730 Get rid of the old yeast, that you 482 00:23:35,730 --> 00:23:38,630 may be a new batch without yeast. 483 00:23:38,670 --> 00:23:40,610 You say, what on earth has that got 484 00:23:40,610 --> 00:23:43,190 to do with the argument that you've just 485 00:23:43,190 --> 00:23:44,630 been bringing to our attention? 486 00:23:45,050 --> 00:23:46,690 Well, Paul is a homely man. 487 00:23:47,590 --> 00:23:49,950 Some reckon he's a bachelor, some reckon that 488 00:23:49,950 --> 00:23:50,510 he's a widower. 489 00:23:51,090 --> 00:23:54,610 But whatever the accuracy of that may or 490 00:23:54,610 --> 00:23:57,110 may not be, he certainly understands a little 491 00:23:57,110 --> 00:24:00,290 bit about cooking, which makes him in advance 492 00:24:00,290 --> 00:24:04,030 of me, not only theologically, but also domestically. 493 00:24:04,310 --> 00:24:07,770 He is in the kitchen, and the idea 494 00:24:07,770 --> 00:24:14,470 is of dough, and yeast, and the baking 495 00:24:14,470 --> 00:24:15,130 of bread. 496 00:24:16,270 --> 00:24:19,970 Now, why does he particularly latch onto this 497 00:24:19,970 --> 00:24:20,510 illustration? 498 00:24:22,030 --> 00:24:26,470 Well, if you put yeast into dough, it 499 00:24:26,470 --> 00:24:28,290 will leaven the whole thing. 500 00:24:28,530 --> 00:24:29,430 It will swell up. 501 00:24:29,630 --> 00:24:32,170 A little bit of yeast affects the whole 502 00:24:32,170 --> 00:24:33,510 mass of the dough. 503 00:24:34,870 --> 00:24:38,310 Now, says Paul, what you have done in 504 00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:39,670 Corrin is this. 505 00:24:39,910 --> 00:24:41,910 You've kept on to the old yeast. 506 00:24:42,730 --> 00:24:44,330 Here is this sinful man. 507 00:24:44,490 --> 00:24:45,850 He's not been reprimanded. 508 00:24:45,970 --> 00:24:47,650 He's not been disciplined at all. 509 00:24:47,930 --> 00:24:49,250 You've conceded the case. 510 00:24:49,650 --> 00:24:52,330 And as a result, the influence of his 511 00:24:52,330 --> 00:24:56,110 life can impregnate the whole of the church 512 00:24:56,110 --> 00:24:56,710 community. 513 00:24:58,370 --> 00:25:01,230 There was an expression by Gamaliel, a proverb 514 00:25:01,230 --> 00:25:03,330 that's traced back to Gamaliel, who was a 515 00:25:03,330 --> 00:25:07,490 professor of theology under whom Paul sat in 516 00:25:07,490 --> 00:25:07,910 Jerusalem. 517 00:25:08,670 --> 00:25:11,390 And the proverb was, don't you know that 518 00:25:11,390 --> 00:25:14,110 a little yeast works through the whole batch 519 00:25:14,110 --> 00:25:14,610 of dough? 520 00:25:15,170 --> 00:25:18,510 Paul will use that proverb again in Galatians 521 00:25:18,510 --> 00:25:21,010 chapter 5 and verse 9, but the point 522 00:25:21,010 --> 00:25:21,510 is this. 523 00:25:21,890 --> 00:25:24,610 Paul has learned the lesson that a man 524 00:25:24,610 --> 00:25:28,050 who continues in a state of sinfulness within 525 00:25:28,050 --> 00:25:31,390 the redeemed community might affect everyone. 526 00:25:31,570 --> 00:25:34,110 To put it in more colloquial, more modern 527 00:25:34,110 --> 00:25:37,570 terms, it's a bad apple that makes the 528 00:25:37,570 --> 00:25:40,830 whole box go rotten. 529 00:25:41,430 --> 00:25:44,750 But there may be another reason why he's 530 00:25:44,750 --> 00:25:45,910 referring to yeast. 531 00:25:46,970 --> 00:25:48,490 You see, the fact of the matter is 532 00:25:48,490 --> 00:25:50,430 that Paul, when he's writing this letter, is 533 00:25:50,430 --> 00:25:53,730 in Ephesus, some distance from these Christians at 534 00:25:53,730 --> 00:25:54,110 Corrin. 535 00:25:54,570 --> 00:25:57,390 And it does seem, again for factors, for 536 00:25:57,390 --> 00:26:00,090 reasons I've no time to go into, that 537 00:26:00,090 --> 00:26:02,930 when Paul was at Ephesus, he was there 538 00:26:02,930 --> 00:26:04,150 preparing for the Passover. 539 00:26:05,310 --> 00:26:07,690 Now you might know from your knowledge of 540 00:26:07,690 --> 00:26:11,910 Old Testament scriptures that before the Passover meal 541 00:26:11,910 --> 00:26:15,130 was celebrated, and indeed is celebrated today by 542 00:26:15,130 --> 00:26:17,750 the Jews, they get rid of any yeast 543 00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:21,190 in the kitchen, because yeast stood for that 544 00:26:21,190 --> 00:26:21,910 which was evil. 545 00:26:22,690 --> 00:26:24,530 If you were to read the relevant chapter 546 00:26:24,530 --> 00:26:28,470 in Exodus, Exodus chapter 12, you would discover 547 00:26:28,470 --> 00:26:32,790 that God's specific injunctions to the imprisoned Hebrews 548 00:26:32,790 --> 00:26:35,450 before they left Egypt was, get rid of 549 00:26:35,450 --> 00:26:38,030 the yeast before you have the Passover meal. 550 00:26:40,170 --> 00:26:43,510 The paschal lamb was about to be sacrificed 551 00:26:43,510 --> 00:26:47,230 in remembrance of that great deliverance from the 552 00:26:47,230 --> 00:26:52,070 bondage of the pharaohs when the Hebrews were 553 00:26:52,070 --> 00:26:53,230 in Egypt. 554 00:26:53,470 --> 00:26:55,210 Paul is going to make reference to this, 555 00:26:55,310 --> 00:26:55,590 isn't he? 556 00:26:55,890 --> 00:26:58,010 Look, drop down to the seventh verse, for 557 00:26:58,010 --> 00:27:01,710 Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for 558 00:27:01,710 --> 00:27:04,830 us, therefore let us keep the festival, not 559 00:27:04,830 --> 00:27:06,970 with the old yeast, the yeast of malice 560 00:27:06,970 --> 00:27:09,410 and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the 561 00:27:09,410 --> 00:27:10,770 bread of sincerity and truth. 562 00:27:11,270 --> 00:27:12,530 Oh, you say you're going too quick, I 563 00:27:12,530 --> 00:27:13,650 don't understand what you mean. 564 00:27:13,890 --> 00:27:15,350 Well, listen to this very carefully. 565 00:27:15,970 --> 00:27:18,990 If before the Jews could take the Passover 566 00:27:18,990 --> 00:27:21,830 meal, they had to get rid of all 567 00:27:21,830 --> 00:27:26,190 the old yeast, how much more should Christians 568 00:27:26,190 --> 00:27:29,250 get rid of the evil that's in their 569 00:27:29,250 --> 00:27:32,590 lives, the evil that's in the community with 570 00:27:32,590 --> 00:27:36,370 which they fellowship before they come around the 571 00:27:36,370 --> 00:27:37,030 Lord's table? 572 00:27:38,410 --> 00:27:41,590 I repeat, before the Old Testament Hebrews could 573 00:27:41,590 --> 00:27:43,910 eat of the Passover lamb, they had to 574 00:27:43,910 --> 00:27:46,250 get rid of the evil, the yeast from 575 00:27:46,250 --> 00:27:46,930 their household. 576 00:27:47,690 --> 00:27:49,750 Now here is a phenomenon, if you please, 577 00:27:49,930 --> 00:27:52,610 here are Christian people, the Passover lamb has 578 00:27:52,610 --> 00:27:55,790 been sacrificed, Jesus has shed his blood, but 579 00:27:55,790 --> 00:27:59,750 there's still the old yeast occurring, there's still 580 00:27:59,750 --> 00:28:02,570 the old yeast in the hearts of Christian 581 00:28:02,570 --> 00:28:03,390 individuals. 582 00:28:04,010 --> 00:28:06,250 This is a nonsense, says the Apostle Paul, 583 00:28:06,590 --> 00:28:08,250 it just cannot continue. 584 00:28:08,630 --> 00:28:13,170 Expel the old yeast and become as a 585 00:28:13,170 --> 00:28:18,330 new batch, as potentially in Jesus you really 586 00:28:18,330 --> 00:28:18,890 are. 587 00:28:19,530 --> 00:28:21,810 He'll express it again in the second letter 588 00:28:21,810 --> 00:28:23,230 that he writes, at least in the second 589 00:28:23,230 --> 00:28:26,590 letter which is still with us today to 590 00:28:26,590 --> 00:28:28,830 refer to, when he says that if any 591 00:28:28,830 --> 00:28:31,010 man is in Christ Jesus, he's a new 592 00:28:31,010 --> 00:28:34,810 creation, old things are passed away, old immoralities, 593 00:28:35,150 --> 00:28:36,890 old habits, they should be dead. 594 00:28:37,770 --> 00:28:40,010 And if we do fall, then we come 595 00:28:40,010 --> 00:28:43,070 back and we repent, but we never maintain 596 00:28:43,070 --> 00:28:47,850 that old sinful attitude, that's the old yeast, 597 00:28:48,010 --> 00:28:49,250 it needs to be rejected. 598 00:28:49,530 --> 00:28:52,710 Rather, says the Apostle, in the Christian festival, 599 00:28:52,850 --> 00:28:55,510 verse 8, which lasts the whole of our 600 00:28:55,510 --> 00:28:57,310 lives while we're down here on this earth, 601 00:28:57,350 --> 00:28:59,550 not just the seven days, the festival of 602 00:28:59,550 --> 00:29:02,030 unleavened bread, which the Jews used to keep, 603 00:29:02,450 --> 00:29:06,350 the Christian festival from the moment you follow 604 00:29:06,350 --> 00:29:08,710 Jesus as Savior, up to the time that 605 00:29:08,710 --> 00:29:12,910 he takes you into his presence, don't produce 606 00:29:12,910 --> 00:29:16,550 the old yeast, the yeast of malice and 607 00:29:16,550 --> 00:29:20,850 wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread 608 00:29:20,850 --> 00:29:24,370 of sincerity and truth, with sincere hearts, with 609 00:29:24,370 --> 00:29:26,910 truthfulness in the way that we relate to 610 00:29:26,910 --> 00:29:30,710 one another, with purity in our lifestyle, let's 611 00:29:30,710 --> 00:29:32,930 serve the living Christ. 612 00:29:34,210 --> 00:29:35,490 So what have we discovered? 613 00:29:36,590 --> 00:29:40,850 Paul has corrected a concession that's been made, 614 00:29:41,730 --> 00:29:45,190 there's a decision that he has arrived at 615 00:29:45,190 --> 00:29:48,150 that needs to be applied, there's an expulsion 616 00:29:48,150 --> 00:29:51,730 that requires to be effected, but there is 617 00:29:51,730 --> 00:29:55,370 a distinction that needs to be observed. 618 00:29:56,130 --> 00:29:59,470 A distinction from verse 9 to 11 is 619 00:29:59,470 --> 00:30:05,690 drawn between the unbeliever and the believer who 620 00:30:05,690 --> 00:30:07,830 has gone back on the profession of faith. 621 00:30:08,270 --> 00:30:10,370 Now look at that ninth verse, Paul is 622 00:30:10,370 --> 00:30:12,910 referring to an earlier letter which is lost, 623 00:30:13,010 --> 00:30:14,950 we don't have reference to it today, it 624 00:30:14,950 --> 00:30:17,010 wasn't collected and put in the New Testament 625 00:30:17,010 --> 00:30:17,450 canon. 626 00:30:17,770 --> 00:30:19,730 I have written to you in my letter 627 00:30:19,730 --> 00:30:22,530 not to associate with sexually immoral people. 628 00:30:23,310 --> 00:30:25,290 Now they read this first letter and they 629 00:30:25,290 --> 00:30:27,990 thought, well, we have to have nothing to 630 00:30:27,990 --> 00:30:30,250 do with anyone else who's not a Christian, 631 00:30:30,550 --> 00:30:33,090 we're to be exclusive, you know, like the 632 00:30:33,090 --> 00:30:35,850 old monastic idea in the third century, just 633 00:30:35,850 --> 00:30:37,430 to relate to one another as Christians. 634 00:30:37,710 --> 00:30:39,550 No, it says, Paul, that's ridiculous, I didn't 635 00:30:39,550 --> 00:30:40,150 mean that. 636 00:30:41,370 --> 00:30:44,030 Of course the butcher or the baker, the 637 00:30:44,030 --> 00:30:47,530 idolater who lives next door to you, you 638 00:30:47,530 --> 00:30:49,910 are to live amongst such people, you are 639 00:30:49,910 --> 00:30:52,790 to evangelize, you're still to maintain a purity 640 00:30:52,790 --> 00:30:54,030 in your own lifestyle. 641 00:30:54,750 --> 00:30:56,850 Before you get to the celestial city, you've 642 00:30:56,850 --> 00:30:58,290 got to go through vanity fare. 643 00:30:58,730 --> 00:31:00,310 John Bunyan got it quite correct. 644 00:31:00,750 --> 00:31:02,730 You're not to withdraw from the world, not 645 00:31:02,730 --> 00:31:04,610 physically, or else how will the world ever 646 00:31:04,610 --> 00:31:05,350 hear the gospel? 647 00:31:05,950 --> 00:31:07,310 If you're the salt of the world, how 648 00:31:07,310 --> 00:31:08,030 will it be savoured? 649 00:31:08,210 --> 00:31:10,390 If you withdraw, if you're the light of 650 00:31:10,390 --> 00:31:12,170 the world, how shall the world be illuminated? 651 00:31:12,170 --> 00:31:14,150 If you're going to a holy huddle on 652 00:31:14,150 --> 00:31:14,530 your own. 653 00:31:14,690 --> 00:31:15,910 No, it says, Paul, I don't mean that. 654 00:31:17,570 --> 00:31:19,650 But there is a distinction to be observed 655 00:31:19,650 --> 00:31:24,610 on the part of the brother who once 656 00:31:24,610 --> 00:31:29,890 confessed Jesus as Lord, but maintains a position 657 00:31:29,890 --> 00:31:31,670 of unrepentance. 658 00:31:32,530 --> 00:31:35,410 Verse 11 makes it so clear I hardly 659 00:31:35,410 --> 00:31:38,010 need to comment on it, but now I 660 00:31:38,010 --> 00:31:41,210 am writing you that you must not associate 661 00:31:41,210 --> 00:31:44,690 with anyone who calls himself a brother. 662 00:31:45,330 --> 00:31:47,190 He's not gone back on his profession of 663 00:31:47,190 --> 00:31:51,530 faith, but his acts, his lifestyle does not 664 00:31:51,530 --> 00:31:53,950 illustrate what he professes. 665 00:31:54,490 --> 00:31:56,890 Anyone who calls himself a brother but is 666 00:31:56,890 --> 00:32:01,730 sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a 667 00:32:01,730 --> 00:32:06,590 slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler with such 668 00:32:06,590 --> 00:32:10,290 a man, do not even eat. 669 00:32:11,090 --> 00:32:12,330 Hard teaching. 670 00:32:13,510 --> 00:32:17,530 But you see, the apostle Paul is concerned 671 00:32:17,530 --> 00:32:22,290 as to the consistency of the Christian testimony, 672 00:32:22,490 --> 00:32:25,670 particularly in a place like Corinth. 673 00:32:26,510 --> 00:32:27,890 So he draws a distinction. 674 00:32:28,710 --> 00:32:31,350 The unbeliever relate to him, even go and 675 00:32:31,350 --> 00:32:32,930 have a meal with him, try and impress 676 00:32:32,930 --> 00:32:34,290 the gospel upon him. 677 00:32:34,510 --> 00:32:36,050 Paul does this, he makes reference to it 678 00:32:36,050 --> 00:32:37,090 in the 10th chapter. 679 00:32:38,230 --> 00:32:42,430 But the believer who has gone back in 680 00:32:42,430 --> 00:32:44,590 the way that he lives upon the faith 681 00:32:44,590 --> 00:32:48,230 that he professes, withdraw from that man. 682 00:32:48,710 --> 00:32:50,510 Here's the distinction to be observed. 683 00:32:51,070 --> 00:32:53,510 And finally, here's an action to be deferred, 684 00:32:53,590 --> 00:32:54,090 verse 12. 685 00:32:54,290 --> 00:32:55,950 What business is it of mine to judge 686 00:32:55,950 --> 00:32:57,210 those who are outside the church? 687 00:32:57,630 --> 00:33:00,310 The unbeliever shall be judged by God on 688 00:33:00,310 --> 00:33:01,070 the day of judgment. 689 00:33:01,770 --> 00:33:04,390 But as for the insider, the committed Christian, 690 00:33:04,650 --> 00:33:07,330 asks Paul, it's for you, you people at 691 00:33:07,330 --> 00:33:10,290 Corinth, to judge those who have fallen by 692 00:33:10,290 --> 00:33:13,210 the wayside and are utterly undependent. 693 00:33:13,450 --> 00:33:15,310 Are you not to judge those inside? 694 00:33:15,930 --> 00:33:18,270 And he repeats the expression, the teaching in 695 00:33:18,270 --> 00:33:19,090 the 13th verse. 696 00:33:19,370 --> 00:33:23,190 God will judge those outside, but you expel 697 00:33:23,190 --> 00:33:26,670 the wicked man from among you. 698 00:33:27,710 --> 00:33:29,710 Why is Paul so stern in his teaching? 699 00:33:30,270 --> 00:33:31,970 Well, you see, we discovered in the third 700 00:33:31,970 --> 00:33:32,670 chapter, didn't we? 701 00:33:32,670 --> 00:33:34,410 He looks on the church as being God's 702 00:33:34,410 --> 00:33:35,470 temple, verse 16. 703 00:33:35,990 --> 00:33:38,050 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's 704 00:33:38,050 --> 00:33:39,930 temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 705 00:33:40,190 --> 00:33:44,590 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy 706 00:33:44,590 --> 00:33:44,910 him. 707 00:33:45,490 --> 00:33:48,490 Paul is concerned, you see, about the reputation 708 00:33:48,490 --> 00:33:49,270 of the believer. 709 00:33:49,550 --> 00:33:52,550 He's got to be, because God's reputation is 710 00:33:52,550 --> 00:33:54,990 involved, is intertwined with his church. 711 00:33:55,230 --> 00:33:57,110 The Old Testament temple, I said, was the 712 00:33:57,110 --> 00:33:58,050 wonder of the world. 713 00:33:58,510 --> 00:34:00,950 They marveled at such an edifice that it 714 00:34:00,950 --> 00:34:03,890 could be erected by ordinary Hebrew people. 715 00:34:03,890 --> 00:34:06,050 It was a fantastic building. 716 00:34:07,170 --> 00:34:09,810 Now, we too, the church of Jesus Christ 717 00:34:09,810 --> 00:34:11,469 is to be the wonder of the world. 718 00:34:12,510 --> 00:34:16,449 And if anyone drags down the testimony, then 719 00:34:16,449 --> 00:34:18,590 they're in a very serious situation. 720 00:34:19,310 --> 00:34:21,790 Look again, and with this I conclude, Paul 721 00:34:21,790 --> 00:34:23,389 writing in the first chapter in the second 722 00:34:23,389 --> 00:34:23,690 verse. 723 00:34:23,929 --> 00:34:26,110 Look how he described the church at Corinth, 724 00:34:26,469 --> 00:34:28,850 to the church of God in Corinth, to 725 00:34:28,850 --> 00:34:33,570 those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to 726 00:34:33,570 --> 00:34:34,389 be holy. 727 00:34:35,969 --> 00:34:38,010 Could you describe the tabernacle as that? 728 00:34:39,070 --> 00:34:44,429 Members sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be 729 00:34:44,429 --> 00:34:47,429 holy, along with all those similarly called around 730 00:34:47,429 --> 00:34:47,909 the globe? 731 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:51,780 Paul's teaching is somber. 732 00:34:53,580 --> 00:34:56,320 Paul's teaching is contemporary. 733 00:34:57,140 --> 00:34:59,940 We need to get rid of the old 734 00:34:59,940 --> 00:35:00,320 leather. 735 00:35:01,100 --> 00:35:03,820 We need to be done with arrogance and 736 00:35:03,820 --> 00:35:04,840 compromise. 737 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:06,340 Too much of it. 738 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,820 Evangelical church, maybe within our own fellowship here, 739 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,020 maybe within my life, maybe within yours. 740 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,100 Let's take this chapter at face value. 741 00:35:16,380 --> 00:35:18,800 Let's not duck any aspect of this teaching. 742 00:35:19,460 --> 00:35:22,780 And may the Holy Spirit apply it to 743 00:35:22,780 --> 00:35:23,500 our hearts. 744 00:35:24,260 --> 00:35:26,920 And may this have stimulated you to even 745 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:33,480 further consideration of this mighty, fearful, but necessary 746 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,960 chapter from God's Word. 747 00:35:37,060 --> 00:35:37,380 Amen. 748 00:35:40,390 --> 00:35:44,280 Father, teach us more individually the exceeding sinfulness 749 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:45,020 of sin. 750 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:50,240 So often we place in a minor key 751 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:53,040 what in your estimate is major. 752 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,740 So often we compromise and have some sort 753 00:35:56,740 --> 00:36:01,060 of excuse as we freely dip into the 754 00:36:01,060 --> 00:36:05,480 graciousness of your promises and apply things to 755 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,460 our own lives without fully measuring all that 756 00:36:08,460 --> 00:36:11,800 is involved in your releasing us from sin, 757 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:14,860 even when we have confessed faith in the 758 00:36:14,860 --> 00:36:15,540 living Christ. 759 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,900 Lord, deliver us also from a critical spirit 760 00:36:18,900 --> 00:36:22,360 and help us to appreciate even more that 761 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,240 the burden of Paul's heart was to bring 762 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:29,040 those who had fallen back to a new 763 00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:31,120 relationship with yourself. 764 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,920 And in the area of applying discipline here 765 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,700 in the tabernacle, may that be always our 766 00:36:38,700 --> 00:36:39,980 supreme objective. 767 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,100 And this we ask, pleading the benediction of 768 00:36:44,100 --> 00:36:47,120 the triune God to rest upon us, Father, 769 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,020 Son, and Holy Spirit, now and until Jesus 770 00:36:51,020 --> 00:36:51,880 returns. 771 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:52,880 Amen.