Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Hiram Kemp - Part 4

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"A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Hiram Kemp - Part 4 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Good morning. If you have your Bible, go ahead and be turning to 1 Corinthians
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chapter 4. We're going to deal with the last part of 1 Corinthians 4 rather
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quickly and then move on into chapter 5. But again,
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this quarter we're studying 1 Corinthians, Same Mind and Same Judgment.
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And last week Neil was dealing with 1 Corinthians 4,
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really 14 through 20 here at the end. And I don't know that
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he got to 20, or through 21. I don't know that he got to finish
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just like he wanted, so I said I would just kind of quickly cover this
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section and then we would move on. I'm going to read it first though.
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This is the last part of where Paul is talking about preacheritis. And so he's
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been talking to the Corinthians in the first 3 chapters and on into the 4th
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chapter about the issue of having favoritism among preachers. And now at the end
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of chapter 4, he's kind of summarizing what he said, and then we'll get into
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a new subject or topic as we enter chapter 5. But here is 1 Corinthians
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4 beginning with verse 14. I do not write these things
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to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
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For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers,
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for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you
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then, be imitators of me. This is why I sent Timothy,
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my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways
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in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church.
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Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you, but I will come
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to you soon, if the Lord wills, And I will find out not the talk
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of these arrogant people, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist
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in talk, but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with
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a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? So,
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first thing, Paul kind of summarizes why he wrote all of this in the
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first 4 chapters to begin with. And Paul, as their father in the gospel,
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look at verse 14. He says, I do not write these things to make you
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ashamed, but to admonish you. And you really could summarize that as
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being the thrust and the theme behind everything Paul ever wrote. Paul never
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wrote to— shame people or to embarrass them. He always wrote in order
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to admonish and encourage. Where you might read of some of Paul's letters and
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you read some things that seem to be harsh or extremely difficult,
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what's going on in those passages is not that Paul's berating people or
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attempting to beat them over the head, but instead Paul's warning, instructing,
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and trying to correct and deter their behavior into the right direction. So you
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can think about some other passages where this takes place. This isn't just what Paul's
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doing as an apostle. Throughout the New Testament, Christians are encouraged to admonish and
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instruct other Christians. So 1 Thessalonians 5:12,
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he says, those that are over you in the Lord, speaking about elders, they have
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responsibility to admonish. And 1 Thessalonians 5:14,
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Paul would say, admonish the idle among you, or those that
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aren't walking uprightly. Colossians 3:16, when we sing, we're to teach
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and do what? Admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
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So Paul does this in the first 4 chapters of 1 Corinthians.
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Primarily about their love for these various preachers and elevating
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one person above another. Now, here's a question.
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What do you think motivated Paul to do this? Because admonishing is not
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easy. What makes it difficult to practice admonishing,
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instructing, and encouraging people toward proper behavior? What makes it hard?
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Somebody's going to get mad. Yes, maybe that's a difficulty. We don't want to get
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anybody upset. What else?
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Admonishing. Why don't we admonish? Or why is it a struggle
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to admonish? And if you figure that out, you'll figure out the answer to what
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motivated Paul to admonish. Somebody might get mad, that makes
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it hard. What else? You don't
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want to put them on a pedestal, Lori. Okay, Bill? They may
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not want to hear it. I think that's it. Yeah, Lori says
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if you don't love them enough to admonish. Sometimes we don't admonish because
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we just don't have enough love in our tanks for each other or for other
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people to really correct them. And Paul lays this out here. Paul says, I'm your
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father in the gospel. Paul was able to admonish and encourage because he really loved
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these people. And sometimes we avoid admonishing people, and we normally
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go about it in 2 different ways. Sometimes we practice avoidance. So you did something,
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it's messed up, I'm just going to avoid you. I won't deal with you.
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We practice avoidance instead of admonishing because it's difficult. To come
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to somebody and say, hey, I think you're out of line here, I think you
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misstepped here, and here's where I want you to correct it. Or we lean on
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the opposite reaction, and that is that of anger. I can't admonish people
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because if I admonish, I'm so mad I'd say something. And while that may be
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true, there does come a point where we need to get our spirit and our
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attitude under control enough to say, hey, I want to encourage,
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I want to warn you, and I want to point you in the right direction.
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And all of the other reasons that were given, legitimate and true,
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but admonishment isn't really about the way they receive it and respond. That part's
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up to them, but the correcting and the pointing it out is up to us,
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and it's going to play a big role in what we're going to talk about
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in the chapter that follows. Mike, go ahead.
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Gentleness or whether you need to use fear
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on that. In other words, if you're going to counsel, you need to
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learn to look who you're counseling and what they need. That's exactly right.
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Yeah, Jude doesn't get us out of admonishing. He just says, hey, there are different
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approaches to take for different people. Some snatch them out of the fire, hating even
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the garment spotted by the flesh. Others deal with them gently because they're struggling
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in unique ways. Now going on from here, Paul says the Corinthians were to imitate
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his life of suffering and humility. In verse 16, he says, I urge you then,
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be imitators of me. And this will come up again in chapter 11
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and verse 1, where he says, be followers of me even as I
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also follow, who? As I follow Christ. So Paul's telling the
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Corinthians, hey, instead of falling out with each other over preachers, I'm admonishing you,
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trying to correct you, but I want you to be imitators of me. In fact,
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in verse 15, when he says, I became your father in the gospel
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through Christ Jesus, there wouldn't be a Church of Christ at Corinth if Paul hadn't
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gone there in Acts 18. In Acts 18, you remember verses 1 through 8,
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Paul goes there, preaches on his second missionary journey, and the Bible says many
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of the Corinthians hearing and believing, they were baptized. And so
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Paul's whole point is, hey, the ministry of suffering that has been
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mine, I want you to adopt that and be imitators of me. And he sends
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Timothy to remind them of this truth. In verse 17, he says,
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I'm sending to you my beloved Timothy. He's a faithful servant in the Lord.
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He'll remind you of my ways which be in Christ as I teach them everywhere.
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And in every church. This is important. We know Timothy. Timothy is
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a proven faithful servant from Derbe and Lystra, Acts 16:1-3.
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Elsewhere, Paul would say in Philippians 2:19-22, I don't
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have anybody like Timothy who will genuinely and naturally care about your welfare.
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So we know who Timothy is. He's proven and trusted. But why
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would sending Timothy and the rest of this statement, as I teach everywhere
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in every church, why would Paul include this statement in his summary remarks to
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people that are divided over preachers? What do you think Paul is trying to get
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across to them? In verse 16, he says, hey, be imitators of me.
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And then in verse 17, I'm sending Timothy, this beloved faithful
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servant, and he'll remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach him
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everywhere. Why send Timothy?
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Okay, so maybe because of their issues with unity, Paul says, I'll send Timothy because
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I want you to see this reflection, this love Timothy for me, and hopefully
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you all for each other. Kevin?
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Yeah, I think the whole point is they're divided over preachers, but Paul's
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saying what really matters the most— the truth of the message. It's so
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clear that this is the case that I don't even have to come to you.
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I can send Timothy. He embodies and preaches and teaches the same message,
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and it really won't make a difference. And so Paul's telling them, I'm sending Timothy.
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He's going to remind you of my ways in Christ, and we preach the same
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thing in every church. Just parenthetically, this says something to us
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about Paul and about the way doctrine is laid out in the New Testament.
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Sometimes people get this idea that, well, there was a Philippian gospel
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and an Ephesian gospel and a Thessalonian. Paul says he taught the same thing everywhere
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he went, and this parallels with the theme of 1 Corinthians 1:10,
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be of the same mind and of the same judgment. And then the last
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thing Paul does in this section is he says, I hope to come to you
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soon. It seems like in verse 18, as Paul's dealing with these issues of
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division, that some of the individuals that are divided and some that are
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in opposition to Paul, I think this will come out in a greater way in
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2 Corinthians, they think that Paul's delay in coming to them is because
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of timidity or fear or cowardice. But Paul says, I'm going to
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come to you. And when I come, he says, I won't wanna know about
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the talk of these individuals that oppose me, but instead their power.
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Verse 20, because the kingdom of God doesn't consist in talk,
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but he says, in power. He wants to see if these individuals
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that are opposing him will actually follow through and do the things that they're
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supposed to do. Lastly, in verse 21, and this goes back to what
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Mike mentioned a minute ago, Mike Lentz, what do you wish? How do you want
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Paul to come when he arrives? Shall I come to you with a rod or
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with love and a spirit of gentleness? And I think this closing by Paul on
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this whole discussion is important because it reminds us this about this:
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admonishing people is not so much about setting people straight,
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it's also about being optimistic that they will straighten out
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in the long run. Paul always did this. When he wrote to Philemon, in Philemon
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he's saying, hey, I'm sending Onesimus back, get a lodging for me, fix your issues
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with Onesimus. And then in verse 21, he says, I'm writing this
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to you, Philemon, mindful that you will do even more than I say.
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Paul's always optimistic in the midst of his admonishing that people
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will not only receive what he says, but also follow
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through and do it. And so we talked about a minute ago, We struggle to
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admonish because we think people will get mad. We don't want to offend
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them. But see, if you're motivated by love, you say, hey, people make mistakes.
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People step out of line. One, I love you enough to correct you.
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And 2, I believe you want to do the right thing too.
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And I think you'll make it right. And that's how Paul ends this section on
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the division among them concerning the preachers, Paul,
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Apollos, Cephas, Christ, or whatever other personalities were motivating this. And Paul
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says, I'm on my way soon. And I want to see how you behave.
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All right, before we go into chapter 5, any questions on chapter 4 or the
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first 4 chapters of 1 Corinthians? All right, good. Let's go to 1 Corinthians
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5. Now, the church at Corinth had many problems,
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but what we're going to discuss in chapter 5, I think, is their greatest problem
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that they face in this congregation. When you get to chapter 7, Paul will
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start with the now concerning phrase. That's in chapter 7, verse 1. It's in chapter
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8 and really down through chapter 16. And that's where Paul's kind of having this
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Q&A with the Corinthians. They had asked Paul questions,
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Paul's answering them with these now concerning statements. But in chapter
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5 and really on into chapter 6, the issue that Paul's going to discuss with
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the Corinthians is really their greatest problem as far as immorality
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and one of the main reasons why Paul wrote this book. I'm going to read
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all of it, all 13 verses, and then we'll kind of set up the context,
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and then we'll just march through what the passage is trying to instruct
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us to do. 1 Corinthians 5, starting with verse 1, it is actually
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reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind
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that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man to have his father's
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wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?
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Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent
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in body, I am present in spirit, and as if present,
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I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you
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are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present,
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with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to
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Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in
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the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good.
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Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
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Cleanse out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you really
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are unleavened. For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.
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Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice
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and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people,
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not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers
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or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
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But now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name
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of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed
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or is an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, or a swindler,
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not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with
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judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
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God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among
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you. All right, so the events taking place
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in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul's writing to them about immorality. A report had been given
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to Paul about a man who had been sleeping with his stepmother. That's what Paul's
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saying is taking place in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. The report had been
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brought to Paul, and rather than the Corinthians mourning and feeling some grief over
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their behavior and the things that they had done, Paul says they're puffed up,
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and as a result of this, they didn't mourn. And what follows in 1 Corinthians
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5 is really about how they're supposed to practice church discipline
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and what God wants them to do in this situation. And Paul's going to give
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that inspired instruction. Here's what I want you to see in 1 Corinthians 5 that's
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interesting, or at least I stumbled on this working through this passage. It's interesting
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that after the first 2 verses, Paul doesn't really give a lot of details
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about the circumstance in Corinth. Like, after he says what he has to
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say about why this needs to take place, Paul doesn't really zero in on the
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specifics. And give any gruesome details about the events in Corinth.
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And it seems like that's the case because Paul is saying, and he lists some
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other sins in this section, if anybody's guilty of anything like
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this or remotely close to it, you're to practice the very same thing.
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The action doesn't have to reach the egregious nature or
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public embarrassment of 1 Corinthians 5. If a Christian is impenitent,
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meaning they're in sin, they won't repent, the instructions
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that Paul gives throughout the rest of 1 Corinthians 5 just naturally apply.
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So, Paul doesn't say, hey, Here's what they were doing. This was so terrible.
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He mentioned some of that, but after that, he no longer focuses on this specific
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activity here. Instead, he focuses on the practice that the church is supposed to carry
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out in disciplining this person, and we'll talk about why that's the case. So,
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1 Corinthians 5, let's notice a few things. First, the wrongdoing and the
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wrong response. In verse 1, it's actually reported that there is sexual
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immorality among you, and of a kind that's not even tolerated among pagans,
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for a man to have his father's wife. And he says, you're arrogant.
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Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who's done this evil thing be removed
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from among you. So, sexual immorality. And then Paul says,
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this is a kind not even tolerated among the Gentiles.
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Why? Or among the pagans. Why would Paul add that in at the end of
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verse 1? There's sex— excuse me, there's fornication, sexual immorality,
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and then say it's not even done like this among pagans. What does
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that mean? It's such a deplorable sin.
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Okay, yeah, it was such a deplorable sin that they were committing, for sure.
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But why tell them, hey, this isn't even done among the pagans?
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I've got some verses on the screen, and throughout the New Testament, Paul will
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sometimes discuss Gentile behavior. Jews were in
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sin and needed the gospel as much as Gentiles, but there were specific behaviors,
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especially in the area or the realm of sexual ethics,
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that people from a Gentile and pagan background just did things
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or really didn't have any parameters on what they practiced. And the New
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Testament often makes this abundantly clear. Let me show you an example. Go to Romans
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chapter 1, for example.
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Romans 1, starting in verse 18, Paul says, for the wrath
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of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
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of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. So they hold down
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the truth. And then he'll go down through some behaviors. And this is the Gentile
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world he's talking about. When you get to verse 26, he says, for this reason
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God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged
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the natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave
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themselves up to natural relations with women and
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were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts
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with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Again,
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This will come up in chapter 5 of Galatians where he talks about the works
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of the flesh. So my question is, in 1 Corinthians 5,
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why does Paul introduce this subject and the behavior of the Corinthians and then say,
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hey, I just want you to know this isn't even tolerated among pagans?
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Chuck, go ahead. I think a lot of this is a synopsis
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of what we do. The way they talk about Christians is, oh, if you're loving,
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you're going to accept because of their tolerance of it.
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We are so forgiving. We are so unjudging of our brothers. I mean,
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I was wondering about your take on that. Is that, in other words, they're kind
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of being tolerant of it rather than deal with it,
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but then a lot of the people in the world today don't want
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judgment. In other words, they, you know, they want the blessings without the judgments.
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Yeah, well, what I'll say to that, Chuck, is let's wait on it.
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It's going to come up in a few verses about what they're puffed up about,
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but it's a good question, and I think even some good application. Let's just pause
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on What does it mean to be puffed up about this? I'll say something about
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it in a minute, and you can chime back in if you want. But what
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I was saying here was, when Paul says this isn't even done among the
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Gentiles, I think what Paul's saying is this: the Gentiles engage in a lot of
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sexual immorality, but not even the Gentiles engage in the sin
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of incest that's going on here with the Corinthians. Not even these individuals
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would do this and be open and public about it and puffed
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up. Nicole? They're in Corinth, which was
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basically the epicenter of absolute immorality. I mean, didn't they have
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like some shrines where they would go and have like orgies and whatnot? So for
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you to be smack dab in the middle of like the most deviant sexual behaviors
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and for him to be like, not even your neighbors do this stuff, like that's
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pretty bad. Yeah. I think maybe he's, I don't know, kind of hitting
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them where it hurts. Yeah, I think you're right. I think Paul's trying to draw
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their attention and say, hey, look, Things are so bad, you're supposed to look different.
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You not only don't look different, you're worse than the people that we're trying
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to reach. And he'll drill down into this in chapter 6 as well. Mike.
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As his body, but present too, have already judged.
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Paul judged. Why can't we judge? He looked at,
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he saw something, and he judged that. What,
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you know, what's the saying that you have no right to judge?
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Paul had a right to judge. For sure. And Mike, we'll get to that in
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a minute. Let me say one more thing about verse 2, but you're exactly right.
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You're exactly right. There is a time to call it out and judge it.
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And Paul's going to say that in 3. And really in 9 down through 11
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as well. But in verse 2, he says,
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you're puffed up, you're arrogant. Ought you not rather to mourn?
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Let him who has done this wrong be removed from among you. So this
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idea of being puffed up and arrogant, it runs throughout this book. It's in chapter
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4 and verse 6, the same idea. If you look right back up right before
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this, look at chapter 4 and verse 18. He says, some are arrogant.
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It's in chapter 4 and verse 19, the talk of these arrogant or puffed up
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people. So one of the things Paul keeps coming back to is the Corinthians
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A lot of this is based on their knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8:1, he'll say,
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knowledge puffs up, knowledge makes you arrogant, but love builds
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up. So it's one of those things he keeps coming back to. And here he's
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saying, hey, you guys are puffed up. And instead you should be mourning that this
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is even taking place among you. Here's my question. Look at verse 2 and look
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at the end of verse 2. What does Paul say should happen because this
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has taken place? This one is easy. Everybody can
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get this if you've got a Bible. What does he say at the end of
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verse 2? Let what? Let this person be removed from among you. Now listen,
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Paul doesn't use the phrase specifically church discipline, but throughout chapter
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5, he's going to say things like purge. He's going to say take out the
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old leaven. He's going to say remove this person from among you. He'll say in
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verse 4, deliver this person over to Satan.
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All of this terminology is designed to suggest the Corinthians were
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supposed to do something about this behavior in their midst among the members,
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specifically regarding this person.
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Correct. And Chuck, you are ahead again, but we are getting to it, I promise,
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for sure. All right, all right. So let me say something before we get
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to the why of church discipline. Let me just deal with a few caveats that
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normally come up on this subject. Number 1, sometimes when you start talking about church
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discipline, there's a little bit of a struggle, and people say things like,
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hey, who are we to discipline somebody? I mean, we're all sinning.
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Everybody in here is a sinner, and we all fall short. Is that true?
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Yes, but church discipline is not for sinners. Church discipline is
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for impenitent sinners who wear the name brother that are Christians. So everybody
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sins, but if anybody practices high-handed sin and says, I'm going
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to hold on to my sin and I'm going to hold on to the church's
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hand in Christian fellowship, that's when church discipline takes place. So it's not enough to
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say this is harsh, how dare we do this, everybody falls short. That's true,
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and everybody can repent, everybody can confess, everybody can walk in the
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light, even if you do something as egregious as 1 Corinthians chapter
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5. Here's another thing. People sometimes get to this issue of church discipline and
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we think we ought to let God do the judging. And as Mike said a
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moment ago, who has God put in charge of dealing with this on the congregational
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level? He's told Christians that Christians are to carry this out
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and to do it. One more thing about church discipline before we get into the
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why, and that's the bulk of this chapter. Paul is going to talk about why
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this ought to be done. Just keep in mind, church discipline does not kick
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a person out of the church. It doesn't. Church discipline doesn't make
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a person more lost, like, well, we've kicked them out of the church, now they're
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more lost than they were before. Church discipline simply acknowledges that which
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according to God has already taken place as a person is walking
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in a way that's not uprightly. So now let's look at what Paul says about
21:55
the why. Number 1, Chuck, here we go: to save a soul at
21:59
the day of judgment. So he says in verses 3 through 5, For though absent
22:03
in body, I'm present in spirit. Paul's not there, but he says it's as good
22:06
as me being there. I've already pronounced judgment on the person who did this thing.
22:10
When you're assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present
22:13
with you. Why give all of that material on the beginning of this? Why say,
22:17
when you're assembled and I'm present with you, and when you're gathered together in
22:21
the name of the Lord Jesus? Why does Paul say all of that first?
22:25
Why mention him as an apostle? He says, when you're assembled in the name of
22:29
the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present, because in verse 3 Paul says,
22:33
it's as if I'm right there with you. And then he says again,
22:36
with the power of the Lord Jesus. Why preface his statement with all of those
22:40
phrases beforehand? The authority.
22:44
That's right. Yeah, Levi, this is right. The authority is going to come
22:48
from 2 places. Well, really one. All authority is with Jesus in heaven, Matthew 28:18,
22:53
and Paul is carrying this out as an inspired apostle.
22:56
And he's saying, listen, when you gather together and my spirit is
23:00
with you— Paul's an inspired apostle, and what he's writing to them is the
23:04
command of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 14:37. Jesus has all authority
23:08
in heaven and in earth. He's saying, when you're gathered together, you're doing this because
23:12
I'm instructing you as an apostle. And where did Paul get his authority from?
23:15
He got it from Jesus Christ. And so he's saying, this is exactly what Jesus
23:19
wants you to do. And then at the end of verse 4, he says— or
23:22
in verse 5, Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of
23:26
the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
23:29
Jesus. What does it mean to deliver somebody over to Satan? What does that mean?
23:34
Forget about him? Don't worry about him? Not necessarily, because in 2 Thessalonians Paul
23:38
will talk about church discipline and he'll say, hey, don't treat him as an enemy,
23:42
but encourage him as a brother. 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15. So it
23:46
doesn't mean necessarily forget about him, but deliver him over to Satan Paul
23:49
uses this in one other place. Go to 1 Timothy. This phrase,
23:53
1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 20, I believe
23:56
it is, about Hymenaeus and Alexander. This is the only other place. There are some
23:59
occasions where this kind of behavior is discussed, but this actual phrase,
24:03
hand them over or deliver them over to Satan, is found in 1 Timothy
24:07
chapter 1 and verse 20. He's telling Timothy, hold fast to the faith. Some people
24:11
have shipwrecked. And then in verse 20, among whom are Hymenaeus and
24:15
Alexander. Who I have, what? Handed over to Satan
24:18
for what purpose? Same thing he really says in
24:22
1 Corinthians 5. This is for the good of these 2 individuals so that they'll
24:26
know better and behave in a better light. Some commentators think handing this brother over
24:30
to Satan has to do with some kind of physical torment or punishment. I don't
24:33
think that's what Paul's saying. I think Paul says hand him over to Satan,
24:36
basically let him go the way his activity is already going.
24:39
His behavior has linked him with the devil. And allow him just to go
24:43
that way and experience that. And for the whole purpose of his spirit
24:47
being saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. That's what it's all about.
24:49
You practice church discipline, at least one of the reasons is so that a
24:53
soul will be saved in the judgment. And a person will not do that.
24:57
I see your hand, Chuck. A person is never going to come to their senses
25:00
about their sin. And this goes back to the admonishing. This goes back
25:04
to the, hey, if I'm out of duty, you've got to correct me. You've got
25:07
to have the hard conversation so that my soul will be saved. How does a
25:09
person's heart get hardened to the point of, I'm practicing high-handed sin and I won't
25:13
repent? They haven't been admonished. And only at the end of the day, based on
25:17
just these verses 3 through 5, at the end of the day, only loving churches
25:21
practice church discipline consistently. You really gotta love
25:25
somebody to say, listen, you are on your way to hell, and we don't want
25:29
you to arrive there and say, I went to a church where nobody ever told
25:32
me. Nobody ever said anything to me about this. He says, you deliver them over
25:36
to Satan so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
25:39
Jesus. Hopefully there'll be enough physical consequences in this world,
25:43
or whatever takes place with this person engaging in this activity, that they'll be shaken
25:47
back to their senses. Chuck? Well, I just think another way of saying it is
25:51
kind of the same thing that you just said, that they're— what they have authority
25:54
to do, they're removing him from the domain of the church.
25:58
Yeah. From edification, from encouragement, and so forth. So they're removing him
26:02
from the domain of the church. Church and putting him in the domain of the
26:04
world. Yeah, exactly. And I think going along with that, something that
26:08
needs to be brought up sometimes when church discipline is introduced, somebody says, well,
26:11
what if they withdraw themselves? I mean, we can't withdraw from them, they've already pulled
26:14
away. But evidently, according to Paul, it doesn't really matter if they do that.
26:18
The world needs to know the church has publicly announced,
26:22
hey, we're not in step with what this person is doing. Russell, go ahead.
26:25
I think what you're trying to do In hopes
26:30
that being separated from the body and the love of
26:33
the body, that they miss that. Yeah.
26:37
And that they will turn and learn from
26:41
their mistake or mistakes,
26:46
that they would
26:50
change their life so they could be a part of the body. That's right.
26:53
And Russell, you bring up a good point. Russell says hopefully they'll miss the body.
26:57
Learn from their mistakes so they'll be a part of the body again. I think
27:01
we talk about— what do we sometimes call this? The withdrawal of what? Fellowship.
27:05
I got to have fellowship first, though. I think sometimes church discipline, the sting
27:08
of it isn't felt because, well, you never talked to me before. You say y'all
27:12
aren't going to be talking to me anymore. What's the big deal? If there's genuine
27:15
and true fellowship, the withdrawal of such, you will hopefully
27:19
feel the sting. Another thing is this is really not the first line of defense.
27:22
Oh, you sinned, didn't repent in 15 seconds, church discipline, deliver you over
27:26
to Satan. That's really not the way it works. This is, in a spiritual sense,
27:30
a last resort for a person. A lot of talking and praying takes place before
27:34
a person is delivered over in this case. But as Russell mentioned, it's hopefully that
27:38
the removal of that relationship with the body will cause them to turn back.
27:41
Go to James 5, and then I'll get a couple of hands, but quickly just
27:44
go to James 5 and notice what James says in the last 2 verses.
27:47
And you might write this in the margin of that 1 Corinthians 5, 3 through
27:50
5. Sometimes we talk about evangelism and we say we want to save what or
27:55
who? Save souls. And that's fine,
27:58
but church discipline is also evangelistic. In fact,
28:01
the only time the phrase save a soul is found in the New Testament is
28:04
regarding this subject, and it's in James 5:19-20. I think teaching
28:08
people the gospel who have never heard it is soul-saving work, but when the Holy
28:12
Spirit uses the phrase, it's used in this context about restoring people who
28:16
have erred. Look at James 5:19-20. If any of you do err from the truth,
28:19
and someone brings him back, let them know that he that turns back or
28:23
converts a sinner from the error of his way will do what? Literally save
28:27
a what? Save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
28:31
That's where the phrase is used. And what Paul says parallels this exactly,
28:35
that his spirit may be what? Saved. Church discipline,
28:38
that's evangelism. It's soul-saving work. You'll save a soul from death,
28:42
cover a multitude of sins, and their spirit will be saved in the day of
28:45
the Lord Jesus. So the first why is to save a soul at the judgment.
28:48
Yes, sir.
29:12
Produce that godly sorrow to get to that repentance.
29:17
And it's not always easy. I mean, if you have children, especially grandchildren,
29:21
it's even harder, you know, when you have to discipline them. But we have
29:25
to remember too that we're children. We're God's children. We need to be disciplined.
29:28
That's the only way we're going to make it. That's exactly right. And by the
29:32
way, this person, just in case you're worried about happy endings, 2 Corinthians says that
29:36
this brother repented. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:10 and in chapter 2
29:40
of 2 Corinthians that this person was reconciled and brought back. Bill, go ahead.
29:43
The Hebrew writer talks about God disciplining those
29:48
He loves. And sometimes we look at discipline as punishment.
29:52
And I don't see that in the Greek. Maybe it is. Maybe you know better
29:56
than that. But it's more of an educating, training someone, helping them understand,
30:00
building them up, getting them back to where they need to be.
30:03
Sometimes when we punish someone, we just kind of leave them alone.
30:06
And I don't think that's what it means. Yeah, Hebrews 12:7-11
30:10
is about discipline, and the Hebrew writer says, No punishment or discipline for the present
30:15
time seems joyous, but afterwards it produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness
30:18
to people who are trained by it. So nothing in the present of discipline,
30:22
as was mentioned a moment ago, whether it's children, grandchildren, church matters,
30:25
no discipline for the present time seems joyful, but afterwards
30:29
it'll produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness to people who are trained by it.
30:32
We need to be thinking about the afterwards. It's unpleasant right now. Unpleasant for who?
30:36
Both the person being disciplined and those doing the disciplining,
30:40
but afterwards it'll produce the precious fruit of righteousness. Second reason why we practice
30:44
it, is to protect the church. That's in verses 6 through 8. Look at these
30:47
verses again. Paul says, your boasting is not good. Do you not
30:50
know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? And so he says,
30:53
hey, you're arrogant about this, your boasting isn't good. And then he says, you're— a
30:57
little leaven leavens the whole lump. This is a phrase used a couple times in
31:01
the New Testament. Here's one place, and then Paul mentions this in Galatians
31:04
5 and verse 9. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. What do we
31:08
know about leaven, especially from a New Testament perspective. How was leaven used or
31:12
described in the Bible? What does leaven do?
31:16
Infiltrates, influences. Is that good or bad?
31:20
Either way, yeah. In Matthew 13:33, Jesus talks
31:24
about leaven and he says, the kingdom's like leaven, which a woman hid in a
31:27
couple of measures of meal, and then it produced this great batch of bread.
31:31
The kingdom is like that. The gospel would start in Jerusalem
31:34
with a small nucleus of disciples, And like leaven, it would spread and eventually
31:38
swallow up and conquer the entire Roman Empire. But most times leaven is used
31:43
in the New Testament to speak specifically about bad behavior and/or
31:46
false doctrine permeating the people of God in a bad way.
31:50
Jesus would say, beware of the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees, which is
31:53
hypocrisy, Luke 12:1. Beware of the leaven
31:56
of the Pharisees and Herod, Mark 8:15. And here he's saying, if you
32:01
don't engage in this, a little leaven leavens the whole lump, everybody will be contaminated.
32:05
So, a second reason to practice church discipline is to protect the church. Have you
32:08
ever heard this? Somebody says, well, we can't practice church discipline. They'll never
32:12
come— what? They'll never come back. First of all, we don't know that.
32:16
But second of all, church discipline isn't just about the person who's
32:20
being disciplined. It's also about preserving the holiness
32:24
of the body. And one thing— Kevin, go ahead.
32:29
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. It's not optional. And sometimes
32:32
we'll say when a person's restored, Yes, like in 2 Corinthians.
32:35
Yes, it worked. It doesn't work because they come back. It worked because
32:39
we obeyed. Whether they return or not, like, that's always the hope.
32:43
The Luke 15 prodigal son reunion, that's what we always want. That's what
32:46
God wants. But it's not like, all right, God, well, we're going to give this
32:49
a try, but I'm telling you right now, man, if people don't come back behind
32:52
this, see, I knew that wouldn't work. It's a failed system. Now they're there.
32:55
Church discipline doesn't work because people return.
32:59
It works because This is what God says, and he's always right about what he
33:02
says. And he says, a little leaven leavens a whole lump. In verse 7,
33:06
Christ is our Passover Lamb who's been sacrificed for us. Now Paul's doing
33:09
a little bit of like riffing on Exodus 12 and looking back into the Old
33:13
Testament and reminding people about the Passover. In Exodus 12, verses 1
33:17
through 6, ancient Israel was told, hey, you're supposed to
33:20
sacrifice a lamb on the 10th day of the first month to prepare for Passover,
33:24
which would be 4 days later. But then in Exodus 12:14-20,
33:27
he says, hey, observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread before that and get all leaven
33:32
out of your house. And Paul's saying that about the church. He's saying, hey,
33:34
clean out the immorality. Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us,
33:38
and you need to practice church discipline to keep the church pure, to protect God's
33:43
people, and to purge out the old leaven from among you. And this has already
33:46
been mentioned several times, but it's about the holiness of the church. Nobody in
33:50
this auditorium, including the person teaching this lesson, is perfectly pure.
33:54
Nobody's perfectly getting everything right, but church
33:57
discipline comes into play when a person says, I'm not trying to do this anymore,
34:00
I'm walking my own way. And Paul says, you can't let them contaminate
34:04
the entire body. In verse 8, he says, don't celebrate— let us celebrate
34:08
the festival not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but instead
34:12
with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And so he's saying,
34:16
I want you to be people that truly care about people enough to
34:19
do something and not just be polished nice. And I think this goes back to
34:23
the boasting, Chuck. I told you we would get to this. He says your boasting
34:25
is not good. Maybe they're boasting because, as you mentioned, their tolerance— like, hey,
34:29
we're a church that doesn't do that, we're a church of love and mercy and
34:32
grace. But maybe it's also because they're thinking in their mind, well, I mean,
34:35
hey, these people have been baptized, and sometimes baptism solves this
34:38
sort of thing and washes it away, and you can continue in it. But Paul's
34:42
saying no, baptism holds you to a higher account, and you should purge this out.
34:45
Last thing on chapter 5. Church discipline is to be practiced so that
34:49
we properly judge and identify God's people. Look at verses 9 through 13,
34:53
starting in verse 9. I wrote to you in my letter not to
34:57
associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning sexually immoral people
35:01
of this world, or with the greedy, or with swindlers. So Paul says in verses
35:05
9 and 10, this is not about people out in the world.
35:08
It's not about people that aren't Christians. He says, I didn't write to you about
35:12
that. And this is important because sometimes as the church we
35:16
can practice greater discipline on the world than we do people
35:20
in the church. I mean, sometimes people— well, I'm not going there, they practice that.
35:23
And I think there's right— it's right to have scruples, it's right to practice discretion,
35:26
it's right to remove ourselves from obviously sinful situations. But Paul
35:31
says if you want to get completely away from that, you're going to have to
35:33
go where? Out of the world. And that's exactly what Jesus
35:36
prayed that we would not do. In John 17:15,
35:40
he says, I pray not that you take them out of the world,
35:43
but that you would keep them from the evil one. God has us right where
35:46
he wants us, and that is in the midst of people that aren't doing the
35:50
right thing so we can point them in the right direction. Paul says, I know
35:52
you live in Corinth. Nicole mentioned all the immorality that's in Corinth,
35:56
the Temple of Aphrodite, all the wickedness that was taking place.
35:59
Paul says, I know right where you are, and I'm not saying that this whole
36:02
don't deal with anybody who practices this sexual immorality applies to everybody
36:06
in the world, or you wouldn't be able to deal with anybody. But in
36:09
verse 11, he specifies, I'm writing to you not to associate with
36:13
anyone who bears the name of, what? Brother, meaning if
36:16
a person is a Christian, claiming to be a Christian, obeyed the gospel among the
36:21
people of God, then it's those individuals that you practice this with so
36:24
that you can keep the church pure. In verse 12, what have I to do
36:28
with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
36:32
God judges those outside, Purge the evil person from among
36:35
you. Paul says God is going to eventually judge and
36:39
deal with people that are not Christians. Jesus promises God's given all judgment
36:43
to the Son, John 5:22-24. But he says among us,
36:47
we're supposed to be practicing this judgment, this discipline,
36:50
this admonishment, so that hopefully we can help each other
36:54
not fall into God's judgment at the end of all things. All right,
36:58
any questions on 1 Corinthians 5 before we move forward?
37:01
All right, chapter 6. Go to 1 Corinthians 6
37:05
and notice verses 1 through 20. 1 Corinthians 6:1-20. I'll read
37:10
the first 8 verses. Paul kind of continues his idea here, his theme about
37:13
sexual purity and how the Corinthians were to behave, and also just
37:17
other sins they're engaged with among themselves. Now, some people think
37:20
what's taking place in chapter 6 is really a carryover. When Paul starts talking about
37:24
lawsuits and taking each other to court, some people think this is following
37:28
the whole issue about the brother and sexual immorality in chapter 5. Maybe, maybe not,
37:32
but either way, the principles still apply. Look at the first 8 verses.
37:36
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law
37:39
before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the
37:43
saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you,
37:46
are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know
37:50
that we are to judge angels? How much more then matters pertaining
37:53
to this life? So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before
37:57
those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame.
38:00
Can it be that there's no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute
38:04
between the brothers? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before
38:07
unbelievers. To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.
38:12
Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong
38:16
and defraud even your own brothers. So, the first thing he says here is,
38:19
handle internal issues internally. The Corinthians
38:23
were taking each other to court. In the Roman Empire, there was a lot of
38:26
litigation. People would take people to court for literally everything, and Paul's saying
38:29
here, I hope this isn't happening among you. Would you take a brother to court
38:34
over a matter that— he's saying you all can't settle this even in the local
38:37
congregation? Again, remember what kind of place Corinth is. What kind of judgment
38:41
do you think they're going to get in the public court in Corinth? Paul's saying,
38:44
is there anybody among you that can handle these matters?
38:48
In verse 3, when he says, don't you know that we are to judge angels?
38:51
How much more then matters pertaining to this life? Paul is saying you all
38:55
are going to do some very special and amazing things in the judgment, and you
38:58
ought to be able to evidence that. The high calling of Christianity means you ought
39:02
to behave and conduct yourself in such a way that when there are issues among
39:06
one another, you can solve them without going outside
39:10
of the body of Christ to people that aren't Christians. Now, I don't think this
39:14
passage is saying you can never take another Christian to court. I think there would
39:16
be times, and you could think of some, we don't have to get into them,
39:19
where it would be wrong not to involve law enforcement. Paul does this.
39:22
Paul would appeal to Caesar in Acts 25:11. But Paul's
39:26
saying, hey, there are some trivial petty things among you that you all
39:30
ought to be able to settle among yourselves. And at the heart of
39:34
this is really not about the legality of it all. Paul's really not interested in
39:37
who wins the case and who solves it. The heart of what Paul's saying in
39:39
this section, I think, is in verse 7. To have lawsuits at all with one
39:43
another is already a defeat for you. Can't you suffer being mistreated?
39:48
And that's the challenge, isn't it? Like, you wronged me and I want what?
39:52
I want justice. I want you to be called out. I want things to be
39:55
made right. And Paul's saying, none of you can say at all, you know
39:59
what, you did that to me, but no big deal. I'm not going to treat
40:01
you differently. I'm not going to make a big deal about it. I'm just going
40:03
to let this go. And Paul says, that's the heart. But high calling of Christianity
40:08
means we handle issues internally. What's wrong with going to
40:11
the courts over trivial matters? What do you think Paul's worried about?
40:16
The church is what? The church's reputation.
40:20
Yeah, I mean, if the world sees this and then at the end the courts—
40:23
you do all of this stuff, you fight amongst one another, you're suing each other,
40:26
and then at the end you tell the judge, and by the way, we worship
40:29
at 9:30 and 10:30 on Sunday. I mean, what kind of evangelism is that?
40:33
Paul's saying, I want you to be— in fact, this comes up with God in
40:36
Exodus 32 and in Numbers 14. God says, I'm going to destroy all the Israelites,
40:40
and Moses says, God, you can't do that, you got a reputation. What if the
40:43
Egyptians hear it? That's what Moses says. What if the Egyptians hear it? And God
40:47
actually says to Moses, you know, you're right, Moses, I won't do it. And so,
40:50
our reputation, that's part of it. The second thing Paul says in this section
40:54
is, remember the change conversion has made in you. Verses 9 through 11,
40:58
or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
41:01
Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, idolaters,
41:04
adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves,
41:08
nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit
41:12
the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed,
41:15
you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
41:19
by the Spirit of our God. So Paul says, hey, just remember, unrighteous people won't
41:23
handle the— won't inherit the kingdom of God, and you used to be like that.
41:27
And you could think about a lot of things we could say about verses 9
41:30
and 10, our society, the world we live in, and all that's true,
41:34
but that's not really Paul's main point. Like, look at how sinful the world is.
41:37
Paul's saying You used to be like that. Look at verse 11. That's his
41:40
punchline. And such were some of you, but you've been washed,
41:44
sanctified, and justified. Question, when did that happen?
41:48
When they were baptized, when they obeyed the gospel. This goes back to 1 Corinthians
41:52
1:2, the church of God at Corinth, which is
41:55
sanctified. He's saying your whole life was changed, and that should
41:58
be reflected in the way that you behave. The high calling of Christianity
42:02
remembers that, hey, we used to be a certain way. Paul was saying,
42:06
I could expect you to take each other to court if you were the old
42:09
you, but you've been washed and sanctified and justified.
42:12
And as a result of that, you're supposed to be different people. The last thing
42:15
in this chapter is he's saying, as vessels of the Holy Spirit, sexual immorality
42:19
is forbidden. And in verses really 12 down through 20, I have
42:23
14. Oh no, 12 down through 20. All things are lawful for me, but not
42:26
all things are helpful. This all things are lawful, your translation might even have
42:31
it in quotes. Because that's probably what the Corinthians said to Paul. So, it's in
42:35
quotes because the Corinthians probably were saying to Paul, we can do whatever we
42:38
want. But Paul says, not everything builds up. Not everything's helpful.
42:42
All things are lawful, but I won't be dominated by anything. And then in 13
42:46
down through 20, Paul just works through why sexual immorality
42:49
is such a bad thing. And as much as we might think, this is a
42:52
pretty kindergarten practice. Everybody should know that adultery,
42:55
fornication, sexual immorality, all sinful, all bad in
42:59
the first century and in the 21st century, not everybody gets that lesson.
43:03
And Paul says it's bad for Christians because our bodies are
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indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and that should make a difference. And he
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uses Genesis 2:24, the one flesh argument, to say,
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hey, when you engage in sexual intimacy, you become one flesh. Are you
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going to engage in sexual immorality while indwelt with the Holy Spirit?
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Look at verses 19 through 20. Or do you not know that your body
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is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, who you have from God?
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You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God
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in your body. And some translations have at the end of that, in your body
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and in your spirit, which are God's. And Paul's point is God
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has saved you, God has sanctified you, and you've got a responsibility
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to live up to the high calling of Christianity. This goes with chapter 5,
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specifically dealing with the person in sin, But broadening out from that,
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Paul says, this is about every one of us. And because we're Christians,
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we ought to deal with our issues internally and be at peace among one another
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and practice holiness so that we don't defile the temple of God.
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And temple of God is used in 2 ways in the New Testament. In chapter
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3, it's about the church as a whole. In chapter 6, it's about your
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body and my body as people that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Next week,
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Neil will pick up in chapter 7 and begin the now concerning
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section where the Corinthians had asked Paul certain questions And now Paul is
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going to answer those questions with his inspired instruction. Thanks for a
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good Bible class.