And it's page 1147 in the Church Bible.
So that's 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and it's verse 1 to 13, page 1147.
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans.
A man has his father's wife, and you are proud.
And shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
Even though I'm not physically present, I am with you in spirit, and I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in the spirit, and the power of the Lord Jesus is present,
hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed, and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not good.
Don't you know that little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?
Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new batch without yeast, as you really are.
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us keep the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
I have written to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people,
not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters.
In that case, you would have to leave this world.
But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother,
but is sexually immoral, or greedy, an idolater, or a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler.
With such a man do not even eat.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?
Are you not to judge those inside?
God will judge those outside.
Expel the wicked man from among you.
Thank you very much, Stephen.
That's great to read.
And as we listen, I'm sure you realise that it's not an easy one,
what we're going to be looking at this morning.
And I want to say that we can't cover everything as we go through a text like this,
so there may be lots of questions that you have,
and therefore I encourage you afterwards,
and even Wednesdays, come along on Wednesdays,
as we seek to maybe apply some of these things a little bit more.
But certainly don't leave without asking or talking to me,
if any questions arise.
Before we do look at it, we're going to pray,
and ask for God's help.
Our Father God, we thank you for your word.
We thank you for the Bible that we have,
that we've just read in our own language,
so that we can hear your voice to us today.
And yet to hear, we need your help.
And so we ask for your Holy Spirit,
that we may have understanding with our minds,
but that you would take your word and apply it to our hearts,
impress it upon us,
so that we become the Holy Church of God
that you call us to be.
Living in the light of your amazing forgiveness,
knowing and experiencing the joy
when we confess our sins,
and living lives that reflect you.
Please help us, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, according to the World Health Organization,
we all need to watch our diet.
You see, what we eat has a direct effect on our physical health.
Red meat, we've been told, and processed meat,
raise the risk of cancers.
They also tell us that too much salt and too much sugar
accelerate heart problems.
It's so serious, we are told,
that we need to take action now.
We need to cut out what is unhealthy
and get rid of the foods that cause health problems.
You see, if we don't cut out and get rid of the unhealthy foods,
we will become physically sick
and we will die.
It's shocking,
but yet it is sound advice.
Well, what about the church's health?
Not the physical body,
but the body of Christ.
People like you and me
who have trusted and followed the Lord Jesus.
You see, sinful behaviour in the church
has a direct effect on the spiritual health of the church.
It's so serious, we are told,
that we must take action now.
Look what it says at the very end of verse 13.
Expel the wicked man from among you.
Cut out the sinful behaviour.
Get rid of the sin in the church.
You see, if we don't cut out
and get rid of the sinful behaviour,
the church will become spiritually sick
and die.
Remember,
we are the holy church of God.
Have a look back at chapter 1 and verse 2.
This is how the whole letter starts out.
This is the big theme, remember,
of 1 Corinthians.
Chapter 1, verse 2.
It says,
To the church of God.
So the church isn't belonging to any person.
The church belongs to God.
So to the church of God in Corinth,
to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.
Those who are sanctified
simply means those who have been made holy.
Through Jesus Christ,
our sins have been forgiven.
We have been made clean.
We have been made pure
so that we now belong to God
and are acceptable to God.
That is what the church is.
But more than that,
look at the rest of verse 2.
It is the church of God
in Corinth to those
sanctified in Christ Jesus
and called to be holy.
In other words,
in other words,
we are now to live out
a holy life in this world.
Become what we are.
Start living as God's pure
and blameless and clean people
in the world in which you live.
So to be a holy church
means dealing
with unhealthy behaviour.
It seems there are two sinful behaviours
that need serious attention
in the life of the church.
The first one is this.
Persistent
and unrepentant sin.
Let's go back to chapter 5
and verse 1.
It is actually reported
that there is sexual immorality
among you
and of a kind
that does not occur
even among pagans
or among unbelievers.
A man
has his father's wife.
You see,
the sex
that God counts as pure
is between one man
and one woman
always in the context
of an exclusive
married relationship.
But for this man
that we read about
in chapter 5,
it seems that
while his dad is at work
or perhaps his dad
is out of town
on business,
he's sleeping
with his father's wife.
He's sleeping
with his stepmother.
Now this is
doubly shocking.
It's a shock
because of the behaviour
that's involved.
Look what it says.
It doesn't even occur
among pagans.
You wouldn't find
this kind of behaviour
amongst anybody.
But worse than that,
here's the deepest
and biggest shock.
Look at the beginning
of verse 1.
It's actually reported
that there is sexual immorality
among you.
This is going on
in the life
of the church.
So,
someone who claims
to be a Christian,
somebody who's
serving in the life
of the church,
is sleeping
with his dad's wife,
his stepmother.
Now the problem is,
this is persistent
and unrepentant sin.
Again,
if we look closely
at verse 1,
the structure
of the sentence
implies that this is
ongoing sin
that has not been dealt with.
He says,
there is
sexual immorality.
A man
has
his father's wife.
This is a regular
pattern of behaviour
and it seems
he has become
immune
to the seriousness
of his behaviour.
He's become blind
to the sin
in his life
and he's carrying
on as if
everything is normal.
And that's what
makes this sinful
behaviour so serious.
It's not that
he has sinned,
although that is
serious.
It's that he
persists
in his sin
and remains
unrepentant.
You see,
all of us,
every single one
of us,
sin.
We all fall
and fail
and sometimes
sexually.
But when the
Christian,
when the follower
of Jesus
does sin,
we repent.
We take
ownership
of our sin,
we confess
our sin
and we do
everything to make
sure we don't
continue in the
same pattern
of behaviour.
We make
ourselves
accountable
to the church,
to one another.
We look for
support,
we look for
that care,
we look for
that help.
The problem
here,
as we are
reading in
chapter 5,
is it is
persistent
and unrepentant
behaviour.
But there's
also another
unhealthy behaviour
in the life
of the church.
it is
tolerated
and ignored
sin.
Look at
the end
of verse 1.
A man
has his
father's
wife
and you
are proud.
Shouldn't
you rather
have been
filled with
grief and
have put
out of
your
fellowship
the man
who did
this?
Do you
see what's
going on?
The church
has become
tolerant
of the man's
behaviour,
which is
also sinful.
Rather than
deal with
the sin
that's going
on and
wrecking the
church,
they've
ignored the
sin.
In verse 6
we're told
your boasting
is not
good.
It's a big
secret that
everybody
knows about.
So this
guy in the
church,
he turns up
each Sunday,
he's singing
his hymns,
he's taking
part in
communion,
and everybody
knows what
he's been
up to the
night before.
The problem
is nobody's
saying anything.
It's a
secret,
but we
all know.
They've
become
tolerant.
Oh, we
don't judge
people in
this church.
Sure,
aren't we
all sinners?
Oh, we
must learn to
accept people
as they
are.
We can't
all be
perfect.
They are
ignoring the
situation.
Sure, it's
his own
life, as
long as it
doesn't
affect me.
Well, isn't
he young?
We all did
silly things
when we
were his
age.
No, we
cannot ever
afford to
be tolerant
and ignorant
of sin.
It is far
too serious
a matter.
the
church has
a
responsibility
and when
I say
the
church,
it is
the
believers,
the
family of
God's
people.
Together,
corporately,
we have a
responsibility
to deal
with
persistent
and
unrepentant
sin in
the life
of the
church.
So,
that's the
unhealthy
behaviour.
But what
is healthy
behaviour?
You see,
when someone
in the
church
family
continues
in a
pattern
of
sinful
behaviour,
the
church
must
act.
We
cannot
stand
back.
We
must
separate
the
sinner.
Look
what it
says in
verse 2.
God
is
and
you
are
proud.
Shouldn't
you
rather have
been
filled
with
grief
and
put
out
of
your
fellowship
the
man
who
did
this?
But
Johnny,
aren't we
all
sinners?
I mean,
I've
sinned
multiple
times
this
week.
Does
that
mean
I'm
going
to be
put
out
of
the
fellowship
too?
Well,
let me
pause
and also
include
myself
in that.
Yes,
I have
sinned
in this
past
week.
We
all
fall
and
fail.
But
this is
not about
our
continued
battle
with our
sinful
nature
where
we
seek
in
repentance
and
come
back
to
God
and
look
to
Christ
in
faith.
This
is
about
someone
who
is
rejecting
the
call
to
repent
and
refusing
to
deal
with
their
sin.
And
let's
be
clear,
it's
not
just
the
sex
sin
that's
highlighted.
Look
at the
end of
verse
11.
It's
all
kinds
of
persistent
sin.
Look
what it
says at
the end
of verse
11.
The
sexually
immoral
or
greedy
that is
a
Christian
who has
more than
they need
but never
gives
to those
who are
in need.
It
includes
the
idolater
so that
is a
believer
who replaces
God with
someone or
something else
and never
changes.
It
includes
the
slanderer
so a
member of
the church
who continually
gossips about
people behind
their backs
and puts
them down.
sin.
It
also
includes
the
drunkard
a
follower
of
Jesus
who
continually
drinks
too
much.
It
also
means
the
swindler
so a
worshipper
of God
who's
always
fiddling
his taxes
and trying
to be
dishonest.
You see
this is
about
persistent
and
unrepentant
sin.
This is
not easy
is it?
Separating
the sinner
only
happens
as a
last resort.
It
comes at
the end
of a
lengthy
process
as we'll
see in
a moment
after
gently
pursuing
people
with
grace
treating
them
with
mercy
and
longing
before
God
that
they
would
turn
in
forgiveness.
And
while
those
times
are
always
sad
if
it
has
to
be
done
there
is
good
reason
for
it.
The
first
reason
is
the
salvation
of
the
sinner
the
person
concerned.
Have
a look
at
verse
four.
Again
it's
talking
to the
whole
church.
This
isn't
just
an
individual
thing.
When
you
the
church
verse
four
are
assembled
in
the
name
of
the
Lord
Jesus
and
I
am
with
you
in
spirit
and
the
power
of
the
Lord
Jesus
is
present.
Hand
this
man
over
to
Satan
so
that
the
sinful
nature
may
be
destroyed
and
his
spirit
saved
on
the
day
of
the
Lord.
These
are
very
strong
words
and
we
must
understand
them
carefully.
To
hand
the
person
over
to
Satan
means
to
regard
them
as
an
unbeliever
to
treat
them
as if
they
were
not
a
Christian
and
the
desire
is
that
they
would
come
to
their
senses
and
see
the
mess
in
their
lives
and
turn
to
God
in
repentance
or
as
it
says
in
verse
five
so
that
their
sinful
nature
may
be
destroyed
that
they
would
turn
to
God
and
ask
God
to
deal
with
their
hearts
it's
a little
bit
like
the
story
of
the
lost
son
or
we
know
it
as
the
prodigal
son
that
Jesus
told
remember
in
that
story
how
the
son
deliberately
and
intentionally
turned
away
from
his
father
he
wished
his
father
dead
and
took
his
inheritance
early
and
he
left
and
he
went
off
and
he
lived
however
he
wanted
but
eventually
he
came
to
his
senses
in
the
pig
sky
and
he
returned
to
his
father
he
ran
back
to
his
father
seeking
forgiveness
and
restoration
well
in the
same
way
just
as
the
father
let
the
son
go
we
need
to
let
the
unrepentant
sinner
go
that
doesn't
mean
to
say
we
give
up
on
them
we
simply
pray
that
they
will
come
to
an
end
of
themselves
that
they
would
come
to
their
senses
that
they
would
turn
in
repentance
and
know
the
restoration
of
God's
amazing
grace
cleaning
them
and
washing
them
afresh
of
course
the
purpose
of
all
of
this
is
their
salvation
look
what
it
says
at
the
end
of
verse
five
next
that
he
would
be
saved
on
the
day
of
the
Lord
one
day
the
Lord
Jesus
will
come
again
and
the
longing
and
the
desire
is
that
they
will
be
in
such
a
position
before
God
that
they
are
ready
to
meet
him
that
they
know
the
forgiveness
of
sins
they
know
what
it
is
to
walk
in
fellowship
with
God
so separating the sinner is not pleasant
but it may be the means of bringing about
their salvation
the second reason
is the protection of the church
have a look at verse 6
your boasting is not good
don't you know that a little yeast
works through the whole batch of dough
I don't think we do much baking of bread anymore
but I think you can get the illustration here
a tiny bit of yeast
can affect the whole batch of bread
so undealt with sin can affect the whole body
of the church
you see the nature of yeast means that it spreads
it works itself into the dough
in the same way sin also spreads
affecting the spiritual life of the whole church
not just the one person
but the whole family
so instead of dealing with sin
we begin to ignore it
and so patterns of behaviour are tolerated by everyone
so what does it matter if somebody does that
what does it matter if that's the way they live
verse 7
get rid of the old yeast
that you may be a new batch without yeast
as you really are
for Christ
our Passover lamb
has been sacrificed
let's remember this great truth
that Jesus is our true and ultimate sacrifice for our sin
just as the Passover lamb
with God's means of redeeming and rescuing
God's people from Egypt
so Jesus' death on the cross
has become our means of redemption for our sin
this is the good news
when Jesus died
he took my sin and your sin on himself
he was the one who was separated from God
he was the one who was shut out from God
and experienced hell for us
so that we don't have to
so that we could be drawn into his family
and accepted
so if Christ has made us clean and pure
and blameless in his sight
shouldn't we also
want to keep the sin from spreading
and affecting the whole church
see what it says at the end of verse 7
this is what you really are
you're a clean people
you're a pure people
and if you really are that
well then start cleaning the church up
separating the sinner is never easy
but it is the means
of protecting the church
the third reason
is the mission
to our community
to those around us
look verse 9
he says
I have written to you in my letter
not to associate with sexually immoral people
and then a clarification
verse 10
not at all meaning the people of this world
as in unbelievers
who are immoral
or the greedy and swindlers
or idolaters
in that case
you would have to leave this world
let me take you back to
the behaviour of Jesus
in the gospel
do you remember how the religious leaders
looked down on Jesus with disdain
with the people who he mixed with
do you remember what they said
he even eats
with sinners
they didn't like the fact
that Jesus was meeting
with ordinary people
with sinful people
sharing dinner with them
talking with them
you see Jesus was very clear in his mission
he came for sinners
Jesus came for people like you and for me
and the way to meet people like you and me
was to sit down with them
and to share with them
now as a church
if we are believers
we should be doing exactly the same
we don't withdraw from the world
and hide ourselves into a nice little cosy corner
we go out into the world
we go out with the good news of Jesus Christ
we mix
we get to know people
and so we should all be eating
with sinners
one sinner sitting with another
but we need to make sure our witness
is crystal clear
verse 11
but now I am writing to you
that you must not associate
with anyone who calls himself a brother
so again it's coming back to anybody who says
I'm a Christian
I'm a follower of Jesus
but is sexually immoral
or greedy
or an idolater
or a slanderer
or a drunkard
or a swindler
with such a person
do not even eat
you see what kind of witness is it
if on the one hand
we're talking about Jesus
who loves us
who died for our sin
if we say sinful behaviour in the church
doesn't matter
what are we saying
if we're telling people
you need to repent of your sin
but we can behave as we like
it's hypocritical
it's making a mockery of Christ's death
it's saying Christ died for nothing
with such a person
do not even eat
you see by sitting down and eating
and socialising
with the unrepentant and persistent sinner
we are saying
well we accept your behaviour
it's alright
you can behave as you wish
it really doesn't matter
no
for the sake of the church's mission
and our witness to the wider community
we must
take a step back
not because we're superior or better
because we see that we've got sin in our own lives
and we need to repent
so that is healthy behaviour in the church
how do we then
keep the church healthy
well there are two ways
to keep the church healthy
here's the first
we don't judge those
outside the church
have a look at verse 12
look what it says
what business is it of mine
to judge those
outside the church
are you not to judge those inside
you see I think we get this round the wrong way
all the time
we spend our time pointing fingers
at those who are not Christians
and expect them to behave
as Christians
we look down with a superiority
we talk about
the affair that our colleague had at work
or our friend who gets drunk
every weekend
well I want to say
well what do you expect
they're not believers
they're not followers of Jesus
so why do you expect them
to behave as believers
what business is it of mine
to judge those
outside the church
our responsibility
is to bring the good news
of Jesus Christ
his death on the cross
and the amazing offer
of grace and forgiveness
we're to point people
to Jesus
we're not to sit as
Lord justice
over their sin
we're to offer grace
and mercy
love and forgiveness
we're not to write them off
God will judge
so it's not our business
to go pointing fingers
at other people
but this is our business
we are to judge
each other
inside the church
have a look at verse
12
we'll read verse 12
and 13
what business is it of mine
to judge those
outside the church
are you not to judge
those inside
God will judge
those outside
expel the wicked person
from among you
now this doesn't mean
judgmentalism
where we all go around
pointing fingers
and looking for
every little mistake
and every little flaw
and fault
and going
you did this
and you did that
that's judgmentalism
where we look down
in superiority
and go
I'm not like that
but you are like that
now this is
this is to
sit in judgment
where we come alongside
another person
and help them deal
with their sin
as we expect them
to deal with our sin
you see
the real issue here
is not the sin
of the world
but the sin
within the church
Jesus died for messy
people like you
and me
so that we could
become his holy church
and because we now
share in his holiness
we now bear his name
and we're to live
as holy people
in a unholy world
so what do we do
if you see me
in a sinful way
what should we do
with each other
if we see
sinful behaviour
in the life
of the church
well
turn with me please
back to Matthew's
gospel
chapter 18
Matthew's gospel
chapter 18
I think this passage
that we're going
to just briefly
look at here
is perhaps
a background
to what Paul
has been writing
in Corinthians
so here's some
very practical
and helpful steps
for all of us
to take
when we see
sinful behaviour
in the life
of the church
we're not to
ignore it
and tolerate it
we're to deal
with it
and while it's
talking about
a sin against
you
and an individual
I think there are
principles here
that we can apply
to ourselves
so let's read
from verse 15
of chapter 18
so what should we do
if we see
sinful behaviour
verse 15
if your brother
or sister
sins against you
go and show
him his fault
just between
the two of you
so if we see
something that's
not right
we simply go
to the other
person
privately
we don't do
a big song
and dance
about it
privately
to the other
person
and explain
to them
and show
them
what has
gone wrong
if he listens
to you
you have won
your brother
over
in other words
you have
sat with them
talked with them
gone to the cross
with them
to pray for them
and to show them
the way of repentance
and the way we can
know forgiveness again
one on one
that's how we're all
to behave with each other
and you should do that
with me
and I should do that
with you
so that's the first
thing we should do
look at verse 16
but
if they will
not listen
so you've been
praying with them
you've been talking
to them
if he will not
listen
take one or two
others along
so that every
matter may be
established by the
testimony of two
or three
witnesses
and I think
in that case
there it's saying
well go to a
mature
older Christian
perhaps an elder
or leader
within the church
and talk to them
about it
again it's keeping
it private
it's keeping it
with a couple of
people
and then they can
go to the person
and address the issue
and say
can you not see
that this behavior
is wrong
let us go to the
cross together
and seek forgiveness
and a restoration
that God can bring
and know the joy
and the fullness
of life that he
has come to give us
verse 17
but if he refuses
to listen to them
then tell it to the
church
and if he refuses
to listen even
to the church
then treat him
as you would a pagan
or as an
unbeliever
can you see that
separating the sinner
only happens
as a last resort
it's not something
we rush to
immediately
and go
out you go
no it comes
at the end
of a lengthy
process
after gently
pursuing them
with grace
treating them
with mercy
and longing
that they turn
in forgiveness
just as God
has been patient
and pursued
us in grace
and come to us
to reach down
to people like
you and me
who are sinners
longing that we
turn to him
so our behaviour
to each other
should be the same
we don't need
permission
to go to one
another
to address each
other over these
things
God has given
us the permission
the church
is God's
holy church
we are his
holy people
and we are to
reflect his
character to the
world
and so we must
take it seriously
we take it
seriously
because we want
to see our
brother or sister
ultimately saved
we want to see
the church
protected
so that people
grow and develop
in their faith
and we want the
church to be a
clear witness
where people not
only hear the
good news of
Jesus
but see a life
of Christ
likeness
within their
community
let's pray
together
our father
God we do
not pretend
to come
before you
as guiltless
or innocent
we are all
aware of our
own failures
and falling
this past
week
and we all
need forgiveness
we thank you
for the wonderful
promise that
when we confess
our sins
you do
forgive
and we pray
father that if
we are
persisting
in some
particular sin
if we are
unrepentant
in one
particular area
that by your
holy spirit
you would point
your finger
clearly
upon our
hearts
and upon
our lives
and cause
us to run
to you
the loving
father
who longs
to forgive
and longs
to restore
and longs
that we
would be
transformed
to know
the joy
and the
love
and the
welcome
of our
heavenly
father
father would
you please
help us
as a church
to live
as we
should
and reflect
you to the
world
in which
we live
for your
grace and
help
we pray
in jesus
name
amen
we're going
to sing
so
to
place