WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Adam Sandler's 1995 movie, Billy Madison, pretty much echoes the church at Corinth. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:08.480 I don't know if you've seen the movie. 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:10.140 It's nearly 20 years old. 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:14.220 Billy Madison is a spoiled rich kid who never grew up. 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:18.160 He's a 28-year-old man, behaves like a child. 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:26.420 His father, a fairly wealthy hotelier, loves him, but he's constantly embarrassed by his 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:28.620 son's antics and lifestyle choices. 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:36.020 It's cringeworthy, pretty much describes Billy Madison's selfish, immature behaviour and 00:00:36.020 --> 00:00:37.160 the movie, generally. 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:42.600 But that's the picture of Corinth that we've been getting over the last few weeks. 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.140 Immature, you need to grow up. 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:46.240 It's what we saw in chapter 3. 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:46.939 You're babes. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:50.219 You're just near, mere infants in Jesus. 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:53.340 Chapter 6, verse 12. 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:55.740 Paul quotes back to them twice. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.180 One of their favourite sayings. 00:00:57.179 --> 00:01:03.039 Most likely, it's a saying that was in Corinth, the city itself, that the church used themselves. 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:06.620 It goes, everything is permissible for me. 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:12.239 Literally, it is everything for me is allowable. 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:18.120 And the words for me are the centre of the sentence that everything else builds around. 00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:21.799 Their attitude was fundamentally self-centred. 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:26.259 We saw that from chapter 3, didn't we? 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:30.099 Mere babies in Jesus. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.739 Everything revolving around them. 00:01:33.539 --> 00:01:34.060 Immaturity. 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:38.019 The problem with this church, though, is that they rated themselves really highly. 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:43.159 They actually thought themselves as spiritual giants, as wise and mature and knowledgeable 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:43.939 and spiritual. 00:01:45.939 --> 00:01:53.780 And so, as we move into these middle sections of 1 Corinthians, it's easy to miss something 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:55.679 that is so important. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:04.680 Ten times in 1 Corinthians, and only once outside of 1 Corinthians, Paul uses a very simple question. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.300 They are all in the same grammatical form. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:10.540 They all have the same tone. 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:12.879 The first is in chapter 5, verse 6. 00:02:12.980 --> 00:02:15.040 The last of them in chapter 9, verse 24. 00:02:15.540 --> 00:02:16.939 And the question is this. 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:19.500 Do you not know? 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:21.840 And it's a rebuke. 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:28.539 It's like, this is so basic, you should know this already. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:31.000 Grow up, Corinthian church. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:32.300 You should know this. 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:39.539 And of the ten occurrences in 1 Corinthians, seven of them are here in these two chapters. 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:45.900 This should be basic knowledge stuff for this church. 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:51.520 You see, their assessment of themselves was so off. 00:02:52.060 --> 00:02:56.480 While they were the church in Corinth, too much of the city of Corinth was in the church. 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:04.159 And there are three broad issues that Paul wants them to go back to basics on and to learn 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:06.240 stuff on in these two chapters. 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:12.360 And the Christian's perspective on each of these things has to be controlled by the cross 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:16.540 of Christ and not by the prevailing view of the culture. 00:03:17.760 --> 00:03:23.340 And the first issue he picks up is sin and church discipline at the beginning of chapter 5. 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:28.840 You see, here again, they've been controlled by their statement, everything is permissible 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:32.280 for me and not the cross. 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:38.240 Paul sees discipline here within the church as indispensable to the health of the church. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:42.860 That's because he wants us to take sin seriously. 00:03:44.820 --> 00:03:50.560 In verse 1, we can see that he's having a go at a guy who has a sexual relationship with 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:55.540 his stepmother, something that even their culture considered taboo. 00:03:56.180 --> 00:04:00.100 In fact, in the Roman Empire, it was an illegal sexual activity. 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:05.320 It seems from verse 2, however, that the church at Corinth were proud of it. 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:09.319 Now, we need to understand that a little bit. 00:04:11.019 --> 00:04:19.079 To be proud of an illegal relationship would be like a group of people boasting about their 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:20.259 drug lab on Facebook. 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:22.360 It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. 00:04:23.039 --> 00:04:26.300 The authorities would be down on you like a ton of bricks real quick. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.039 So it's probably better to understand it as the church being proud of who this particular 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:35.600 person was, proud of who he is in society. 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:40.540 They're proud of, remember, we've seen already, they're proud of things like status and influence 00:04:40.540 --> 00:04:45.100 and the gifted speakers and the knowledgeable and the celebrities and the powerful and the rich. 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:52.700 And so they're proud of this particular individual because he encapsulates the things that they 00:04:52.700 --> 00:04:53.460 admire. 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:57.859 And at the same time, they're overlooking his sin. 00:04:58.919 --> 00:05:02.959 Focusing instead of all the good things that this person's done, the social status he has 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:04.919 and the prestige that he's brought to them. 00:05:05.539 --> 00:05:10.560 Glossing over the sin because they value who he is and what he brings to them. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:13.399 Instead, they should have been filled with grief. 00:05:13.679 --> 00:05:14.620 They should have come clean. 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:17.779 They should have dealt with the sin transparently in an appropriate way. 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:21.799 Two things to bear in mind about discipline here. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.539 First, it's not just sexual immorality that he's having a shot at because if you go down 00:05:28.539 --> 00:05:31.879 to verse 11, he throws in a bunch of other sins there. 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:34.679 The greedy, the idolaters, the slanderers, the drunks, the swindlers. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.599 So it's not just sexual immorality he's picking on. 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:45.319 Secondly, disciplinary action is for those inside the church, not those outside the church. 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:49.060 That's his point in verses 9 to the first half of verse 13. 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:57.560 You see, to hold the non-Christian accountable for Christian standards would be like someone 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:03.439 trying to hold me accountable for not adhering to the clearly defined rules of the Knitters 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.019 Guild of New South Wales. 00:06:05.019 --> 00:06:23.459 Church discipline is for those within the church. 00:06:23.459 --> 00:06:29.579 And yet, how often do we look down our nose in a judgmental attitude to those outside the church 00:06:29.579 --> 00:06:35.819 and the decaying moral standards of the society in which we lig and go tut, tut, tut, tut, tut. 00:06:40.299 --> 00:06:44.919 And at the same time, playing light and loose with our own sinful attitudes. 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:51.960 Now, Paul doesn't give a manual here for how we should deal with all discipline issues, 00:06:52.140 --> 00:06:55.480 but he does give us some reasons why he says this is really important, 00:06:56.140 --> 00:07:00.600 both for the individual who sinned and for the church body as a whole. 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:06.420 In the refrain in verse 13, Paul is drawing upon an Old Testament image 00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:09.080 of the people of Israel in Deuteronomy. 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:14.879 While Israel was in the wilderness, those that were clean and part of the people of God 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:19.060 were physically located with inside the boundaries of Israel's camp. 00:07:19.819 --> 00:07:26.379 Those who had committed a wrongdoing, a sin, or declared to be unclean were sent outside the camp, 00:07:26.459 --> 00:07:29.799 some of them for a short period of time, some of them permanently. 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:36.719 And Paul uses this image here to call the church to put the offender outside the camp. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:41.380 Hand him over to Satan is what he says. 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:45.820 Now, that sounds pretty grim, being handed over to Satan. 00:07:45.880 --> 00:07:48.840 I won't even assume to imagine what that exactly means completely. 00:07:49.020 --> 00:07:49.940 I fully understand that. 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:56.040 It seems to me that at the very least, this person needs to be handed over 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:01.100 and judged by the worldly authorities for his criminal activity. 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:03.939 Don't protect someone like this. 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:08.060 Hand them over and let the courts do their work on this person. 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:14.360 And in that situation, the person will find no mercy, no kindness, no grace. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.260 They will be punished for it. 00:08:19.260 --> 00:08:24.580 But what is clear is the end point that Paul wants for this person. 00:08:25.280 --> 00:08:28.000 He wants them to be saved in the end. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:34.299 He hopes they will realise their sin, repent of their attitude and their actions, 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.299 and ultimately have their salvation assured. 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:40.019 That's what he wants. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.700 That's the end goal here. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.340 And so how we deal with any sort of discipline in the church 00:08:46.340 --> 00:08:50.860 must always be guided by the end goal. 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:53.399 And that is ultimately restoration. 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:59.000 And so that means that whatever discipline we partake in, 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.319 it will never be unloving, it will never be vindictive, 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:02.699 it will never be vengeful, 00:09:03.199 --> 00:09:08.079 and it will never ultimately, God willing, from our perspective, be permanent. 00:09:08.939 --> 00:09:10.799 God is the judge, the final judge. 00:09:13.199 --> 00:09:19.939 The discipline is ultimately meant to be for the good of this individual here who sinned, 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:21.840 but also for the good of the church. 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:26.440 Verse 6, Paul's worried about sin working its way through the whole congregation, 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:29.000 like yeast works through dough. 00:09:29.540 --> 00:09:33.600 And again, he draws on another Old Testament image, this time from Exodus chapter 12. 00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:36.940 At the time of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Breads, 00:09:36.980 --> 00:09:42.120 the Israelites were supposed to get rid of all yeast that was in their house, 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.860 get rid of all yeast out of the house, because it was a sign of uncleanliness. 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:49.840 And if they were found to have yeast in their house, 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:52.139 they were cut off from Israel, 00:09:52.539 --> 00:09:56.539 and the only way to come back to be part of the people of God 00:09:56.539 --> 00:10:01.220 was through the blood of the Passover lamb that was sacrificed. 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:06.240 And it was a ceremony that they carried out year after year after year 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.899 to remind them how they were rescued from sin, 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:13.500 who they now are in God, 00:10:14.179 --> 00:10:15.879 and how they were to live. 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:21.659 And Christians, unlike those who practice the festival of unleavened bread, 00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:27.360 for the Christian, life is an ongoing festival of unleavened bread. 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:30.740 Not just a once a year thing of cleaning out the yeast, 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:33.759 it is an ongoing process for us. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:38.460 Because Jesus fulfilled the promise of the festival, 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:42.360 we don't need annual sacrifices to deal with our sin, 00:10:42.439 --> 00:10:45.379 because Jesus was sacrificed once for all. 00:10:45.980 --> 00:10:47.379 And notice, it says there, 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:52.179 that because of Jesus, we are the unleavened bread. 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:57.240 We have been made pure through Jesus' death on the cross. 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:01.919 And Paul calls us here in this verse to behave as we are. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.159 You are the unleavened bread. 00:11:05.079 --> 00:11:06.360 So get rid of all the leaven. 00:11:07.539 --> 00:11:08.219 Clear it out. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.839 Those in Christ, those bought with the blood of the Passover lamb, 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:19.559 he says, live out who you are with sincerity and truth. 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.079 And so what he says here is, in this whole section, 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.099 is take sin seriously. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.659 Avoid it and deal with it. 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:29.980 Both those things. 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:31.199 Deal with sin. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:32.820 Don't sweep it under the carpet. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:34.460 Don't call it by other names. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:35.980 Don't make it less. 00:11:36.680 --> 00:11:37.720 Don't excuse it. 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:39.100 Deal with it. 00:11:39.420 --> 00:11:40.560 It is essential, 00:11:41.400 --> 00:11:45.140 both for the person who's perpetrating and for the church. 00:11:45.400 --> 00:11:47.100 And we need to do it gently. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:48.820 We need to do it lovingly. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:50.600 But we also need to do it firmly. 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:52.140 That's his first point. 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.660 The great irony in Corinth 00:11:55.659 --> 00:11:58.039 is that they've actually got it doubly wrong. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:05.879 They're tolerating what is clearly an illegal sexual relationship in the church. 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:10.480 And in chapter six, 00:12:10.659 --> 00:12:14.600 they're taking each other to court over trivial matters. 00:12:14.939 --> 00:12:17.279 This issue should have been dealt with the courts, 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:19.480 and these issues shouldn't be dealt with the courts. 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:21.000 They've got it doubly wrong. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.420 And so the second issue he picks up here is handling disputes. 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:28.100 Again, they aren't being controlled by... 00:12:28.100 --> 00:12:33.200 Sorry, they're being controlled by the Corinthian mandate of everything is permissible for me. 00:12:33.800 --> 00:12:36.220 That's the attitude, rather than the cross. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:39.860 Now, I guess it's not hard to imagine we live in an age of litigation, 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:41.440 same as it was in Corinth. 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:44.600 The public courts in Corinth were a spectacle. 00:12:45.300 --> 00:12:50.300 If you were rich, you wouldn't hesitate to take even the most minor grievance to court. 00:12:51.060 --> 00:12:54.700 And Paul here is talking about minor grievances. 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:01.259 The word he uses in verse one means pragmatic dispute, a small matter. 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:04.159 In verse two, he calls them trivial cases. 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:09.600 In verses three and four, he uses a word which means the small things of life. 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:11.100 Trivia. 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:17.659 Instead of sorting it out amongst each other, 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:19.779 verse six, he says, 00:13:19.939 --> 00:13:22.439 one brother goes to law against another and this, 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:23.840 and here's the real sting, 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:26.379 in front of unbelievers. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:27.980 Here's a church, 00:13:27.980 --> 00:13:31.399 one person backs their car into another person's car in the car park, 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:32.560 and they hop out and they say, 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:33.379 we'll see you in court. 00:13:36.420 --> 00:13:38.899 And they've just walked out of corporate worship, 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:41.060 where sitting in the front row 00:13:41.060 --> 00:13:42.960 is a bloke 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:45.100 with his stepmother. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:46.779 That's all right. 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:53.019 Paul says in verse seven, 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:57.319 the very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you've been completely defeated already. 00:13:59.019 --> 00:13:59.779 In other words, 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:03.779 you've absolutely failed in what you've called to be, 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:05.360 being called to be as the people of God. 00:14:07.059 --> 00:14:09.100 Your relationships are all topsy-turvy. 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:13.360 And Paul goes on to speak here to both the person being wronged 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:15.759 and the person doing the wrong. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:16.879 He says, 00:14:17.019 --> 00:14:17.659 first of all, 00:14:17.740 --> 00:14:19.199 to the one who's being wronged, 00:14:19.319 --> 00:14:22.220 and I think these are the hardest words in this passage for us to hear. 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:24.160 He says in verse seven, 00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:26.220 why not rather be wronged? 00:14:28.060 --> 00:14:30.060 Why not rather be cheated? 00:14:31.300 --> 00:14:31.740 Basically, 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:32.120 he said, 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:35.560 someone might have done you wrong in a business deal, 00:14:35.660 --> 00:14:37.019 or they haven't paid back a loan, 00:14:37.180 --> 00:14:39.600 or they're trot on your foot and not apologised. 00:14:40.300 --> 00:14:40.639 He said, 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:42.740 you might be legally entitled to go to court, 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:44.500 you might have been aggrieved, 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.480 but surely the honour of the Lord Jesus 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.700 and his church in the eyes of the world 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:52.500 is far more important. 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:53.800 Why not say, 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.780 I'd rather be wronged and cheated a thousand times 00:14:57.780 --> 00:15:00.820 than to see the name of Jesus disgraced 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.680 because of the activity of Christian people. 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:06.300 My friends, 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.700 there's no better visual aid of the innocent Christ 00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:11.320 who died for sinners 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.460 than an innocent party who's being wronged, 00:15:14.620 --> 00:15:16.320 letting it go gracefully. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:19.879 It's at the very heart of what it means 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:22.360 to be different as Christians. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.280 I heard a wonderful testimony of this recently. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:29.320 A young graduate working in their first job 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:30.379 at a TV station 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:32.700 made a major blunder 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:37.140 that cost the network an awful lot of money. 00:15:38.420 --> 00:15:40.100 And she feared, naturally, 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.400 that she was about to lose her job over this, 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.779 but nothing ever happened 00:15:45.779 --> 00:15:47.939 to her great surprise. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:50.879 And after some time on the grapevine 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:52.319 around the network, 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:54.360 it turns out 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:57.100 that her boss, 00:15:57.879 --> 00:15:59.120 her immediate supervisor, 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:01.699 went to his bosses 00:16:01.699 --> 00:16:04.579 and took the blame for it. 00:16:05.959 --> 00:16:08.639 While she perpetrated it in this mistake, 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:13.100 he said he clearly didn't take enough care 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:15.059 in her development and overseeing her. 00:16:15.939 --> 00:16:17.720 And don't punish her for it. 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:19.120 It's my responsibility. 00:16:20.699 --> 00:16:22.500 Now, he himself didn't get the sack. 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:23.399 He thought he might. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:29.039 But his bosses were pretty unhappy with him. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:31.819 The graduate, 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:34.539 having found out what had happened, 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:36.340 went to her boss 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:37.580 and asked him, 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:39.460 why did you do that? 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:44.220 And it took several attempts 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:46.060 for her to extract the answer from him, 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:47.840 but this was his answer. 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:49.340 I'm a Christian. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:52.139 I follow the Lord Jesus 00:16:52.139 --> 00:16:53.220 who died on a cross 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:55.180 and absorbed all of my deep failings, 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:56.060 faults and sin 00:16:56.060 --> 00:16:57.759 so that I can be forgiven. 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:01.220 Because of what Jesus has done for me, 00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:03.800 I want to live a life in such a way 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:06.899 where I absorb more pain on people 00:17:06.899 --> 00:17:08.440 than inflict it. 00:17:10.379 --> 00:17:11.500 There is someone 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:13.720 shaped by the cross. 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.000 And that graduate said to him, 00:17:18.419 --> 00:17:20.039 so what church do you go to? 00:17:23.159 --> 00:17:24.819 She wanted to be part of a church 00:17:24.819 --> 00:17:26.059 where people live like that. 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:32.599 Paul's next word here 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:33.919 is to the person doing the wrong. 00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:36.279 Verse 8 and 9. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:38.819 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:40.599 and you do this to your brothers. 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:41.440 Do you not know 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:42.500 that the wicked will not inherit 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:43.359 the kingdom of God? 00:17:44.399 --> 00:17:44.899 He says, 00:17:45.399 --> 00:17:46.700 you might make a few bucks 00:17:46.700 --> 00:17:47.919 out of your brother's expense, 00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:50.940 but if things don't change, 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.059 it will cost you your eternity. 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:56.919 There is no way 00:17:56.919 --> 00:17:58.799 that I could smooth over that. 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:01.139 There's no way I could say it lesser. 00:18:02.659 --> 00:18:03.899 Make it sound easier. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:07.079 You continue this sort of behaviour 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.299 and it will cost you your eternity. 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:10.980 That's pretty serious. 00:18:11.399 --> 00:18:13.099 And the exclusion list from the kingdom 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:14.720 doesn't stop at sexual immorality. 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:16.000 It's there in verse 9, 00:18:16.419 --> 00:18:17.399 but it's... 00:18:17.399 --> 00:18:18.559 Look at verse 10. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:20.539 You've got more socially acceptable 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:21.960 white-collar kind of stuff. 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:25.759 Thieves, drunks, slanderers and swindlers. 00:18:28.159 --> 00:18:29.319 Running people down. 00:18:31.399 --> 00:18:32.319 Slandering their name. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:36.659 In verse 11 he says, 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:38.179 and this is what some of you were. 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:39.179 He's saying here, 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:41.039 this is the life that you used to have. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:42.879 This is the people you used to be. 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:45.480 But now it's different. 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:46.059 Verse 11. 00:18:46.460 --> 00:18:47.379 But you were washed. 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:48.200 You were sanctified. 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:49.819 You were set apart by God 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:51.200 through Christ on the cross 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:51.879 to be different. 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:53.200 You were justified. 00:18:53.360 --> 00:18:54.280 That is, you were put right. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.160 You were made righteous by Christ on the cross 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:58.780 in the name of the Lord Jesus 00:18:58.780 --> 00:19:00.220 and by the Spirit of God. 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:02.980 You have to be shaped by the cross. 00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:05.360 When you start following Jesus, 00:19:05.520 --> 00:19:07.240 the old life is meant to be left behind. 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:10.060 And so as a church family, 00:19:10.260 --> 00:19:11.880 let us resolve to live 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.920 as who we are in Jesus. 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:18.480 Let's resolve that we won't be wronged. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:21.759 Sorry, let us resolve we'd rather be wronged 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.920 than to dispute with one another. 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:26.720 Let's make sure as a church family 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.720 that we never let things get to the point 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:30.220 where the need to win 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:33.920 outweighs the ultimate prize itself. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:38.519 The third issue that Paul picks up here 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:39.860 is at the end of chapter 6 00:19:39.860 --> 00:19:42.340 and it's sex. 00:19:43.120 --> 00:19:44.860 Again, they're being shaped by the 00:19:44.860 --> 00:19:46.140 everything is permissible, 00:19:46.560 --> 00:19:48.640 for me, motto and attitude of Corinth 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:50.220 and not the cross. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:52.460 What Paul has already said 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:55.259 in the two previous issues 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:56.660 is countercultural, 00:19:56.860 --> 00:19:58.400 designed for a life of purity, 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:00.259 integrity before God and before people. 00:20:00.259 --> 00:20:04.000 And this section from Paul is revolutionary. 00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:07.940 Christianity has given the world 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:10.359 a revolutionary view of sex. 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:15.140 In the same way that our Christian hope 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:17.500 and understanding of the future 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:22.119 radically transforms our relationships now, 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.039 as we've seen in the first two sections, 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.920 so it radically revolutionises our view of sex. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.600 And Paul here quotes another one 00:20:30.600 --> 00:20:31.960 of these Corinthian sayings, 00:20:32.060 --> 00:20:33.240 another one of their mottos, 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:35.320 in verse 13. 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:37.120 Food for the body and the body for food, 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:39.779 but God will destroy them both. 00:20:40.620 --> 00:20:43.180 Now, they're not just talking about food here. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:44.420 Here's the logic. 00:20:44.560 --> 00:20:46.039 Here's the logic of how they're thinking. 00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:48.000 If your stomach is rumbling, 00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.940 you eat some food. 00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:52.980 And so, if you're feeling aroused, 00:20:53.060 --> 00:20:54.140 you have sex. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:56.800 Sex is just another bodily appetite. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:00.619 The little addition at the end of this saying, 00:21:00.740 --> 00:21:02.759 but God will destroy them both, 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:08.419 is a view that arises out of the Greek understanding 00:21:08.419 --> 00:21:10.940 of the divide between the spiritual world 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:11.859 and the physical world. 00:21:12.139 --> 00:21:14.220 This is Greek philosophy stuff. 00:21:15.159 --> 00:21:18.500 They viewed the physical world as temporary 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:20.419 and not that important. 00:21:21.159 --> 00:21:23.279 And what you do with your body, therefore, 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:25.720 doesn't matter a whole much, really. 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:31.100 So, it's really ultimately what you do with your soul 00:21:31.100 --> 00:21:32.180 that matters the most. 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:35.579 Body not important, soul matters. 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:39.279 And so, for some, it led to a cheap view of sex. 00:21:39.620 --> 00:21:41.720 For instance, at upper class banquets, 00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:44.860 you know, dinner parties in Corinth, 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.579 instead of an after dinner mint with coffee, 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.759 you are offered after dinner sex with coffee. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:56.200 Prostitutes were brought in by the host of the dinner party 00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:59.619 as part of the entertainment. 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:01.720 And it was completely normal. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.079 No one would blink an eye at it. 00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:07.759 Mind you, the same Greek philosophical position 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:10.779 also led some people to conclude 00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:14.160 that because the physical was so unimportant 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:19.140 and so down the line 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:22.960 that it was, in fact, wrong to indulge it in any way. 00:22:23.540 --> 00:22:24.540 And so, for them, 00:22:24.980 --> 00:22:27.920 sex, rather than being something that you indulge in, 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:29.940 wasn't something that was actually bad 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:31.080 and dirty and defiling. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:32.920 And so, you don't do sex at all. 00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:35.320 And so, you see that at the beginning of chapter 7 00:22:35.320 --> 00:22:36.100 where it says, 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:39.459 it is good for a man not to touch a woman. 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:43.459 And Chris will deal with chapter 7 next week. 00:22:43.899 --> 00:22:44.919 So, come back for that one. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.879 The key to understanding Paul's revolutionary view of sex 00:22:49.879 --> 00:22:50.919 is in verse 16. 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:56.179 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute 00:22:56.179 --> 00:22:58.240 is one with her in body? 00:22:58.619 --> 00:22:59.859 For it is said, 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.339 the two will become one flesh. 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:06.259 Now, when we read that, 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:11.539 we automatically think that one flesh means physical union. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:14.579 And if that was the case, 00:23:14.639 --> 00:23:18.379 if it was just physical body, physical union, 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:22.419 then his argument would be, 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:26.059 don't you know that when you have physical union with someone, 00:23:26.220 --> 00:23:27.899 you have physical union with someone? 00:23:29.199 --> 00:23:31.019 Now, that wouldn't be worth saying. 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:32.859 I'm surprised they even wrote it. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.559 So, he's not just talking about physical union here. 00:23:38.019 --> 00:23:41.299 The term flesh, more often than not, in the Bible, 00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:43.759 doesn't just mean physical tissue. 00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:46.319 It means more than that, 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:48.000 and it certainly means more than that here. 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:50.879 And if it didn't, 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:53.079 if it was just physical tissue, 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:55.980 then when Paul says it would be wrong 00:23:55.980 --> 00:23:58.819 to have sex 00:23:58.819 --> 00:24:01.480 because it is the only sin 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:02.819 that would be committed against your body, 00:24:03.159 --> 00:24:04.899 he, in fact, would be wrong at that point 00:24:04.899 --> 00:24:07.119 if it was just physical tissue 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.679 because suicide would be sin against the body 00:24:09.679 --> 00:24:13.579 and drug addiction would be sin against the body as well. 00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:17.939 You see, one flesh here is more than physical tissue. 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:21.600 It means embodied personhood. 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:25.160 To becoming one flesh 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:27.840 is another way of saying 00:24:27.840 --> 00:24:32.420 that personal transformation is going on in the sex act. 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:35.580 And that's quite astounding. 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:38.060 This is revolutionary. 00:24:39.080 --> 00:24:41.039 Paul is not devaluing sex here. 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:44.200 He's, in fact, doing the very opposite. 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:46.060 He's sending it sky high. 00:24:47.300 --> 00:24:49.759 Greek philosophy never knew of any of this sort of an idea. 00:24:51.340 --> 00:24:52.900 The two becoming one flesh 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:54.740 is another way of saying 00:24:54.740 --> 00:24:57.180 that personal transformation is going on. 00:24:57.180 --> 00:24:59.180 He sees the sexual act 00:24:59.180 --> 00:25:01.519 as one of self-commitment 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:05.600 which deeply involves the entire person. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:09.039 Not just body parts. 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:15.480 Sex is the full giving of one's entire self to another. 00:25:16.380 --> 00:25:21.120 It is a matter of self-giving and self-disclosure. 00:25:22.320 --> 00:25:25.180 So God did not invent sex for self-gratification 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:28.500 or even for self-expression. 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:31.320 God didn't even make sex 00:25:31.320 --> 00:25:34.920 as a dirty but necessary bodily function for reproduction. 00:25:36.299 --> 00:25:39.259 He rejects, in other words, both views. 00:25:42.100 --> 00:25:43.259 Paul says here 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:45.560 that sex was designed by God 00:25:45.560 --> 00:25:50.000 as a way to do radical self-donation. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:55.740 Sex is God's invented way 00:25:55.740 --> 00:25:57.940 for us to give ourselves to someone else 00:25:57.940 --> 00:25:59.180 so deeply 00:25:59.180 --> 00:26:01.180 that it results 00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:03.920 in personal transformation and completion. 00:26:04.339 --> 00:26:05.299 To put it another way, 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:06.880 God says 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:08.059 you must never give, 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:10.579 you must never get physically naked 00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:11.400 and vulnerable 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:13.460 with someone 00:26:13.460 --> 00:26:15.380 without becoming vulnerable 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:17.039 in your entire life. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:20.220 all of life. 00:26:20.779 --> 00:26:22.500 You must not become physically vulnerable 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.159 and hold on to your independence. 00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:27.440 You must become legally, 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:28.420 economically, 00:26:28.700 --> 00:26:29.039 socially, 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:29.920 emotionally, 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:31.319 in every way 00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:32.460 committed. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:36.700 You must give up your independence. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:39.480 Physical oneness 00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:41.759 is, in fact, 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:43.599 to be a confirmation 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.039 of whole-of-life oneness. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:49.920 And if you do that, 00:26:51.259 --> 00:26:53.480 if whole-body giving 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:55.420 is done in the context 00:26:55.420 --> 00:26:57.019 of whole-of-life giving, 00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:58.559 it will result 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:00.059 in deep soul connection 00:27:00.059 --> 00:27:00.620 and nurture 00:27:00.620 --> 00:27:03.620 and in deep personal transformation. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:07.120 Now, let me be frank here. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:07.799 I've been involved 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:08.839 in this one flesh thing 00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:10.419 for about 15 years 00:27:10.419 --> 00:27:12.659 with my wife. 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:14.439 Let's clarify that. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:16.779 And as a result, 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:19.459 Natalie's mind 00:27:19.459 --> 00:27:20.139 and heart 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:21.819 is so present with me 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:23.259 that when I get into 00:27:23.259 --> 00:27:24.219 any situation 00:27:24.219 --> 00:27:25.539 in a split second, 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:26.659 I not only have 00:27:26.659 --> 00:27:28.459 my instinctive way 00:27:28.459 --> 00:27:29.019 to act 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:29.439 and to think 00:27:29.439 --> 00:27:30.059 and to speak, 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:31.519 but I also know 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:33.119 what Natalie would say 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:34.319 and how she would act 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.879 and how she thinks. 00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:37.860 Now, 00:27:38.260 --> 00:27:39.260 don't say I'm 00:27:39.260 --> 00:27:40.120 in all affection. 00:27:40.860 --> 00:27:42.080 What I'm saying there is, 00:27:42.260 --> 00:27:43.080 it's not that I've lost 00:27:43.080 --> 00:27:43.880 who I am, 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:44.640 but I've been 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:46.060 radically supplemented. 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:50.460 Natalie 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:52.260 has been shaping me 00:27:52.260 --> 00:27:53.900 over 15 years 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:55.160 and I've been shaping her 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:56.280 over 15 years. 00:27:56.860 --> 00:27:57.500 We have given 00:27:57.500 --> 00:27:58.940 each other to ourselves 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:00.680 in all of life. 00:28:02.060 --> 00:28:03.400 In all of life. 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:05.519 And because Natalie 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:06.000 is someone 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:06.680 who loves 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:07.440 and knows 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:08.560 and serves 00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:09.160 the Lord Jesus 00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:09.740 and desires 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:10.540 to keep growing 00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:11.040 in that, 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:12.440 her supplement 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:13.060 to me 00:28:13.060 --> 00:28:14.540 is cross-shaped 00:28:14.540 --> 00:28:15.340 supplement. 00:28:17.940 --> 00:28:19.120 She's being transformed 00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:20.000 in the image of Jesus, 00:28:20.340 --> 00:28:21.340 I'm being transformed 00:28:21.340 --> 00:28:22.200 in the image of Jesus, 00:28:22.560 --> 00:28:23.640 and that supplements 00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:24.480 each other 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:25.660 and shapes each other. 00:28:25.660 --> 00:28:27.500 I think that's partly 00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:29.860 why Paul says, 00:28:30.320 --> 00:28:30.980 if you're a Christian, 00:28:31.100 --> 00:28:31.680 marry a Christian 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:33.660 in 1 Corinthians 7. 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:35.860 The question is, 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:36.580 who's shaping you? 00:28:36.579 --> 00:28:43.240 In our society, 00:28:43.339 --> 00:28:44.119 it's normal to give 00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:44.519 your body 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:45.639 without giving yourself. 00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:46.960 Have sex 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:47.500 and to hold on 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:48.159 to your independence. 00:28:49.139 --> 00:28:50.480 Keep your individual control. 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:51.679 And Paul says 00:28:51.679 --> 00:28:52.679 that when you do, 00:28:53.220 --> 00:28:54.439 you are destroying 00:28:54.439 --> 00:28:55.599 a beautiful 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:57.799 person-shaping commitment. 00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:00.899 You're destroying 00:29:00.899 --> 00:29:01.859 deep soul nurture 00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:02.980 and personal transformation. 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:06.839 I think 00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:08.059 the total load 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:11.880 of emotional issues 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:13.140 associated with sex 00:29:13.140 --> 00:29:14.299 in this world 00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:16.039 would be just incalculable 00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:18.660 because of the abuse 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:19.240 of this thing 00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:19.940 that God has given 00:29:19.940 --> 00:29:20.640 as a good gift. 00:29:21.819 --> 00:29:23.140 When you give your body 00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:23.779 without giving 00:29:23.779 --> 00:29:25.059 your whole self, 00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:27.019 you are in fact 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:27.500 destroying 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:29.740 your commitment mechanism. 00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:34.039 The Corinthians 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:35.960 had not thought 00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:37.140 through the implications 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:38.059 of everything 00:29:38.059 --> 00:29:39.339 is permissible for me. 00:29:41.339 --> 00:29:42.140 Casual sex, 00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:42.900 as it turns out, 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:43.880 is not so casual. 00:29:45.059 --> 00:29:45.559 It is, 00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:46.240 for the Christian, 00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:47.759 an act of desecration. 00:29:47.900 --> 00:29:48.579 Verse 19, 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:49.700 do you not know 00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:50.299 that your body 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:50.940 is a temple 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:51.740 of the Holy Spirit 00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:52.599 who is in you, 00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:54.160 whom you have received 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:54.720 from God? 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:55.940 You are not your own. 00:29:56.140 --> 00:29:56.599 You were bought 00:29:56.599 --> 00:29:57.200 at a price. 00:29:57.960 --> 00:29:58.200 You see, 00:29:58.259 --> 00:29:58.860 at the cross, 00:29:59.019 --> 00:29:59.980 Jesus paid the price 00:29:59.980 --> 00:30:00.819 for our redemption. 00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:02.319 He paid the price 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:03.019 to set us free 00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:03.779 from our slavery 00:30:03.779 --> 00:30:04.339 to sin 00:30:04.339 --> 00:30:05.019 and to death 00:30:05.019 --> 00:30:05.759 and immorality. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:06.980 And the Corinthians 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:07.740 thought this means, 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:08.379 whoopee, 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:09.899 everything is permissible 00:30:09.899 --> 00:30:10.359 for me. 00:30:10.439 --> 00:30:11.439 I can do whatever I like 00:30:11.439 --> 00:30:12.259 and Jesus will just 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:12.839 forgive me. 00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:15.139 And Paul corrects 00:30:15.139 --> 00:30:15.599 that error. 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:16.500 You're not free. 00:30:17.539 --> 00:30:18.359 You're not free 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:19.019 for yourself. 00:30:19.579 --> 00:30:20.319 You're not free for, 00:30:20.419 --> 00:30:21.139 you are free 00:30:21.139 --> 00:30:22.500 purely for Christ 00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:23.159 because you've been 00:30:23.159 --> 00:30:24.599 bought by Christ. 00:30:25.159 --> 00:30:26.099 And in actual fact, 00:30:26.159 --> 00:30:27.179 the word that he says 00:30:27.179 --> 00:30:28.079 in verse 16, 00:30:29.179 --> 00:30:29.980 how could you unite 00:30:29.980 --> 00:30:31.119 yourself to a prostitute, 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:32.799 is the exact same word 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:33.299 where he says 00:30:33.299 --> 00:30:34.179 you've been united 00:30:34.179 --> 00:30:34.919 to Christ. 00:30:38.739 --> 00:30:39.599 How could you 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:40.799 possibly say 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:42.199 that you follow 00:30:42.199 --> 00:30:42.879 Christ, 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:44.139 you're united 00:30:44.139 --> 00:30:45.039 with Christ, 00:30:45.579 --> 00:30:46.619 one body with him 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:47.299 in spirit 00:30:47.299 --> 00:30:48.379 and then go 00:30:48.379 --> 00:30:49.299 and take that body 00:30:49.299 --> 00:30:50.519 and unite it 00:30:50.519 --> 00:30:51.379 to someone 00:30:51.379 --> 00:30:52.279 who's not in Christ. 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:55.759 And that's why 00:30:55.759 --> 00:30:56.979 he says in verse 18, 00:30:58.039 --> 00:30:59.919 flee sexual immorality. 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:02.799 He doesn't 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.959 want us to negotiate 00:31:04.959 --> 00:31:05.739 with it. 00:31:06.659 --> 00:31:08.219 He wants us to flee it. 00:31:09.679 --> 00:31:10.879 Flee the old life. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:11.539 Flee. 00:31:13.679 --> 00:31:14.619 The word here 00:31:14.619 --> 00:31:15.199 to flee is 00:31:15.199 --> 00:31:15.719 porneia. 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:16.419 The Greek word 00:31:16.419 --> 00:31:17.299 porneia means 00:31:17.299 --> 00:31:18.359 any kind of sex 00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:19.259 outside of marriage, 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:20.419 whether you are married 00:31:20.419 --> 00:31:20.859 or not. 00:31:20.919 --> 00:31:21.619 And he's saying 00:31:21.619 --> 00:31:23.299 have nothing 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:24.299 to do 00:31:24.299 --> 00:31:25.839 with sexual activity 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:26.879 outside the covenant 00:31:26.879 --> 00:31:27.439 of marriage 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:28.980 because it's the only 00:31:28.980 --> 00:31:29.820 sin you commit 00:31:29.820 --> 00:31:31.019 against your body. 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:31.880 He's saying 00:31:31.880 --> 00:31:32.620 and the effects 00:31:32.620 --> 00:31:33.460 of it will be deep 00:31:33.460 --> 00:31:35.100 and they'll be painful 00:31:35.100 --> 00:31:36.100 and they will be 00:31:36.100 --> 00:31:36.820 enduring. 00:31:38.940 --> 00:31:39.539 He says 00:31:39.539 --> 00:31:40.340 maybe you've 00:31:40.340 --> 00:31:41.080 experienced it, 00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:42.680 you've carried 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:43.279 the damage, 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:45.559 maybe you've been 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:46.580 damaged by someone else 00:31:46.580 --> 00:31:47.660 and a passage like this 00:31:47.660 --> 00:31:48.320 can open up 00:31:48.320 --> 00:31:49.019 those old wounds. 00:31:49.100 --> 00:31:49.759 I'm very mindful 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:50.200 of that. 00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:51.460 But these wounds 00:31:51.460 --> 00:31:51.860 can heal. 00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:52.720 Remember verse 11? 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:54.360 That's what some 00:31:54.360 --> 00:31:54.880 of you were 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:55.900 but you were washed. 00:31:56.120 --> 00:31:56.480 That is 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:58.400 you might feel dirty 00:31:58.400 --> 00:31:59.380 but you're not 00:31:59.380 --> 00:31:59.880 in Jesus. 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:01.000 You've been washed clean. 00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:03.059 You were sanctified. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:03.440 That is 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:03.960 you've been made 00:32:03.960 --> 00:32:04.920 a saint. 00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:05.819 Your purity 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:06.579 has been restored 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:07.240 in Jesus 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:08.579 no matter what 00:32:08.579 --> 00:32:09.140 you were. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.240 Friends, 00:32:11.299 --> 00:32:11.839 what we've been seeing 00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:12.559 through this series 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:14.259 is that genuine maturity 00:32:14.259 --> 00:32:15.079 is not so much 00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:16.319 seen in what you know 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:18.100 but in how you 00:32:18.100 --> 00:32:18.839 live out 00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:19.720 what you know. 00:32:20.700 --> 00:32:21.539 That's Christian 00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:22.059 maturity. 00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:23.159 and Paul 00:32:23.159 --> 00:32:24.319 wants us to grow up. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:27.440 He wants us to take 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:29.259 our sin seriously. 00:32:32.339 --> 00:32:33.639 What we've seen here 00:32:33.639 --> 00:32:34.259 is that God 00:32:34.259 --> 00:32:35.200 will never let us 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:36.119 keep our relationship 00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:37.179 with him in a box 00:32:37.179 --> 00:32:38.779 marked Sunday 00:32:38.779 --> 00:32:41.039 or marked 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:42.480 religion 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:44.460 or just for the soul. 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:46.839 He's interested 00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:48.139 in every day of the week 00:32:48.139 --> 00:32:48.919 and he's interested 00:32:48.919 --> 00:32:49.899 in your whole life 00:32:49.899 --> 00:32:50.579 and he's interested 00:32:50.579 --> 00:32:51.279 as it turns out 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:52.019 in every part of your 00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:52.319 body. 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:55.180 True spirituality 00:32:55.180 --> 00:32:56.019 and maturity 00:32:56.019 --> 00:32:57.539 is not just seen 00:32:57.539 --> 00:32:58.480 in how fervently 00:32:58.480 --> 00:32:59.480 we sing at church 00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:00.980 or how eloquent 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:01.559 our prayers 00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:02.039 or how big 00:33:02.039 --> 00:33:02.779 our Christian library 00:33:02.779 --> 00:33:03.279 is. 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:04.500 True maturity 00:33:04.500 --> 00:33:05.099 is seen 00:33:05.099 --> 00:33:06.519 in the details 00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:08.160 of our lives 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:09.039 as we, 00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:09.879 according to Romans 00:33:09.879 --> 00:33:10.859 chapter 12, 00:33:11.500 --> 00:33:12.779 offer our bodies 00:33:12.779 --> 00:33:14.700 as a living sacrifice, 00:33:14.859 --> 00:33:15.539 holy and pleasing 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:16.079 to God. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:16.619 God. 00:33:16.619 --> 00:33:17.119 And that means 00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:17.720 at home, 00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:18.439 it means at school, 00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:18.819 uni, 00:33:18.879 --> 00:33:19.679 it means on Facebook, 00:33:19.819 --> 00:33:20.379 on the phone, 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:22.079 at the club, 00:33:22.539 --> 00:33:23.480 in our retirement 00:33:23.480 --> 00:33:24.039 village, 00:33:24.740 --> 00:33:25.879 in our bedrooms. 00:33:28.579 --> 00:33:29.379 True maturity 00:33:29.379 --> 00:33:29.740 is seen 00:33:29.740 --> 00:33:30.599 in a life of purity. 00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:32.759 And that will require us 00:33:32.759 --> 00:33:33.899 not just to avoid sin, 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:34.899 to flee from sexual 00:33:34.899 --> 00:33:36.259 immorality, 00:33:36.699 --> 00:33:37.859 but strive to honour 00:33:37.859 --> 00:33:38.980 God in all that we do 00:33:38.980 --> 00:33:40.639 to make sure the yeast 00:33:40.639 --> 00:33:42.359 doesn't permeate the dough, 00:33:43.199 --> 00:33:44.059 to cut it back. 00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:46.720 So I think it's really good 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:47.379 for us right now 00:33:47.379 --> 00:33:48.379 just to take a moment. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:49.659 We're going to enter 00:33:49.659 --> 00:33:50.799 into the Lord's Supper again, 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:52.960 remember Christ crucified 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:53.599 on the cross 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:54.379 as we do this 00:33:54.379 --> 00:33:55.339 and just reaffirm 00:33:55.339 --> 00:33:55.859 our commitment 00:33:55.859 --> 00:33:56.799 to follow him 00:33:56.799 --> 00:33:58.299 for the cross 00:33:58.299 --> 00:33:59.899 to shape our lives. 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:01.559 His priorities 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:02.599 become our priorities. 00:34:03.960 --> 00:34:04.879 So that's what this does. 00:34:04.940 --> 00:34:05.500 It takes us back 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:06.119 to the cross. 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:07.559 It'll take us to remember 00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:08.179 it's all that we have 00:34:08.179 --> 00:34:08.739 in Christ 00:34:08.739 --> 00:34:09.679 and reaffirm 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:10.259 our commitment 00:34:10.259 --> 00:34:12.079 to take up our cross 00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:12.860 and to follow him. 00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:14.519 I was really delighted, 00:34:14.640 --> 00:34:15.460 can I say this week, 00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:16.099 last Sunday 00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:17.039 Debbie stood up here 00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:17.460 and said, 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:18.500 we're going to have 00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:19.400 communion this week 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:20.220 and if you're out 00:34:20.220 --> 00:34:21.260 of fellowship with someone 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:22.840 you need to sort it out 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:23.660 in the course of the week. 00:34:23.960 --> 00:34:25.140 I was absolutely delighted 00:34:25.140 --> 00:34:26.420 to hear at least one person 00:34:26.420 --> 00:34:27.840 took that seriously 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:31.019 and went and sought out 00:34:31.019 --> 00:34:31.640 a relationship 00:34:31.640 --> 00:34:32.620 with another person 00:34:32.620 --> 00:34:33.539 throughout the course 00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:34.079 of this week. 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:35.019 And I want to say 00:34:35.019 --> 00:34:35.840 well done to that. 00:34:36.220 --> 00:34:36.740 Good on you. 00:34:37.579 --> 00:34:38.079 May you know 00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:38.940 complete freedom 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:39.880 and forgiveness 00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:41.539 and restoration 00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:42.420 of that relationship 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:42.980 as we come 00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:43.460 and we join 00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:44.019 in this together. 00:34:44.019 --> 00:34:44.079 Thank you. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:44.420 Thank you.