Well, if you are a guest with us this morning, welcome.
Full disclosure, this might be a weird sermon for you.
And even if you have been coming for a while, if you've been attending church for many years,
this might in fact be a weird sermon for you.
Our typical practice is to preach straight through books of the Bible.
You open it up, chapter 1, verse 1, and you work your way all the way through to the end.
And what this does is it helps us to get the big picture of what's going on in the book.
It helps us to understand exactly what God is saying here in each book of the Bible.
But also what it does, what it means for me, is that I am not able to skip over difficult passages.
Uncomfortable passages.
You know, you may not know this, but some passages of Scripture are less popular than others.
Did you know that?
Some passages are harder to swallow than others.
And I don't have the luxury, you would notice, if I just happen to skip over a section of Scripture.
And I don't want to do that anyways.
Okay, we are here to submit ourselves to the Word of God.
Amen?
Beginning to end.
We want to receive what God has written in its entirety.
So, let's open our Bibles to the book of Titus.
Once more, the book of Titus.
We're going to be in chapter 3, verses 9 through 11 this morning.
We're concluding the body of Paul's letter to Titus this morning.
Next week, Lord willing, we'll conclude with the conclusion of Paul's letter.
But this morning, Paul is making one final appeal to Titus to defend the unity that the church was given in the gospel.
To defend the unity.
This precious unity that Christ purchased for the church in the gospel.
It was under attack by false teachers who had come to these young churches there in Crete.
And so, mentor Paul writes to co-worker Titus and says,
You must protect it.
You must defend it.
You must guard the unity of the church at all costs.
Keep the gospel and the glory of God at the center.
Let's read it together now.
Titus 3, verses 9 through 11.
Paul says,
Father God, you know the weight of a text like this.
So give me strength, Lord.
And would you lead us through a difficult text even?
Father, to worship.
And to praise you for your goodness.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All of us know someone who we would describe as a health nut.
Someone who counts every calorie, measures every heartbeat, tracks every step,
does everything that they can possibly do to ensure that so far as it depends upon them,
that their body is healthy.
I am not one of those people.
I do care about my health.
I try to exercise.
I try to eat right.
But I'm not obsessive in that way.
Not entirely.
The other day, Amanda, we had a birthday party for Cobb.
Amanda made two cakes.
I had three pieces that night and one piece the next morning for breakfast.
So I'm not entirely health obsessed like that.
But I do know that a basic part of taking care of your body is that you should, in general,
avoid intaking what is bad for your health.
And if there is something in you that is dangerous to your body, you should remove it.
Avoid intaking what is bad.
And remove what is dangerous.
So, for example, Halloween is coming up.
My children will probably, likely collect a lot of junk.
And we're not that mean.
We're going to let them eat some junk.
We'll let them eat some candy.
But only a little.
They don't get to have candy for dinner.
Okay?
They get to have a piece here, a piece there.
It'll probably last us a few years that way.
We try to avoid overindulging on empty calories.
Eat what is good for you and avoid what is bad.
And likewise, we know that if something is in you, in your body, that is dangerous to you,
it needs to come out.
It needs to be removed.
We visited my grandmother last week.
We loaded up the van once again and made the trip down to Athens, Georgia, where she lives,
to go celebrate her 90th birthday party.
And we got there before the rest of the crowd got there.
And so we got to sit and to talk with her.
And I got to ask her about her health.
And my grandmother has cancer.
She's 90 years old.
And she's been undergoing treatments for several years.
And so just recently, the doctors found a spot on her skin.
It's something new that developed.
They took a look at it under the microscope and found out, sure enough, it was melanoma.
It's dangerous.
It's cancerous.
It's aggressive.
It's destructive to the health of her body.
And so like any good doctor would do, he put forward a process, a plan of action, something
to take care of the issue.
He said, we're going to examine the problem.
We're going to identify it.
And then we're going to cut it out.
And we're going to monitor it.
We're going to make sure that it heals as it should.
We're going to make sure it hasn't spread any further.
No good doctor would ever look at that spot and say, you know what?
Let's leave it.
See what it does.
Let it remain.
No doctor, knowing how destructive that cancer is, would let it be.
Just hope it goes away.
For the good of the body, it must be removed.
Well, we're coming to the end of the book of Titus.
And throughout this letter, Paul could be described as a health nut.
He is obsessed with the health, not of his body, but of the body of Christ, with the
health of the church.
His concern has been throughout the letter with the soundness or the health of the body.
The church is the body of Christ.
We are members of one another.
The local church makes that invisible body visible.
And churches, just like physical bodies, we can be healthy or we can be sickly.
We can intake what is good and what's healthy and nutritious and beneficial and we can grow
strong or we can feast on empty calories.
We can have candy for dinner and grow weak.
And even in healthy churches, from time to time, issues can crop up that are dangerous for the health of the body.
And so like a good doctor, Paul tells Titus, we're going to have to do something here, Titus.
We're going to have to remove something here, Titus.
Don't leave it unaddressed.
Don't let it spread.
Do everything you can to remedy this situation.
And if you cannot remedy the situation, it must be removed.
So Paul here, he gives us two keys to protecting the health of the body.
Two keys to protecting the health of the body.
This is going to be our outline this morning.
If you'd like to take notes, two keys to protecting the health of the body.
Avoid foolish controversy and remove divisive people.
The two parts that we see here in Titus 3, 9 through 11.
Number one, avoid foolish controversy.
And number two, remove divisive people.
First, he says one key to protecting the health of the body is to avoid foolish controversy.
Look here to verse 9 with me.
Eyes on verse 9, please.
He says, but avoid foolish controversies.
Proversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law.
For they are unprofitable and worthless.
So avoid them.
Don't pay them any mind.
Paul says to Titus, stop entertaining.
Stop listening to.
Stop arguing over.
Stop focusing on.
Stop obsessing over little things.
Not everything is worth the time.
Stay the course.
In fact, that word avoid here, it literally means turn your face.
In the other direction.
Pay it no mind.
Do not give it the time of day.
It's not exactly clear what the issue was specifically that Titus was dealing with here.
That has Paul all riled up here in the book of Titus.
But it seems to be tied to some obscure interpretation and application of the law.
And so Paul, he calls them in chapter 1.
He says these are Jewish myths.
And here, he says that these are discussions of genealogies.
They're questions about the law.
It's likely similar to what Timothy was dealing with in Ephesus.
If you make note of 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 3 through 4.
Paul says to Timothy there, he says,
Remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,
nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.
Sound familiar?
Which promote speculations rather than stewardship from God that is by faith.
And again, in 2 Timothy chapter 2, he says,
Avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.
That's the unprofitability that he's talking about.
It's unprofitable and worthless.
It's not producing the fruit of godliness that Paul wants to see from sound doctrine.
And then here is a good reminder for Christians about to get on social media.
Okay?
He says,
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies.
You know that they breed quarrels.
So we may not know exactly what teaching was going on here specifically,
but we do know how Paul feels about it.
Right?
They are unprofitable.
They are worthless.
They're not worth discussing.
Avoid it.
Turn your face the other direction.
Now, I wonder if you have the same question that I do when I read this.
What's interesting to me is that these were not discussions about some outside source.
Okay?
This was not some obscure teacher with his own writings that was distracting the church.
No.
What does it say?
These were discussions about the law.
The word of God.
And I thought, Paul, that all scripture was God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness.
All scripture is useful.
So how can you now say that these discussions about the law, the word of God, are useless, worthless, unprofitable?
What's going on here?
Shouldn't this matter to you, Paul?
I'm glad you asked.
I think what he's saying here is we need to major on the majors and minor on the minors.
We need to major on the majors and minor on the minors.
All scripture is God-breathed.
All scripture is useful.
But not everything in the Bible carries equal weight.
Did I just say that?
Yes, I did.
Let me say it again.
All scripture is useful.
But not everything in the Bible carries equal weight.
Does it not matter more whether Christ was born of a virgin than what colors were on Joseph's robe and what they may or may not represent?
Does it not matter more that Christ actually died for our sin in our place?
That he physically, actually rose up from the grave to conquer death?
Then what type of fruit did Adam or Eve eat?
Was it an apple or was it a pomegranate?
Was it a big fish?
Was it a whale that swallowed up Jonah?
What type of furniture did Jesus make in his carpentry shop?
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Was Goliath seven feet tall or nine feet tall or eleven feet tall?
Do you get my picture?
The issue here, it wasn't theological curiosity.
I want to be clear.
We should be curious about God's word.
We should investigate it.
Ask questions of it.
I went to seminary.
I wrote a paper on genealogies.
Comparing the genealogies of Christ.
Paul is not against theological curiosity.
But not everything is of equal importance.
Be curious.
Ask questions.
Seek answers.
But church, do not get distracted.
Do not get distracted.
Eat a little bit of candy, but do not eat it for dinner.
Feast on what's good.
Feast on what's nutritious for you.
All doctrine, properly weighed, properly studied, should lead to devotion.
But wrongly weighed, wrongly applied, leads to distraction.
And at worst, leads to division.
Everything in scripture is worthy of our devotion.
It's worthy of our discussion, but not equally worthy of obsession.
And not everything is worthy of division.
The early church had a saying.
They used to say, in essentials, unity.
In non-essentials, diversity.
In all things, charity.
I think we'd be wise to recover that sort of sentiment in Christianity today.
In essentials, unity.
In non-essentials, diversity.
In all things, charity.
We have to major on the majors and minor on the minors.
Be convinced.
But do not enter foolish controversy over the minors.
Major on the majors.
And be convinced.
But do not create unnecessary division and tension over the minors.
Not every issue is worth fighting over.
And not every hill is worth dying on.
Not every theological difference between you and another brother and sister in Christ
makes them a heretic or a false teacher.
You know, I just, I grieve over the ways that I hear some Christians speaking about other Christians
that just don't belong to their camp.
And so they must be the enemy.
They must be wrong.
They must be heretical.
Must be false teacher.
Just because we divide or disagree on minor issues.
Not every hill is a hill to die on, church.
There's always room for charity in all things.
We harm the body when we treat every issue with equal weight.
And when we're quick to enter into foolish controversy.
So, how do we rightly weigh the scriptures?
That's the question, right?
How do we rightly weigh the scriptures?
Well, you may be familiar with a concept called theological triage.
Theological triage.
I believe Al Mohler was the first to actually coin that term.
And I'll paraphrase here from an article that he wrote in 2005.
He takes that from the medical world.
So, maybe you're not familiar with theological triage.
You're probably familiar with triage.
Medical triage.
And he says,
And so, they have to sort these issues out.
They've got to figure out which is most important.
So, that they can treat them with the proper treatment.
And so, what they do is they use a color-coded system of tags.
Colored tags.
Black tag.
That's bad news.
That's untreatable.
The person is either dead or they're in such a condition that it can't be treated.
It's uncurable, untreatable.
Red tag is the most urgent.
There's a chance.
It's life-threatening.
There's a chance that with the right treatment quickly applied,
we can bring this person back to life.
Yellow tag.
They're in stable condition.
Not likely to die.
They still need serious treatment.
On and on and on.
So, he gets a white tag,
which means they're just people that wanted to pay for an ambulance ride for some reason.
Not sure why they're there.
And so, Mohler and others,
I'd recommend a guy named Gavin Ortland to you.
They take that idea of medical triage and apply it to the Bible.
And to our conversations about the Word.
I think it's a helpful way for us to think about it.
So, first-tier issues.
First-tier issues.
These are issues of the most importance.
Highest importance.
The Trinity.
The divinity of Christ.
Salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone.
These are worth dying for.
You cannot be a Christian if you don't hold to these beliefs.
The resurrection of Christ.
The second coming of Christ.
These are of utmost first-tier importance.
Then you have second-tier issues.
Baptism, for example.
Is it important?
Yes.
Does the Bible speak to it?
Yes.
Friend, you ought to be convinced about your position on baptism.
The Bible speaks on it.
We believe we're a Baptist church.
We believe baptism is for believers.
Our Presbyterian brothers and sisters believe that baptism is for believers and their children.
We take a difference of interpretation here, but they are not heretics.
They are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
So, we divide into separate churches.
But we, as Mark Dever says, we build low fences and we shake hands often.
They're our friends.
We don't divide over such things.
We disagree in love.
And then you have third-tier issues.
Down here at the bottom.
Now, these are issues that we can be a part of the same church family and we can disagree.
We don't have to argue.
We don't have to divide.
We don't have to throw stones at one another.
We can be a part of one big happy family and take positions that are different.
Maybe Scripture speaks to it, but it's a little less clear.
It's a little less easily discerned.
The details surrounding the second coming of Christ, for example.
We've been studying Revelation.
Is He coming?
First tier.
Yes, you better believe it.
Will He judge the living and the dead?
You better believe it.
First tier.
He's coming.
Will the new heavens and the new earth be glorious when He comes to reign?
Yes, first tier.
You better believe it.
When and how and where and what will be the signs when He comes?
And how do we interpret literal millennium, figurative millennium?
How do we understand Revelation?
We can disagree here.
And that's okay.
And essentials unity and non-essentials diversity and all things charity.
And way down the list here, way down the list, are the issues that Titus is dealing with here in Crete.
Arguments over genealogies?
Are you kidding me?
A list of names?
We're going to divide over that?
These names that promote speculation rather than stewardship?
We're going to spend our time obsessing over that?
See, the problem here was an over-fascination with minor points of the law in a way that distracted them and everyone around them from the main point of the law,
the main point of the Bible, namely the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That demands our full devotion.
That is what demands our full attention.
Isn't that what Paul has just said in chapter 3, verses 3 through 8?
This is what we saw last week.
The gospel.
Make a big deal of the gospel church.
Make a big deal of our sinful past.
Look here.
Chapter 3, verses 3 through 8.
He says,
We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures,
passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, hating one another.
We're no better than anyone else.
We're no more worthy of salvation than anyone else.
Make a big deal of our need for redemption.
And then make a big deal of God's saving grace in the gospel.
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, He saved us.
He saved us.
His work, His power, His mercy, His plan, His steadfast love.
He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His great mercy.
Make a big deal of His mercy, church.
Make a big deal of regeneration, our new life in Christ, new birth.
You've been born again.
Do you want to talk about that?
Do you want to make a big deal about that?
You've been reborn by the power of His Holy Spirit, the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Call attention to that.
Rejoice in that.
Make a big deal of Jesus, Christ our Savior.
We worship a risen King.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, slain for us, risen from the grave, coming again to judge the world.
Isn't that worthy of our minds?
Isn't that worthy of our discussion?
Isn't that worthy of our emphasis as we gather, as we discuss, as we study?
Isn't that worthy of our lives?
Is that of first-tier importance for you as you study the Word?
As you talk with other believers?
Is that what comes through as the emphasis of your life?
Make much of our status in Him, church.
Justified.
Forgiven.
Declared innocent in the sight of God.
Anyone who trusts in Christ.
Anyone.
Your long record of sin that spills over the judge's table, out the front door of the courtroom,
is nailed to the cross.
You are declared righteous.
You are forgiven and received and adopted as a son or a daughter of the King.
Is that not worthy of our attention?
The hope that we have of eternal life free from sin forever with God.
Eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth.
Is that not worthy of our attention?
Don't get distracted.
And don't divide over worthless things.
A healthy church feasts on the good news of the gospel.
Amen?
That's why he says in verse 8,
I want you, Titus, to insist on these things.
Insist on these things, church.
Don't get distracted.
These things are excellent and profitable for people.
These things are what leads to godliness in the church.
But avoid all this other foolish talk.
Unprofitable.
Worthless.
But sadly,
even in a healthy church,
issues can crop up
from time to time
that are dangerous for the health of the body.
Everything is going well
and then one day,
cancer.
Dangerous.
Destructive.
So Paul says,
we must be ready to remove it.
Avoid foolish controversy
and second,
remove divisive people.
This is admittedly much harder to swallow.
It's one thing to talk about ideas.
Avoid foolish conversations,
ideas,
topics.
It's another thing entirely
to do what Paul says here in verses 10 and 11.
For the sake of the health of the body,
avoid foolish controversies
and remove divisive people.
Look there to verse 10 and 11 with me.
He says,
as for a person who stirs up division,
after warning him once and then twice,
have nothing more to do with him.
Knowing that such a person is warped and sinful,
he is self-condemned.
Remove divisive people.
This is not a small matter.
And we should grieve to think about the potential
of removing someone from our body.
But Paul is clear here
that if there is unrepentant divisiveness,
unrepentant,
let me say it again,
unrepentant divisiveness,
after many heartfelt attempts
to bring them back,
call them to repentance,
draw them back to seek reconciliation,
if they are persistent
in their attempt to divide the church,
Paul says they prove themselves
to be warped and sinful.
And they must be removed
for the health of the body.
I pray we never have to apply this scripture here.
But the time may come.
In my years of ministry,
I've seen this happen once,
where I sat in a room
with other elders and deacons
and ministry leaders
and read this passage
to an individual
who had been stirring division
in the church.
Pleas for repentance
had been made
and made
over the course of weeks
and months
of warning
and calling to repentance.
And I remember very clearly
calling him
to stop spreading division,
opening this passage to him
and calling him
to stop spreading lies.
And he said with hate in his voice,
this will get worse.
And he was right.
I was thankful
that this passage
had been taught
and understood
by the church
well before it needed
to be applied.
That they got it.
So I want to ask
four questions here.
We're going to jump around
to a few different places
of scripture,
so please have your Bibles open.
I want to ask
four questions here
that I think
will help us understand
what's going on
and what he's saying here.
First question,
what gift was given
to the church
in the gospel?
What gift
was given
to the church
in the gospel?
There are many gifts
given to the church
in the gospel,
but the one
that was under attack
here in Crete
is the gift
of unity.
The gift
of unity.
Ephesians chapter 4
verses 1 through 3.
Paul says,
I therefore,
a prisoner
for the Lord,
urge you
to walk
in a manner
worthy
of the calling
to which you
have been called
with all humility
and gentleness,
with patience,
bearing with one another
eager to maintain
the unity
of the Spirit
in the bond
of peace.
In the gospel,
Christ Jesus,
he created
spiritual unity.
The sinners
who were once
divided from God
are now united
through faith
in Christ,
reunited
to the Heavenly Father,
and sinners
who were once
divided from one another
are now through Christ
in one body
united to one another.
Now,
we don't create
spiritual unity.
We don't have the task
to create unity
in the church.
We're given the task
to maintain
what we have been given
in the gospel.
Now,
Paul says,
be eager
to maintain
the unity
of the Spirit
in the bond
of peace.
We have to be
reminded of this.
Now,
Paul has to tell us
to do this
because otherwise
we slip into
our own opinions,
our own preferences,
our own world.
We want everybody
to bend to our will
and our way,
get on board with us,
and our desires
is about us.
And so,
Paul tells us,
he calls us
in the power
of the Spirit
to bear
with one another
in love,
with humility,
with patience,
with gentleness.
Be eager
to maintain
the unity.
Are we pursuing it?
Church,
are we eager
to maintain
the unity?
Not do we want
a unified church?
Everybody wants
a unified church.
Uh-oh.
Better speak right.
Everybody wants
a unified church.
Are we pursuing it
with eagerness?
Are we praying for it,
laying our preferences
aside for the sake
of unity?
Keeping these
first-tier issues
at first importance
for the sake of unity.
We're probably
not united
in many things.
Musical preferences,
background,
income level,
upbringing,
hair color.
But we're united
in the gospel.
Keep that first.
Second question.
What authority
was given
to the church?
what authority
was given
to the church?
In short,
the church
is given
authority
to recognize
that unity.
The church
is given
authority
to recognize
that spiritual
unity.
Matthew chapter 18.
If you would
turn there for me,
because I want you
to lay eyes
on this passage.
This is the passage
that Pete read
for us earlier.
Matthew chapter 18
verses 15
through 20.
Jesus says,
if your brother
sins against you,
go and tell him
his fault
between you
and him alone.
Don't hold a grudge.
Don't keep
your offense silent.
Don't harbor it
inside of yourself.
Talk to your brother
between you
and him alone.
If he listens
to you,
you've gained
your brother.
Praise God.
But if he does
not listen,
take one or two
others along
with you
that every charge
may be established
by the evidence
of two or three
witnesses.
If he refuses
to listen to them,
tell it to
the church.
Here's the authority.
And if he refuses
to listen
even to the church,
let him be to you
as a Gentile
and a tax collector.
Truly I say to you,
whatever you bind
on earth
shall be bound
in heaven.
Whatever you loose
on earth
shall be loosed
in heaven.
Again I say to you,
if two of you
agree on earth
about anything
they ask,
it will be done
for them
by my Father
in heaven.
For where two
or three
are gathered
in my name,
there am I
among them.
you see the church
is a community
of the redeemed.
We have been
by the grace of God
plucked out
of belonging
to the world.
We now belong
to the kingdom
of God
and the church
is given
incredible authority
by God
to recognize
and to declare
in the name of Christ
who's in
and who's out.
that's what
church membership
is.
It's a recognition
by the church
that each
individual member
is a member
of the invisible church,
is a member
of the kingdom
of God,
that they are
in fact saved
by the grace
of God.
They have a credible
profession of
saving faith
in Christ Jesus
and so when the church
adds a new member,
what we're saying
is we affirm
your salvation.
We believe
as far as we can tell,
we're not infallible,
but as far as we can tell
that you have been
genuinely born again.
We believe you are
united to God
and we are
committing
to walk
alongside you.
We're committing
to help you
live a life
that is
pleasing to God,
honoring to Him,
to disciple you
and to serve you
and to love you
as a brother
or sister
in Christ.
You are
united to
us.
And when a church
removes
a member
from among them,
what they're saying
is we can no longer
in good conscience
affirm
your salvation.
We can't say
you're saved
or not saved.
We're not infallible.
God alone knows that,
but something
is happening here.
There's sufficient evidence,
this posture
of unrepentive
divisiveness,
of wanting to work
against,
destroy the church,
that's not consistent
with a profession
of faith.
And so,
we release you
back into
the world.
Church membership
does not save anyone.
Church discipline
does not condemn
anyone.
Rather,
the church,
again,
is given
authority to
recognize
on behalf
of Christ
and to
declare
those who
give evidence
of regeneration
or evidence
not of us
condemning,
but of self-condemnation.
So,
third,
what command
was given
for the divisive
person?
What command
was given
for the divisive
person?
First,
is to seek
reconciliation.
First command
is to seek
restoration.
The removal
is not
punitive,
it is with
tears,
it is
patient,
it is
slow,
painful,
it is
painful.
You know,
this passage
in Matthew
18,
if your
Bibles are
still open
there to
Matthew 18,
he says,
if your
brother sins
against you,
tell him,
go bring
others,
bring the
church,
let him
be to you
as a
Gentile
and a
tax collector.
That passage
is sandwiched
there in
between two
parables.
Do you see
that there,
Matthew 18?
Two parables,
parable of
the lost
sheep,
we won't
read them
for the sake
of time,
and the
parable of
the unforgiving
servant.
Two slices
of bread
right there,
the meat
in the
middle,
this section
on church
discipline
in Matthew
chapter 18.
The parable
of the
lost sheep,
you know
it,
it says
there was
a shepherd
had a hundred
sheep,
he kept
ninety-nine,
the one
went off,
and what
happens?
He stays
with the
ninety-nine
and bid
good riddance?
No,
he pursues
the one
that went
away.
And it
concludes
here with
the heart
of God,
it says,
so it
is not
the will
of my
father who
is in
heaven that
one of
these little
ones should
perish.
And then
the parable
of the
unforgiving
servant,
there beneath
it begins
with Peter's
question,
Lord,
how often
will my
brother sin
against me
and I
forgive him?
Seven times?
the Lord
said to
him,
not seven
Peter,
but
seventy-seven.
I think
this should
tell us,
church,
that the
removal of
a member
from among
us should
never be
because of
our unwillingness
to forgive.
It should
never be
because of
the church's
hardened
posture.
the first
command in
any case
of church
discipline
is to
seek
reconciliation.
It's to
seek to
demonstrate
the heart
of God
to sinners,
to call
them to
repent,
to open
up your
arms,
to be
willing to
forgive,
not seven,
but 77
times if
they would
but repent.
But if
they will
not,
if this
is not
possible,
then with
tears,
with tears,
they must
be removed.
Surgery
is painful.
I've never
met anybody
who enjoyed
it.
But sometimes
for the sake
of the health
of the body,
it is
necessary.
So Paul
says,
have nothing
more to
do with
him.
If that
sounds
weighty,
if that
sounds
serious
to you,
it is.
And this
is not
a popular
section of
scripture.
And for
good reason,
this isn't
pleasant,
but sadly,
it is on
sad occasion
necessary.
When someone
has so
hardened
themselves in
sin,
this warped
and self-condemning
state that
will not
accept
reconciliation,
we don't
condemn them,
we recognize
that they
are self-
condemned.
Isn't that
judging?
Maybe you're
wondering that.
It is.
As we
were commanded
to do.
1 Corinthians
chapter 5,
Paul says,
I'm writing
to you not
to associate
with anyone
who bears
the name
of brother.
Let me say
that again.
who bears
the name
of brother.
If he is
guilty of
sexual
immorality
or greed,
or is an
idolater,
reviler,
drunkard,
or swindler,
not even to
eat with
such a one,
for what
have I to
do with
judging
outsiders?
Is it
not those
inside the
church whom
you are
to judge?
God judges
those outside.
Purge the
evil person
from among
you.
Fourth
question.
what is
the goal
of removal?
What's
the point?
Couldn't
we just
leave it
alone?
Well,
there are
many goals.
Obedience
for one,
as I hope
we've seen,
this clear
command of
scripture,
our witness
for another.
What does
the outside
world say
when we
let a
divisiveness,
a spirit
of division
exist in
the church?
a warning
for other
believers,
the purity
of the
church,
the glory
of God,
but another
goal of
removal,
I want us
to see this,
is love.
It's love.
Our hope
and our prayer
in removing
anyone is
that by the
grace of
God,
they be
awakened to
the depth
of their
sin,
that they
see it
for what
it is,
and that
they be
restored in
full,
both to
the Lord
and to
the church.
The first
Corinthians 5,
again,
he says,
when you
are assembled,
church,
in the name
of the Lord
Jesus,
and my
spirit is
present with
the power
of the Lord
Jesus,
you are to
deliver this
man to
Satan for
the destruction
of the flesh.
He says,
send him out
of the church
and into
the world.
Treat him,
as Matthew 18
says,
as a Gentile
or a tax
collector.
But look
here,
here's the
goal,
so that
his spirit
may be
saved
in the
day of
the Lord.
The goal
is salvation,
is redemption,
is restored
unity.
So church,
we close
here with
hope.
This is the
hope of the
gospel.
No sinner
is too
far gone.
No sinner
is too
far
gone.
So long
as there
is breath
in our
lungs,
there is
opportunity,
there is
invitation
to repent
of our
sin,
to cast
ourselves
and to
trust in
Christ,
there is
hope for
the worst,
most hardened,
most difficult,
most divisive,
most ruined
sinner in
the world.
Like the
prodigal son,
if they would
only recognize
their state
and come
back home,
they would
with open
arms be
received by
their father.
Paul knew
this,
didn't he?
Murderer
of the
church,
persecutor
of Christ,
the chief
of sinners,
rescued
from his
sin by
the grace
of God,
restored to
fellowship with
Christ and
his people,
the church.
The saying
is trustworthy
and deserving
of full
acceptance that
Christ Jesus
came into
the world
to save
sinners of
whom I
am the
foremost,
but I
received mercy
for this
reason,
Paul says,
that in me
as the
foremost
sinner,
Jesus Christ
might display
his perfect
patience as
an example
to those
who were
to believe
in him
for eternal
life.
Do you
believe that
gospel?
Rejoice
that your
sins have
been forgiven.
Rejoice
that you
as an
undeserving
sinner have
been reconciled
to God
by the blood
of Christ
and rejoice
that by grace
through faith
you have
been brought
into one
big,
messy,
happy family
called the
church.
Do you
love that
mess?
Do you
love the
church?
God does.
Those who
came through
last week's
membership class,
they read
through our
church covenant
line by line,
that's a list
of our
commitments that
we plan to
make to
one another
and the
very first
one on
the list,
you know
what it is?
We will
pursue
unity,
working and
praying for
the unity
of the
spirit in
the bond
of peace,
working and
praying for
the unity.
Are you?
Are you
committed
to pursue
unity?
Would you
commit now
not to make
mountains out
of mole
hills here?
Church,
would you
commit now
to not
divide over
little things,
to not
fight or
fuss over
minor things,
to not
obsess over
minor things?
Would you
commit now
to make
Christ in
the glory
of God
the center
of our
attention
together
as a
church?
Would you
just commit
to do
that?
Would you
make that
the priority
of your
heart as
an individual
as you
soak in
the word
of God
this week?
Would you
seek the
main things?
devote your
life to
Christ in
the gospel?
And would
we commit
as a church
family to
obey the
word of
God?
There's
parts that
are easy,
there's maybe
a few of
those,
and those
that are
harder to
swallow.
Would we
submit
ourselves to
his word
for the
sake of
his glory
and the
good of
the church?
Our
great physician
heals the
sick,
church,
and the
body of
Christ,
despite our
flaws,
despite our
weakness,
will one
day be
radiant.
Let's pursue
that with
eagerness.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Father God,
we thank you
for your
word,
and we
pray that
what was
good and
true and
helpful of
any that I
just said
would stick
and if
there was
any untruth,
anything
unhelpful,
would it
fall out
of our
ears and
hit the
ground and
be forgotten?
Lord,
we ask that
you would be
made much
of here
among us.
Lord,
we ask that
we would be
a unified
body,
unified in
the gospel
of Christ.
Keep that
at the center
of our hearts
and of our
lives.
We love you.
We pray this
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Absolutely.
Amen.