Deal with unrepentant sin: 1 Corinthians 5v1-13

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.

1 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

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.

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.

1 Corinthians 1:2

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,

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