Destruction By Satan - A Remedy For The Soul? - [1 Corinthians 5:3-5]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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Well, why don't you turn your Bibles please to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 1st Corinthians chapter 5 this morning.

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It's a very solemn passage. I feel solemn and You'll need to listen very very carefully this morning

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Because after the service We will have to do exactly what this text says

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First Corinthians chapter 5 in other words

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We'll look through 1st Corinthians 5 this morning and then sadly have to Deliver a lady over to Satan so her body might be destroyed

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In hopes that she would repent and believe the gospel Why don't we pray first and then we'll start a

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Father we now would ask your assistance by your spirit's power Or help us not to be like Corinth Help us to address sin unrepentant sin

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Help us to obey you Lord in light of everything that you've done for us

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How you've? Elected us called us justified us redeemed us sanctified us sealed us

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Given us the hope of glorification the promise that you will glorify us Lord, I just pray today

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For myself and for these dear people that you would help us to respond now properly and biblically

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To something that I'm sure is more grievous to you than it is to me or to anyone here help us not to ignore your commands

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Help us not to denounce your commands Lord we want you in this church.

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We want your presence here Although we don't want you to abandon us because we will

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Disregard your word that we will disregard what your text clearly says

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So help us today first to understand the text and then give us courage to obey it

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Because Lord you have loved us, and we want to show our love to you by obedience

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And we want to show our love to the enslaved sinner The right kind of love to in Jesus name.

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We pray Amen as I get up to preach this morning

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I almost wish this was a dream. I must switch to a dream that we didn't have to deal with it when

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I was younger I Always liked it when my father was around because if something was going wrongly in my life and circumstances my father would step in I'll take care of it son.

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I Thought earlier today. You know if only John MacArthur was here and my spiritual father John He could deal with it for me while I could just sit

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Except God has not ordained my father nor John MacArthur to be the pastor of the church, but he has ordained me and so By the grace of God we will work through first Corinthians chapter 5 and then sadly have to do what it says

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I don't know about you, but If you ever been in a home without discipline What do you usually think of I've been in airplanes before and children have no discipline, and I think to myself

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Would you please control your children I? Remember one time I was listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio

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And he was saying I was at a Denver Airport And there was finally a man so fed up with other people's children

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He looked at the father and said would you please control your children? I thought about a year before I was in Denver, and I had to say that to someone

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I wonder if Chuck Swindoll was eavesdropping in my conversation Calvin said but because some persons in their hatred of discipline recoil from its very nature let them understand this

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If no society indeed no house which has even a small family can be kept in proper condition without Discipline it is much more necessary in the church whose condition should be as ordered as possible

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Therefore all who desire to remove discipline are hinder its restoration Whether they do this deliberately or out of ignorance are surely contributing to the ultimate dissolution of the church as I said two weeks ago

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The presence of church discipline in a church is the new scandal The scandal used to be we don't have church discipline the new scandal is there is church discipline

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I Like to know how many people here have ever been in a church before Bethlehem Bible Church that has had to actually name someone by Name because of unrepentant sin raise your hand

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And I would say that's a large majority And we'll learn today that it's in the

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Bible and if you're a Christian you're in a Christian Church Some things we don't like to do many things we don't like to do, but we are bound

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We're on to duty and so this morning We will look at three watchwords for a

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Christ honoring church as she deals with sin from 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verses 3 to 5 but before we get to those three watchwords

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Let's just catch up in verses 1 & 2 and see where we are so that we can understand church discipline

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Properly I want this church to be governed well I want you to see that exact same thing

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I want you to desire above all else Personal purity and purity in the church

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I Pray that you want God's integrity Honored in a local church that we honor him above all else.

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I Urge you to see that church discipline does several things one it shows our love to God To it's

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God's way to reclaim a sinner don't we want to reclaim sinners. Oh, we're done with you

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We don't want to you know if you sin, and you're enslaved. Okay. That's it. It's over No church discipline is set up to reclaim the sinner

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And I want you to see that once you see the patience of God and the goodness of God and how he works through His word a side benefit is a good benefit.

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I also as we work through these passages want you to be afraid of sinning Because church discipline deters people from sinning.

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I hope you say to yourself I would never want that to happen to me and can you imagine later in this passage?

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We're going to see that church discipline excommunication the fourth step basically says Satan you can have this person and you ravage them in whichever way you want you attack their body slowly painfully

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Over a long period of time so that they would finally lay there and say you know I'm on my deathbed, and I probably should get right with the

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Lord I don't know about you, but I would never want that to happen to me And so church discipline has a lot of functions and the church at Corinth.

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Just would not deal with sin I'm very glad as I said two weeks ago. You don't get kicked out of churches for sinning aren't you glad?

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Let's just be Baptistic for a minute amen right amen. You don't get kicked out for sin You get excommunicated taken out of communication with other out of communion with other saints because of unrepentant sin

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High -handed sin trees in a sin sin that affects marriages because when you affect a marriage

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It affects the people's view of Jesus and his bride I'm quite convinced not

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Bethlehem Bible Church, but I'm quite convinced that Evangelicalism has been infiltrated with a carnal

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Corinthian movement numbers success publishers

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Hankering as we learned yesterday a drooling for the world's acceptance in one sense

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I think we're sequestered from all that because we're not close to Harvard. We're not close to New Haven We're not close to Yale, but if we were closer

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It would be a little harder for us to say we don't care what they think we're not after the intelligentsia

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We're not after academia in one sense. It's kind of nice to be in the sleepy little community called

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West Boylston But I personally don't want to be a Corinthian. I don't want to be carnal and Paul presents this whole book to them to say here's who

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Jesus is and in light of who Jesus is and how he's called You live commensurate to your call the first four chapters he just will not let them up for air almost because they've got the wrong view of leadership and He wants to make sure they're unified and when you don't have the right view of leadership or when the leaders are acting poorly

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I'll tell you something that you'll never see in a local church, and that is dealing with sin If the father in the home doesn't deal with things

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It's probably not going to get dealt with if the church leadership won't deal with things who will help

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And Paul says I will help and if you look at chapter 5 verse 1 in review

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Let's just look at verses 1 & 2 Paul knows the stakes couldn't be higher

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It's not about a person. It's not about a man. It's not about a woman or a boy or a girl It's about the glory of Christ Jesus By the way, that's why you came today if you came with good intentions

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I came to give honor to God I didn't come to get I didn't come to feel good.

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I really wanted those up -tempo music songs I didn't want any songs in minor key and today

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I'm having a rough day, so I sure hope the message is peppy and up and slap happy And it makes me feel good, and he starts off with a joke or something

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We're here to worship And we're just marching through verse by verse by verse through 1st Corinthians and it is quite apropos in the sovereignty of God that we are in this very passage today and Look at the chagrin of Paul chapter 5 verse 1

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Remember he's over at Ephesus, and he's writing to Corinth which is really close to Athens It's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans

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For a man has his father's wife There's this sexual sin that's so bad even pagans say you know this guy having his stepmother as a wife

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Regularly committing a grievous sin this sex obsessed Seaport even frowns upon it, but you're letting it go in the church and saying no big deal

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Live and let live the Corinthian Church is saying this they're using the world's life verse you have a life verse

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If you ever assign your name, and you put a life verse on it. Maybe an email signature my life verse

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Well the world has a life verse, and here's the world's life verse Judge not lest you be judged.

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I mean when I talk to people in the world It's like they're like they're Kit Carson or something and they've got a six shooter

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And they just kind of watch my lips waiting for my next Sentence to come to a completion and out comes the gun judge not lest you be judged.

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Okay. I guess you win Sorry that you're taking it out of context you have no idea what you're talking about But you just like that because it helps you sleep better Like Nietzsche with you know

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I have to can make this construct so I can live with my immorality Christians aren't what they used to be

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We were all born fornicators I don't Idolaters adulterers

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Homosexual I don't care how you're born you're born with the propensity to sin then

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God saves you he redeems you What is tied to say he washes you?

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What is first Corinthians 6 a he makes you alive and you don't live like you used to such were some of you and Here's this group of called -out people pure people

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Christ's bride. I think bride should be pure I think there's a reason why we have brides dressing in white and Now the way the

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Corinthians are acting it's like they're going over to some kind of mud field

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And they're just picking up these huge things of mud And they're going over to the bride and just bedobbing the bride with all kinds of just gross stuff

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And you know the thing about the Corinthians They're so carnal that they think it's actually good

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They're prideful about it look at the text. What does this text say in chapter 5 verse 2 and you are arrogant oh?

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Oh, we're above that we can deal with it. It's okay, or maybe they're so full of Liberty they think liberty in Christ these libertines.

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Just go that's no big deal Maybe they're for those of you who know who what a neoplatonic dualist is maybe it's somebody who just says you know my body's really

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You know it's bad, it's it's it's irrelevant, but my soul's really good, so what I do with the body

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It doesn't matter because my soul stays clean And you can just think about how they begin to rationalize sin and isn't that what we do

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That's why the Bible calls sin the deceit of sin because we like to rationalize it

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We know what to do and we find other people that sin more I can just hear the people of Corinth saying to Paul Well Paul if you think we're bad you should see all those people over there in Siberia.

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They're even worse when Paul says it's actually reported among you and And you're you're prideful you're arrogant

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What's the response to sin to some kind of horrible sin where a man?

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Father died most likely and now he marries his father's wife his stepmother

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The response is mourning Listen to Amos to thus says the

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Lord for three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke the punishment because they sell righteousness for silver and The needy for a pair of sandals

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Those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth turn aside the way of the afflicted and here's something that deserves judgment according to Amos a

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Man and his father go into the same girl so that my holy name is profaned

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Paul says you need to deal with that sin It's God's will for you to deal with that sin that sexual sin says you're shockingly having low standards

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Paul's basically saying this there's a cancer in your church, and you might not want to get the scalpel out to excise that cancer

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But I'm over here, and I'm an apostle and I represent Christ Jesus if I were there.

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I'd get it out Church get that out. I mean what kind of spirituality accepts that Bad news is we can ask our own lives what we accept in our own lives for sin

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Should be mourning by the way there are a bunch of different words for mourning as I said two weeks ago This is the toughest word.

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This is the kind of morning where you think I've just lost somebody that I love I cannot stop crying. This is funeral morning

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John Payton and his wife went to the New Hebrides Vanuatu we call it now in 19 excuse me in 1858

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He gets there his wife dies one week later his infant son dies And he said quote let those who have ever passed through any similar darkness of midnight feel for me

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As for all others it would be more than vain to try to paint my sorrows

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But for Jesus I would have gone mad and died lost a dad lost a mom lost a daughter

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He lost a son It's that kind of morning, it's John Payton morning, but it's morning because do you know what's gonna happen?

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This person it's like a death in the family Because they have said they have forced the church to treat them like an outsider like a pagan the

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Corinthians Keep them in and Paul saying you've got to get rid of that person Ezra 10 says now while Ezra was praying and making confession

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Weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God People were weeping bitterly

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And now we come to chapter 5 verse 3 through 5. Let me give you three watch words for outline today so that you can honor

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Christ in his church as her Leaders deal with sin and sinners and purity

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Watch word number one agree agree You ought to agree with the leaders here at the church

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The church discipline is necessary and must be instituted The Corinthians needed to agree with Paul the

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Apostle Paul was pronouncing judgment They needed to pronounce judgment with the leadership of the

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Apostle Paul verse 3 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verse 3 For though absent in body

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I am present in spirit so Paul's writing of the Church of Corinth He's you know there's a sea between he and the

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Corinthians for though absent in body I am present in spirit He was talking about you in verse 2 now.

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We've moved to first person singular. I here's the pronoun I I am present in spirit as if present

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I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did and he says it with Righteous disdain looking down his nose at such a grievous sin who did such a thing

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I've already judged it that's sin when there's someone in the church And they've broken their marriage vows and they're living with someone else when there's someone in the church who says you know

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I think I'm gonna marry my father's wife Paul says this is sinful, and I'll judge the sin if you want.

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I'll get the gavel out you're afraid to get the gavel out Because people might leave that's a reason why people don't do church discipline

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You're afraid to get the gavel up because people might sue you you know you know you're afraid to get the gavel up for what reason?

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The Corinthians are going to get a good lesson in chapter 13 that they didn't love much

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It is the most unloving thing you could ever do to not obey God It's unloving to the people in the church, and it is unloving to the person who's caught in sin

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This whole well, you know they're not very loving well translation biblically if you mean

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They don't you don't feel love there that may be one thing But they don't love the Bible says if you love me you will what and So Paul says

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I love God because he's loved me. I will pronounce judgment I've already pronounced such judgment on the one who did such a thing

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It's tempting to delay We make excuses well. We'll just wait another week, or maybe it'll work out

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You need more time to pray Paul says deal with the sin So my question to you first is do you agree with Paul that it was the right thing to do

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And second of all in our current church situation you the congregation need not say well

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You know the church leaders are doing this and and I don't think that's right You need to agree because Paul's writing the whole church of Corinth He's implicating the leaders, but the whole church is involved in church discipline

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You need to stand with the elders You need to affirm the purity of the church with the elders when you hear grumblers about church discipline even maybe this afternoon

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You need to stand and say this is a Bible teaching church and sadly. There's no glee here.

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There's no joy Frankly I would just assume not preach But I'm gonna do what the

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Bible says and preach and try to preach with as much conviction as I can why? Because it's not my church, and if God says to do it

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I'm going to do it. You need to defend the elders pray for the elders stand with the elders You're all responsible for this current case of church discipline

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So the first watchword is agree The second watchword is found in 1st

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Corinthians chapter 5 verses 3 to 5 so that you honor the church Christ Church is submit agree

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Pronounce judgment with the leadership number to submit to the Lord of this church and his name is

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Jesus Christ This is our church. We do what we want. This is my church

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I do what we want Mike's Church But look at the language here in chapter 5 verse 4 when you are assembled in the name of the what

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Lord Jesus Lord isn't his first name Jesus isn't his last name. You know when I was a kid I thought you know

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Lord Jesus Christ. You know Michael Lee Abendroth Jesus is that name that is used

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Given of Christ because he would save his people from their sins Christ the Messiah the anointed one the one from the

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Old Testament that would say yes. He's the king He's the king of Israel and Lord means what?

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Lord he owns he's sovereign. He's the king of the church. It's his church.

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I say it once in a while I kind of don't mean to say it I guess you mean to say what you say, but I don't like to say it when

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I do. This is my church How many people are at your church? Where is your church?

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Geographically, where's your church? Well? It is ours collectively as a community.

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I know that but this is Jesus's Church primarily And it says that he says it again and my spirit is present with the power of our

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Lord Jesus two times Lord Jesus in the name of Jesus This isn't

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I say Jesus in the name in the name of Mike means I say Mike in the name of Jesus means especially in the in the

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Near Eastern world Who that person was all -powerful? Almighty just holy sinless

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Faithful kind generous in the name of the Lord Jesus Kind of like in another church discipline case

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Paul says to the church at Thessalonica now We command you beloved in the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ You guys think you're Lords. He says to the Corinthians.

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You're not the Lord By the way, you don't make Jesus Lord either Jesus is

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Lord and if Jesus is Lord you do what the Lord says He's got the authority

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Have to be careful with Jesus's Church now

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Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi He asked his disciples who do people say that the Son of Man is?

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They said some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and others Jeremiah are one of the prophets

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But who do you say that I am? You Peter said are the Christ the

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Son of the Living God and Jesus said Blessed are you Simon Barjona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you

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But my father who's in heaven, and I tell you Peter you are

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Peter and on this rock I will build and Jesus says my Church and the gates of death shall not prevail against it.

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Let's call church discipline a lack of church discipline for what it really is an utter disregard for the

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Lordship of Christ That's what it is When there's unrepentant sin in a local church that won't be dealt with let's just call it for what it is

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God I don't care what you say because we've got a better plan You don't know our circumstances, and we will just rationalize sin and here.

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It is a slap in the sovereign's face We are his servants. We are his the megaphone.

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You're not Lord Ephesians Paul says he put under he put all things under his feet and gave

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Jesus as head over all things in the church I want to try to say this carefully because I'm upset today.

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I'm saddened today. I'm downcast today But by the strength that God gives me

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I am going to obey the Lord Jesus Christ in this church And if you don't want to obey him, this is the wrong church for you

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I Don't want you to go but if I have a choice between 80 % of the congregation

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Revolting because they don't want this kind of sermon. They don't want this kind of action Then I guess it's just my wife and kids and the elders and deacons and their family and that'll be it

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We cannot do things based on what we think will happen That's pragmatic.

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That's saying you know what? We're gonna do it our own way Jesus is the

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Lord of the church Why don't you turn to Matthew chapter 18 and let's just again look through this we've seen it before but I want you to see that the

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Stamp of the authority of Jesus is right here in Matthew 18 This is the Lord of the church if you're eight years old

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You can understand this passage. The problem is trying to do it because it doesn't make me feel good

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By the way this afternoon, excuse me this morning I took about 12 of the men in my discipleship group over to the

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Cemetery right over there across the the road 110 We walked to the back as a Catholic cemetery

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And I had them give their Bible memory verses and they had to do 17 verses of Jonah in order

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Jonah 1 1 to 17 and they had to look at the tombstones and say and the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying

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Now every one of them when they were standing there waiting for their turn in the cold They didn't look like they really felt that good

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How do you feel? and they were feeling like this Then when they got done and every one of them did a great job.

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I was so proud of them I was actually looking to to some of the the ground by the tombstones just waiting for some kind of rumbling effect

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You know dead men's bones being raised like Ezekiel the power of the Word of God and they stood there and they recited the 17 verses by memory and then

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I gave him a big hug we all clapped and Several of them I said I said, how do you feel?

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They said I feel good Because we don't do things as Christians based on our feelings at least we shouldn't

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We do things because we have a Lord and the Lord tells you what to do And you know, the good thing is after you do what the

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Lord says, how do you feel? You feel good Happy is the man who does the law?

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Why did Cain's countenance fall because he did the wrong thing show me somebody who does the right thing and they feel good

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And so look at chapter 18 of Matthew My focus again is I want you to see if this is

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Jesus's church. We do what Jesus says It's as simple as that not some obscure passage.

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It's not some kind of not the best manuscripts It's clear you'll see the four steps as clear as day

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If your brother sins against you and sins against you go and tell him his fault Matthew 18 15

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Between you and him alone if he listens to you great news. You have gained your brother

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If he does not Take one or two others along with you. This is just right out of Deuteronomy gotta have the right witnesses

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These aren't eyewitnesses to the sin these are witnesses to the Clarification to make sure this person knows that they're sinful

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This is these are witnesses to the confrontation if you will 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

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Step three verse 17 This is Jesus talking the Lord of the church. Here's how you

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Take care of my church my trust if he refuses to listen to them tell it to what?

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the presbytery the session the elder board Just the people they they've affected

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Tell it to the church Why because you want them to pray you want them to come alongside? It's like let's say if your knee is hurting

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You know people used to say in the old days If they're thinking through this right about your body and say first Corinthians 12 talks all about you know

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The church body is like a body if you're really thinking properly you won't say the knee that is on my leg hurts

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You'll say I hurt My knee hurts If you're gonna try to speak for all your appendages you could say our knee hurts, but you say

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I am a hurting Have a headache today I Mean it's not you know this kind of cranial aspect right up here over here to the left and the right you know it's got

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Some kind of pain I hurt And so when the church hurts the church comes along and around because this is not solo

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American Paul Revere Christianity Tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church

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Step four let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector Excommunicate him and Then look at the

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Lordship of Jesus verse 18 don't forget these three verses Truly I say to you whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven

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Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven that is to say God already knows this person is enslaved to sin and acting like a pagan

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Kick them out and as you kick them out. Do you know what you're doing? You're mirroring what has happened already in heaven the

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Bible says that's already done. You confirm that That's a weighty responsibility the

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Lord of the church said it and Again, I say to you verse 19 if two or two of you agree on earth about anything

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They ask in the context of discipline in the context of purity for the Lord's Church It will be done for them by my

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Father in heaven By the way when the sinner repents and the church restores them

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That's exactly what's already happened in heaven as well And then look at verse 20 look at the authority of the

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Lord when it comes to church discipline I just want to hear it feel the presence of God well

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Here's a good way to enjoy the presence of God obey church discipline verse 20 for where two or three are gathered in my name

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There am I I ask you this question who determines what we do at this church assembly the elders the deacons majority rules

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Society the latest book Jesus Christ determines what we do

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It's not our statement of faith. It's not a church growth guru It's Jesus Christ watch word number three back to first Corinthians Please three watch words this morning for a

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Christ honoring church and her desire to deal with Jesus Christ as She deals with sin sinners and purity agree submit and finally hope

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Hope I could say think think long term, but let's just use the word this morning

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Hope there's a reason we're doing this of course. We're under the

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Lordship of Christ But there's an ultimate purpose, and we're gonna be hopeful do God's the ways do

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God's Program God's ways, and we're going to hope for the restoration of the person

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There's not one person in this audience who really could understand the awfulness of hell and would say

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Yeah, I want that person to go I don't care what somebody has done to you or what you think

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Hitler Stalin Pol Pot has done You would never if you got a glimpse of hell for five seconds

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You would say oh God have mercy on people so they don't go there It's our hope not to say we're kicking you out of the church go to hell

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Our job is Responsibility and privilege Lord. This is what you want. This is what we'll do

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Thankful you're faithful you're merciful you're gracious You've been that way to us and now

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Lord do something in this person's life through this catastrophe and make them repent

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We want them to go to heaven Look at verse 5 Can you think of a more ominous verse in all the

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Bible? This is the kind of verse that make people want to say

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Satan some kind of made -up trick -or -treat kind of outfit with you know red horns and a pitchfork

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I Wish it was that simple first Corinthians 5 5

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You are to deliver this man To Satan Two purposes the

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Greek there's a purpose clause with two purposes Why are you deliver this person to Satan for a the destruction of the flesh and be?

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So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord now literally the

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Greek is deliver such a one Earlier he said this one now.

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He says such a one. What's the big deal this one such a one this one this particular man

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Such a one if things like this ever come up again Churches down through the centuries so when such a person an unrepentant flagrant sin when they're in the local church deal with it

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This makes sure that no one could say well. You know this is just Paul at Corinth It's like Gordon Fee when he says well.

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You know this whole Patriarchal system at Ephesus first Timothy men are to be the preachers.

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That's just for Ephesus Deliver such a one

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By the way, it's got a it's got an oomph of imperative or command. It's imperative Deliver such a one no options.

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You can't say well. You know we better vote on it by the way one reason I know congregational rule is not true is because if congregational rule and voting was true

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No one would ever get voted out of a church Because the meetings would be a complete disaster

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Well we don't think so well we think so then all of a sudden the leaders who know all the details of the last six months of all the ins and Outs and have covered some of those because it is a glory to cover transgressions

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Then the leaders have to say yes, but I need to tell you all this so you'll vote with me It is an utter complete disaster show me a congregational rule

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Church And I'll show you a church that can hardly get through a church discipline case And here he says deliver, this is a judicial sentencing deliver them

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Excommunicate them. Why look at the first one.

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I mean this is for anyone that says something either out of ignorance or out of just You know they despise the

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Christian religion the Old Testament God. He's a God of wrath justice holiness

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Noah's Flood power of Babel Babylonian captivity, but the

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New Testament God he just a God of love He's like George Burns, and oh God. He just loves grandpa

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God. I don't know if they've ever read this verse I don't know if they've ever read Exodus chapter 34 where God is slow to slow to anger compassionate generous and gracious God is

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God old and New Testament Of course God is long -suffering and gracious and generous look at the person of Christ But there is a time

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Where chastening has to happen chastening from the deity? And what happens when you say out of the church you go no fellowship no extra blessings no protection

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No covering no headship What does the text say for the destruction of the what?

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flesh Flesh up to and including death 1st

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Corinthians chapter 11 we know about that some people eat and drink the Lord's Supper wrongly And it says they drink judgment on themselves.

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That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have what? died

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I Don't know if there's anything scarier more grim than saying

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Lord over the last six months all these things have happened step one step two step three

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The letters the phone calls the emails the personal discussion the pleading the praying and now you say enough is enough and now we say to The Lord God and say to this person we give you to Satan so they he ravages your flesh

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So on your deathbed you say God help me forgive me. I want restoration

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This is not some kind of game. It's not some kind of oil tiddlywinks Church. We just do church.

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We play church This is real, so if you ask me, you know earlier today, you know, you don't look that good.

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Are you okay? The answer is no I'm not okay. I Get if I think about it for long enough.

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I could just sit here and begin to weep and to weep and to weep Because this is not some kind of abstract thing

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This is not you know, Oh Bishop Spong over here denies the deity of Christ. This is somebody within our own local fellowship

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Who's taught Sunday schools Who's been along with us to say yes church destroy their flesh

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And actually Use Satan to do it It's not new in the

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New Testament. Listen to first Timothy one this charge I entrust to you Timothy my child in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you

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That by them you may wage the good warfare holding faith and a good conscience Listen by rejecting this some have made shipwreck of their faith among whom are

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Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme and just imagine

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Satan's glee and joy at accepting such a job God We're concerned about your holiness

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So bring this person's health to ruin destroy them used often in the

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Old Testament New Testament is written in Greek Old Testament is written in Hebrew But we have a Greek version of the

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Old Testament since Alexander the Great came in and brought the Greek culture and language The Greek Old Testament uses this word destruction often for physical death

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Divine judgment Destruction and just in a moment.

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We won't get there today Next few verses are going to talk about Passover and cleansing and purging with this

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Passover Langer a language when you think of Destruction, what do you think of when you think of the destroyer?

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What do you think of when it comes to Passover? Here's the destroying angel?

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This particular case. It's Satan You say yeah, but what could Satan do to a person?

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Friends what could he not do now under different circumstances

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Job was not under step for Excommunication in the New Testament.

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He was upright He was blameless wasn't he but God still tested him and he used the person of Satan to test him

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Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and there came a messenger to Job and said the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them and the

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Sabians fell upon them and took them and struck them Struck down the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you

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Now remember this is just right after Lord says of Satan Do whatever you want to Job just don't kill him

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While he was yet speaking there came another the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and Consumed them and I alone have escaped to tell you

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When he was yet speaking there came another the Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck them

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Down the servants and by the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you while he was yet speaking there another came and said your sons

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Your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and Behold a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell upon among the young people and they

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Are dead and I alone have escaped to tell you Satan went out from the presence of the

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Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the side of his foot to the crown of his head Job took a piece of pottery broken with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes

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You remember? When Jesus said in Luke 22 Simon Simon behold

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Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat you remember that And ensures discipline

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Jesus says to Satan along with the church sifter what we're hoping for though is

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Not just the destruction of the flesh. Do you see what the text goes on to say? This is why I use the word hope

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I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone But I'm not God Yet in his goodness and his graciousness and you can just see the character of God written all over this the other purpose for delivering a person to Satan So that their spirit may be saved you see that in the end of verse 5 in the day of the

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Lord Oh God, may they be so humbled that their only way is through you looking up May be remedial maybe they'll be on their deathbed and like other people on their deathbed

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They'll say you know I should probably be right with God it's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of living

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God and I've been around church people. I've tasted the sweetness of God And I've understood a little bit about God because I've seen people get saved.

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I've seen people Experience forgiveness for horrible sins God could you forgive me?

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Like the man after the funeral this week Wednesday who came up to me at the reception And he said to me father

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Do you think God could forgive a man like me now if the funeral message would have been

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God loves you He has a wonderful plan for your life. He loves everything about you. I don't think he ever would have said that And I think it's actually worse if we would church discipline someone and their life would just be great

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There'd be no kind of rocks in the road burrs under the saddle

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Solomon the wisest man who ever lived said the way of the transgressor Trent transgressor

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It's hard Lenski said the expelled sinner takes with him the memory of Christ of the gospel of the church and so on When his flesh has brought him low this memory may yet succeed in saving him

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God punishment We would agree with but we're praying that it's not just punitive.

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It's restorative Yes, it's self -imposed, but God you're good and gracious so use your means to help the person

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Calvin said although excommunication punished the man it does so in such a way that by forewarning him of his future

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Condemnation it may call him back to salvation Run repent flee and so when we write that final letter, which was written and delivered

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You have forced the elders to do this this is not happiness glee can't wait to do it

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This is if anybody else would do it I would gladly let them but we answer to the Lord and I have to agree with him and submit to him and then hope through This process the right things happen, and then we say in that letter you have forced us to do this

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And we are going to have to hand your body over to Satan for its destruction Now no hardened sinner could just say that doesn't bother me

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At least that's our prayer So when it comes to church discipline we think long term

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That's why when you see the person who is ever in a church discipline case You don't run across the street on the other side of the street and shout out unclean unclean

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What do you do? I love you Repentant repent, it's not too late.

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You could be forgiven you could be restored What kind of joy did the father have when the prodigal came back in Luke 15?

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What kind of joy would we have you see me on a day where I'm super happy and you're like I have never seen

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Mike more happy. It'll be the converse of today see Mike. Are you okay? The answer is no you see me on the day where we have a restoration party

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I'm sorry to say this to Steve and the rest of the elders, but I don't care what the budget is No, they're already with me.

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They're not against me then the joy of Restoration, that's why

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I want to say hope we have hope It's God's Church. He can do things rightly if you run into a person who's under church discipline

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You greet them You pray for them You beckon them you urge them and you tell them if you repent and if you come back

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Our arms are wide open to love you Because just think a little bit about how many sins you've committed in the last 10 years 20 years

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How many I've committed in the last? 50 years and if God is so generous to forgive my sins and you say

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I repent I want to make things right Accept me back into fellowship. I'll meet before the elders and say please forgive me on tell the church

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I want to come back and so what do we do? Then we treat Repentant sinners just like Jesus treats repentant sinners

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He eats with them. He dines with them. He has fellowship with them father today.

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I am thankful for your word I'm thankful that you've not left us to our own devices to figure out what is best in our eyes

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Thank you for giving us this revelation Well, there's so many things in life that Are so temporal ephemeral just come and go they mean nothing sports to hobbies to recreation to many many things all right and good in their place, but It's rare to sit and think about things like we have in the last 50 minutes, it's good to go to weddings and rejoice and celebrate as your son did but it's good to go to funerals, too as Solomon said the house of mourning

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Father I pray that we'd be a house of mourning now an obedient house, but a house of mourning as our hearts are hurting because of Unrepentant sin at Bethlehem Bible Church, I Pray that you'd help every person here to think through these issues properly rightly

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They'd agree with you. They'd submit to your lordship. They'd have hope father for those who are here who are not

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Christians and who cannot probably believe What's going on? I?

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Pray that you'd help them think about their own sin Not somebody else's Because they're going to die one day and stand before you and all their discussion and blame -shifting discussion of evolution and Societal issues will not forgive them their sins.