Intro story- witness of church discipline
Since there was no repentance it needed to be dealt with
Pastor matt brought it before the church and removed them
Because of this my commitment and respect for pastor matt grew even more
Because he did one of the hardest things in the church
Many churches don’t even practice this
Even though its biblical
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even [a]named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are [b]puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord [c]Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore [d]purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed [e]for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
There is a lot going on in this scripture
We need to always keep in mind that Corinth was already full of sexual immorality
But the church allowed even more
It was no different than the city around them
Paul starts off and you can almost feel the disgust in his tone
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even [a]named among the Gentiles
Paul was repulsed by it
He says the pagans aren’t even ok with what they allowed
The tone of this feels like paul is sitting there like, what is wrong with you people
But it gets worse
He states that they are puffed up, or arrogant about what is taking place
Paul continues to rebuke the church
And he responds appropriately
Paul tells them they should rather mourn
They should’ve removed this man from among them
Or in other words make this man leave your congregation
Paul goes on to continue this rebuke
Most of the church today I believe miss this scripture
Paul says Im not with you in the body but the spirit
And I have already judged this man
And that’s what they should’ve done as well
Deliver him over to satan that his spirit may be saved on the day of judgement
Paul tells the Corinthian church that a little leaven, leavens the whole loaf
In other words telling them that they should absolutely deal with sin in the church
Because if they don’t it can, and will corrupt the church and their witness for Christ
First I want to say that Incest is bad, dont do it
Also, Sexual immorality is bad as well
Pastor matt preached a great message on Sunday about adultery
If you didn’t hear it, go back and listen
The focus of tonights message is going to on church discipline
1Corinthians 5:3-5
3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord [c]Jesus.
If the bible says it, then it is always important
That’s what I love about our church
We preach everything
Even if its hard
We don’t skip verses because they seem counter cultural
Because scripture is counter cultural
We are to be set apart from the world, not be like them
Some time ago the church stopped disciplining
It is said that up until the 19th century that church discipline was common
People would be removed from churches and the church frequently practiced this
Because church discipline is biblical
But many in the church reject this biblical principle
“its not loving”
“ you don’t have the right to judge”
“Jesus knows my heart”
“He who is without sin” Cast the first stone
Phrases like these are used all the time, just look at social media when any sin is called out
People it is dangerous to take scriptures out of context to support the sin you are living in
I don’t want an excuse for my sin
I want to grow closer to Christ, to be more like Him
If the church is not discipling, it will become unhealthy
Discipline is upheld everywhere
If you love your children you discipline them
If you perform poorly at you job, it is handled by disciplinary actions
If you break the law the government steps in and upholds justice
Everyone is ok with discipline in the world
But if the church does it we become unloving
A church that is willing to uphold biblical standards clarifies the witness of the church
You aren’t doing God any favors by misrepresenting His word
You are actually hindering it and leading people to hell
You aren’t helping anyone that is a Christian by allowing them to continue in sin
That is why correction and discipline need to take place
We cant take Gods love for a joyride
We must take the whole bible in context
When a church disciplines, it is an illustration on a greater judgement to come
It is a warning, that way the sinner might be saved
Paul even says it
deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord [c]Jesus.
It is better to discipline than to see people that you claim are brothers and sisters in Christ perish on the day of judgement
I don’t want that
I would rather see discipline and repentance
I want to uphold the reputation of Jesus Christ on this earth and every Christian should as well
It is actually more loving to discipline than to allow someone to live in their sin
Another reason church discipline is so important is because it protects the weaker or newer Christians
If a church practices what the bible teaches, then new believers wont get caught up in the sin of another
I don’t want new believers replicating sin of another person
That’s why all of us as Christians must maintain a healthy discipline according to Gods word
Now lets get into this
There are a few forms of church discipline for a believer
The first part of church discipline comes directly God Himself
Proverbs 3:11-12
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
The Holy Spirit will convict you if you have sin in your life
The Holy Spirit will reveal that area in your life
Whatever the sin may be lust, pride, jealousy, selfishness, lying,
Disobedient to parents, stealing
Just to name a few
It is important that when convicted in any area that we change immediately
This is the time to repent
Usually in my life I feel that nudge from the Holy Spirit, and have the immediate sense that ive sinned
I feel it in my spirit
Its gentle at first
I might be reminded of a scripture that deals with whatever the sin may be
Sometimes my mind will be restless until ive resolved the issue
Whatever it may look like or feel like, it is important to know that it should be dealt with immediately
We must repent don’t dwell on it in shame
Just repent, then find someone you trust and confess to them
James 5:16
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, [b]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Allowing yourself to be held accountable to another believer will help you not fall back into sin
They can uphold you in prayer if you are honest with them
What you don’t want to do is justify why you’ve sinned while God is correcting you
Don’t say things like, “well, there is no condemnation for those in Christ”
Because if you justify the sin that God has revealed and continue in it you will be heading down a path of destruction
Allow God to gently correct you before it goes further into church discipline
If you don’t listen to God in these moments, He will bring your sin to light
Not only will you know, but eventually the Christians around you will see it
Then there isn’t any hiding it
Numbers 32:23
But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Believe it or not
If you hide your sin God will expose it
Which leads to the next level of church discipline
Story-man exposed in sin by his brother
Matthew 18:15-17
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
When your sin is exposed this is the biblical layout for actions that should be taken
We have a great church
I believe we handle scriptures like this well
If someone wants to live in sin, this isn’t the church for it
Your unrepentant sin will be exposed real quick here
And we deal with it
And the reason why is because we love you
We want to uphold the truth in love
Now if you see a sin that is abounding in someone’s life
There is a correct way to go about it
Go to them and plead for them to repent
Let them know that you are here to help bring them to repentance
Walk through it with them
what don’t want to do is go to someone else first
Don’t put them on blast without first addressing it
Then it just turns to gossip
The only time this would be acceptable is if you are seeking advice from leadership on how to address it
Go to them on your own first
If they decline to listen, bring another with you
If that fails, then it can go further in the process
Which would be pastor matt bringing it to the church
And don’t think it wont or cant happen
There have been several instances where this has almost happened
But usually the people in sin leave when its to this point
If you are a person living in sin it is better to repent then to allow it to get to this point
Its uncomfortable to everyone involved
But no matter how uncomfortable, our church will follow the biblical standard of discipline
The last type of church discipline is found in
2 john 9-10
Whoever [a]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him;
There are times when you don’t even allow someone to attend your church
If their doctrine is so far from biblical truth, they must not attend
This is for the protection of the body of Christ
There is no reason to let such a person attend
People can be very deceiving
New believers or even believers who don’t read the bible as often can be deceived
Pastor Matt does an excellent job protecting the flock
There have been quite a few times Ive seen this play out
Maybe this is the first you have heard of it
That’s because He does such a good job of protecting us from things like this
Even though some may think this is drastic, the bible is clear
Don’t let them start attended or associate with these people
Church discipline is biblical
We will walk it out here at FVC
If you have a sin that you are dealing with
Don’t let it go so far as to be disciplined
Repent, and confess to a brother and live your life purifying yourself for Christ
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