And to that we say, praise the Lord. So let's have a word of prayer and then we'll get into text. One thing that's so beneficial with Just working your way through books of the Bible and just going kind of verse by verse, chapter by chapter, sometimes paragraph by paragraph, is that you cover all the topics of life. And this is a topic we're going to cover tonight that deals with sexual immorality. And we'll study God's Word here. And so as we just read God's Word, it is relevant. It addresses all areas of life. So as we begin chapter five, Paul addresses one of the major problems that was at the church at Corinth. And so let's have word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that Jesus did come, that he did live that perfect life, and that he was qualified to go to the cross to pay for our sins. So Father, I pray as we study your word tonight that you'll move in our hearts, Father, to bring salvation to those who haven't believed, and Father, sanctification for us who have believed, who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring transformation, that we might become that new creation that you've made us in Christ, the old things passing away and the new becoming. So Father, we just pray for your Holy Spirit to move in our hearts tonight by the power of your word, and we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. So Paul's been dealing with division in the church, he's been dealing with issues of the heart, and he continues now, because this really is an issue of the heart. In fact, I can't think of his first name, I wanna say Harold Brandt. but I'm not quite sure if that's correct. But he was a Christian psychiatrist for 40 years and he wrote a book called The Heart of the Problem is a Problem of the Heart. And even the Southern Baptist Convention even developed a curriculum to study that topic. But that was the issue, the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart. And just about anything that we are dealing with, any sin that we're dealing with, it's a problem of our heart. And this is why the Bible tells us to guard our heart, to gird up our heart, our mind, to fill our mind with the things of God. And that's what Paul in chapter four of Philippians Four, four, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer, everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, okay? Now, finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What have you learned and received and heard and seen in me? Practice these things and a God of peace will be with you. And so Paul gives us a prescription there of what to think about, what is just and pure, lovely, commendable, what is true, honorable, what is excellent. These are the things that are to be filling our mind. So, uh, there's a major problem here at Corinth. And, uh, one of the, one of the unfortunate things about this problem is that the Corinthians didn't think it was a problem. Now, some probably did because they reported it to Paul, but the majority of them seems like they didn't think it was a problem. And that's the biggest problem that was going on at Corinth. So chapter five, verse one is actually reported. Again, someone has told Paul what's going on here, so there seems to be at least some concern of what's going on in this particular circumstance, that there is sexual immorality among you. He says, of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans. Paul is saying this is such blatant immorality that it even offends pagans. It's not tolerated among the pagans. Now Corinth was, the atmosphere of Corinth was very much, I would say, the atmosphere of Western culture today, of the American culture. It was saturated with sexual temptation and sexual immorality. And it was so ingrained in the fabric of Corinth that it was spilling over into the church here. And that's one of the challenges that were in the world but were not to be of the world. Have an influence upon the world, but we're not to allow the world to have an influence on us And that's a great challenge in our world today among evangelicals So he says there's sexual morality among you of a kind that's not even tolerated even among pagans for a man and As we read this passage He seems to be a true believer Or at least claiming to be a true believer claiming to be a follower of Christ and a member of the church here at Corinth. For a man has his father's wife. And most commentators believe this is his stepmother. Or else it was said that he was in a relationship with his mother. But it seems to be whether his mother died or was divorced. She's no longer in the house. But, and where the father is, we don't know. He may have died, may have left, who knows. But the implication is that this man is in a sexual relationship, a living relationship, with his stepmother. And we learned from Cicero that that was even against Roman law. for a man to be in a relationship, sexual relationship with his stepmother or his mother-in-law. And this is prohibited in scripture in Leviticus 18. God gives prescription and restrictions in regards to, let me see if I can find the exact verse, yeah 7 and 8. Let me just begin in verse 1 of Leviticus. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, and say to them, I am the Lord your God, I am Yahweh your Adonai, your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Cana. And Cana was a very sexually saturated culture also. In fact, their idols, Baal was a was a fertility god. And there was sexual rites, R-I-T-E-S, that was associated with the worship of Baal. And the same in Corinth. I think it was, I think it's in Corinth, I'm almost 100% sure, that there was this huge temple to Aphrodite in Corinth, and there was a thousand temple prostitutes that was associated with this temple, both male and female. And it was very common to go to that temple and pay a fee and engage in sexual sin. And so this was the same at Egypt and same at Cana. To which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statues. You shall follow my rules and keep my statues and walk in them. I am Yahweh your Adonai. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules. If a person does them, he shall live by them. I am the Lord. I am Yahweh. None of you shall approach anyone of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother, and you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife, It is your father's nakedness. What he's saying belongs to his father. Sexual relationship is ordained by God in the context of marriage between one man and one woman. No matter what our culture says, no matter what the Supreme Court says, according to God's law, marriage is between one man and one woman. The sexual relationship is to be in that context. That vulnerability, that's kind of the idea of nakedness, is the vulnerability of that individual is safe. Let me keep my spot here in 1 Corinthians. I try to illustrate that with the wedding ring, okay? When we step into this covenant, there's safety in this covenant. And we can be vulnerable to one another within this covenant and not be afraid and not be ashamed. And part of physical nakedness illustrates that, that we can be vulnerable with inside this commitment, this marriage bond. Anything outside of that puts that vulnerability in danger and contrary to God's purpose. The Word of God says the marriage bed is not to be defiled. Adultery is basically defined as a married person having sexual relationships outside of the bond of that marriage. Could be with another married person or it could be with someone that's not married. Fornication is a broad word in regards to sexual sin. A lot of times it's considered sexual sin before the marriage bond because there's safety inside the marriage bond. And vulnerability can be exposed there because there's safety inside these walls. And this ring represents a commitment two individuals make toward one another. And so God is saying that your mother's nakedness belongs to your father and your father's nakedness belongs to your mother inside this marriage bond. Approaching that any other way is contrary to God's ultimate purpose and perfect purpose. So let me... You should not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter, or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. You should not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is For their nakedness is your own nakedness You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter brought up in your father's family Since she is your sister and it goes on and on and so this situation at Corinth runs contrary to the Word of God and to the instruction of God and God puts these parameters he puts these boundaries because of the security that is within the marriage bond and the marriage commitment. And God designed our sexuality. He made male and female. Our sexuality complements each other. That's very obvious. God designed it for procreation. That's one of the purposes of marriage is procreation. But it's in that marriage bond that there's security and safety. And so Paul's saying, this is going on in the church and they know it's going on. And his first rebuke to the church at Corinth is verse two, and you are arrogant. Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. I'm gonna talk about that in just a moment. But he said, maybe even as bad, if not worse, than what was going on between this man and his stepmother was the arrogance in the church of tolerating this sin in the body of Christ. As I was reading that this evening in preparation, I couldn't think of, I helped to think of the virtue signaling that goes on in our society all over the place. That I won't judge that person. And what virtue signaling is, it's about pride, it's about feeling good about ourself. It's not addressing what God's Word says in regards to parameters that He puts around relationships. It's, I want to feel good about myself, so I'm going to say, and maybe part of their tolerance here of what was going on in this relationship is a misconception of biblical and godly love. And I know Proverbs says that love covers a multitude of sins. And maybe some at Corinth were tolerating this relationship because they were trying to love these two individuals. Sometimes love has to be tough. Sometimes love has to say this line and no further. But Paul's chastisement of them is that you are arrogant. He said you ought to be mourning, you ought to be weeping. You know, there was a time in our nation, particularly in smaller towns, but even in, I think there's historical record in larger towns, that when something horrific happened within a community, and particularly in regards to a sexual sin, like the rape of a young girl, or even that and maybe the death of a young girl or young boy. The leaders in the community would call a day of mourning, a day of prayer, and a day of repentance. And the whole community would gather and mourn over this sin that had happened in their community. And we're far from that in our world today. In fact, in our world today, sin is not only tolerated but it's celebrated and that's one of the indictments that Paul gives at the very end of chapter 1 of Romans as he goes through this litany of the slide into sexual depravity when God gives an individual or a nation or a community over to its own lust. Let me begin in verse 28 of Romans 1. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind, a reprobate mind, King James would translate that, to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossip, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, Here it is, this last phrase. They not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them. And so Paul's saying, instead of being arrogant about this, and some think it might have been a false understanding of Christian liberty, where they are flaunting their liberty in Christ and using it as a license to sin. And this was the accusation that Paul anticipates in chapter six of Romans, where those who say, well, if you think it's all of grace, where he says at the end of chapter five of Romans, where sin abounds, grace super abounds. And so he anticipates a question, well, then are you saying that we can just go on sinning so grace can abound, can super abound over that sin? And he says, may it never be, God forbid, King James language. It's not a license to sin. Our Christian liberty is that we are free to be and do what we ought to be and do in Christ. Romans 12, we're to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. And Paul says that's really our real act of worship. I appeal to you, I beseech you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. So Paul's saying, You're arrogant about this. You're flaunting so-called Christian liberty. You're misinterpreting true Christian love. And he said, you should be mourning over this sin. In fact, all true believers, when we're confronted with our sin, it breaks us. That's the picture of David. You read Psalm 51, David is a broken man. When Nathan confronted him with his sin, he was broken by it. And I think, what we know from 2 Corinthians, this man, when he was disciplined and put out of the church, he was broken by a sin, which indicates he was a true believer. Paul has to instruct the Corinthians over in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians to take this guy back because he's repented. And that was the purpose of putting him out was to bring him to a point of repentance. Verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 2. Now if anyone has caused pain he has caused it not to me but in some measure not to put it too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by majority is enough. What was that punishment putting him out of the fellowship? So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him or he may be overwhelmed by the excessive sorrow. So I beg you to affirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote him, why I might test you and know whether you are obedient and everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we should not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs. So, in verse three, for though absent in the body, I am present in spirit. At present I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing When you are assembled in the name of Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus now He's talking about this is in his heart. He's aware of them in his heart. He's not talking about an out-of-body experience He's not talking about some mystical thing here but He has taught this church, he's brought the gospel to this church, and so his teaching is still present, the gospel is still present, and they should be guiding their life according to what they've been taught by the Apostle Paul. So verse five, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. I think this man was a true believer. Again, as I mentioned, that's indicated by his repentance. That's the distinction between Saul, King Saul, the first king of Israel, and King David, the second king of Israel. When Saul was confronted with his disobedience and his sin, he made excuses. He tried to rationalize his sin. When David was confronted with his sin by Nathan the prophet, he was broken by it. Read Psalm 51. That's his confessional psalm because he was broken by his sin. So that's an indication of a true believer is that we're broken by our sin. And we truly repent. That's an indication of a true believer. So someone who claims to be a follower of Christ and is engaged in hobby of sin, which is the pattern of their life, they're in a dangerous spot because their heart is cold and if they don't repent, that might be an indication that they were never truly a believer. I forget where I was going here. Oh. What the Bible says about the temptation of sexual sin, Paul told Timothy to flee from it, to run from it. Proverbs talks about don't go down that street where the prostitute is. He's saying don't go down the street that's going to cause you sexual temptation. Peter, in 1 Peter 2.11, He says, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Now, Paul is saying, turn this man over, let him pursue his sexual lusts and desires. And he's saying, turn him over to Satan, because Satan is the instigator of this lust and Don't doubt for a minute that Satan is not behind all the pornography and the pornography industry and abortion and the sexual revolution that started back in the 60s. John MacArthur kind of, I think he kind of explains it this way. This may not be completely accurate with him, but I think it's pretty close. He said it started with the feminist movement. And that began to break down God's purpose in the family. And the next step was the sexual revolution, the free love of the sixties. In fact, I've got a book somewhere in my library here by David Wells. And the title of the book is the dust of death. And it's a critique of the sixties, how the sixties, had a great impact in breaking down our society and culture. And what's going on in our world today, I don't want to be too political here, but what's going on in our world today, particularly politically, among many in public office, is these are the people that came out of the 60s. And they're carrying these radical ideas and putting them into law. And so you got the feminist movement, the sexual revolution, the free sex of the 60's, mixing that, the drug addictions that were going on. And then we're just a step or two away from homosexuality becoming dominant in the public eye. Not dominant in our culture, but dominant in the public eye through movies, TV programs, the news media, and legislation. And now, since 2015, the Supreme Court said that homosexual marriages are to be classified as marriage, contrary to what God's Word says. Now we have all this transgender madness going on in our culture, and kids being abused, and parents abusing their kids by these transition surgeries and all kinds of puberty blockers. It's insanity. But the slippery slope started back in the 50s and 60s and now here we are in 2023 and we're in the muck of this. And don't doubt for a moment that Satan is not behind all of this breakdown of our culture and society. So Paul says turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flinch. Jesus said, don't be afraid of the one who can kill the body. I think that's applicable here. He said, be afraid of the one that can kill the body and the soul, and who's that? That's the true and living God, through his judgment. And so, he says, deliver him, this man, to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, because he's, even though He may be and I think it ends up that he truly was a child of the light That he was one that had been delivered from the kingdom of darkness in the glorious kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ he was Yielding to the passions of his flesh and he was involved in great immorality and sexual sin And so God says turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the body That his soul may be saved Well, when they disciplined him that way, and he was put out of the church, he did repent, and that's Paul's point in 2 Corinthians 2.5. Verse 6, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? So this is one of the deceiving things of sin and of Satan. Oh, it's just this little fox. You know, the Song of Solomon says, beware of the little foxes because they sneak under the fence and they come into the vineyard and spoil the tender grapes. He says, beware of those little foxes. I think the application is we have to be aware of what we might classify as little sins, insignificant sins. Now this was not a little sin, but maybe it started out that way. Maybe it started out with just, maybe the father died and the son's comforting his stepmother. But then it leads from here to here to here, then into full-blown sin, sexual sin. We don't know the circumstance. But Paul's saying, your toleration of this, you don't understand, just a little bit of leaven leavens the whole loaf. And we have to be very, we have to, again, that's why we guard our minds. and gird up our minds, put on the armor of God, that we can stand against the wiles of the devil, that we can stand against his schemes, that we can stand against his activity. So he says, your boasting's not good. Do you not know the little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may have a new lump as you really are unleavened. Okay? But again, he's saying, be who you are in Christ. Don't tolerate this little bit of leaven that's really affecting the whole body of Christ. It's detrimental to the whole body of Christ. Because when we begin to tolerate sin here, we'll tolerate it here, and we'll tolerate it here. Personally in our lives, that is so. Corporately in the body of Christ, that is so. For Christ is our Passover lamb. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Again, this is the picture of the new creation. The Passover lambs, a picture of deliverance. They were to eat unleavened bread because they were going to escape. There wasn't time for the leaven to have its effect, the yeast to have its effect in the bread and cause the bread to rise before they cooked it. And so he said, make bread without yeast and without leaven. And that's why you get that matzo flatbread. He said, because we don't have time to wait for it to rise. And so he's saying, this is a picture of deliverance. We've been delivered. That's part of Paul's point. in Romans 6, that sin is not to have dominion over us. That the power of sin has been broken. The penalty of sin has been paid in justification. The power of sin has been broken in the process of sanctification. And when Jesus comes back, the presence of sin is gonna be eradicated and removed and we'll never struggle again against sin. Once Jesus comes back, that's part of the glory of eternity. That we'll be in those resurrected bodies that are incorruptible and that will not deal with sin but here on this earth we have to deal with sin in our own life sometimes in the life of the body so we're to seek sincerity and truth We're to seek a pure relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as we walk upon this earth. He said, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexual immoral people. That's a pretty strong statement, but he qualifies it. He says, not at all meaning the sexual immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters. Since then you would need to go out of the world. Paul's saying, his point is we're not to tolerate this immorality in the church. He says you're not to tolerate and be arrogant about this relationship that's going on between this man and his stepmother. It's not Christian liberty and it's not real biblical Christian love. Now his point was, when this man repented, real Christian love forgives him. When someone repents and asks forgiveness, a true believer is obligated to forgive. Now there's debate about this, but I kind of lean on this side of the debate. that in some capacity in my own heart I am obligated to forgive someone even before or even if they don't ask for forgiveness. Now there's debate on that. Some say you can't offer forgiveness if it's not asked for. I'm not sure that's true. I think I can forgive someone even if they do not seek reconciliation with me. Now our relationship might remain strained, but I can look at that person with forgiveness. I can look at that person with genuine love and not be bitter toward that person, not be hateful toward that person, not be resentful toward that person. But when someone does ask for forgiveness, as believers in Christ and as a church, as a body of believers, we are obligated to forgive them. Now I know some would say, well, what if they mess up again? Well, What did Jesus tell Peter? When Peter said, Lord, should I forgive someone who offends me seven times? What did Jesus say? No, he said, no, Peter, you need to do it 70 times seven. Now, was Jesus, and I'm gonna talk, I might allude to this Sunday morning, and Daniel, was Jesus saying, okay, if they offend you 490 times, forgive them, but if they offend you 491 times, Gloves are off, do what you want. No, he's not saying that. He's using the imagery of perfection multiplied, 70 times seven, magnified. And what he's saying is there's no end to forgiveness to those who seek it. So he's saying, I don't mean you don't associate with lost people, basically what he's saying, sexually immoral of this world, the greedy and swindlers, idolaters. I'm not telling you not to associate with them as far as doing business, as far as walking them into maybe a worship service so they can hear the gospel. He said, if you do that, you're going to need to go out of the world. But now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolatry reviler, drunkard, or swindler. Not even to eat with such a one." That's pretty tough. Pretty tough. He says, for what do I have to do with judging outsiders? Isn't that those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Now He does that with His Word, okay? Sometimes, you know, one of the most misquoted verses in Scripture is, Judge not lest ye be judged. That's all out of context. Doesn't mean we don't make judgments. And God has made judgments about those who are involved in sexual sin, greed, lying, murder. We may look at that later, but there's several passages where he says they're not going to enter into the kingdom of heaven because they're still dead in their sins. God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you. We have responsibility and sometimes it's very hard. It's very hard. But our purpose is not meanness. Our purpose is mercy in the sense that we want this individual, if they are put out of the church, to come to a place of repentance so they can be received back and forgiven. We have to be very careful in the body of Christ that we don't become a blemish on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what's happening. It's happening in the Methodist Church, it's happening in some degree in the Southern Baptist Church. It's happened thirty years ago when groups broke off from the SBC to form their own denomination. The embracing of the homosexual agenda, to embrace the homosexual lifestyle, that's an area that I have to break fellowship. I would not be involved in a denomination that advocates and promotes the homosexual agenda because it's contrary to the word of God. But that's happening all across the so-called evangelical world. It's what's happening in the United Methodist Church right now, where there's about 25 to 30% of churches disaffiliating themselves from the United Methodist Church, and this is one of the crucial issues. But the behind-the-scenes issue of that is the authority of God's word. Is God's word authoritative that we believe what he says and abide by it? Or do we make up our own rules and make up our own concept of God, make up our own concept of what the love of God is? That's one of the real watchwords of the leadership in United Methodist Church is this idea of love. See, this may have been part of the problem at Corinth. They had a false understanding of what godly love is. And that's going on in our world today, right now, under the guise of tolerance and virtue and violation of the standards of God's word. Well, our time's gone. This is one of the problems, a significant problem at Corinth, and Paul is saying, you need to deal with it. They dealt with it, the man repented, but they had a hard time receiving him back and forgiving him. And we need to learn that that's part of God's purpose because church discipline, the purpose is to bring the individual to true repentance. And if they're a true believer, I think most likely they're going to repent because a true believer, we are broken by our sin. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Father. That there's much clarity, Father, in your word. Some of it's hard. It's hard to put into practice at times. But, Father, help us to seek lives that please you. Help us, Father, to seek worship that pleases you. Help us, Father, to be humbled by our sin and broken by our sin. That we might confess it like Daniel did for his people and for himself. So, Father, we thank you that you've made us male and female, that you brought the institution of marriage, and that there's safety within that marriage bond, and that, Father, there's purpose and purity in that. And so, Father, I pray that that would be so in our lives, that would be so as we teach our children, our children's children. So, Father, we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well Lord bless you and we're going to continue on Sunday morning in Daniel 9 I believe. I've given some thought of dealing with the issue on if God has separate plans for the Jewish nation and for the church. I've kind of toyed a little bit the last day or two about maybe pausing and dealing with that issue because that's a primary issue on how Some, the dispensationalists, interpret Daniel 9, 24 through 27. One of the foundation stones of why they interpret it the way they do is because they believe that there's a distinction between the Jewish nation and the church of Jesus Christ. And that God has a plan A and plan B, or plan A and plan B, however you want to look at it, has two different plans. And that's why they interpret Daniel 9, 24 to 27 the way they do because of their their Belief that there's two different plans For the nation of Israel and for the Church of Jesus Christ. I don't think that's true So I played I may I may go that direction Sunday morning. I don't know I'm still studying and meditating upon this chapter and and some of the ramifications of it and So if you don't have a church home, we invite you to come and join us at Antioch. We have Bible study at 930. They're studying the book of Galatians. Worship at 1045. And Lord willing, we'll see you next week as we continue in chapter six of 1 Corinthians.