Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Years ago, there used to be daytime TV dramas which always left you hanging wondering what would happen next, and you’d need to tune in the next day to find out! I know I did that yesterday as we were with Paul writing to the Christians in Corinth about a crisis which troubled him very much. If you missed our “WWJ” yesterday, I urge you to go back and listen to that one first, as it will set up today.
Ok, I’m assuming we’re all on the same page now as we compare what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 with what Jesus had said in Matthew 18:15-17. Very troubling word had come to Paul that a man, claiming to be a follower of Jesus and part of the ‘ekklesia’ in Corinth, was having a sexual affair that many people knew about and apparently no one was confronting the man about it. What made matters worse, the woman this man was sleeping with was married to his father! Yesterday I gave you Scriptures in Leviticus 18 & 20 that made it very clear what God’s response to such evil was!
Paul’s advice to the Corinthian church probably shocked Timothy as he wrote Paul’s words: “When you are assembled…and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 5:5) What does it mean my friends and how do you see that it should apply to churches in 2023 that want to honor Jesus Christ?
First, did you notice Paul instructing that their action should take place “When you are assembled…and the power of our Lord Jesus is present.” What do you understand Paul is saying? I see this is not a quiet, behind the scenes conversation between the immoral man and one or two other people. No, this is when the entire group of Christians are gathered together in a worship experience, for the power of the Lord Jesus is present with them. That is a description of what should take place EVERY time Christians gather for Jesus had promised “Where two or more gather in My name, there I am with them.” (Matt. 18:20)
One of the mysteries of Christianity is that the Holy Spirit of God resides inside every authentic, born again, follower of Jesus. (John 14:16,17) Therefore there is a spiritual synergy when several Christians, all with the Holy Spirit of God within them, come together for the purpose of uniting in worship of Almighty God in the Name of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is instructing that this glorious, sacred, worship experience is defiled when among them is a person claiming to be a Spirit filled follower of Jesus, but who is living in unrepentant, public sin. Psalm 66:18 calls it “cherished sin”. Paul is warning them there is great danger when Christians mock God by pretending all is well when the devil and blatant, unrepentant sin are permitted in a worship gathering!
Second, do you see Paul calls for strong action: “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh…” Please friends, don’t misunderstand this. Paul is not calling for his execution nor for torture or a beating. Rather Paul is calling for this man to be put out of the worship gathering so he no longer defiles it, and in so doing this man in his unrepentant rebellion is not under the spiritual protection of the Power of the Lord in the worship gathering but is now outside and fully vulnerable to the destructive forces of the devil and his dark kingdom.
Now here my friends, I am assuming Paul has already taught the Corinthian Christians what Jesus taught His disciples and Matthew recorded for us in Matthew 18. This is God’s step by step restoration process of how Christians should deal with unrepentant sin among them. Do you remember there several powerful examples of God dealing with unrepentant sin among His people which had the potential to breed an epidemic of such sin if not dealt with? Consider the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16 or the widespread sexual immorality of Numbers 25 or Achan’s deceptive rebellion in Joshua 7 or in Acts 5 the deception of Ananias and Sapphira.
Matthew records for us Jesus had given this clear instruction which I presume Paul had taught the Corinthian Christians: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, [repent and change their ways] you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (Matt. 18:15,16) Let’s pause one moment here.
Integrity was very important as God instructed His people on how they would be distinguished from all other people on earth. Honest integrity required at minimum two eyewitnesses in an accusation, especially an accusation which carried the death penalty. In this case confronting a fellow Jesus follower with evidence of unrepentant sin required witnesses, and if the sinner refused to repent and turn from their sin, that refusal, in the face of undeniable evidence and a call to confession and repentance, was open rebellion against God.
Thus, Jesus explained the next step in the process: “If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church, and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan…” (Matt. 18:17) This presumes the clear evidence of unrepentant sin has been presented by witnesses to the gathering of God’s people, and the accused does not deny the evidence, but in defiance against God, refuses to turn from their unrepentant rebellion against God. At that point this person should be removed from their defilement of the sacredness of the worship gathering of God’s people. Why? Because in their open rebellion against God they are a HOST for the devil and his demonic forces in the midst of the gathering of God’s people. Their open rebellion INVITES Satan and his evil, his demonic forces INTO the sacred worship experience of God’s people.
Now we know Jesus always had a desire to receive and help any person turning to Jesus for salvation and sin forgiveness. Jesus never turned away a person seeking God’s help, especially in their confession and repentance of sin. But the instructions of Jesus in Matthew 18 are for the unrepentant person insistent on continuing in their sinful rebellion against God, all the while claiming to be a Christian. Thus, as Paul applies Jesus’ instructions to the crisis in Corinth, assuming the Christians in Corinth have already walked through the Matthew 18 steps of restoration which Jesus explained, yet the man has remained resolute and unrepentant in his affair with his father’s wife, then Paul’s instruction echo’s the instruction of Jesus.
In closing today, please notice the important last words of Paul on this situation: “…hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 5:5) Paul is declaring that if this man is an authentic born-again Christian yet in open rebellion against God, while he may suffer removal from joining the church in worship, and horrific darkness of heart and mind under the influence of the devil and dark kingdom, if he is never repentant and restored to fellowship with the church, his Holy Spirit born again spirit will spend eternity with God for his sin has NOT undone the salvation of his soul, which Jesus accomplished at the moment of His genuine salvation.
Now we need to pause and reflect, for this is very, very important isn’t it my friends? You may even need to go back and review today, and I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow and we’ll continue in this.
Today’s Scriptures are 1 Cor. 5:1-5 & Matt. 18:15-17.
Choose below to read or listen.
1 Cor.5:1-5
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Matthew 18:15-17
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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