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It has been a very difficult week, I think for a lot of people. COVID ... COVID situation worsened here in Singapore, we thought that we would open up and have more of you come and join us and ... and do more things to improve the dynamics of the church. But well, everything is not on ice because the peak is not yet here, and we have to ride this wave.

And then of course, all of us are rocked by the news in Ukraine with the Russian invasion. And maybe some of you living in Singapore would feel the tremors that are from the earthquake in Indonesia. And as you look at all these things happened, I ... I just thought it's a reminder, I'm not prophetic here, I'm not saying that, these events are exactly what Jesus was talking about, or He's referring to these sequence of events here.

But certainly, we should be reminded as we hear of wars and rumors of wars, as we think about the pestilences or pandemic or epidemics that are happening around us and as we look at earthquakes happening, they should remind us, that we are living in the last days, the end times. And whilst Jesus said, "These are the beginning of birth pains," we should be ready for His return.

So I want to urge all Christians here, as we think about world events and circumstances, not to live as if Jesus would never come. He said, "He will come back," and He said that, "Things like this will happen and they will accelerate, they will get worse, and these are just the beginning of birth pains that were usher in seven years of great difficulty before He will return for us."

So I hope you'll be ready, and readiness for Jesus' return, is not just saying, "I'm ready," but to be actively serving Him, serving others, meeting the needs of those around you, living out your Christianity, I think that's what it means to be ready.
And for all of you who are not yet believers, you know, the Bible is a fascinating book, you may want to check out the messages that have been delivered about the end times in Matthew, chapter 24.

And maybe that would help you see, how true the Scriptures are, and how things are moving towards what Jesus had already said some 2000 years ago. And we pray that one day, you will come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that's a lot for intro, but let's come to the sermon today.

Sermon is taken from the book of 1st Corinthians. The book of 1st Corinthians, of course, it's a letter that is written to the people living in ancient Corinth. And I want to remind you that ancient Corinth, though long ago, was a city that is not very different from our city here in Singapore. Corinth was a very strategically located area. It is a major port city with waters that lead to major trading routes. You have the waters on the left side that will lead you to Italy, and on the right side to Asia.

So this was a prosperous city, a populous city, where many people would come and do business and trade and live in. So it was cosmopolitan, it was rich, it was a wealthy place, very much like Singapore. But it was also a very pagan city, in that there are many religions that are practice there, many idols. And for example, there is this temple of Aphrodites, the goddess of lust and love, where it is said that, there will be 1,000 temple prostitutes, who would priestesses, who will offer prostitution from this temple.

So it was a place; city of Corinth was well-known for sexual immorality, promiscuity, it was a sin city of those days. So a preacher, a pastor, he describes the ancient city of Corinth as, "A sailor's favorite port [it's a major port city], a prodigals' paradise, a policeman's nightmare and a preacher's graveyard." [Charles Swindoll]

So that is the context, that is the larger environment of this place where the church began. And as you can imagine, it will not be difficult for us to envisage that the people in the church have come up from such a background and are plagued maybe with problems, that are remnants of this background.

So, we see a people that were split up in the church because of pride. We took four chapters in 1st Corinthians to look at the problem of schisms or divisions. They were boasting amongst themselves, "I belong to Paul, I belong to Cephas, I belong to Apollos. Our gang is bigger! Our sect is bigger! We are more powerful!" And there was an unhealthy competition and comparison within the church that has caused fractures to take place.

We looked at that in great detail — four chapters, and today, we look at a second problem that Paul wanted to address in the letter to the Corinthians and it is a problem of, "Sexual Immorality". Now, like I said, "Corinth was a place filled with sexual sins and the church was not quite spared from this background, as well."

To be clear, sex is not a bad thing. Some people take it to an extreme, "Oh, we don't want to be immoral, so we think that sex is a bad thing!" No, sex is not a bad thing. Hebrews, chapter 13 tells us that, "Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled." Sex is a wonderful gift from God, our Creator. Properly practice in the right context, it is a beautiful thing, but sex outside of marriage, when it is taken out of its proper context becomes sinful and destructive. And the people in Corinth are dealing with this.

Again, this is not a problem that is unique to the Corinthian church. I dare say, here in Gospel Light, we are a people struggling also with sexual immorality. There are tragically painful events and incidents that have taken place amongst the people of God. Divorces have taken ... taken place, adulteries have taken place, there has been a lot of heart aches, pain for the people of God. There are many people today struggling with pornography and cohabitation. It is not a weird thing for us to be dealing or looking at the problem of sexual immorality.

So for the next few chapters, Paul would take us on a journey to look at how he seeks to resolve sexual immorality in the church at Corinth, and may we apply these lessons to ourselves.

We kick it off today therefore, with chapter 5, and we're going to read just 5 verses here, and that will be all we'll be thinking about today.

v1: It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans," that is people outside the church, people who do not believe in God. "... For a man has his father's wife."

v2: And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this, be removed from among you."

v3: For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.

v4: When you are assembled in the Name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

v5: you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in a day of the Lord.

[1] Problem
Very simply, first of all, I like us to see the problem that is presented before us by Paul.

The problem is given right here in verse 1, "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you." The word there in the Greek is the word, 'porneia'. It's a word which we are maybe familiar with the sound of — pornography; porn, that's the word, 'porneia'. It is a word that refers to sexual immorality or sexual sin, any kind of illicit sexual relationship.

So there is a sexual sin problem in the church, in that one of them actually has his father's wife. Now clearly, you would call that incest, this man is having a relationship with his father's wife. It is probably not his natural mother, but the stepmother, because otherwise it will be said, "For a man to have his mother." But that's obviously not what is written here, it's likely a step mother. We're not sure if the father is still alive or not, but that's the situation there.

This kind of relationship is so bad, it is so shameful that Paul says, "This is not even tolerated, even, even among the pagans." "To hear of this happening in the church is ridiculous, preposterous, because even people outside the church, people who do not know God, they don't do this, but it's happening right here, amongst you in the church."

Now, be clear, God, actually in His Word has clearly forbidden such kind of relationship. There are many kinds of sexual relationships that are forbidden in the Bible, you don't have to wonder. Is bestiality alright? Is it okay to sleep with my mother or my sister? Well, the Bible is very clear, there are many passages that deal with that. Is it alright for a man to be with a man, for a lady to be with a lady? Is it okay for homosexual sexual relationships? No, the Bible is clear!

But in particular for this, I quote you the are many verses that maybe we could find in Scripture. "You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife, it is your father's nakedness." [Lev 18:8] This is spoken of in Leviticus, long time ago.

Again, chapter 20, verse 11, is the same thing, "If a man lies with his father's wife, both of them shall surely be put to death," in the days of Moses and in the Israeli laws of that time. Deuteronomy 22:30, "A man shall not take his father's wife." And then 27, "Cursed be anyone who lies with his father's wife."

Sadly, in the Bible we have seen people commit exactly those sins. Before the Mosaic Law was given, we read about Reuben, and Reuben actually went up to his father's bed and slept with one of his wives or concubines. Not just Reuben, but we also read about Absalom, in one of his great heinous acts, "They pitched a tent for Absalom, David's son on the roof. And Absalom went into his father David's concubine in the sight of all Israel." [2 Sam 16:22] It was a demonstration of absolute betrayal and opposition against his father.

Then, we read in Amos 2:7, "A man and his father go into the same girl, so that My Holy Name is profaned." God hates this kind of relationship. But all that being said, we are presented with the problem here of a sexual immoral ... immorality, that is of such shame, that even pagans wouldn't do it. So, that's the problem here.

[2] Pride
Secondly, let's look at the pride amongst the people.

This is shocking! Now, I think we must not be shocked with sin in the people of God. We must be saddened, we must grieve, but we must not be shocked. But what is shocking is actually the response of the church to this sin problem, because you would have thought that the people of God, the church leaders, the people would say, "We must deal with this, we must resolve this, we must not let this carry on."

But the church in Corinth did not adopt such a necessary position, the Bible tells us, "You are arrogant." [1 Cor 5:2] This is bizarre! I would be sadden, I think the leaders of this church, and you would all be saddened with such a happening, but they were not sadden, they did not mourn, they were arrogant. What were they arrogant about?

Commentators, pastors, preachers suggest that they were arrogant that maybe they thought they were tough. That if even if sin could take place like that, they would be untainted, they would be unaffected, that they will still continue to live a holy life. Maybe that's why they were saying, "No big deal, we can deal with this." They were arrogant!

Some others suggest that they were arrogant in sense ... in the sense that they were tolerant. There's a kind of arrogance that comes with thinking that you can be broader minded than this narrow perspective. They were tolerant and they were proud about their tolerance.

Now, we live in a day where people are intolerant of intolerance. Huh, where people want to be tolerant, "Oh, don't be so narrow minded! Oh, don't be so strict!" They think it's very generous to adopt such a posture, and there's a certain pride that comes with such kinds of thinking. So maybe people in Corinth were proud because, they ... they thought they were tough, they could deal with it or they were tolerant, they could embrace this.

In either case, Paul says, "That's an absolutely wrong attitude! You should have mourned over your sins. You should have mourn over this situation that is happening in the midst of you."

You know, there's a certain teaching, false teaching today, that says, "When there is sin happening in your life, you should not mourn. You should just say, "I am righteous," and forget about that sin."' Well, the Bible tells us ecclesiastically, "As a church, we should mourn over sin." And later on in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 7, we would read that Paul says, "Godly grief or godly sorrow is a good thing."

The Bible does not tell God's people not to mourn over their sin. We should! In fact, Jesus, I think is referring exactly to that when He said in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, chapter 5, "Blessed are they who mourn." It's a good thing to be grieving over your sin.

Now, it's not a good thing to be grieving over the loss of a lot of things, maybe money or car, you don't necessarily ... you're not commanded to mourn over those things, but we should mourn over our sins. Because it is this godly grief that produces repentance, that causes us to turn from our sins. And if you're not mourning over your sin, you will not turn from your sin. That's the logic!

So here, Paul is saying, "You guys, I'm shocked! There's this terrible sin taking place in the church, and instead of grieving over it and dealing with it, you guys are strutting around, priding yourself that you're tough or you're tolerant. This ought not be so!"

[3] Pronouncement
So, we then go on to the pronouncement.

So Paul says, "I pronounced ... I've already pronounced judgment." [1 Cor 5:3] "I hear of the situation, and I give my verdict, and I suggest to you my course of action." So, Paul was a decisive man, he doesn't beat around the bush. He needs to deal with this problem, this sin decisively and this is how he say so.

Now, he says, "Though absent in body, I am present in spirit." [1 Cor 5:3] Now, he's not having some astro projection, he's not talking about metaverse, but he's just saying, "Even though I'm not with you, you can take it that I am with you. I ... I know what's happening and I pronounced my verdict and my course of action."

And this is what he says should be done, "When you are assemble in the Name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present." [1 Cor 5:4] In other words, "I'm ... I'm supporting you in this, alright." Not that he has this superstitious, mysterious power. "With the power of our Lord Jesus, 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." [1 Cor 5:4-5]

Now, this may sound very strange to you, if you're new with us in Gospel Light, or first time to church, but let me break this down to be something that is reasonable and clear for you.

First of all, you have to deliver this man to Satan. Now, interesting that Paul didn't say, "You're to deliver this couple to Satan." It's likely that this stepmother, this man is sleeping with is not a Christian. She's not part of the church.
So this, we know applies only to the church membership, to the people of God.

As a church, we have no jurisdiction over people outside the church, we are a spiritual family and the spiritual accountability is for the people of God. So that's why I think, Paul says, "Deliver this man," and not the couple. The man is someone who says, "I belong to Christ, I belong to the church," the stepmother, probably not someone who does.

"You have to deliver this man to Satan." [1 Cor 5:5] Now, how do you do that? What number do you call Satan? S A T A N, press the number? How do you, how do you, how do you deliver this man to Satan? What address would you put for JNT Express to deliver your goods? Is there a drop-off point where Satan will pick him up? How actually do you do this?

Now, you don't have to wonder what it means to deliver this man to Satan, if you look at the entire chapter. We read in verse 2 that Paul says, "Let him who has done this be removed from among you." So, there is a clue there! When you are in a church, you are in a kind of spiritual protection, accountability, provision, guidance, community, you are in the body of Christ, you are given a spiritual protection as people serve one another.

But when you are placed outside the community, you're in a sense, removed from the church and given over to Satan. Because now, you are going to be left on your own. You're not going to have the spiritual encouragement, support, accountability, prayers of the people of God perhaps, and there you are easy meat for the roaring lion, as it were.

Now again, this is removing from the community, it's what we call technically in Christianity today — excommunication. Now, it's a big word, but it's actually very simple — out of community, that's what it is. Exit community, so excommunication, so that I think is what Paul meant, when he says, "Deliver this man over to Satan. You are removed."

This man is removed from the church, from the church community, from the church membership. And that is again corroborated by the subsequent verses in verse 7, 9, 11, 13, "Cleanse out the old lump or purge out the old lump." [1 Cor 5:7] This is a lump that is infected, this is a lump that has yeast, this is a lump that's been contaminated, take it out.

"I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people." [1 Cor 5:9] We see in verse 11, "Not to associate with anyone who bears the name of a brother, if he's guilty of sexual immorality," [1 Cor 5:11] and so on. So you see that there is a call to separate; to remove; to ex-communicate; to put out. Verse 13, "Purge the evil person from among you."

So this is the discipline, this is the course of action, Paul is saying, "You've got to deal with this sin because this person is persisting in it, and you've got to be decisive in putting him out."

Because Jesus Himself did say, if someone is caught in sin, and you repeatedly confront him about it, one on one, two to one and the church to one and he refuses to repent, then Jesus says, "Let him be to you as a Gentile and as a tax collector." [Matt 18:17] That is a way of saying, "Let him be someone who does not bear the Name of Christ. Let him be someone who does not follow Jesus. Let him be put out of the church membership." That's what Jesus said.

So Paul is not suggesting something that is weird, or on his own, it is exactly what Jesus had declared a long time back. So sexually immoral man, who refuse us to change his ways, you are not to think that we are tolerant or we are tough to have him around. The right thing to do is to deliver him over to Satan in a sense of putting him out, him out of church fellowship.

But this decision is not to be taken lightly, this decision is not to be done or made by just one man. This is a decision that requires the understanding and the support of the entire church, when, "You are assembled in the Name of the Lord Jesus." [1 Cor 5:4]

So this is a decision I'm sure, that is to be made with the leaders and the people in unison, understanding why this must be so. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 18, for those who are familiar, that the church has to decide. And the church is vested with such an authority, because Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in your midst." He's saying, "As long as two or three of you agree to this thing, to this course of action in dealing with sin, I am giving you have the authority to do so."

So this is a public official setting and Paul says, "My spirit is there, I support this, even though I can't be there right now, but this is the course of action you guys need to take up."

Now, why, why put him out, hang him out to dry, as it were? Well, Paul says, "So that for the destruction of the flesh." [1 for 5:5] Now, some people will be having a controversy over what it actually means, to be having the flesh destroyed.

Some think that this refers to the sin nature. So let him be put out of the church membership so that he suffers, so that his sin nature will be destroyed. But it's a bit hard to think like that, even though there are many commentators who suggest this explanation. Because the flesh, the sinful flesh is never destroyed until Jesus returns, it's going to be with us till Jesus comes. So, there's no way your flesh is going to be destroyed that way!

Number two, it's also hard for you to imagine that Satan wants to destroy your flesh. He doesn't want to do that, he wants to flame the flesh.

So I think the better understanding of this is, that when a man is put out of church membership, away from spiritual protection, guidance, accountability, he lives in sin and with sin there will always be consequences, and he will suffer it bodily; physically. He will endure, he will have to go through pain, painful consequences as a result of his sin, as a result of him being outside of the umbrella of the protection of the Church of God.

I think that will be the best way to look at this. 1st Timothy 1:20, chapter 1 does say, "Among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they be learned not to blaspheme." So, Paul himself does something like that.

So back to this passage, I think what Paul is saying is, "Deal with this, put him out of the church in a public way, so that if he should continue to sin, he will only invite pain to himself, destroying his body, and the ultimate goal is so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."

So, the whole goal of church discipline is not vindictive, it's not out of jealousy or anger or hatred or animosity, but it is out of love and concern. I'm sure you cane your children, okay, maybe I'm not sure all of you cane your children, but I'm sure all of you discipline your children. And when you discipline your children, I know that you want the best for your children. In fact, you know that if you do not discipline your children, you may be doing a nice thing but you're not doing a right thing.

Paul is saying, "I know this is going to be painful, this man will suffer in the flesh, but the goal is so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord, it is restorative." So if the church is to undertake any church discipline, I hope we don't do it in the wrong spirit. And I hope none of us will say, orbiguat [Hokkien dialect] "Hah, hah, hah, hah, he got punished!"

I hope none of you will have that spirit because it is a deeply painful thing. We should mourn, and we should long for the repentance of this man or this woman living in sin, "So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."[1 Cor 5:5] So there he suffers, maybe like the prodigal son, he may turn back to God and be rescued from his sin.

JE Adams therefore summarizes the definition of church discipline as such, "Church discipline is the process of correcting sinful behavior among members of a local church body, for the purpose of protecting the church ..." We'll look more at that next week, we have not come to those verses, but it's here, "... Restoring the sinner to a right walk with God, and renewing fellowship among the church members."

Now, the question then is - When should we deal with sin? Do we deal with every sin that happens in the church this way? I think probably not, because if we do it this way, none of us will be in church already. By ... by tomorrow, all of us will be disqualified from church membership.

So I suggest to you, church discipline is not something that you do all day, every day every week, but there are some guidelines.

[A] Serious Sin
First of all, I suggest to you, it is to be done for serious sins.

Now, don't get me wrong, please. I'm not saying that they are sins that are so minor, you don't have to bother. I think all sin is sin, all sin is bad, all sin is to be deplored. But for the purpose of excommunication, church discipline, well, I think it should be for sins that are, if I may say, serious.

And Paul does write a kind of sampling of it, it is not meant to be exhaustive, I'm sure, but some sampling of it would be — immorality, greed, idolatry, reviler, a drunkard, swindler. [1 Cor 5:11]

Anyone of you, any one of us caught in such sin, perpetuating in such sin, I think means we should face church discipline. Serious! And of course, there's another list in 2nd Timothy 3:2-5, "Lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure, well, avoid such people."

So there is a kind of a representative list, not exhaustive, but maybe instructive for us. So, I think church discipline is called for in serious sins. Now, I say this because sometimes we may inadvertently let slip an unkind word. Please don't come to the church leadership and say, "Pastor, he said that to me, please excommunicate him." Err, I think that is bad, but, uh huh, maybe there is wisdom needed to judge if we should go to that extent of excommunication, alright.

So I ... I think that's why leadership is involved, the church is involved in making such decisions, it's not always easy, but one guideline, I think is serious sins.

[B] Outward Sins
Number two, I think it should be for outward sins.

In other words, you cannot do church discipline for sins of the heart. "Pastor, you need to excommunicate him, because he's always thinking about wrong things." Eh, how you know? And what is the objective discerning of his thoughts? It's very hard, we can only deal with people with regard to outward sins, not with the inner meditations, as it were.

In this case, this man with this sexual immorality is a well-known case, "It is actually reported." [1 Cor 5:1] The word, 'actually' in the Greek comes from a word that actually means, 'commonly', or 'all together known' or 'all together reported'. In other words, people are already talking about it, so it is a well-known scandal, it is not something that is private. And when it comes to that level of publicity, then you need to deal with it. So, outward sin.

[C] Unrepentant Sin
The third criteria, I think it should be unrepentant sin.

You may sin in a terrible way and in a public way, but if you genuinely repent of it, there is no need to put you out of church fellowship. I think that should be clear, because the goal at the end of day, of the day is repentance. If you're already repentant, it's alright, we don't have to excommunicate you.

The problem here again is this man, is in the Greek having an ongoing relationship with his stepmother. And that's why, Paul says, "You need to deal with this, this can't drag on."

So Jesus Himself says, "If he listens to you, you have gained your brother," [Matt 18:15] And that's the goal, the goal is not to put him out, the goal is so that he repents, and if you really get him to repent already, that's fine.

Alright, so if you're here today, and this is the first time you're in church, I must say, this must be an interesting topic for you. "Hah, wah, the church talk about fornication, porneia and excommunication, I'm glad I'm not in the church, huh."

Well, you ... you totally underestimate the problem of sin then.
Sin has its consequences, bible says, "Your sin will find you out." I think it's a wonderful thing to be in a church community where we are kept accountable, where we are protected, so that we do not plunge headlong into more sin, and incur more consequences upon our lives.

But maybe this is also a reminder about the holiness of the church. Church is not a country club, where you sign up just to enjoy the privileges, church is a family of God, where we endeavor to live Christ-like holy lives. And this passage is a reminder to you and to me, that even in COVID, or out of COVID, our goal always is to be more like Jesus, to live a life that is holy. And I pray that this will bring a new sense of seriousness to how you look at your personal sanctification, your personal life and walk before God.

Maybe today you're living in sin, you think that it's minor, you think that it's private. Well, I say to you, "Sin is never satisfied with being small, it wants to grow, and it will only snowball. And maybe this is a good time for you to examine your own life and to repent and to get right with God."

I believe if you are truly born again, child of God, you will never have real joy and peace as you sin. Maybe this morning is a good time for you to make a clean cut by His grace, to confess your sin, to repent, to mourn and to repent of your sin. Not that you fear God doesn't love you if you sin, but because you know His love and you want to love Him and walk right and do right by Him.

But perhaps underlying all this, is that wonderful promise of God's forgiveness for people who sin. You know, the Bible is not a book that is written for perfect people who want to live a perfect life. The Bible is a book written for very broken; sinful people, and it is a book written by a wonderful loving and merciful God, who is willing to forgive.

This passage says that there's actually way back with God, if you're willing to humble yourself and to repent. So my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you're living in sin, I want to say to you, "God's arms are stretched wide to say if you're willing to confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."' I pray you will come back to Him in His goodness.

And if you are here today and you're not a Christian, I want to say to you that, "There is forgiveness with God, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die and to pay for our sins. And this is His Word, "Whosoever believes in Him, in Jesus, will not perish but have everlasting life."' Believe in the Son, and He will cleanse you from all sin. We have a God, we worship a God of unconditional love and mercy, who sent His Son to pay for you, to forgive you. Will you turn and come to Him?

Let's bow for word of prayer together.

Father, we thank You for this morning as we look into this passage. Yes, there are many technical details here, but above all, we see that You are a God of holiness, of wisdom, of wrath against sin, but also a God of mercy and grace and love.

For some of us today living in sin, I pray, dear God, You will work in our hearts that we will not continue therein, but You will cause us to humble ourselves, grieve and mourn over our sin and seek Your forgiveness. May we confess our sin, may we walk in righteousness with the help of Your blessed Spirit.

Lord, this morning we also pray for our friends, guests tuning in, it might all be a blur for them but pray they will know this one thing - Jesus paid it all. They will know this one thing, that Jesus went to the cross, not for His own sins for He had none, for the sins of those who would believe upon Him. So please, help all see our sin and at the same time our Savior. Grant to them a humble heart that will repent and believe in Jesus, that they might be saved. So search our hearts this morning, we thank You in Jesus' Name. Amen. God bless.


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