1 Corinthians 5:1-13 The Right Kind of Leaven

January 19, 2025

Christopher C. Freeman

Title: The Right Kind of Leaven Text: I Corinthians 5:1-13 FCF: We often struggle with dealing with those who claim to be Christians living in unrepentant sin. Prop: Because the mission of the church is to call sinners to the gospel, we must excommunicate unrepentant believers. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Corinthians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll begin reading in verse 1 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Today we will deviate from our study in the book of Acts to help us understand what many in our theological circles conclude is an essential practice of a biblically sound church. As essential as it is, it is one of the most difficult, unpopular, and challenging things that the Lord Jesus has called us to do. The Lord has called us to exercise church discipline on those who claim to be Christians but openly continue in sin without repentance. The scope of the sermon today is not exhaustive. Today, I want to zoom in on one particular historical example of church discipline which was carried out in the church of Corinth. It seems appropriate since in our study of Acts, Paul is currently seeing souls saved and the church forming there in the city of Corinth. So, without further delay, please stand with me to focus on and show proper honor to the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Heavenly Father, True sheep hear the master’s call and obey. At times we cast our eyes to the flock and see some delay in coming to His voice. We wonder – are they not His sheep? How do we know? His sheep will come when He calls. This practice you have given us, for our own spiritual success and purity, is the test of that call. May we be all the more convinced that it is a necessary practice of Your church. We pray this in the Good Shepherd’s name… Amen. Transition: Let us dive directly into the text this morning, we have MUCH to see here. I.) For the sake of the one living in unrepentant sin, we must excommunicate unrepentant believers. (1-5) a. [Slide 2] 1 - It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. i. Paul, somewhat in shock, reveals that he has heard about an instance of sexual immorality that is happening among them. ii. The level of this immorality was so perverse that even among the pagans such an act would not be tolerated. iii. The act itself is a man who has his father’s wife. iv. What this means is somewhat difficult for us to pin down. 1. First, what does Paul mean by calling this woman “his father’s wife”. a. Since Paul is quoting or alluding to Leviticus 18 where the sexual laws against incestuous and illegitimate marital partners is addressed, and since a relationship like this with someone’s mother is mentioned before the part he is referencing, it is likely that the Leviticus passage and therefore Paul also is referring to someone who is his father’s wife but also not his mother. Like a step-mother. b. Roman and Jewish law would not allow such a union, whether we are referring to cohabitation or in marriage. 2. Secondly, we are not certain whether the word “has” here refers to simply fornication or includes marriage. a. Has implies an ongoing sexually deviant relationship. But the nature of that relationship is unclear. b. Many suppose that since it was illegal in the Roman Empire to be granted official marriage recognition in such cases, that most likely Paul is saying they are cohabitating. c. However, given the disposition of the church toward this man (which we’ll get to shortly) it is entirely possible that the church of Corinth allowed for a religious union to occur for this man and his father’s wife, even if it was not recognized by the Roman government. d. In either case, such a sexual union is displeasing to God solely on the grounds of the partners being illegitimate for each other. e. But if marriage is what this means– how is this possible if she is his father’s wife? i. The Romans and Jews of this time did not allow polygamy, although having a concubine would have been common. ii. More than likely, the father is either dead or he had divorced this woman. iii. But because Paul refers to her in the present as his father’s wife, this has me leaning toward the latter. iv. Therefore, she is free to be joined in this way. 3. Third, Paul does not address, at any time, the moral culpability of the woman in this scenario. This indicates to us that this woman, most likely, was not a believer. a. Therefore, it is possible that Paul’s charge of sexual immorality has three counts. i. First, it is sexual immorality because she is an illegitimate mate being his step-mother. And this would be illegal in both the eyes of the Romans and more importantly in the eyes of God. It is counter to the natural order. ii. Second, it is sexual immorality potentially because she was divorced unbiblically from his father, and therefore marrying her would be adultery. iii. Third, it is sexual immorality because she was an unbeliever and he, at the time, was claiming to be a believer. b. After studying this passage, I believe that this is exactly what was going on. c. He had married an unbelieving divorced woman that used to be his step-mother. It is impossible for this relationship to be honorable to God on those grounds. v. So, what is the church’s reaction to this? b. [Slide 3] 2 - And you have become puffed up and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. i. They have become puffed up … but puffed up in what? ii. What Paul says next helps us answer this question. iii. Instead of mourning (expressing deep spiritual sorrow) and removing the man from among the church itself… iv. They, as a church, were accepting, tolerating, allowing this relationship to continue, and perhaps even celebrating this union. v. In what spirit? vi. Let’s keep reading… c. [Slide 4] 3 - For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present: i. Paul, again by saying the opposite gives us the clues we need to understand what is happening in the Corinthian church. ii. They are puffed up, prideful, in what? iii. Their “love”, caution, “care”, and “mercy” to not make hasty judgements against this man. iv. Essentially, they are proud of knowing the bible passage “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” v. They were treating this man with such “love” and “kindness” and allowing him to continue in this relationship because “the Lord is loving and forgiving and receives people from all walks of life.” vi. “We too should be affirming and accepting. Let’s not judge too quickly.” vii. As we mentioned before, it is even possible that they facilitated some kind of spiritual union ceremony since the Roman courts would not recognize and would even punish such a marriage. viii. But Paul… what does he say? ix. I’ve judged him already. It wasn’t hard guys. I didn’t need to know a bunch of the details. x. I don’t need to walk a mile in his shoes. xi. I don’t need to look him in the eye. xii. I don’t need to empathize with his pain. xiii. I don’t need to see it from his point of view. xiv. I don’t need to know his temptation to be able to speak on this issue. xv. I am ready to render a judgment. xvi. So here is what you are to do and you should listen as if I were there with you enforcing this… d. [Slide 5] 4 - in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, i. Paul invokes the name and power of our Lord Jesus… he bookends this statement with the name of Jesus (with His authority) and the power of Jesus (His saving and changing power). ii. And right in the middle he mentions the assembled church. The next time you are gathered and I am with you IN SPIRIT… iii. Paul saying all of this evokes a courtroom scene. The judge, the jury, the prosecution is all set and they must render a verdict. Not of the church alone. But in the authority and power of Jesus. iv. But what is that verdict they should render? e. [Slide 6] 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. i. In this discussion, Paul assumes that this man is a Christian. ii. Here we have the delicate tension the bible gives us of the practice of church discipline. iii. As Matthew 18 says we are to treat people who are excommunicated from the church as though they are tax collectors and gentiles. iv. Tax collectors were betrayers because they worked for Rome against their own people and Gentiles were pagans worshipping false gods and not members of God’s covenant community. v. In other words, Jesus is saying to treat excommunicated people as though they are not believers. vi. But to treat someone as an unbeliever is not the same as declaring them to be an unbeliever, nor is it undeniable proof that they are an unbeliever, nor does it do anything to douse the flame of our hope that they are in fact a believer. vii. The tension then, is to treat them as though they are unbelievers, while still hoping that they are believers and that they will repent of sin and return to the covenant community. viii. Paul’s language here is domain or kingdom language. ix. Removing this man from the domain or kingdom of Christ, or recognizing that he has removed himself, allows him to be placed in the kingdom of darkness… while being, potentially, a child of the light. x. If indeed he is a child of the light, Satan will have his way with such a person… even to the destruction of his flesh. Why? xi. So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. xii. What is Paul saying? xiii. There is protection under the Lord’s promises that for His people all things will work together for good. xiv. The church is a haven, a nursery, a dispensary of the means of grace that God uses to grow the faith of His people and encourage them. The Faith they need to weather the storms of this life is grown, cultivated, and nurtured in the environment of the church. xv. When a believer is spiritually removed by excommunication from that haven… the promise of all things working together for good remains true – but God will allow/use Satan to chasten them. How? xvi. In a similar way he used Satan to prove Job. xvii. God proved to Satan and the gathered sons of god that Job was righteous. How? By removing every earthly blessing from him except for his life. xviii. God proved He told the truth when He declared Job to be righteous. Job did not curse God and die. In the end, He confessed that God was God and that he was not and shut his mouth in repentance. That… is what righteous men do. They repent and submit to God. xix. By the church coming together to excommunicate an unrepentant believer, it is to test the declaration of God. xx. If God has truly declared them righteous, as He did Job, Satan’s blows will prove God’s declaration true in the end. xxi. In that process, they will repent and return to the fold so that they will be spared on the day of judgment. xxii. When the church excommunicates someone… it is not a matter of paperwork. It is a spiritual matter of grave significance. xxiii. It is a domain matter. There are only two kingdoms. The Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of this world. If a person is excommunicated from the Kingdom of Light, they must join the Kingdom of Darkness. There is no third option. f. [Slide 7] Summary of the Point: Paul’s point in this passage is that the only hope this man has to ever be restored and his soul rescued from eternal destruction is for the church to recognize that he has disfellowshipped himself from them by continuing in unrepentant sin. God’s Kingdom is a domain of light. Only those who walk in the light belong in the light. If someone is walking in darkness… then they should not be considered as part of the kingdom of light. And it is to their own benefit to be treated as if they are not. It is only when an unrepentant believer is removed from the haven and spiritual protection of the church that they can truly be tested and proved through the fire to be one of God’s people. Therefore, we must remove any one who claims Christ but continues in unrepentant sin. Transition: [Slide 8(blank)] But the wellbeing of the one in sin is not the only or even the greatest concern of Paul in this passage. There is a problem that must be corrected in the church as well – beyond removing this man. He continues in verse 6. II.) For the sake of the purity and mission of the church, we must excommunicate unrepentant believers. (6-13) a. [Slide 9] 6 - Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? i. Next, Paul is going to slightly deviate from the issue at hand with this man and his sin and broaden his point. ii. He must do this because, as he opens with, their boasting is not good. iii. This is, in some ways, a deeper and more concerning issue than the issue of this man living in unrepentant sin. iv. The issue is with the church itself. v. It is not profitable to the church for the church to be known as a place that tolerates unrepentant sin from its members. vi. Sin should not be tolerated by the church as a whole or by any of its individual members. vii. Every single believer should desire the death of sin in their own hearts and in another believer’s life, because they know that sin always leads to death and destruction. viii. So what? Its none of our business what other do right? ix. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? x. A baking illustration. xi. No doubt many of you bake your own bread or have done so in the past. xii. Approximately how much yeast or bacteria is needed within a 1-pound dough ball in order to permeate the whole lump? xiii. Not much, yes? In fact, given enough time and under the right conditions, the smallest pinch of yeast or the smallest number of bacteria transferred to the lump… will eventually cause it to prove all the way through. xiv. Paul’s point is that when sin is tolerated in the church… even to the smallest degree… it pollutes the entire church. b. [Slide 10] 7 - Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed. i. Paul alters the metaphor to point to Passover. ii. The Israelites would clean their houses of any leaven because it represented sin and pride. iii. And indeed, they have already been made unleavened. How? iv. Christ, our Passover lamb, was sacrificed. It’s already been done. v. We have been purified, washed clean. So now we hate sin and seek its eradication. vi. We work to clean out all the old leaven. We are a new lump… a new creation. vii. The old has gone and must continue to stay gone. Why? viii. For the new has come. c. [Slide 11] 8 - Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. i. The feast here could be referring to the Lord’s Supper or the Passover, but more than likely this is a metaphor for the spiritual fellowship of the church. ii. God has designed His church as a channel for His grace to flow to His people. iii. We sit and eat of the meals God’s provides us… but not with the old leaven, the sinfulness, but instead with sincerity and truth. iv. Our sin has been replaced by hearts that believe and love God. d. [Slide 12] 9 - I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; i. With what is somewhat of a stark transition, Paul moves on to another aspect of this discussion regarding keeping the church pure. ii. Here we see that Paul references a letter he had sent previously. iii. This is one of the lost letters to Corinth. iv. In a previous letter Paul mentioned that they should not associate with sexually immoral people. v. The word to associate means to mingle or to be mixed together with. vi. Again, it is kingdom or domain language. vii. But Paul wants to nuance that command a little. e. [Slide 13] 10 - I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. i. Paul specifies that he did not mean this toward unbelievers who are sexually immoral. ii. But what is Paul saying? iii. Are we to join with, mix up with, mingle with sexually immoral unbelievers? iv. Why can we join with unbelievers who sin but not believers who sin in the same way? v. Let’s go back to the illustration of the leaven and the lump. vi. In the church, it is obvious that we are the unleavened lump and sin is leaven. vii. But in the world… what is the leaven? viii. Notice that Paul’s conclusion for why we should not disassociate from unbelieving sinners is not because if we did, we would have to remove THEM from the world… ix. It is that WE would have to go out of the world. x. The church, the Kingdom of Christ, is the leavening agent in the world. xi. We cannot be unmixed from the world because we are permeating the world. We are part of the world. We are in the world. We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. xii. As sin infects and infests the church, so the church permeates and prevails in the world. xiii. Only the Lord will remove us when He has determined it is time for us to be removed. xiv. Therefore, we remain mixed with unbelieving sinners in the sense that we are in the world – but not of it since we are the leavening agent. xv. Practically speaking then, to associate with the world, and sinners in the world, is merely to be in it. It is to be a part of it. It is to carry on earthly affairs and earthly jobs. Earthly concerns and earthly activities. We have parts of our lives that are not directly related to the Kingdom of God but are submitted to the pursuit of that Kingdom above all. xvi. We are not to be hermits. We are not to shun human contact or live in a commune or religious monastery. xvii. We must be in the world because we are the leavening agent of the world. xviii. But what happens when the lump we are talking about is no longer the world but is the church? f. [Slide 14] 11 - But now I am writing to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. i. When we shift our focus from the world to the church, everything changes. ii. In the world we are the leavening agent… but in the church, we have no need to be changed, altered, invaded, or permeated with anything since the Lord has purified us. iii. In fact, the goal is to stay holy and pure. We fight against leavening agents. iv. We must associate with the world and sinners because we have the solution to their sin. 1. That is why we can and must be mixed up with the world in the sense that we rub shoulders with wicked people. 2. They probably aren’t our best friends. We probably don’t become business partners with them. But we don’t shy away from interacting and even participating in their lives. 3. Why? 4. So, we can share the gospel with them and live holy lives in front of them. v. But we must not associate with self-professed believers who are unrepentant sinners, because they are the death of the purity and effectiveness of the church. vi. So, what does it mean to NOT associate with so-called brothers living in unrepentant sin? 1. Again, we must change our focus. 2. It cannot mean that we treat them worse than we treat the world. 3. Paul isn’t saying that we can participate in the lives of unbelievers but have to shun believers who have been excommunicated. 4. What does it mean then? 5. It means that they are not part of us. They can’t be included in anything that is the church. They cannot be affiliated in any way with the church. vii. When we excommunicate someone, we are removing them from the kingdom of light and placing them in the kingdom of this world. At least in how we treat them. Therefore, since we are part of the same world, a world where we are the leavening agent, we must be kind, loving, civil, interacting and participating in their lives – but not closely. We maintain the same distance we would with unbelievers. As Matthew 18 says – we treat them like unbelievers. viii. Well, what about this statement Paul makes about not even eating with them? How do we take that? 1. It seems to me that this whole context so far has been in relation to the entire gathered assembly. a. Therefore, the most likely meals that Paul is forbidding are meals where the church has gathered. b. This would include the Lord’s Supper of course, but also love feasts that preceded the Lord’s Supper as well as fellowship meals. 2. But even if Paul does mean that individual Christians must refuse to eat with the one excommunicated, there is a certain level of cultural context we must supply to understand this command and apply it rightly to our culture. a. [Slide 15] Let me quote one commentator - “Eating together connotated more than friendliness in ancient culture; it created a social bond. When Christians ate together, it reinforced and confirmed the solidarity established by their shared confession of faith in Christ.” b. The reason Paul commanded this was because in their culture eating a meal together communicated that we are of the same social background. It communicated association. Partnership. Like-mindedness. c. Whether or not this is still true in our culture is something we must consider. 3. [Slide 16] The bottom line is that an excommunicated person is not welcome in any event or occasion where it would communicate, explicitly or implicitly, a bond, a Partnership, or an association to the church. 4. Why? 5. Because although we are a part of them (since they have been removed to the world) they are not a part of us… Not until they repent. ix. Therefore, the “associating” has everything to do with what domain or kingdom we are talking about. x. Why Paul? Why must we make this distinction? g. [Slide 17] 12 - For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Are you not to judge those who are within the church? 13 - But those who are outside, God will judge. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG OURSELVES. i. God is the judge of the world. In the sense that God knows who are His and He will draw His own to Himself in His time. ii. He ultimately will judge and determine the fates of men. iii. He, after all, knows the heart of every man. iv. But within the church, He has given us the keys to the Kingdom. v. We have the authority to bind and loose here on earth. vi. What does that mean? vii. It means we, as the church, have been given the authority and the responsibility to remove from the church any agent which sullies the purity and neutralizes the influence of the church upon the world. viii. Paul’s last word is a quote from Deuteronomy 17:7 ix. Remove the wicked man from among ourselves. x. This is his command. xi. Get this cancer out… NOW! h. [Slide 18] Summary of the Point: In what is obviously Paul’s primary concern, he reveals that if the church is to remain effective in permeating the world with the message of the gospel of Christ, it is absolutely essential that they must remain pure by removing any leavening agent within their midst. Sin, like a cancer, spreads throughout the body of Christ and pollutes the purity and distinctiveness of the church and therefore neutralizes its effectiveness in permeating the world. To take pride in being slow to act, tolerating, accepting, affirming or even celebrating unrepentant sin is to work against the purpose and purity of the church. Therefore, for the sake of the purity and mission of the church, we too must excommunicate unrepentant believers. Conclusion: So, CBC, what have we learned today and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 19] In what was sure to be quite a shocking turn, Paul rebukes the church of Corinth for their pride in doing the exact wrong thing. They were puffed up in what they thought was great love, kindness, tolerance, mercy, acceptance, affirmation, and even celebration toward a man who they didn’t want to be too hasty to judge. In reality, Paul reveals to them that they have acted against the man himself and the church as a whole. Indeed, for the sake of the man’s soul and the purity and purpose of their church, they must remove the man from their midst. They must do so, hoping that God will use Satan to destroy his physical and earthly existence so that his soul might be rescued before the day of the Lord occurs. Therefore, we too must be faithful in executing church discipline. Why? It is for the good of the believer in sin and it is for the good of the church. But let me address some very practical questions in our applications today. 1.) [Slide 20] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe the worst thing we can do for someone in sin is to affirm or support their choices. a. I trust you see the obvious correlation between the wisdom of the church of Corinth and the wisdom of our world today? b. They were proud, an interesting word given the nature of the sin in question, they were proud that they did not judge this man too hastily. c. They were proud to be tolerating, affirming and perhaps even celebrating this man’s choices. d. And what is Paul’s assessment of their inaction? What is Paul’s assessment of their wisdom? Their love? Their tolerance? e. It is not good. f. The wisdom of this world and the wisdom of many “churches” in our culture tells us that our role as the church must be to support, help, affirm, love, care for, and accept every single person no matter what their lifestyle and identity. g. While we certainly live kindly, lovingly, and holy lives toward those outside the church, and while we would never deny an unbeliever living in sin from coming into our church… h. The least loving thing we could ever do for the world or for a believer is to ignore, accept, or affirm their sinful choices. i. Why is that the least loving thing we can do? j. Because the command of Christ is to repent of sin and believe the gospel. k. Never calling anyone to repent communicates that it is ok to disobey Christ. l. This is entirely antithetical to the gospel. m. The gospel is not to free us from the penalty of sin only but to free us from its POWER and eventually even its presence in our lives. n. Many say, well the Lord will forgive me. He loves me and will forgive me. o. God does love us. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die so that we could be free from the penalty, power, and presence of sin. p. Sin destroys us. Sin is a cancer. q. Would you tell someone with cancer that you are happy for them and will support them in their cancer lifestyle. Would you encourage them to flaunt their cancer and be proud of having cancer? r. NO! This is foolishness. You’d tell them to get it cut out of them. Why? Because it WILL KILL THEM. s. Sin will kill them too. It might kill them physically but it will definitely kill them spiritually. t. The absolute worst thing we can do for anyone living in sin, is to ignore, tolerate, accept, affirm or celebrate it. u. Especially if they claim to be Christians. 2.) [Slide 21] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that the leavening role of the church to the world can continue while the church is impure. a. Paul makes the case that for sake of the church, its purity and its mission are entwined. b. If the church is polluted and full of sin, it cannot maintain its power and distinctiveness to the world. c. Anecdotally, churches who have embraced the LGBTQIA+ agenda are, thankfully, quite empty. d. Why? e. They are just like the world! There is nothing distinct or unique about their message. So the world says – why waste my time? f. On the flipside, the most successful and engaging ministries are those who implore from a heart of love for sinners to abandon their sin and trust in Christ. g. This is the gospel folks. h. We can’t be the leavening agent in the world telling the world to repent and seek Christ if we as a church are not telling our own people to repent and trust Christ. i. The purity of the church and the mission of the church work hand in hand. j. If we are to be effective at all in sharing Christ with the nations… we must be a pure church that does not tolerate unrepentant sin. 3.) [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must execute church discipline on unrepentant believers. a. In my tenure as your pastor we have excommunicated 2 members so far. b. In each case, the sin was not the issue. It was the refusal to repent of the sin and admit any wrongdoing. c. In both cases, they refused to seek freedom from the sin and spurned any correction no matter how kind or loving it was presented. d. This is the nature of church discipline. Although most of us put an equals sign between church discipline and excommunication I would encourage you to resist doing that. e. Church discipline refers to the whole process by which we confront other believers either with sins we have observed them doing or sins they have committed against us. f. As is mentioned in Matthew 18, if in that confrontation, they repent and seek forgiveness and help to gain victory over their sin – then there is no need to continue the process of church discipline. g. Even if, after a period of time, they sin again in the same way, it doesn’t mean we can pick up the process where we left off. We would start the whole process again. h. Church discipline is a fancy name for accountability. i. Should we face someone who does not turn from their sin and live differently, then we continue with steps to bring more believers into the conversation to bear witness of the call to repent and their refusal. j. Eventually it is told to the church where the church excommunicates a believer who will not turn from sin. k. Therefore, we as a church must execute church discipline from start to finish. We must confront sin. In our own hearts first and then meekly in others too. l. And if we must, for the good of the one sinning and for the church itself, we must excommunicate any who would continue in unrepentant sin. 4.) [Slide 23] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must not associate with excommunicated believers. a. The bulk of the questions regarding excommunication is, how do we treat those who have been excommunicated from the church? b. I hope and trust this sermon has greatly helped, but to tie all the points up in a nice bow, it comes down to one basic concept. c. To not associate with them and to treat them like an unbeliever should be seen as working in conjunction. d. In one sense we treat them as if they are an unbeliever. We as the church are in the world, part of the world, the leavening agent of the world permeating the Kingdom of God and His righteousness throughout it. e. Therefore, since they have been removed to the world, we are free to speak with them, care for them, pray for them, love them, engage them in conversation, live holy lives before them and generally live peaceably with them. All in an effort to share the kingdom message with them again. f. But, hear me now… though WE are part of THEM… THEY are NOT part of US. g. Normally we would allow unbelievers to join us for a church service to expose them to the gospel – But the excommunicated would not be welcomed among us. Why? Because it communicates that they are part of us… when they aren’t. h. Normally we’d invite unbelievers to fellowship meals or church events such as the hay ride and chili cookoff or other such things… but the excommunicated would not be welcome. Why? Because it communicates that they are part of us. i. Thinking back over the ones we have excommunicated and thinking forward to any who we might excommunicate in the future, I have developed a test that I believe will help greatly for determining what we are able to do with an excommunicated member and what we are not able to do. j. It isn’t a foolproof test. And it will still require some searching and perhaps even wise counsel. But the test is primarily drawn from this text. k. If you are considering engaging in an activity with, an act of kindness toward, or continuing a relationship with an excommunicated member of the church, it would be good for you to ask two questions before pursuing that action. i. [Slide 24] Does this show, explicitly or implicitly, to the church, the world, and/or the excommunicated, that we the church are part of the world and are acting as salt and light toward this person to reveal the gospel and heavenly principles? 1. If the answer is yes, your job is still not done. 2. For you must also ask the second question. ii. [Slide 25] Does this show, explicitly or implicitly, to the church, the world, and/or the excommunicated, that they, as the excommunicated, are part of the church and are partners and sharers in the kingdom of light? 1. If the answer to this is no, and your previous answer is yes, it is probably a good action to take toward them. 2. If the answer to this question is yes regardless of the answer to the previous question, you must NOT engage with them. 3. For we cannot suggest explicitly or implicitly to the church, the world, or the person excommunicated, that they are still part of us. Because they are not. l. The second question is the most important one. There must be mixed signals here. They are NOT part of us. m. That is, until they turn from their sin and seek restoration. 5.) [Slide 26] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God will never stop chastening His children. a. We know from the scriptures that God, because He is a good Father, chastens His wayward children. b. If they are truly children they will be chastened by the Lord. c. And that is a comforting thought for us. d. We know that while we have removed them from us, if they are truly one of us, the Lord will bring them back. They might be a little worse for wear… but He will bring them back. e. And indeed for this man in Corinth, it seems from Paul’s next canonical letter, that he did in fact repent and return. f. We find great hope in this. [Slide 27 (end)] Now let me close with a prayer by the church Father Ephriam the Syrian Lord Jehovah, judge my cause and fight for me against Satan and his host. Lay the strong one low! I have cast off his yoke, and renounced his cursed power. He doubly hates this, and longs to seize me as his prey. I flee to you and to your cross for help. He would win if you did not deliver me-but you have already defeated him. Do not let him conquer me! Put him to shame, O Lord my God! Give me the victory! It is not strength that wins; my weakness is my shield. In lowly trust we fight the fight, and weakness wins the battle. So give me a lowly heart, and cast away each prideful thought. Let gentleness and love come in instead, and abide in my life. Your will, not mine, be done. I resist my selfish desires. Let me ever and always be your servant only. Jesus, I flee to you. I cling to your cross. Save me from Satan's hellish power and pluck me from his grasp. So I will praise you, Lord, and adore your great name. With Father and Spirit one, forever and ever, amen. Benediction: May He Who breaks the power of canceled sin and sets the prisoner free, Whose blood can make the foulest clean; May he increase your understanding so that you may know Him who is true, And that you are in His Son, Jesus Christ. Until we meet again, go in peace.