Church Gone Wild
CORINTH: A CHURCH GONE WILD!
( 1Cor. 5:1-13)
I. HER REPUTATION (v. 1)
Leviticus 18:6-8 (NKJV) 6 ‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. 7 The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness.
Deuteronomy 22:30 (NKJV) “A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s bed.
A. Widespread It seems that even those outside the church knew
about this problem.
B. Well-known It seems that nobody even tried to hide what was
going on.
C. Worldly this church allowed sin within its membership that
even the heathen didn’t commit.
II. HER REACTION (v. 2)
2 Corinthians 7:7-10 (NKJV) 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
· A. Puffed Up
o 1. Paul uses the phrase “puffed up” 5 times in
this letter.
2. Each time he uses it to describe the pride-
filled attitude of the members of the church.
3. “Puffed up” literally means “inflated”.
Someone either has a swelled head or a swelled
chest.
·
B. Procrastination
1. The church chose to ignore the problems within.
2. The problems therefore got worse and worse, to
the point that we see here.
3. Putting off dealing with problems never leads
to a good result.
III. HER ROUTE TO CORRECTION (v. 3-8)
2 Thessalonians 3:6-7 (NKJV) But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you;
A. Exclusion (v. 5)
1. To save their spirit.
2. To purify the church.
B. Purity (v. 7)
1. A church that doesn’t strive for purity will
have more problems than she can hope to deal
with. The Bible says to put them out of the
congregation (v. 13).
2. A church that chooses to “overlook” certain
sins within the congregation will inevitably drift
far away from God.
3. A church member that thinks certain sins aren’t
as bad as others should first search the
scriptures and find out which sins Jesus was not
crucified for!
IV. HER RESPONSIBILITY TO DISCIPLINE (v. 9-12)
1 Corinthians 10:7-11 (NKJV) 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, whom the ends of the ages have come.
A. When Sin Is Openly Known (v. 9-11)
1. Every sin on this list has one thing in
common. They are all publicly known.
2. When a church member openly rebels against God
the church has the right and the responsibility to
exclude them.
B. When Sin Involves A Church Member (v. 12)
1. A church has no authority to judge those who
are not members.
2. A church has full authority and responsibility
to judge those who are within.