"Purging Evil"

Introduction

Good morning! It’s great to be with you all this morning.

Spring is in the air, isn’t it?

The beginning of this week was a little colder than I’d have liked, but the last few weeks have been wonderful, haven’t they?

The grass is getting green once again, flowers are budding, the sun has been shining, the renewal of things from winter to spring is just so wonderful!

Depending on how you may feel about it, a favorite for some people in Spring is that first time mowing the grass.

Some dread it—like myself—but some take a great deal of pride in their yard and making it look good, and so that first mowing of the Spring is a significant thing for them.

At our household, my dad is the one who cuts our grass—he used to delegate that to me when I was younger, but I figured out that my dad takes so much pride in how our yard looks that if I do a poor enough job, he’ll just do it himself, so that’s how it’s been the last several years.

This past week he mowed our grass for the first time, and when he did he stumbled upon something he hadn’t planned on doing…

In our front yard, there’s these three bushes…

The three bushes are aligned in a way where they form a vertical line—where one is in the front, then one is behind that one, and there’s a third one behind it.

Whoever planted those bushes did well in picking which bush is closest to the road, because the bush in the front of the line is, in my opinion, the prettiest of them all—it buds these beautiful, red & pink flowers.

The one behind that one is still pretty, but it just buds these basic looking green leaves.

The third one—the one furthest from the road—has been a problem of ours for several years.

It appears that among that bush there’s something growing among it—a little tree or something.

And the last few years, that tree growing in the midst of the bush has been killing our bush—to the point that when my dad was mowing our grass this past week, he noticed that a good deal of that bush had died.

So, after he finished mowing our grass, he and I pruned that poor bush—purging the dead parts in hopes that the part of the bush that is still alive will be able to flourish this spring.

Safe to say, we had to prune a good deal of the bush.

Of course, when you think about pruning or purging, that sort of thing doesn’t just happen to plants…

Sometimes, in your life, you may have to purge the company of other people from among you.

I can remember when I was younger, in junior high, I had some questionable friends.

To the point where my parents didn’t want me to be friends with these people anymore.

When I was younger I didn’t quite understand why that was happening—I thought my parents were just being mean, but in reality none of those friends I had were Christians, and most of them would wind up becoming drug users.

If you want good behavior to prevail, you have to purge the bad influences from among you.

This was a big part of what Paul was trying to address with the Corinthian believers—them purging the evil that was among them.

This is the subject of our sermon text this morning—1 Corinthians chapter 5. Go ahead and turn there in your bibles if you’re following along this morning.

In this chapter, Paul’s focus shifts onto another issue the Corinthians were having.

This was an issue that apparently the Corinthians had continually had, one that Paul had written to them about before, and is now having to write of again.

The issue has come to a head, because one who was among their assembly was actively participating in this issue, and something had to be done about it.

So again, if you’re following along in your bibles this morning, read with me, 1 Corinthians 5…

*Read 1 Corinthians 5*

Sermon

Here in this chapter, Paul addresses another issue that the Corinthians were having…

And as we saw with their first issue—their prideful way of siding with certain teachers of the gospel—this was reported to Paul…

It’d be one thing if they had come to Paul with this issue, but apparently Paul had heard about it second hand—which probably didn’t make him too happy.

Now, at first Paul refers to the issue as sexual immorality…

This is a broad term by Paul.

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You see, in the original language, the word used by Paul here is porneia (GRK: πορνεία).

That may sound familiar to some of you—because it’s where our English word—pornography—comes from.

This is a broad term used in the New Testament to refer to any kind of sexual activity outside the realm of a marriage between a husband and wife.

Encompassed in this would be pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, etc.

Paul tells the Corinthians that there is sexual immorality among them…

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Now, since this is such a broad term, and can refer to so many different things, it might raise the question: what kind of sexual immorality is Paul speaking of?

Well, Paul gets to that…

First, Paul makes sure to mention that this issue they were having, this sexual immorality that they had among them, it was a kind of immorality that even the pagans wouldn’t tolerate.

This sin they had in their midst was so severe and so wicked that it was too far even for the pagans!

What could this be that is even the pagans wouldn’t tolerate it? A man had his father’s wife…

The issue that Paul is dealing with her is a man who had his father’s wife.

Now, when I say that, perhaps your mind goes to different things—and there’s a few possibilities with what Paul could specifically be talking about.

Let me say right off the bat that I don’t think this is an incestuous relationship— this probably isn’t the man’s mother.

There’s no way of knowing the exact circumstances, but it’s pretty clear that this man was in a relationship with his father’s wife—meaning his step-mother.

It could be that the man’s father was deceased, leaving the step-mother as a widow.

It could also be that the man’s father and his wife had divorced, leaving the step-mother and the son to have their relationship together.

But no matter the circumstances, this relationship was still wrong, and it was still an immoral relationship.

This practice was strongly condemned in the Old Testament Law:

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Deuteronomy 27:20 says, “Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.”

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Similarly, Leviticus 18:8 says, “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.” And later in verse 29 of that same chapter, it calls it an abomination!

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In Leviticus 20:11, this offense actually warrants that both parties be put to death!

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It’s unquestionable that this practice was wicked in the eyes of God. Even the pagans found this repulsive!

Now, some of you may be wondering what the Corinthians had to do with this.

After all, this is the sin of one of their members.

It isn’t as if the brethren had set the two up! What are they doing that’s so wrong?

The problem is that the Corinthians had been complacent in the sin.

Listen to the words of Paul here in verse 2: “And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?”

A sin of this magnitude—one that even pagans don’t tolerate—was going on in their midst, yet they didn’t mind at all.

Their pride and their arrogance had already led to strife and division among them as it pertained to what teacher they followed; now it’s made them calloused and insensitive to the sin in their midst.

Despite this sin going on, they were still arrogant and still puffed up; their complacency in this sin is itself sin.

Instead, Paul tells them they ought rather to mourn—mourn the sin in their congregation.

This word that Paul uses that the ESV translates as mourn is interesting.

Generally, but not always, when this word is used in the New Testament, it is referring to someone who is mourning over a loss.

So, it’s as if the Corinthians should be mourning over a potential loss of a soul here, one who was living in sin.

And this really is a loss in more ways than one, because of the next thing Paul instructs them to do…

In wake of the sin of this man—the one who was having his father’s wife, Paul tells the Corinthians, “Let him who has done this be removed from among you.”

Not only is this a loss as if a soul has been lost, but now there’s this talk of the man being removed from their assembly!

This might seem harsh to some, but listen Paul’s reasoning here.

First, Paul points out that even though he is physically absent from them, he is still spiritually present.

Paul cares deeply about this congregation and about each congregate there—not just on a personal level, but especially on a spiritual level.

Paul cares deeply about their souls—in fact preserving their souls would have been Paul’s top priority.

That’s the very reason why Paul is writing this letter! He cannot be physically present with them at that time, but he was still there in spirit.

And as if Paul was physically there, he has pronounced judgment on this person—not based on his own opinion, but based on what is right or wrong in the eyes of God.

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If you remember back in chapter 4, Paul tells the Corinthians to not pronounce judgment before the time (1 Cor 4:5).

He tells them to not pronounce judgment, yet here he is pronouncing judgment!

As I pointed out then, there’s a difference between the kind of judgment Paul was talking about—being judgmental on preferential things.

Paul’s judgment isn’t based on his own personal preference—despite what some may tell you about other things Paul has written—but it’s based on what the Scriptures say and it’s based on God’s plan for their lives.

This man was in a sexually immoral relationship—based on God’s standard—and so Paul pronounces judgment based on that standard.

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Here’s the bottom line: this person is living in sin, and the church had to remove them from their fellowship.

If that seems harsh, perhaps seeing Paul’s reasoning will change your mind.

Because in verses 4-5 Paul gives us a glimpse as to the reasoning for such behavior.

When they were assembled together, in the name of the Lord Jesus, with the power of Jesus they were to “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh...”

Let me stop there…

I may have just lost some of you, because to ‘deliver someone to Satan’ woulds rather cruel, especially when the end result is the ‘destruction of the flesh.’

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But it isn’t as if they’re like Postal Workers who deliver this person in an envelope to Satan’s house.

And it isn’t as if they’re sacrificing this person, as if they’re dropping them in a volcano or something.

That’s how people tend to think about this—but it isn’t exactly what Paul is meaning.

To deliver this man to Satan would be to let him live his sinful life, without intervention…

It isn’t as if they’re actively trying to persuade the man to repent, they are withdrawing fellowship from him.

So to deliver him to Satan would be to let him give himself up to Satan and his tricks.

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The effect that this is intended to bring on is, as Paul says, the destruction of the flesh.

Some will take this as if to say the end goal is the ultimate destruction—the death—of this person, but that isn’t what Paul is talking about either.

The destruction of the flesh isn’t the man’s physical flesh, but it’s the destruction of the spiritual—the flesh meaning his own sinful way of life.

Paul often speaks of the flesh in this way—the way of the flesh being in opposition with the way of the Spirit.

In this sense the flesh is evil, but the spirit is good.

Paul’s hope with this man is that his own fleshly and evil self will be destroyed—in order that his spirit will be saved in the day of the Lord.

Now, this is so crucial, understanding why that Paul wants them to remove the man from their assembly.

Paul speaks of removing this man from them…

But it isn’t because they didn’t like the man…

It wasn’t because they wished harm on the man…

It wasn’t because they thought too highly of themselves to be in the company of such a man…

It was because they hoped his spirit would be saved.

This is so important, understanding that in the church today, if someone finds themselves to the point of disfellowship, it isn’t because the church hates them.

In reality, we are to withdraw fellowship from someone not because we hate them, but because we love them, and we want to see their soul saved.

I’m not sure how exactly it works—perhaps when a person is delivered to Satan the repercussions of their sin becomes so apparent they are drawn back to Christ…

Or perhaps the withdrawal of fellowship serves as a wake-up call for some…

Or perhaps some simply hit rock-bottom without the love and support of the church… but for whatever reason, when fellowship is withdrawn, often times repentance is the outcome.

Paul has explained his position, and he’s even explained his reasoning, but now he has to get back to the Corinthians and their arrogance.

Picking up in verse 6, Paul says this about them: “Your boasting is not good.”

The congregation at Corinth had apparently put a little too much trust in themselves—because the pattern that we’re seeing with their behavior is that they are puffed up in their thinking—first with their division over teachers, and now their complacency in harsh sin.

It’s telling that the pagans wouldn’t tolerate such a sin, yet the Corinthians did.

It seems to me that they were underestimating the magnitude of this sin… perhaps they saw it as a small problem…

Perhaps they knew that what this man was doing was wrong, but they didn’t think too much of it to intervene.

Perhaps that they were so caught up in themselves that compared to how they thought of themselves, this problem was microscopic.

But you’ll find that even the smallest of problems—which this was not, by the way—can lead to a great deal of destruction…

It’s with this idea in mind that Paul draws their attention to an imagery—one that they were probably quite familiar with.

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He draws their attention to leaven…

If you don’t know, leaven is a substance used in order to make dough rise.

It’s the difference between a cracker and a slice of white bread, or the difference between a thin-crust and a rising-crust pizza.

You can be making bread, and have a ball of dough that is totally absent of any yeast or any other sort of leaven—but if just the tiniest amount of leaven gets in that dough, then it’s enough to make all the dough rise—it leavens the whole thing.

The same is true of sin—just the tiniest amount contaminates the whole person—which is why it’s so important to do as Paul says and to cleanse out the old leaven, in order that we may be a new lump.

Keeping with this imagery—since the Jews ate unleavened bread at passover—Paul tells us that our time of Passover is here!

Jesus, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed, so now it is time to celebrate.

But they couldn’t celebrate with just any old bread—it had to be unleavened…

So instead of partaking in bread contaminated with leaven—which Paul likens to malice and evil—instead we are to partake in the unleavened bread—likened to sincerity and truth.

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This unanswered sin in their midst was as leaven to them, which is why Paul has told them to not associate with the sexually immoral (v. 9).

Paul probably wasn’t too happy with these Corinthians, because he has apparently already told them this once before—to not associate with sexually immoral people.

Yet, even amongst their own assembly was one committing an act detestable even to the pagans!

But there’s one last thing to what Paul is saying here that I want us to see this morning.

Notice that in verse 10 Paul makes sure to differentiate between the sexually immoral of the world…

It isn’t this group that Paul is talking about—nor the greedy, or the swindlers, or the idolaters.

Paul isn’t talking about people of the world—otherwise Christians would have zero dealings with the world.

How then, could Christians evangelize? How could we reach the lost souls? We couldn’t, and Paul knows that.

It isn’t as if Christians are supposed to create their own bubble with people who only have the same beliefs and morals and values as they do—because that isn’t the case at all.

It isn’t those that we aren’t to associate with, but it’s the ones who bear the name of a brother who do these things…

The world is going to behave in a worldly manor—it would be dishonest to expect anything other than that.

But when someone bears the name of Christ yet is living a life of sexual immorality, or greed, or idolatry, or is a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—it’s these that Paul warns to not associate with.

There is a fine line here—because obviously all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God—those are Paul’s words himself.

But there is a difference, there is a distinction to be made, between a Christian who occasionally slips up, and a Christian who is actively living a life of sin and making no effort to be holy or repent.

That was the situation the Corinthians had found themselves in—one of their own members was living this life, a life of sexual immorality.

In Paul’s own words, God will judge those outside the body of Christ, but it is our job to judge those inside the church (v. 12).

Paul’s call to them was to ‘purge the evil person from among you.’

One of the beauties of the body of Christ, and one of the reasons why it is so important to be able to be physically present in our assembling together, whether that’s for worship service, or bible study, or any other sorts of fellowship, is the ACCOUNTABILITY that comes with being a Christian.

A verse you may hear quite often is Hebrews 10:25, part of which says, “do not forsake the assembly.”

It’s true that this verse speaks of the importance of meeting together, and commands us to not forsake it, but this is more than just a verse that tells you to go to worship service.

If you look at the entirety of the verse, and the verse before it, it reads as: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

This talks about not forsaking the assembly, but the reason behind it is so that we can stir one another up to good works, and encourage one another.

That includes when we are in sin—stirring each other up to good works, and encouraging each other when repenting of that sin is difficult and challenging.

If you find a brother or sister in Christ who is out of line, I hope that you would challenge them on their sin, hold them accountable, not because you don’t like the person, or because you love rubbing people’s sins in their face, but because you love your brother or sister in Christ.

I hope you’ll do that for me, and I hope I can do that for you as well.

And if it gets to the point of withdrawing fellowship from somebody, while it may seem like an extreme step, it is a necessary one, one that can save someone’s soul.

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That’s one reason that I love being a part of the body of Christ, and why I love being part of this congregation, is the accountability and the love that takes place in our assembling together.

If you find yourself on the outside, looking in, and you’d like to be part of this fellowship, part of this brotherhood, part of this assembly, we’d be thrilled and we’d welcome you with open arms.

This morning if you’d like to obey the gospel and be part of the body of Christ, or if you have any other spiritual needs, we invite you to respond and to do so publically, as we stand and sing this song.