(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Thank you. You Well good morning everyone welcome Mountain Baptist Church take your song book and turn to song 321 Song 321 in your song books will sing where he leads I'll follow and if you would stand We'll sing song 321 Sweet are the promises kind as the word Dear far than any message man ever heard Pure was the mind of Christ sinless I see He the great example is in pattern for me Where? He leads I'll follow Follow all the way Where He leads I'll follow follow Jesus every day Sweet is the tender love Jesus has shown sweeter far than any love Mortals have known kind to the erring one faithful is he? He the great example is in pattern for me where He leads I'll follow Follow all the way Where he leads I'll follow follow Jesus every day List to his loving words come unto me Weary heavy laden there is sweet rest for thee Trust in his promises faithful and sure Lean upon the Savior and my soul is secure where he leads I'll follow Follow all the way Where he leads I'll follow follow Jesus every day Let's pray Heavenly Father Lord again, we just want to thank you God just for all of your mercies and kindnesses to us Thank you for this church, thank you for our pastor I pray Lord now that you would just fill in with our spirit with your spirit in Jesus name we ask all but amen I may be seated and take your mountain Baptist the blue mountain Baptist song books the Psalms hymns and spiritual songs the books and turn to Psalm 26 which these are numbered now, so it's page number eight Psalm 126 sorry not Psalm 26 some 126 So this is a new song we're we're doing And we'll sing Psalm 126 When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us Whereof we are Turn again our captivity Oh Lord as the streams and the They that sow in tears shall reap in joy They that sow in tears shall reap in joy Then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us Whereof we are glad He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed Shaddown let's come again Shaddown let's come again with rejoicing bring his sheaves with him Then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us Whereof we are You Amen so welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning and Just some announcements here, but we do have some visitors the Stevie family are from Kansas So a little distance away, so if you saw the limo out there That's where they came in so as I yeah, I drove in I'm like who's driving a limo so but but welcome and and then we have We're gonna have a baptism today, but we're gonna let that water warm up a little bit, so Joanna right so Joanna is gonna be getting baptized But it's gonna be we're gonna wait until after the afternoon service to let that water warm up a little bit so But if anybody else is needing to get baptized We'll have the the baptistry ready and all that so just just know that's available there And then as far as our service times today everything is normal We'll have our afternoon service at 4 p.m.. But in between that we're gonna have our soul winning time so at 1 p.m. We're gonna have our soul winning our main soul winning time here at the church, so Go get some lunch come back a little before 1 o'clock We'll get teamed up and go out soul winning and then also we have regional soul winning time So you see Monday Tuesday Thursday Saturday there? And we have different men that are leading those up So if you have any questions as far as wanting to meet up on those times those are more per area So Monday's usually we're out in the Morgantown area Tuesday the Salem area Thursday brother Richie's probably like Fairmont Clarksburg Clarksburg area and then Saturday wherever brother Wade goes Bridgeport Bridgeport so but if you want to go on one of those times Obviously we have our church app Are basically our our group there, but if you have any questions there if you want to go out during the week Let us know and we'll we'll find you a time there Also, if there's any time like maybe on Wednesday or Friday where we don't have times yet, and you say hey That'd be a better time reach out to us. We'll try to figure out a way to where we can get a soul winning time there as well if we can but But anyway, so we have so many times throughout the week we have the women's prayer meeting coming up this Saturday, so Ladies if you can make it out to that that'd be great and then on the soul winning marathons list there we have This Saturday brother Wade and brother Jim Yeah, there you yeah, yeah, I knew where you were at Are gonna be leading up a soul winning marathon in Weston and so Western West Virginia, so that's not too far away And then Coming up in June. We have a couple So any marathons brother Charles gonna be leading up the one in Philadelphia PA, and then we are gonna be leading up a Big soul winning marathon in Indianapolis, Indiana, and so that's gonna be on the 24th So like I said anybody in the church that wants to go out there We're gonna try to make it to where we're gonna drive out there on a Friday You know evening afternoon and then kind of Lodge there in Indiana And so if you want to go to that Let me know because we need to figure out how we're gonna do the lodging and everything but Yeah, we still have a couple months for that, but that'll be here before you know it On the back of your bulletin there. We're in a new month technically not yet, but tomorrow So we're gonna be we're gonna memorize Psalm 120. It's a shorter Psalm, but a Good verse or the verse 7 there is our memory verse for the week in Psalm 20 120 I am for peace, but when I speak they are for war and so So yeah, we're gonna we're gonna try to memorize that whole Psalm this month But we can start off with that verse right there in verse 7 and then birthdays What is today today's the 30th so So Ginger's birthdays Tuesday, right Tuesday, I never asked the ladies their age even when I know they're young it doesn't matter So if you if you if you want to tell me you can but you don't have to and Then so the eighth also Adam Next week, okay And then that's what we got for this week, so we'll say happy birthday to ginger Jones and and then we have an anniversary coming up, but not yet The McShay's and then on the pregnancy list there Be in prayer for all these ladies. We have Teara Teara Alesco Amanda Spina and Jennifer Simes So be in prayer for these ladies that are pregnant right now and just be in prayer for them during the whole Basically pregnancy delivery recovery all that when it comes to Everything there. So so yeah, we got all the due dates or at least a few months on there. So So yeah be in prayer for all these That's about all I got for an announcement the offering box is in the back there if you want to give her tithe or an offering and then the mother baby rooms for the mothers and babies only and That's about all I got for announcements that I can think of right now But Dave's gonna sing one more song after we sing. Happy birthday and all that and then brother Shane's gonna be reading first Corinthians chapter 5 for us to get us started into the sermon All right, take your song books And Turn to song three hundred and twenty three Song three hundred and twenty three in your song books And we'll sing more about Jesus, but before we do that Got a birthday coming up This is Jones I See you holding that kid on your lap That does not deter me You want to stand up? Are we pulling a lane now? What are we doing here? That's the new name for it when everybody says it doesn't stand up for the birthday yet pulling a lane Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See you're famous now, buddy. Okay All right. What day is your birthday on? Tuesday well, happy birthday to you. Hope you have a great day We'll sing happy birthday to mrs. Jones ready happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday God bless you Happy birthday To you Happy birthday to you and we will sing song 323 More about Jesus What I know more of his grace to other show more of his saving fullness see more of his love for died for me more Jesus more more about Jesus More of his saving fullness see More of his love who died for me more about Jesus let me learn more of his holy will discern Spirit of God my teacher be Showing the things of Christ to me more more about Jesus more more about Jesus More of his saving fullness see More of his love who died for me more about Jesus and his word holding communion with my Lord hearing his voice in every line making each faithful saying mine more more about Jesus more more about Jesus More of his saving fullness see more of his love who died for me more about Jesus on his throne Rich is in glory all his own more of his kingdom Sure increase more of his coming Prince of Peace Jesus more more about Jesus More of his saving fullness see more of his love who died for me All right, take your Bibles and turn to 1st Corinthians chapter number 5 1st Corinthians chapter number 5 and we'll have brother Shane read that for us 1st Corinthians chapter 5 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and the Bible reads it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication As is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife and year popped up and have not rather Mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from you for I verily as absent in body But present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that had done so this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ When you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such in one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Your glory is not good No Ye not that a little leaven leaven at the whole lump purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump As you are on leave leavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness But with the unleavened bread bread of sincerity and truth I wrote unto you and an epistle not to company with fornicators Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters For then must ye needs go out of the world But now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolator or a railer or a junkard or an extortioner with such in one not know not to eat for what have I to do to judge them that Them also that are without Do not ye judge them that are within but them that are without God judges Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. Let us pray Dear dear Heavenly Father Lord. I just pray that you fill our pastor with your spirit today and help us Just be edified in your word. I thank you to be gathered in your house in Jesus name. Amen man So you're there in first Corinthians 5 and I'm gonna be preaching on a not a fun subject but a subject dealing with church Discipline this is gonna be really just because I've had a lot of quite I've had questions as far as basically when The name of the sermon is when to cast someone out of church. So this is a biblical doctrine. It's not a fun doctrine and I'm gonna be hitting on the subject of basically Church discipline or the idea of basically ex communication or casting someone out of the church and Now this this I'm not going into if a heretic comes into the church or some false prophet comes into the church Because a heretic after the first and second admonition rejects. So this is that's like just a whole nother realm Okay, so when when someone comes in they start preaching a false doctrine or trying to divide the church and all that stuff Listen, I don't need to go to Matthew 18 first Corinthians 5, you know, they're out, you know, so but when we're talking about brethren in the church One I want to I want to get into the I show you that first of all, the church has authority To cast people out of the church. Okay, so I'm gonna be getting into one. We have the authority to do it to When do you do it? And then three what's the reason for it, right? So You have to understand that there's there's an ultimate goal for casting someone out of the church It's not just to assert your power, you know and be like we had the power to do it. So we did it But then you have to ask yourself, okay, well when would be a reason to write So I want to answer these questions. So the first thing is good for Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16 Matthew chapter 16 in verse 15 There there are there are extremes when it comes to this doctrine a lot of churches and a lot of Baptist churches don't Exercise this doctrine at all, right? They just don't do church discipline at all and everything just runs amok I mean they go just go as far to have pedophiles and and false prophets in their church You know like known sex offenders will be in their churches like this. We're not even talking about that I mean listen, if someone's a known pedophile or is on that list, they're never allowed in this church ever There's no reconciliation. It's never gonna happen. Okay, but So a lot of Baptist churches don't even at least take that step but then they don't take the step as far as if there is a need for church discipline and So, but then there's then there's another side where you don't we want we don't want to be on a hair trigger just be like you've committed that a sin in this list therefore you're out and You know by So we don't want to be on a hair trigger, but we also need to know Hey, there is a case where we need to do this and so we need to understand one We have the authority to what's the reason or like when would this be a case to execute this authority? And then three what's the ultimate goal of that right? What's the ultimate goal? What are we trying to accomplish with that? Okay, so Matthew chapter 16 verse 15. I Want you to see here that the church has the power in the authority to Basically loose someone from church. Okay from the assembly. Okay churches just means congregation. And so when we're talking about Casting someone out of church. We're casting them out of our assembly out of the congregation, right? So Matthew chapter 16 verse 15. It says he says unto them but whom say ye that I am and Simon Peter answered and said thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God And Jesus answered and said unto him blessed art thou Simon Barjona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee But my father which is in heaven and I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it So what's the what's the the subject or the context that's being talked about here? Basically The fact that Jesus is going to build the church the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it Upon this rock obviously Peter that name means like a rock or a stone But the statement thou art the Christ the Son of God is that the foundation of the church, right? Jesus Christ is the rock the foundation and You know the idea here is that he's building it upon that foundation and we're talking about the church, right? So we're talking about he's gonna build his church But then he goes on to say in verse 19 and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Now Peter wasn't a pope Okay But he was a pastor though, like he did become a pastor. He you know first Peter chapter 5 it says you know the I Exhort the elders who I'm also an elder right? So basically he's stating like he's an elder He he's he's a pastor John the Apostle was a pastor too because the elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, you know the elder unto the elect lady So the idea here is that obviously Peter? Later on became a pastor So this you can see how this would apply and him being the leader of the church and having this power To either bind on earth or loose and you say what are we talking about there, right? Because you could see like bind loose or what are we talking about? right because you can see how that could apply to the idea of like Binding like treasures on the you know for the world to come and you can think about like having treasure you know laying up treasure in heaven and not on the earth and and Loosing treasures on the earth so that you can bind them on earth and you can definitely apply that to this but but I believe this is talking about church discipline and talking about Binding or loosing people from the congregation. Okay now go to Matthew chapter 18 But I'm gonna read to you John 20 John 20 when Jesus breathes on them and they received the Holy Ghost of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost it says and when he in John 20 22 it says and when he had said this he breathed on them and Seth unto them receive ye the Holy Ghost who so Whosoever sins you remit they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins you retain they are retained So this is brought up multiple times as far as this idea of binding and loosing and and retaining and remitting and all this stuff dealing with specifically talking to the Apostles But the Apostles are first in the church Okay, so even if even if Peter wasn't a pastor the Apostles are still like obviously there's no more apostles, right? Paul was the last to be called an apostle. So there's no more apostles and you say well I have to how are they first in the church now right here that we're reading it So I have 1st Corinthians 1 for example, and that's written by the Apostle Paul. Okay, so So we still have the Apostles as being first in the church and obviously those that wrote down scripture and and all that but But Matthew chapter 18, I believe clarifies What we're talking about here when we're talking about binding and loosing Okay in Matthew 18 and verse 15 and this is also going to give you a case where it would be valid to excommunicate or to cast someone out of church, okay Matthew 18 and verse 15 moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee and go Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou shalt thou hast gained thy brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that that in the mouth of two or three witnesses Every word may be established. So get the picture here basically Someone that's in church someone that's your brother in Christ they wrong you somehow Okay, it doesn't really tell you how they wronged you. Okay, but they basically wronged you somehow they trespass against you You're supposed to go to them alone get this thing It's kind of like just deal with this privately get that no one else needs to know about it It's not like something where everybody needs to know about it But if that person doesn't hear you and says nuts to you, buddy Then you bring it you bring a couple guys with you, right? Just so that hey, there's more than one witness here in this whole dispute Okay, and if they won't hear them knows what it says here in verse 17 Notice that we're not talking about false doctrine, by the way, I've heard people say, you know, like oh, you know We believe we believe differently on this this subject over here Like if someone came in here start preaching repent of your sins to be saved Listen, that is not a Matthew 18 where I need to bring before the church Not to mention not to mention it probably isn't gonna get to me before the everybody else in the church rebukes it anyway So but at the same time like we're not talking about false doctrine here We're talking about like trespassing against your brother and wronging each other, right? Now in verse 17 there and it says it he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican Okay, so here's where we're gonna get a case where okay You've gone through this whole thing trying to get this thing right and you know, I've used this as an example Let's say someone like ran into the back of your truck or something like that at her back of your car They dented it in and it was obviously their fault and you're like trying to say hey, you know Help me out with this man. You know you messed up, you know you you've You've done wrong and it's like nuts to you buddy and on top of that. They're extra spiritual about it Well, you know, you know, don't be materialistic now You know Listen that stuff happens, you know and and then they start coming down on you like they're more spiritual or something like that And you can see how that could start into like, okay We need to get this right because there's a rift here, right and then that can go down to the point Where it comes before the church, okay, and they don't hear the church and they're just belligerent about it And they're just like, you know, that's the everyone here then that's where You know, they need to be cast out and treated as a publican Okay, but in verse verse 18 this is where it ties into what was said in Matthew 16 Barely I say unto you whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever You shall loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. So what's the context? Loosing someone from the congregation, right? so that's what we're talking about when it says you and basically he is given the authority to those to the church to Either bind somebody or lose somebody what's interesting about this is the fact that God regards it right basically and this is something that that those in church need to understand is that When if someone were to be cast out of the church God regards them as being cast out of the church it's not just like well pastor Robinson cast them out and You know nuts to him Or nuts to that church over there listen God Regards it. Okay, and I'm talking about legitimate churches here I'm talking about and this is serious and you may say well You know their subjection in when when you're casting someone out sure, but God regards it Okay, did you say well it's kind of subjection subjective as far as what you would deem as being Offensive Enough to where you would cast someone out and that is true and I'm gonna be getting into that Is that it there is some subjection in there as far as how far do you take it? How strict are you with it? But regardless God regards it Okay So the authority is there. Okay, so I hope that that that's very clear. The authority is there For the church to cast someone out. Okay, and Now can someone be cast out wrongfully Yeah, let me give you an example. Okay third John go to third John You guys listen if someone If you've been there maybe people in here that were cast out of churches because you believed right about salvation or something like that Okay, or you believed right about something and they just cast you out. All right, you like pastor Anderson out of here Okay And listen, obviously if you were like trying to cause discord and all that stuff that's a different story, right? Okay, if you're like I like pastor Anderson or I like pastor Robinson and I'm at this church and you're just causing problems And all that stuff Listen at that point then yeah You should be cast out if you're like causing division and you're causing problems to where the church can't function But if you're just like you just they asked you if you like fast and they're just like get out of here Okay, that's different, okay, and let me give you an example of that In third John, okay, so there are cases where someone could be cast out wrongfully But in verse 9 It says I wrote unto the church but the Diotrophies who loved to have the preeminence among them receive if it's not so get this Diotrophies won't receive the Apostle John Do you think he's right? Okay But keep reading Wherefore if I come I will remember his deeds Which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words and not content therewith neither doth he himself receive the brethren and forbideth them that would and casteth them out of the church So the Diotrophies is not only not receiving the Apostle John but he's casting out people that would receive other people other brethren that would come in and And You know, I'm not saying the Diotrophies is unsaved. He's probably you could probably think he's maybe envious You know, he wants the power. He wants the preeminence He wants he wants that authority and obviously the Apostle John would come in and take that authority away from him You know as far as that, I mean the epau- the disciple whom Jesus loved, right? He who wrote the book of John and wrote first second- I mean writing this but He cast them out of church beloved follow not that which is evil But that which is good he that doeth good is of God But he that doeth evil hath not seen God and later on he's gonna basically suggest Demetrius as being a replacement for Diotrophies, okay So there can be bad leadership and there can be cases where people are cast out wrongfully Okay So just because someone's cast out The question is why were they cast out right if you came to me and say hey I was cast out of this church because I believe that salvation was by grace through faith And they said you had to turn from all your sins and that if you don't go to church, then you're not really saved Then I would shake your hand and say god bless you my brother, you know for standing up for the truth and nuts to that church You're better off being outside that church, right? But you know what? Woe to that church if they don't get it, right Imagine if this church here didn't get it, right? I believe they probably did you know, I believe they got rid of you know, they got Diatrophes out of the situation put Demetrius in there and got things set in order But you know what if they don't get things set in order Then woe unto that church, you know, so but So it can be it can be done wrongfully But let's get into a case where you know, like why would someone be cast out? What's the reasoning go to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and this kind of the if you were to think quintessential Church discipline chapter 1st Corinthians 5 I believe would be one of the top ones besides Matthew 18 So Matthew 18 is more so dealing with something that's not necessarily like a huge maybe major sin it's just the fact that the person is belligerent and won't like Get things right with his brother. Does that make sense? Like it could be something that's so like just minute and dumb But if you're belligerent and just don't not humble about getting things right and all that then You know that that's where Matthew 18 comes into play there 1st Corinthians chapter 5 we're dealing with some major sins that would be in the church and What we're gonna be getting into is One what would cause someone to be cast out but then also like why do we need to cast someone out if this is? Okay, and so verse 1 here it says it is commonly reported that there is fornication among you and such fornication as Is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife Okay, so obviously this is kind of this major now. I personally believe this would also be adultery Okay, because I believe that obviously this is his father's wife So he probably remarried or has a different, you know, obviously a different wife than his mother But the idea here is that actually Leviticus touches on this You know about like sins of like not uncovering the nakedness of your father's wife and that's specifically what's meant That's what happened here. Okay So it's commonly reported. Okay. So this is this is a something that I think about Because I don't take casting someone out of church lightly Okay, I want I want this to be very clear if I if I were to cast someone out of the church It's a serious matter. Okay, and I don't just flippantly do that Okay Obviously someone's preaching false doctrine all that stuff. I'm not gonna Not gonna bear with them even an hour, you know what I mean? Like obviously that's gonna be boom Get out of here get out of here, you know If you're teaching false doctrine or if you're some kind of predator or something like that, okay, I'm talking about brethren That are that are saved that are dealing with certain sins. Okay, so I don't take this lightly I don't take this to where I'm just on a hair trigger to do this But I will do it if I have to okay So I want this to be very clear that church discipline is something I don't want to do But I will do it if I have to okay now in this case, it's commonly reported okay, so when it comes to this and I'll get get to later is that there could be cases where these sins are being done But no one knows about it. And what how am I supposed to know and how is anybody else supposed to know? Okay There could be cases where people are living in fornication and I have no idea about it. Okay, and And let's say it, you know, someone else finds out about it be like, why didn't you do something about it? It's like well, I don't go to people's houses I don't like I'm not big brother here where I have video cameras of everybody's house I know what you're doing when you're doing it all that No, you know, but if it's commonly reported Meaning like everybody knows about it, then it has to be addressed Okay, another thing dealing with this too is is Okay, it let's say it's commonly reported but when it's addressed, what's the attitude? Okay, and here's where it could be cast out immediately or Having a lot of grace and giving you space. Okay for example And the big one in this chapter is fornication. Is that let's say someone's in fornication or they're living with their girlfriend or living with their boyfriend and That is commonly reported and I go up to the person I say hey Listen, the Bible teaches this and if this is the case Then we're gonna have to we're gonna have to practice Church discipline. If you don't get this set, right? You know either you move out or You get married, you know whatever the circumstances are right and Or we're gonna have to practice Church discipline. We can't have that in the church, right and And now if the person's just like like I don't care what the Bible says, I don't care what you said, you know I'm not I'm not I'm not moving on this like it is what it is. Take it or leave it Like well, then there's the door Don't let it hit you on the way out If you just want to reject it out of hand But if someone's like hey, listen, I'm struggling with this. I understand Can you please give me some grace on this help me to you know, help me to you know Get this set up right or whatever And it also depends on are we dealing with someone that's a young Christian or someone that's like been saved for a really long time It knows better. Does that make sense? Like there there's some variables in there as far as how I'm gonna deal with it Okay, because too much is given much is required But if someone let's say someone just gets saved and they start coming into church I'm not just gonna be like on a hair trigger to be like, all right, you're out Does it make sense because There's a difference between a babe and Christ that we're trying to get on the right track and get in You know, we can't expect them to just have everything cleaned up all at once. Okay But if someone that knows better all that and then they're belligerent about it So there's different circumstances depending on what we're dealing with because you may say let's say let's say our church You know 20 years, you know, let's say 10 years from now and there's people that have been like ex communicated Okay, for sake of argument and you say well with so-and-so you kicked them out immediately and the other person you gave them like a Few weeks or a month to get things set set, right? You know, what's you know, what's the deal? It seems like you're a little unfair There's different circumstances depending on those two different cases. I'm sure okay so now in this Obviously, you're gonna have to have some trust in your leadership that hey, we know what we're doing Okay That hey, we were looking out for the best interest of everybody When this this comes to be and so and listen if if you don't if you don't go with your leadership on this This isn't gonna work Okay, because when we're talking about like ex communicating not having fellowship with somebody it needs to be everybody, right? So if everybody's not on board with it and not on board with the leadership It's not gonna work like it's supposed to work Okay, and now notice what says in verse two here and you are puffed up and have not rather mourn So notice the mentality here, okay so notice the mentality this major sin is the basically Commonly reported and everybody's just puffed up about it They're just kind of like boasting about it as if like there's nothing wrong. Like it's just in your face You ever see those people that like they're there they do something and you and you can kind of on a fleshly level you Can understand like I understand why you would do that. I Understand on the human level why you would do what you did? Okay But stop putting it in my face as if it's right That makes sense Okay, so that's the difference like don't put it in my face and like it'd be like justifying it just say hey I messed up, you know I'm human messed up. You know what? I I Understand On a human level I can understand that I'm not justifying sin But at the same time like I can understand that we can get past that. Let's move on Let's go forward and all that. Okay, but if it's just like put in your face You know, they're just trying to get you to eat You know the idea of like this is what I did. This is right and just make you Just take that and no not dealing with that. Okay, and that's really The problem. Okay. So if someone's in one of these major sins, and then they're just basically flaunting it Wanting in basically trying to justify it listen, I have we have more kids in this church than we have adults and Listen, I will not Have the kids in this church See things like this list of sins be justified and Think that we support it. Okay, there's a difference between having grace and forgiveness and saying hey You know that's wrong But you know, we all make mistakes and we're all trying to live life here and we're all trying to move on Kids can understand that they make mistakes. Okay, there's a difference though when it's just like this is right Like it or like it or lump it this is what we're doing and you need to accept it. Listen, this is an lgbtq AARP Baptist Church, we're not just here to just pat you on the back and be like, yeah, whatever you do is great Accept it like it right no, and We're not that's not how the church is run and notice what it says here. It says It says ye are puffed up and have not rather mourn that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you So here's what we're talking about and obviously at the end of the chapter talks about, you know, putting away this this person For verily as absent in body But present in spirit having judged already as though I were present concerning him that had done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such in one unto Satan For the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus now I'm gonna get to that as far as what that's talking about. Okay, because that's kind of that's the punishment That's that's that's what you should be worried about if you were to be cast out of church Okay, you're not gonna lose your salvation. So let me just nip that in the bud. Okay, you're once saved always saved Okay, but the destruction of the flesh should scare people, right? I mean the idea of the punishment in the and like what can happen physically to you Should should be a warning. Okay, but it says in verse 6 your glorying is not good Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Here's why we can't have this running rampant in church Why we can't have the you know, specifically these sins that are gonna be mentioned here in this passage But fornication is obviously the main one that's being brought up. We can't have this rampant Commonly reported and basically shove down our faces if it's justified because a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump Listen I want all the children and young young people in this church to grow up be pure get married and not commit fornication The Bible says the flea fornication in the Old Testament 23,000 people died in one day for committing fornication That's what God thinks about fornication And we need to have that serious type of tone in our church and so that our kids realize. Hey, that's a big deal The hey pastor thinks that's a big deal so much so that he kicked someone out of the church that was trying to justify it Now, hopefully I don't have to do that and I'm not saying listen I'm not saying there's anyone in here that's like fits this bill. Okay, this is this is an instructional sermon a precautionary sermon Because a lot of people have had questions as far as okay, you know, what would be justified Where do you stand right and as your pastor? I think it's incumbent upon me to tell you where I stand Before we ever get to that point, right? So you say be like, hey, I didn't know that was the rule I didn't know that was like hat where we you know, what the standard was. Well now, you know, okay So now I preached on this before but it's been a little while. I think it's like 2018 Which doesn't seem that long ago, but that was like five years ago. So but but keep reading there and it says In verse 7 purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you're Unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth So notice how the leaven is talking about wakeness and malice and obviously in this case fornication And how that can leaven the whole law, okay Notice how this guy's actions have caused the whole church to just be popped up and glorifying and all this stuff, right? Notice how it leavened that whole law and this is why it needs to be cut off nipped in the bud Okay, now notice what it says here in verse 9 and it's very important I wrote unto you in an epistle not the company with fornicators Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world or with the cabbages or extortioners or with idolaters For then must ye needs go out of the world So this is not saying like listen I can't go out and like try to win this person to the Lord and Let's say you're going over to go win some of the Christ you're going out So wanting like we can't be near any fornicators. You can't be in here. Anybody's cabbages can't near be near it. No Obviously we need to go out into the world and win them to the Lord, right? We're talking about church Church is not for unbelievers The church is not for the world. The church is for Brethren for brothers and sisters in Christ to come and to have Fellowship and to hear the Word of God priest and to be sent out and go preach the gospel That's what church is for It's not to bring in all the unsaved now. Listen, if an unsaved person comes in we're gonna try to win them to Christ Praise the Lord, you know, like I'm not saying like I'm against unsaved people coming in but that is not What we're trying to do is just bring a whole bunch of unsaved people. My sermons are not tailored to unsaved people They're tailored to the saved and so When it comes to this listen, it's not saying like listen, you can't be around any fornicator You can't be around an adulterer or idolater or anything like that But notice what it says in verse 11, but now I have written unto you Not the company if any man that is called a brother. Okay. So notice the qualification here. We're talking about brethren save people and because Listen if you're around a fornicator listen. Hey, I'm trying to win them to Christ. Praise the Lord But if it's a brother in Christ, you don't need to win him to Christ. So that's not an excuse to be around them Okay But notice what it says here but now I have written unto you not to keep company of any man that is called a brother be a Fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such in one know not to eat So what are we in? Context what we talked about The the Lord's Supper right? We're talking about Christ our Passover and eating that feast with the you know But obviously where does that happen at at church? but I believe that can extend also just just like your everyday like we're not just like You know eating dinner with this person all the time and fellowshipping with this person But you can think about breaking bread, you know The Bible talks about how they come together and break bread You could say well that's talking about the Lord's Supper and that's just talking about fellowship. Okay? But then it goes on to say for what have I to do to judge them that are without Do not you judge them that are within but them that are without God judge it therefore put out from among yourselves that wicked person So the idea is to put them out To get the leaven out Okay, so that's that the reason that you cast them out is to get the leaven out So it doesn't affect the rest of the congregation. Okay Now another verse on this go to 2nd Thessalonians 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3, this isn't the only place that talks about this So I want to show you just another place where it talks about the idea of casting someone out or a kind of a reason to In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 in verse 14 It says and if any man obey not our word by this epistle note that man and have no company with him That he may be ashamed Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. So it's not saying like hey, you know just Count this person as an enemy or like just treat them poorly or anything like that It's just basically you're not to have company with them so that they'll be ashamed. Okay? So what's the point of the person being cast out so you can think about like, okay The the point for casting someone out is to protect the flock from being leavened like they are right But then you think about what what about the person though? Well, there's a punishment that's put on that person when they're cast out So again, remember when someone is loose from the church God regards it as them being loosed Okay, and what I believe go to you're in a First excellent, or I'm sorry go to Go to Roman chapter 8, but I'm gonna read first Corinthians chapter 5 verse 5 It says to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of The Lord Jesus, okay now in another place and for it talks about someone being cast out That they may learn not to blaspheme Okay meaning that the idea is there's a reason why they're cast out is The ultimate goal was gonna be reconciliation, okay But in order for that to happen And we're talking about someone that's unrepentant doesn't want to change doesn't right? So we're not talking about someone that's just like man. I'm just struggling with this I want try to get this right, you know, like and they're just this humble attitude and you're just like get out of here You know, that's not who we're talking about. We're talking about someone that will not Repent like Matthew 18 just like belligerent won't hear anybody just like nuts to you guys, right? The on the same thing here in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 with these sins is the fact that just like nuts to you I'm doing it, you know, you're just gonna deal with it Well, you know what at that point there's got to be some destruction to the flesh before Maybe they'll get right. Okay, and the destruction of the flesh I Believe when it says that their spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus There's two different thought processes that you could look at this Well in first Thessalonians chapter 5, for example, it talks about in the very God of peace sanctify you holy now We're talking about not like holy like sanctified but like holy like holistically Holy and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ And you can think about it's talking about the day of Christ that the spirit may be saved meaning. This is that holistically you're there like blameless before the Lord in the day of the Lord Jesus and that In order for that to happen The destruction of the flesh has to happen and for that to happen Another way to think about this is that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus is talking about the spirit of your mind. Okay, because the Bible talks about be be renewed in the spirit of your mind And in Romans chapter 8 in verse 5 here notice this because spirit doesn't always mean like your entity like your spirit your soul But it can be talking about like the spirit of your mind or you know, just things like that but it says in Roman chapter 8 verse 5 it says for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh But they that are after the spirit and things of the spirit For it to be carnally minded is death But to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law Of God neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God So if you're walking in the flesh and you're currently minded listen when you get saved You still have that carnal mind that you have to fight Okay You have that spiritual mind that you have as far as like they'd be spiritually minded the new man, right? but you still have the old man and The flesh has sin and all of that and the idea here is that I believe The punishment is is that God is basically taking away that hedge of protection Okay, think about Joe now Joe obviously wasn't getting disciplined or chasin Okay, he was being tried You know, he's putting through the trial of fire But who was the one that was that was trying to hurt him Satan, right? Satan was trying to hurt him and what did God do he basically allowed Satan and he took his hand of protection off of Joe to the point and but even the Lord said you can't take his Life though, right? He put restrictions on Satan that basically like you can you can destroy the flat, you know Basically, you can punish him physically you can take away his children. You can take away all everything that he has but you can't kill him Okay, and so Satan is over there like this kind of destroying everything of Joe, right? He's got all these sores and boils on his body all this stuff, right? But think about this on a chastening level If you were to be cast out of church I believe that hedge of protection is being you're kind of going outside the head of protection think about it What is the church but a flock right feed the flock of God which is among you If you have the Shepherd and obviously I'm the under Shepherd, but Jesus is the Shepherd the Chief Shepherd But you had the flock what if you're cast out of that flock? Do you see how you're kind of going out of that realm of protection? and So because some people would look at this to be like well if you cast someone what they care then You know like they can just go out and do whatever they want yeah, they can but there's a difference between not being in church and Being cast out of church That makes sense like there's a difference between just not going and I do believe that if you don't go to church You're missing this hedge of protection Okay You're missing this kind of protection that you would have That I believe God puts on God's people that are insured doing what they should be doing But how much more when you're cast out of it? right and so the idea here is that this You know basically destruction of the flesh all this stuff the idea here is to get them to come back Go to first Timothy chapter 1 first Timothy chapter 1 first Timothy chapter 1 First Timothy chapter 1 and verse 19 It says holding faith in a good conscience which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander Whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme so You can see like what's the point of turning them over to Satan, okay? even Peter Jesus Jesus says to Peter it says Satan had desired thee and Desired to have thee in the sifty as wheat when thou art converted strengthen the brethren if you remember After Jesus risen from dead Peters like I go a-fishing and he falls out of the things he takes he takes John and James and others with him and Then obviously he's getting rebuked love is thou me more than these and remember He says feed my lambs feed my sheep feed my sheep Right strengthening the brethren and the idea there is that when you get out when you get out of the things of God That hedge of protection is taken away To where you better beware Because Satan's coming for you. Okay to sift you as we to for the destruction of the flesh But ultimately the reason that we do it is so that they learn to basically to get things, right? That then when they're out there is like man, I need to get this right I need to get this right because this is bad Right the chastening of the Lord go to 1st Corinthians chapter 11 1st Corinthians chapter 11 1st Corinthians 5 happens before 11. I know that's not Hard to understand but the idea here is that we're talking about Christ our Passover Keeping the feast with unleavened bread the unleavened bread of sincerity and even in chapter 10 it talks about You know taking the communion of the Lord and not with the cup of devils and all this other stuff, right? So you think about idolatry is actually what's brought up in those passages so When it comes to this we're talking about chastening, okay We're not talking about losing your salvation. We're not talking about you weren't really saved We're talking about getting punished and chasing by the Lord So that you'll get right. Okay, so notice it says here in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 verse 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily Shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord But let a man Examine himself and so let him eat that bread and drink of that cup for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation To himself not discerning the Lord's body now that damnation is not talking about eternal damnation But it's talking about condemnation that would happen physically because notice what it says in verse 30 for this cause many are weak And sickly among you in many sleep. So here's the consequences some are just weak Now some are weak because they don't go to the gym, but that's not what this passage is talking about But people are weak They're sick Or in a really bad case they sleep meaning that they die. Okay, the sin unto death kind of thing, okay but No, so it says in verse 31 for if we would judge ourselves We should not be judged But when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world So we're chastened of the Lord and these this is chastening that's happening. Okay to the to the to the brethren They say well, why is it saying examine yourself? Because the leadership doesn't always know what's going on. Okay, for example, if someone was in fornication And I don't know about it and then we do the Lord's Supper You are better off not taking that Lord's Supper if you're in that fornication Does that make sense Because there could be chastening that's gonna happen to you now in a perfect world and I just know everything, you know I'm just a prognosticator and I just know everything that's going on then every then then you wouldn't have to worry about that because I would just be church discipline would be happening to people that Would be in that case and then everybody would be worthy to take it when it's not about being worthy It's not talking about being a sinner because we're all sinners if we say that we have no sin We deceive ourselves in the truth is not in us So then no one can take take the Lord's Supper, but in context we're talking about major sins Okay, what sins are we talking about fornication? covetousness extortion idolatry Right a railer drunkard and extortioner, okay Now obviously the the passage in 1st Corinthians 5 is dealing with fornication But you can think of like an idolatry or you can think of a drunkard Now let's just make this real for a second, okay meaning this is let's put let's let's let's just kind of give some examples here and I want to be clear. I'm not condoning sin. Okay? Drinking a beer doesn't make you a drunkard Okay I'm against drinking wine is a marker and strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise You're a fool if you drink a beer You're a fool if you drink a glass of wine You're deceived If you're drinking that stuff, it says not even look at it when it's red when it move itself in the cup When it turneth itself, all right, you know Drinking alcohol is foolish and you're gonna listen You're just opening the door to be a drunkard. Okay? but I'm not gonna kick someone out if they just if they if someone said hey, I saw them drinking a beer over here Okay, I'm against it now I'll say this if that person comes to church and tries to justify drinking and starts to try to glorify Drinking and says hey, you know, it's okay to drink and that's the what the pastor says about it Then we're gonna have issues, okay But a drunkard by definition is is being drunk. Okay now the reason I say that is because You know, there's people that deal with those type of things and and There's lines with that. So if someone comes to church and they're just like sloshed They're they're just completely they're drunk out of their mind. They're coming to church like that Then that's not gonna be that we're not gonna deal with we're not gonna let that happen Okay, if someone's glorifying drinking if someone's trying to condone drinking then we're not gonna deal with that. Okay? When it comes to fornication If You're living with your significant other and you're not married. I assume you're committing fornication because I'm not an idiot Okay You know, we're not we're not we're abstaining. I didn't I didn't just I wasn't born yesterday Okay, I'm not an idiot. I know you are. Okay. No, I'm not saying I know you're an idiot I'm saying I know you're committing that okay So Listen I'm not naive to think that that would happen. Okay Meaning like there's no way that there are people living together that are dating that are boyfriend and girlfriend That aren't committing that act Okay, I Didn't see any pigs flying outside You know, so don't don't insult my intelligence When someone comes to me be like we're living together, but We're not committing that act That's insulting. Okay, you think I'm an idiot if that's the case, okay? So I don't I don't need to have eyewitnesses of the act being committed. Okay? Nor should anybody be looking for eyewitnesses, you know when it comes to that type of stuff But here's think if you're living together, I assume the act is happening You say well, you're assuming you don't know. Well, you know what? I'm a pastor and When you become a pastor and you have to make those judgment calls then you can make that judgment call But you know what? I'm gonna assume it's happening now if you're just stating it's happening then you've done my job for me And I don't have to assume anymore but when it comes to fornication that's That's something that obviously would be an offense when it comes to being a drunkard okay, and so if someone is just Just drinking all the time and they're just like I mean they come they come to church and they're just alcohol in their breath And it's just like they can't even they can't even listen if you're drinking in the morning, you're not you're an alcoholic You're drunkard in my opinion, okay so You know, that's that's where that's where we stand on that issue now when you get in specifics on covetousness and stuff like that It's just it depends on how Drastic it is and you're like, oh that's subjective. That's yeah. Well, I mean, you know what judgment is subjective sometimes But you know what the Bible says are do you not judge those that are within I'll judge not, you know No, actually we're condemned if we don't judge within okay Now I consider myself to be pretty You know forgiving and you know Understanding and all that but different circumstances will will trigger whether I'm gonna be lenient Or whether I'm whether I'm gonna be harsh Okay, and you know what I care about the flock And I care about these children that are in the flock And if I think that there's something that's gonna offend one of these little ones. I'm gonna deal with that swiftly If you don't deal with it, okay So when it comes to this now, let me let me state this. Okay when it comes to fornication I believe under that umbrella is adultery. Okay So I've had you know when it comes to you know Obviously the Bible teaches that if you look upon a woman to lust after you committed adultery already in your heart Well, I'm not a thought police. Okay And when it comes to and You're like, this is Sunday morning and you're preaching on this Well, you know what someone's got there's gonna be some time. I'm gonna preach it and I'm doing a series tonight On through Ecclesiastes. So this is the time I'm gonna preach it. So but You know when it comes to pornography uncomfortable subject It's something you look at you're thinking about it's something that that happens within the heart. It's wicked as hell and You need to get if anybody's dealing with that they need to get that garbage out of the life immediately Because that leads to other things Okay But adultery of the heart, it doesn't have the same punishment as a physical committing the act of adultery Okay, no one was put to death in the Old Testament for looking upon a woman to lust after her David wouldn't have been put to death for just looking at Bathsheba But committing the act is a different story. It makes sense. But listen if you don't look Then you won't commit the act Because the eye affected the heart and lust when it had conceived bringing forth sin and sin when it is finished bringing forth death There is a progression and you need to be aware of that. Okay? So go to go to Revelation chapter 2 and what I'm going to show you is a place where Because I've heard different cases when it comes to how to deal with When let's say you're casting someone out like when do you do it? How much time you give them and I do believe this is subjective. Okay? When it comes to the space that you give someone to correct a wrong, okay, and I know some that'll just give a week be like you're living with your spouse You're living with your girlfriend or boyfriend. You have one week to either move out get married or You know, that's it, right? and I Think that that depends on the circumstance. Is that person a new believer? They just start coming to church Where's that person been here for years and no, no, they know better You know, there's different circumstances that are going to define That space that's given there But I want to show you that the Lord Jesus in this extreme example that I'm going to show you here Gave space to repent now. We don't know how long that space was. Okay? But he did give space. It wasn't just like boom. I found out today. You're gone. Okay? So let's look at this as an example and obviously Revelation 2 & 3 are great examples of like church discipline and like the Lord Chasing people in the church and how to deal with those type of things Okay, so that's you know, I actually did a whole I think a whole series on like the seven churches in Asia And just went through I can't remember if I did just was it one sermon or did I do each? One but anyway, either way There's a great lessons when you're looking at these churches now in verse 18 we're dealing with the church of Thyatira Okay, so this is this is not One getting high praise. Okay, but says and unto the church of the to the angel of the church in Thyatira Right these things set the Son of God who had eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass I know thy works in charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the First notwithstanding. I have a few things against thee. So basically they have some good things about the church here But he has a few things against thee because thou suffers that that woman Jezebel Which calleth herself a prophecies to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication to eat things sacrifice unto idols Well, there's two in that group right fornication and idolatry, right? That are in this group and he's suffering a woman to teach the Bible says That we are not to suffer a woman to teach nor to a serve authority over the man That the women are not permitted to speak in church meaning this is that they're not to be preaching in the church They're not to be preaching sermons in the church. Okay? But yet this woman is being allowed to do these type of things and not only that But causing some to commit fornication and eat things sacrifice unto idols. So there's idolatry and fornication going on. Okay? knows of verse 21 and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not So this is an extreme example, right? I mean we're dealing with a woman preacher Right and obviously the angels the pastor so she wasn't like the pastor. It wasn't like Reverend Jezebel Okay, by the way named Jezebel. You just need to change that right that does not have In the Old Testament or New Testament Jezebel does not have a good connotation here now Basically gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not What's the consequence so notice that there's a space It wasn't just hair trigger, but there was a space to repent but she didn't repent. So what's the consequence? Behold I will cast her into a bed and then that commit adultery with her into great for in great tribulation Except they repent of their deeds So she didn't repent they're gonna cast her into a bed and all those that committed adultery with her by the way Fornication is is a bigger broader term that encompasses adultery and uncleanness and all these different sins like that Okay, so obviously, you know when that guy in 1st Corinthians 5 I believe he committed adultery because it's his father's wife So if they're married, that would be adultery Even if the guy the son isn't married, okay If you commit that act with with a married person Then you committed adultery But it says here that He's basically gonna cast them into this bed of tribulation or trouble if you will and it says in verse 23 I will kill her children with death So, I don't know about you but that one would be the scariest thing in the world to me You say well, what would be your reason for not wanting to? Be cast out or to have these major sins my children Surviving like not something happening with my children Personally I'd rather me die than my children for my own sins But your sins can cause your children something to happen to your children in that hedge of protection around your children If there's any reason to stay in church and not have the hedge of protection being taken away from you It should should be family members children stuff like that I will kill her children with death notice why in all churches shall know that I am He which search at the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works But unto you I say and unto the rest and thigh attire So notice unto the pastor unto this angel of the church unto you And it says and unto the rest and thigh attire as many as have not this doctrine Which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak I will put upon you None other burden, but that which you have already hold fast till I come so you basically like if you're not Involved in this in the church. I'm not gonna be you know, like this isn't gonna affect you but this is gonna affect them. Okay? And in Revelation 3 we're dealing with saved churches in Revelation 3 19 He ends when he talks to all these churches It says in verse 19 as many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent So and all these churches he's like, hey listen, I have a few things against you just repent get it, right? And he gave Jezebel space to repent But she didn't and there was a consequence for that a major consequence for that Okay So when you're dealing with How long? It doesn't tell us and when the Bible isn't specific on that I believe it's more of a subjective thing and you know The reason I believe the Bible doesn't tell us exactly how long is because it depends There's too many variables right if he just said hey two weeks Two weeks for the person that's belligerent and says nuts to you, buddy You know what I mean or two weeks to the person that just got saved and it's like I'm just trying to like figure out what's going on here Does that make sense? Like there's different circumstances depending on who you're even dealing with or what the sin is So I believe that's why the Bible isn't specific on it So that's why it takes discernment of the leadership of the church, okay But also know this is that if let's say brother Dave and I you know, we're the leaders of the church, right? I'm the pastor. He's the deacon and we are to say hey so-and-so needs to be cast out We've talked to them we bring it to the church Listen, we have the authority to cast that person out But unless the church is on board with that it's not going to be effective like it should be Because the whole point is that none of us are communicating and they should want that fellowship I don't know about you, but I like the fellowship of our church, right? We have great unity in this church Wednesdays are one of the hardest days to get here after work and all that but you know what every time I come on a Wednesday, I'm glad I was here Because there's just like this reviving and refreshing of the fellowship that's there On top of the fact that if you're in church, I believe that God has this hedge of protection about you and your family And listen, this isn't just this isn't a sermon just to be like all pastor trying to get me a phrase so that I come to church I'm just preaching to you what the Bible says listen I care about you, but ultimately I can't force you to do anything and I can't force you to come But I can tell you what the Bible teaches When it comes to tithing, I believe we should tithe 10% of our income. I can't force you to do that nor am I gonna harp on you about doing that But at the same time, you know, the Bible says that we're robbing God if we don't do that So I'm the messenger I care about you. I'm gonna tell you what the Bible says about this I don't want you to be destroyed physically. I don't want your family to be destroyed And listen in this this crazy wicked twisted world that we live in right now How much more do we need the protection of God when it comes to our lives and our children? I mean think about everything that could just fall apart right now in the world but know this that and we were talking about this with in the prayer meeting if all the banks fail and The all the stuff changes and the economy crashes and and they're just like you can't buy anything with your money God will send Ravens God will send you the the fatted calf for you to slay God will Protect you and keep you fed because he says take no thought What you shall eat and what you shall put on Because he knows you have needed that and I don't care if they freeze my bank account fire me for my job God will make sure that me and my family are fed and clothed till Jesus comes And I'm not gonna fret over that stuff if I'm in the will of God But listen if I were to get out of the will of God and I was just you know Say hey, I'm just gonna live for the world. You know what things are crazy right now We just need to prepare and nuts the church nuts to the things of God. Let's just prepare. You're worse off my friend You're way worse off. You might as well. Just say hey, I just want everything to be destroyed in my life So have some faith in God that hey if you're in the if you're in church And you're doing what you should be doing and you're living for God that God will protect you through thick and thin listen I don't care if we're in the beginning of sorrows or if we're in the Great Tribulation God will protect us God will feed us and ultimately, I believe if you choose to be the case and you don't want and you say and you don't and you uh Choose deliverance if you will you'll be standing there to look up into heaven and see Jesus coming in clouds through your redemption draweth nigh And I believe these promises are applied to those that not only are saved But that keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight and there is a reward to them that serve him Because some would look at church discipline and be like well, you know like What's the incentive for them to want to come back? well, I mean Yeah, if you don't love God, I guess there's no incentive To the unsaved they don't understand it right because to them they think church is like how you get to heaven and like all These different things. They have no idea what church is even about or what it should be about When you understand that church is not about getting to heaven It's about the fellowship and the protection of God's people in the flock of God and We need to take that seriously and again, I'm not on a hair trigger to cast anybody out of the church, okay? But I'll just I'll just tell you where I stand on these these these issues when it comes to Perpetual sin is what we're dealing with here, okay So let me let me be real again and and the reason that I'm being really specific is because I've had questions about church discipline and I just want to be very transparent. Okay, if someone drinks Alcohol every once a while, but they're not a drunkard I'm not gonna kick them out unless they're like trying to glorify alcohol and trying to push alcohol on people in the church. Okay, obviously if someone if Someone if someone slips up and commits fornication and They admit to it or something like that. That's different than like living with the person and perpetually committing fornication with that person Does that make sense? And Here's one that that's a real one that could apply in many churches If someone has gotten a divorce, but they get remarried now there's obviously the case of like the annulment like at the beginning of the marriage where you could Kind of justify the idea of like kind of a Joseph and Mary situation. Obviously that was a You know the virgin birth, you know But the idea of that idea of like a bill of divorce meant and that being justified But in most cases if you if you've been married for years and you have children then you get a divorce You're not to get remarried unless your spouse dies Okay, and we take a strict stance on that But if someone gets remarried Yeah, I would say that that would be adultery but it's not perpetual adultery that make sense If someone gets remarried, here's my advice to them Stay with that person till you die It's not to leave that person and just be like and then break another bow, you know what I mean Stay with that person till you die you committed you committed a sin in my opinion and If someone were to do that in our church or in any other church that I Would say hey, you know what? We're all human. We make mistakes We're not gonna glorify it but at the same time like The question would be like well, should we kick that person out? Well, what are they repenting of if they already realize? Yeah, you know That's now that person's like trying to justify it and shove it in your face as a different story That makes sense, but if the person's just like, you know, what? Even if they disagree, okay, because there's people that disagree with my view on that Okay and say well, no I think that you could have if someone commits adultery against you Then it doesn't matter how long you've been married to the person or not You can get remarried and let's say they have a different opinion on that Okay. Well are the church is stance on that is this don't justify it in front of the church then and basically You know what? We'll just look back. It would just be like, all right fine. It was done. What's done is done. Let's move on, right? the point of Excommunication is to have repentance and to basically basically say hey, I was wrong or whatever. Okay? For example Jezebel, he gave her space to repent So what if she did? Would she to be excommunicated? That Wouldn't make much sense. Would it does it make sense? Like if she repented while she was there And what's the point of casting them out? We're not just the cast out just to like make a show of casting out. Does that make sense? the whole point of casting out is reconciliation and Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 dealing with that person that committed fornication That person that committed fornication and listen I know I know this is a hard sermon But at the same time I want you to know where I stand I'm not condoning Someone that gets a divorce and getting remarried, but if someone does it they're not in perpetual sin. Does that make sense? Now if someone is Divorced and they're living with somebody and They're not remarried. They they're not married Then that is a different situation, right? That's perpetual That would be like perpetual adultery or fornication, right? That's where that there's a difference there, okay? but So I want that to be clear because you know that could happen and then you say well You know, I thought you were about church discipline, you know, why didn't you cast that person out? It's like well Yeah, they committed a sin and that's a you know It's a big sin, but at the same time it's not perpetual just as much as someone committed an act of fornication I'm not kicking them out Because they commit one act of fornication okay, unless they're trying to glorify it and justify it and Then that they won't stop doing that, right? At that point then I'm gonna be like listen You need to just stop talking about it and stop trying to justify it and just move on and let's just let's just let Bygones be got bygones, you know But no one's gonna justify to me that fornication is right. First of all When it comes to being remarried, you know, there's some areas where you can be like, okay What's your stance on this? What's your stance on this and we're gonna agree to disagree and at that point you could say I don't think I'm I don't think I'm wrong But you know what for the sake of the church I'm just gonna let it go and just be you know Not make a big deal out of it, right like any other doctrine, right? If you don't agree with me on a certain doctrine, just let it go and you can believe you can be wrong and you know, but No, but you can believe something different than me, but don't like push it down Everybody's throw me like pastors wrong on this The church stance is wrong on this It's like even in that case you shouldn't be doing that and that's gonna be Church discipline to if that's the case But in second Corinthians chapter 2, I believe that guy in first Corinthians 5 got reconciled And here's where I believe it's addressed verse 5 But if any of any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me but in part that I may not Overcharge you all sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted of many So that contrary wise you ought rather to forgive him and comfort him less Perhaps such a one should be over swallowed or should be swallowed up with over much sorrow Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him So we're talking about that person that he wrote about to begin with, right? And he's basically like we don't want to just like go too far with this Right if this person is asking for forgiveness bring him back in And in verse 9 it says for to this and also did I write that I might know the proof of you Whether you be obedient in all things to whom you forgive anything I forgive also for I forgave it for if I forgave anything to whom I forgave it for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ Let's Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices Listen we are when we cast them out for the destruction of the flesh for Satan said to destroy the flesh The the ultimate goal here is that they get reconciled not to just destroy Right the destruction of the flesh is to get them back into the fold So we don't just throw them out there to throw them out to the wolves for no reason It's like hey, you need to maybe you need to get a little reality check of why you need to get this, right? Okay, it's kind of like that You know the chase things like a reality check like hey, you need to get this, right? But ultimately we want them to come back to the fold and we're not to just you know We're not ignorant of Satan's devices Satan will just destroy them completely If they don't come back and so we should be without welcome open arms, you know 70 times 7 We should forgive our brother, you know that that Matthew 18 example if you would have just asked for forgiveness The first time it would have been over been done. No more We don't need to bring it to the church or anybody else Listen if I cast someone out and they're just like immediately like oh man, yeah, you're right I need to get this right boom in the back. I mean out the door and in the door You know what? I mean? Like it's not like I need to have a certain amount of time. No, listen, there's at least a day That you got to be out Right, but if they walk out the door and they're just like the epiphany hits them and they're just like, you know what? You're right. What am I thinking? Then boom, I mean reconciliation immediately and by the way if anybody ever gets kicked out of church for any sin and then they're reconciled It's forgiven and forgotten You don't hold that over anybody's head How in the world are we supposed to actually move on if we just keep you like hey you remember when you did that? You know, you're just holding it over people's heads no you just hey, let's move on Let's not talk about it anymore. It's it's done. It's over as if it didn't happen You know just as much as when Jesus forgives us of our sins They're as far as the East is from the West it says he will remember our sins and iniquities no more He casts them behind his back into the depths of the sea when someone is reconciled That's how we should look at it and it should be like hey, nothing ever happened You'd be like hey, let's go out soul winning. Hey, you want to go get some lunch. Let's go hang out Completely restored. It's not this probation period where you're wearing an ankle bracelet and you can't Can't do certain things, you know, it's like well, you know, we're not gonna let you go soul-winning just yet, you know No, it's like it's all you know, you're back Okay Now in a lot in some cases you may not be qualified for like being a pastor or something like that depending on what happened Right, I'm not saying that but at the same time, you know those type of things in the case of 1st Corinthians 5 and Revelation 2 we're dealing with fornication and adult adultery Think of the woman that was caught in adultery. Okay, they obviously are trying to tempt Jesus to put him put her to death obviously One you needed to have both of them there the adulterer and the adulteress need to be there But also it was not allowed for them to put him to death. But what did Jesus say? Where are those thine accusers? Does anyone condemn thee? He said neither do I condemn thee. Go thou and sin no more So the idea is that You know what if someone sins to where they would get kicked out they get reconciled Listen, if Jesus doesn't condemn them, I don't condemn them That doesn't mean to just keep going do it right go and sin no more, right? And so I hope that makes sense. I know it's kind of a longer sermon It's a rough sermon on a Sunday. But listen, I don't want to kick anybody out. I don't want to have to cast anybody out in Reality is probably gonna happen one day Just because our church is growing and it's just facts of the matter. Okay but if someone's ever kicked out the ultimate goal is reconciliation and That's up to them whether they want to reconcile and how long that takes But I'm not on a hair trigger to do it But know this that I will do it if I have to so But that's what the Bible teaches if you have any questions about it. Let me know. Okay, and you're like, what about this example? Let me know You're like I'm asking for a friend. I don't care It could be anonymous you can put it in the you put it the question in the offering box For all I care and say hey, I have a question about what about this situation, you know Ask me it's better to ask now than to find out later or to worry about it So let's end with a word of prayer to Heavenly Father. We thank you for today Thank you for this passage and Lord. It definitely is a hard thing to preach on but Lord Just pray that you'd help us to stay as unleavened as possible. And obviously we all have sinned Every single one of us deals with sin every day, but Lord with major sins We definitely want to make sure that we purge that stuff out or that we get it right So that it doesn't leaven the whole lump and Lord just pray that you be with us as we go out soul winning today and just pray to be Be with us as we come back to the service in the afternoon and will we just thank you for this church Thank you for everybody here. We love you in parallax in Jesus Christ's name. Amen But they able come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed Alright take your song books and turn to song 349 Song 349 in your song books And if you would stand we'll sing the comforter has come song 349 Oh spread the tidings round wherever man is found wherever human hearts and human rules abound Every Christian tongue Proclaim the joyful sound the comforter Has come The comforter has come the comforter has come the holy Ghost from heaven the Father's promised gift. Oh spread the tidings round Wherever man is found the comforter has come the long long night is past the morning breaks and last and Hush the dreadful whale and fury of the blast as or the Golden Hells the day advances the Comforter