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

OK, so 1 Corinthians 5, and let's just look at a couple of verses there again, from verse 11, 1 Corinthians 5.11, which reads, Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. And we're going to start a new Sunday evening series called Sins That Get You Kicked Out of Church. Sins That Get You Kicked Out of Church. Because this can be a confusing topic for some, can't it? It can be a confusing topic. Our sin today is going to be fornication. So the title is going to be Sins That Get You Kicked Out of the Church, fornication. But it's an important topic, isn't it? Because getting kicked out of church is a big deal. OK, it's not just, oh, well, I've got to kind of ask to leave or come back next week. You know, I said sorry in between. But that's not how it works. Yeah, getting kicked out of church is a massive deal. I mean, that is absolutely shameful, isn't it, to get removed from a church, from God's house, to be told you are not welcome because God has said you're not welcome. If you're on this list and obviously the other sins that we're going to look at again, that is a massive deal. That's something that everyone here should be trying to avoid at all costs. And there should be no reason why that should happen. OK, because the fact that you're here in the first place, you know, we should go with the assumption there. And obviously it's not always the case is that, one, you're saved and two, you love the Lord. Yeah, and you want to serve the Lord, which is why you're in a biblical church. You're not down the fun centre and you're not, you know, at the Pentecostal party house or you're not, you know, whatever other kind of weak, sorry excuse for a church. You're at a church of God where the word of God is being preached, where we here, because we preach the word of God, because we believe the word of God, that means that we preach and believe in church discipline as well, because you've got two extremes amongst what claim to be churches. You've got the all are welcome, the doors are open to everywhere type place. OK, you've seen these sorts of places. It's like the door should be open to everyone type. You know, they just come out with these sort of non-biblical phrases, like this is their mantra. You know, we would never stop anyone coming to the throne of Christ or something like this, you know, and they would literally roll out the red carpet for the most brazen, flaming sodomite, perverts, weirdos, people staggering in high on drugs, drunk as you like. Come on in, come on in. We wouldn't turn anyone away, which is the easy option, isn't it? It's just the easy answer. Just let them in. And then we don't have to deal with any sort of trying to split heads. Only God forbid they'd actually look in the Bible and see what the Bible has to say about it. No, we'll just put it in our own kind of, you know, our own mind. We'll decide why someone should or shouldn't be able to come into church. And for them, everyone should be able to come into church. Bizarre. And then you've got the opposite. You've got the make it up as you go along type, which is basically if you don't agree with every single doctrine we preach, you're not welcome at our church. And some of these churches will go as far as if you listen to a pastor, they don't like, usually because of envy, you're not welcome at our church. And we'll go as far as kicking you out of the church for listening to a pastor online who doesn't preach any damnable heresy. And look, even if it's someone that does, I mean, you know, just because you've listened to someone, I mean, that is ridiculous, isn't it? But there are churches in this country that seem to be right on the gospel that hold that stance, and they will go along the lines of, well, you don't believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, that. And then they try and like make out like this, some sort of damnable heresy or something else. Again, ridiculous. And obviously they can't support it from the Bible, so they just have to take these extra biblical lines with it where people aren't welcome. So that's kind of the opposite line where. But both of those are unbiblical, aren't they? Both of those are unbiblical stance because the Bible is pretty clear about who we should and shouldn't allow into our church and who should be kicked out, even if they're in our church. And that's what our church is, a church which our final authority is the Bible. Yeah. And if I was saying to, we had a guy that visited earlier, visit is a kind of loose, loose term for it. And I was just saying that ultimately, you know, your final authority has to be the Bible, doesn't it? Because without that, what would we be doing? Just making it up as we go along? Well, we'll take a bit of that. I don't know. That sounds about right. And then you just end up in an absolute mess with you. But our final authority is the Bible. And of course, the Bible does teach church discipline, doesn't it? Yeah, the Bible, we've just read a chapter here, which is clearly talking about church discipline, kicking people out of church. Now, the things on this list of First Corinthians five aren't the only things that get you kicked out. But it contains the longest list of things that get you kicked out. So I think it's a nice place to start. We're going to start on this list here. And tonight we're going to look at the first on this list. Like I said, fornication. So the title is Sins That Get You Kicked Out Of The Church, Fornication. And we're going to pray before we continue. So, Father, I thank you for, you know, the clear principles, the clear teachings you give us in the Bible and church discipline being a pretty clear one here, that we can just go to the word of God and just just, you know, follow what you tell us to do here. It's not something we have to try and interpret into our own words. Like many sadly try to do. No, the Bible is clear. What gets someone kicked out of church? Please help us to have attentive ears here. Ultimately, so we don't, one, end up on this list and two, we don't end up encouraging, aiding and abetting people that are on this list and we just do the right thing in these circumstances. So, Lord, I pray that you just help everyone to listen loud and clear. And for me to just preach clearly and boldly and accurately. And in Jesus' name we pray all of this. Amen. OK, so what is fornication? What is fornication? Well, fornication is a physical relationship between a man and woman when unmarried. OK, it's a physical relationship between a man and woman when unmarried. Now turn to Matthew chapter 19, because some people have real trouble with this. OK, some people seem to have have a bit of difficulty understanding this. They want to call adultery fornication to open up divorce justification, basically. And there are false Bibles that do this as well. But if they can call fornication adultery, then you can basically just excuse any form of divorce and everything else. But of course, we have to let the Bible interpret itself. And it's one of those things where, you know, of course, the Bible says, study to show thyself, approve a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly divine in the word of truth. And it doesn't take much study to understand what fornication is. And we're just going to do that little bit of study because, well, I have actually had I've had comments on our channel about this before. So let's just clear this up in case anyone is in any doubt. And so you're able to answer people as well who try and try and argue about this point. So Jesus said in Matthew 5-28, well, your turn to Matthew 19. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now, this is what they like to use to justify then divorce. If they can make fornication be basically adultery, then suddenly you can just go, well, they looked at someone, I thought they looked on them lustfully. So that's justification for divorce. But in scripture, we see the words fornication and adultery used separately. OK, that's clear in scripture in multiple places. You turn to Matthew 19, look at verse one where we see this happen, where Matthew 9-1 it says, And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee and came into the coast of Judea beyond Jordan. And great multitudes followed him and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Now, putting away is divorcing. In Matthew 5-32, Jesus said, And you don't have to turn there, But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. So it's clearly used interchangeably there, putting away is divorcing. So they are the same thing. The Pharisees here in Matthew 19 are saying, Is it okay to divorce for any reason? Okay, that's their question. Is it all right just to get divorced? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain, shall be one flesh. Wherefore, there are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. So Jesus is saying that marriage is God joining a man and woman together. Don't go against God, basically, okay? They say unto him, Why did Moses send command to give a right to give divorcement and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. So Moses allowed them to divorce because of how hard-hearted they are, but it wasn't for any cause, okay? It wasn't just, well, okay, so Moses said it's fine to divorce. No, no, he said, because the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, and this was the cause, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, comitteth adultery. And whoso marrieth her which is put away, doth commit adultery. So notice how there's a difference here between the fornication and adultery, right? Okay, pretty clear as day, except it be for fornication, comitteth adultery. Okay, so there's a difference there. And we're going to go back to where Moses gave them this divorce option. The clear pace is Deuteronomy chapter 24. So if you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 24, we can then see what this was for. We can see what this fornication is because Moses wasn't just making it up as he went along. Okay, it wasn't that Moses just, oh, well, I'll fancy putting it in for this or for that. Now, Moses was relaying the words of God here. Moses suffered them, but it was God that suffered them that. And Deuteronomy 24 and verse one says this. When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house. Now, he's found some uncleanness, but basically she's not a virgin, okay? He's under the impression she's a virgin. She's not a virgin. She's guilty of fornication before marrying. Now, I know in our day and age, you're looking at this thinking, wow, I mean, to even find someone that was was probably a miracle in itself, wasn't it? Probably more so than Moses part of the Red Sea. Well, let's hope not amongst the children in this church as they grow up. But look, here, basically, he's found some uncleanness in her. It's a fornication that it seems that he was probably unaware of, so he believes he's marrying a virgin. He finds out that he's not, so he is allowed at that point to divorce her, okay? Now, that was the only grounds for divorce, right? And in fact, you don't have to turn up in Deuteronomy 22. If she had denied this and it was found to be true, if she had denied that fact that this guy had found it, she would have been stoned to death, okay? Stoned to death for basically lying, pretending she was a virgin, then denying it when he's found out, okay? So this is the option is that if he can't deal with it and he's bitter about it, okay, you could say understandably, but ultimately God's saying because of the hardness of your hearts. Maybe in an ideal world, he would have said, look, I still love this woman. I still want to do the right thing. We've got married. We've done it in front of God, but he's given this as kind of the one way out, right? Okay? Okay, so it's a big deal though, right? Okay, it's a big deal. Fornication is a big deal. Like I said, in Deuteronomy 22, she would have been stoned to death if she had lied about it as well. And just because our world wants to degrade it to normal behavior, okay, it doesn't mean it is, is it? Fornication isn't okay. It's not normal behavior in God's eyes, okay? Our wicked world might act like it is, but it's not, okay? It's wicked. Okay, so turn over to 1 Corinthians 7 because I just want to show you a couple of other verses because you might say, well, what about those that commit physical adultery then? Is that okay? Is that okay? No, they should be stoned to death, okay? In an ideal world, they would be stoned to death. What sort of extremism is this? No, that's what the Bible says. That's what God's law would be. And that's what God's law is going to be, by the way, coming soon in the millennial reign of Christ. So if you're sitting there going, well, I just sit here, what, you know, you get these people that go, what, sodomites should be stoned to death and you say that adulterers should? Yes, yes, they should. Yes, they should. And I tell you what, they wouldn't be committing adultery if they knew that the chance are they're going to get stoned to death for it. It's wicked. It ruins lives. It wrecks families. It wrecks homes. It wrecks lives. It's wicked, okay? And yes, they should have been, but we don't live under that law anymore, do we? But I'll tell you what. I believe that where the law, where the world's governments are so far removed now, so far removed from the law of God and the vast majority, I don't know, maybe there are nations out there that maybe still have that sort of punishment, but they're probably off on many other things. I believe that God will judge those adulterers. And I think that it will be some severe chastisement as well. So in case anyone's thinking, well, you know, at least we're not under that anymore. Look, God's going to whoop you for that, okay? Might take a little while. He might, you know, pause for a bit, but you're going to get whooped, okay? So let's not think that, oh, well, nevermind now, there's no more death penalty because God's going to whoop you. But well, we're back to 1 Corinthians 7 now, because I just want to make it clear again, because people want to try and act as if it's the same thing. He said in verse one, "'Now concerning the things wherever ye wrote unto me, "'it is good for a man not to touch a woman. "'Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, "'let every man have his own wife, "'and let every woman have her own husband.'" So getting married avoids fornication. See that, yeah? That wouldn't be the case if adultery was also fornication, would it? Okay, getting married would just be something that might still result in fornication. No, getting married, he's saying here, avoids it. "'Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, "'let every man have his own wife, "'and let every woman have her own husband.'" Okay, so I go back to chapter five, while I read 1 Corinthians 6, 9, which lists both fornicators and adulterers as separate types of sinner. "'Know ye not that the unrighteous "'shall not inherit the kingdom of God? "'Be not deceived neither fornicators, "'nor idolaters, nor adulterers.'" Look, they're two, they're separate things, aren't they? "'Nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves in mankind.'" Okay, and again, you know, when you look at that verse, it's just talking about the types of people that don't, and obviously we don't want to be those types of people. Okay, but they're separate sins, fornication and adultery. Now the problem, the problem that some people have then with this is that 1 Corinthians chapter five, the fornication is described as being between this guy and his father's wife, basically his stepmother. And people then have a bit of trouble here, because theoretically they're going, but shouldn't that then be adultery? But we have to compare scripture to scripture, don't we? Okay, we've just compared scripture, seeing what the cause of fornication is, see that that was clearly about fornication, see that they're used separately, et cetera. So how do we explain this? Look at verse one, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. Now I've sometimes thought like others that perhaps the father is dead, which would mean that she's free to remarry, but could still be described as his father's wife until then, yeah, some people say that, you could see that. But I think that it's more likely that the fornication took place before they married. That's what I believe is probably the case here, that the father's married her, but there was fornication with what is now his father's wife because if you look at verse two, it suggests that this is a past event, not ongoing. It says in verse 10, you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. So I believe if you compare scripture with scripture and we see what fornication is, that this was probably done before they were married, they'd be married, he's basically committed fornication with what is now his father's wife. Now, either way, whether it was his late father or not, this is pretty sick, isn't it? Okay, this is pretty sick stuff, yeah? Paul's saying that even the unbelieving nations wouldn't do this, okay, that's what he's saying. And do you know what this tells me? When you look at this story, this tells me that even a church planted by the apostle Paul is able to get involved in wicked things without the people being sad about it, okay, because they're not. He's saying you've not rather mourned. I mean, they're puffed up, these people, he says as well. And if that's the case, then do we think that a church like ours in a place where this sort of thing is named among the Gentiles, okay, would anyone be shocked if you saw this on, I hope no one does what she saw this stuff anymore, but the Jeremy Carl show or Jerry Springer, would you be shocked if you saw this on the front page of the Sun because it's front page news, isn't it? But would anyone be at all shocked? No, not at all nowadays. This sort of thing is named among the Gentiles. But if that's the case, do we think that we're not going to have to deal with regular fornication in a church like ours? Of course we are, okay, it goes on in the world. Sick things go on in the world that the bar has been lowered more and more and more and more. And that means that yes, we are probably going to have to deal with this and let's hope that we're not currently dealing with this, but it is something that we will have to deal with. So like I said, fornication is physical acts outside of marriage, okay, agreed, yeah? Okay, that's pretty clear for me. Okay, how bad is fornication? How bad is fornication? Well, look at verse three. For I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that have so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together in my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ 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. It's bad enough for Paul to tell them to kick the offender out so that his flesh is basically destroyed. Okay, that's pretty bad, isn't it? He's saying kick him out so his flesh is destroyed. That's him just getting, just basically having some horrendous chastisement outside of the protection, outside of the confines, outside of being in the church, outside of that affecting the church. First, verse 13 says, but them that are without God judges, therefore put away from among yourselves that poor person. Does it say that? Put away from among yourselves that just young fool. No, that wicked person, that wicked person. That's how the Bible describes this guy, okay? That's how the Bible describes this fornicator. Now, some might say, hold on, isn't fornication just a bit of fun? Two consenting adults, isn't it? Yeah, just two consenting adults. What's wrong with that? Well, it's wicked and it destroys lives, okay? Fornication destroys lives. I don't care what, look, if you look at this world, look at the state of this nation, look at the state of our society. Can anyone really gauge their moral compass by what is okay in the streets around us, in the towns around us, on the wicked TV around us as well, which by the way, has been promoting this for years, for decades, decades and decades. This filter's been getting promoted where now men and women of God think that it's not a big deal, it's a big deal. Because the word of God says it's a big deal, that should be enough, but it does destroy lives. Yeah, it destroys lives. What about the STDs that come from this? Just things which people can never get rid of, just disgusting diseases, which people will be afflicted with for the rest of their life because of fornication. What about the unwanted pregnancies from fornication? How about having a child with someone that you don't even like, that you don't even have anything in common with at all, barring there was some minor amount of sexual attraction, which meant that you ended up committing fornication with them. And now you're raising a child with someone that doesn't even want you to see that kid, or vice versa. Whatever it is, look, they don't even want to see that kid. Suddenly you're raising a child. Look, any of you parents here, think about the amount of decisions you have to make with your spouse. There's a lot of decisions. Can you imagine making that with someone that doesn't even want to talk to you? Not even interested. Imagine having your child raised by someone that you don't even know, that you don't even like, that you're maybe even suspicious of could be some sort of weirdo or something else, and what choice do you even have on that? Look, so much hurt and heartache comes from fornication. How about the mental effects as well? There are some big mental effects of fornication. I would say, just at a guess, probably, I believe, maybe more so with women. Okay, and men, it's not just, oh, well, you know, she's willing. Look, a lot of women end up with just mental scars from that sort of thing, okay? Things that they can never forget, but men too. Things, image, look, it's a spiritual thing, okay? It's a massive thing, and it's not something that you just go into lightly. It's something that is reserved for a man and woman who are married. That's what the word of God says. That's what the word of God is clear about. It's wicked, okay? It's wicked. It destroys lives. It ruins people's lives, and it destroys churches as well, and it destroys children's lives, and look, I'll go onto that in a minute. So turn to 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 15. 1 Corinthians 6, 15 says, Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. So our church is a body of Christ. We're all fitly joined together to make up his body. Agreed? Okay, look at verse 16. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. When you come together as male and female, you become one body, okay? When you do that as a church member, you're joining that whore or whoremonger to the body of Christ. Okay, let that sink in for a second. If you're a church member, and if you're, and by the way, if you're committing fornication, then, well, the word of God will describe you as a whore or whoremonger, for starters, which you don't want God to describe you as, but secondly, you're joining that other whore or whoremonger to the body of Christ. That's wicked, isn't it? Yeah, we don't want our body of Christ joined to just lose whores and whoremongers, okay? Verse 17, but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Okay, it's also a spiritual thing too, isn't it? Okay, don't forget that. Flee, flee fornication. That means run as far away as possible. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against some body. When it says flee fornication, for me, that says, look, if that's something that you get tempted by, flee the social media. Flee the beach if you can't deal with that sort of thing. Flee the, whatever it is, just flee it. Get away from that wickedness. Get away from the nakedness. Get away from the temptation. Get away from the people that you're tempted by that you think is going to tempt you into that sin because it's a wicked sin. Okay, flee fornication. Not, well, try and avoid it if possible. Well, if the world says it, if in a couple of thousand years' time, everyone's at it, just kind of do your best, guys, yeah? Do your best and see if you're strong enough. No, flee it. Yeah, run in the other direction. Run in the other direction. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body. So where you're joining your body in an unholy way, you're sinning against your body, okay, which is the temple of God. And ultimately you become one body, so you're sinning against that person as well, which then becomes your body. Just this mixed up, just, it's basically a bizarre, bizarre sin in that way because you're sinning against them, and they're becoming one body. You're sinning against the body of Christ. It's a wicked sin, right? That is a wicked sin. And look, you might look around the world and look around all these people at it and talking about it and acting like it goes on everywhere. And the media's been pushing that for years, isn't it? I remember talking about this before from a pulpit when I was young. You know, man and woman go on a date, see, and then, oh, don't worry. Don't worry, it's a clean movie. They're just going to wake up in the morning having breakfast. Oh, well, that's all right. It didn't show anything. No, what were the connotations? What was it trying to insinuate? It was trying to insinuate that that's perfectly fine, normal, and that's the sort of thing you should be doing. But it's not. It's wicked. It's disgusting. It's unhygienic, for starters, anyway. I mean, what on earth? You think about it, just how foul is that with someone that's not someone that you're sharing your life with as husband and wife? Anyway, says what? Know ye not that your temple is the body of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? Imagine taking some dirty skank of a woman or some pervy whoremonger of a man into the Old Testament temple like it was nothing. Can you imagine that? Come on in, you know, just some loose skank. Just come on in into the temple of God. You wouldn't, would you? Okay, that was a holy, sacred place. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, right? Yeah, we're the temple of the Holy Spirit, each and every one of you. We want to make sure we treat that with respect. Verse 20 says, for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So you're owned by God, yeah? The price was the precious blood of Jesus Christ, yeah? That was the price. When you join that body to some slapper or some scumbag out there, you're ruining God's possession, aren't you? You're defiling the temple. It's serious business, right? Okay, that is serious business. You don't want to be doing that sort of thing. Okay, that's why the Bible talks about it time and time again. You'll notice it time and time again in the Bible. Turn to Numbers 25, though, where we see the results, well, along with God's judgment on fornication, okay? Okay, we see the results of it and then we see God's judgment as well on fornication. So Numbers 25, from verse one, where it reads, and Israel abode in Shittim, Numbers 25, one, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. So it starts with fornication. It quickly ends up with these men worshiping the gods of Moab. That's what they're doing here. Now it called to the sacrifices of their gods. It starts with fornication. We can apply this, if you look at it in this way, it starts with fornication. Next thing you know, it's a TV with that person you're fornicating with. It's the bars. Well, now we're meeting in a bar. Well, you know, she or he said that I need to meet here and they want to go out first or whatever else. They're needing to impress with the cash now, yeah? Well, I don't know, maybe their head's getting turned by someone else. I need to like impress a bit more because that's what that sort of whore's interested in. Or maybe for that whore, that whore monger wants to see that I'm a bit looser, I'm a bit more into like fun and stuff and going to bars and clubs and all the rest of it. The clothing, you know, I need to impress with the sharp clothing. You know, whatever stupid brand items with massive lettering plastered across me or whatever else. I might try and look like subtle, but really I'm trying to advertise what I'm wearing. The worldly idols, yeah? The different worldly idols. Better start getting into those worldly idols to impress that person that you're fornicating with, yeah? See how that works, yeah? Okay, and that's what was going on here. It starts with fornication with the daughters of Moab. And next thing you know, they're called unto the sacrifice of their gods and they're eating this meat sacrifice to idols. They're bowing down to their gods. Verse three, and Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Ultimately the devil really there, okay? So they just joined themselves to the devil, to all his wicked satanic ways and everything else. And it started with fornication. And the Lord said unto Moses, take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. God's saying, kill them all. He's saying, cut their heads off and hang them up in the sun. Yep, that's what God said. Yep, that's God. No, that's not just the Old Testament, God, that's God. God who doesn't change, yeah? God the same yesterday and today and forever. God said, hang their heads up, okay? In the sun or against the sun. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor. And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, in sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So notice how Moses says, look, you guys, yeah, he said in verse five, he says to the judges of Israel, slay ye every one his men that were joined unto him. He's saying, look, these fornicators, slay them. Yeah, he's saying to the people of God, he's saying, look, you judges, yeah, you respectable men of God, yeah, you better deal with this situation, right? Slay them, okay? And that's something that as a church, we have to take that responsibility among the church as well, okay? Those people have to be kicked out of church for that if that happens at this church in the future. Okay, then look, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianite-ish woman in the sight of Moses. So notice it was the daughter of Moab, so now he's got like a Midianite-ish woman, like, oh, well, that's all right, yeah, in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So these people are crying about it, yeah? These people are getting killed, heads are getting hung up, and this guy just strolls in, yeah, strolls in with his horse. I mean, you can't make it up, can you? Why is he so bold? Well, look down at verse 14, where it says, Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even it was slain with the Midianite-ish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. Oh, no, he's a big deal, this guy. Yeah, he's a big shot. So it's all right, he could just walk in, it's one rule for him and another for everyone else, right? Is that how it works with God? No, he's no respect for your persons, is he? And thank God that Pheidah has here, there is no respect for your persons either. You've got to love Pheidahas. And when Pheidahas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, took a javelin in his hand, going off for a bit of sports, do you think? No, see how far he could throw it? And he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through. The man of Israel and the woman threw a belly so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And now those that died in the plague were 20 and 4,000. And there's a good lesson for us there, isn't there? That sins which affect the church, sins which affect the people of God, we need to be standing up and dealing with them, okay? Everyone has a responsibility, like I preached recently about this sort of thing. And we've all kind of been learning from what's gone on here over the last few weeks as well. We all have a responsibility, okay? Pick up that javelin and spear him, okay? Maybe don't do that physically, but spiritually you can do that, right, okay? Pick up that javelin, like Pheidahas did here. Okay, so he went after her. The plague was stayed after he did that. And when you look further in the story, God's really happy with Pheidahas here, okay? Moses is happy with Pheidahas here. This guy has done what other people should have done. I mean, this guy, by the way, he probably walked past a lot of people with that woman, didn't he? Yeah? He then got up to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation where people are weeping. It was only then that Pheidahas was like, charge, and just speared him. Okay, and I think that should have been done long before. Okay, but that's a man of God there that dealt with it. So that's what God thinks about fornication. 20 and 4,000, it said, died in that plague. And we see later in the New Testament that it was 23,000 died in a day, okay? And maybe another 1,000 after that. 24,000 died because of that. So in our New Testament church, we're not going to thrust them through with the javelin. We're going to thrust them out of church, okay? Because that's what the word of God teaches. What is fornication? It's physical relations outside of marriage. How bad is fornication? It's a wicked sin and God has even killed his people for it like we just saw here. Why is it a sin that gets you kicked out of church? Okay, so that's the question now. Why then does it get you kicked out of church? Because there's a lot of sins, aren't there, in the Bible, which God hates, right? There's a lot of sins where we see God's judgment on people which don't necessarily get you kicked out of church. Well, for starters, if we're all members of the body of Christ, then you're joining us all together in this, yeah? Okay, so anyone does that, you're basically joining the whole body of Christ together into that fornication, okay? So first off, think about that, anyone who might get tempted in the future, anyone, and I know we've got a smaller church here, so it feels a little bit more personal to everyone, but obviously anyone that watches this in the future, any of our church members who aren't here today, have a think about that. And obviously any kids here as well, I hope preaching like this will stay on your heart and you'll remember this, because believe me, as you get older, this is going to be a temptation, this is going to be put upon you from every angle and hopefully the one angle it won't be will be the church, okay? Will be our church. But look at verse six. "'Your glorying is not good.'" Sorry, back to 1 Corinthians 5. 1 Corinthians 5 and verse six. "'Your glorying is not good. "'Know ye not that a little leaven "'leaveneth the whole lump?'" Okay, that's basically talking about a little yeast, sourdough starter, if you want to get technical here. Okay, leavens the whole lump, okay? So, okay, it's bad enough for the singles, the kids in this wicked world, isn't it? Okay, it's hard, I can see that. You know, if you're single, as you grow up into this world as well, you're going to have it everywhere. You're going to have it from every angle. You're going to have it obviously from the world. You're going to have it from people that claim they're Christians as well, okay? Who are going to be pushing it, going to be promoting it, going to be encouraging it. It's absolutely everywhere. And you might go, well, don't worry, brother Ian, we don't watch the TV, yeah? We don't touch the TV. And look, I would strongly advise you not to watch the TV, okay? Absolute wickedness, it's junk. And you might go, well, there's 1% on there that isn't so bad. Yeah, but the other 99% is, yeah? And you show me how you're going to just watch that 1% and avoid all the other wickedness, brainwashing, everything else. But it's not just the TV, is it? It's not just, and it's worse than the insinuation. Now it's just blatant fornication everywhere you look, pre-nine o'clock. I mean, can you imagine what the soap operas are like now? In fact, funnily enough, there's a van there when we were working on the church. And this van was, this van like had teasers. We didn't have a kettle here or anything else. So a couple of the time, a couple of times, probably more than a couple, but we might go down there for a cup of tea, right? From this little van. And it was, you know, it was pretty good value. And this lady's there pumping out the tune sadly. So you're kind of like, oh, here we go. But when she wasn't pumping out the tune, I thought, oh great, she's not pumping any music. Let me go and get a cup of tea, yeah? So you go down to this van and she's got the TV on her iPad or whatever else behind. She's watching EastEnders. Now I haven't seen EastEnders for, my guess here, I probably haven't seen an episode for at least a week. No, I'm joking. For about, for probably, I would say a dozen years, yeah? Okay, I would say 10 years minimum, yeah? So I've walked over, yeah? I've got to get this cup of tea and write, like in my face is EastEnders. And then I'm just, the first thing I see is a guy that 10 years ago was this flaming sodomite on there. What is it? I can't remember his name now. But basically this flaming sodomite, just on EastEnders and doing sodomite stuff in the background. What time is EastEnders on? 7.38 o'clock? So I've got it on my alarm, so I am joking again. Okay, but look, that stuff is people sit down around this nation with their kids watching that, don't they? And it is pure filth. Wickedness, fornication, every other episode just clear signs like the same, more than just the insinuation. I can remember from when I was young watching that junk. And then you just got open sodomites on it as well. Committing, I mean, you can't even call it fornication. Can you just call it filth, depravity, animalistic acts, yeah? And this is what our nation, up until recently, probably a large, large amount of our nation used to sit down and watch on whatever evenings it was. And I can imagine that Coronation Street is probably the same. Never watched that filth. But it's all the same, isn't it? What else did they have? Brookside? I remember Brookside when I was younger. Oh, so Groundbracket had the first lesbian kiss. What filth was that? That was on at five o'clock. Five o'clock, sometimes the parents weren't even home while the kids were watching that junk. What else did they have? So anyway, I'm not gonna go through a list of stuff, but all the same, just filth. And that's just a small amount, isn't it, that's gonna be pushed on you out in that world. But that's the TV, but it's not just the TV. What about the billboards? I mean, half of it's just advertising, that sort of thing, people scantily clad, things which are basically promoting fornication at bus stops have all sorts of advertising, sort of whatever morning after pills, you name it, just everything, isn't it? Just everywhere in your face at every time. Do you think that's gonna get better? Anyone think, oh, well, no, Boris is gone now, the righteous government's coming again, isn't it? Oh, no, it'll be all right now because some of the lords are part of the Church of England. Bishops, did you know that, yeah? Did you know that there's a certain amount of lords, I think I preached this once on a sermon, that are Church of England bishops, or archbishops, or whatever they call them. God help us all, they, absolutely vile, isn't it? But does anyone think it's gonna get better? It's getting worse, isn't it? Worse and worse. So when our children are grown up, can you imagine how bad it's gonna be then? Absolutely amazing, isn't it, how bad it is already. Social media, how promoted is it on social media? Dating app, social media, I mean, you get the adverts just going on something. Even if you've got, you've never clicked on anything like that, you'll get dating app, adverts, you'll get all sorts, it's just in everyone's face all the time. The women out there dress like literal whores, okay? And the Bible's very clear about how a woman should dress. The Bible's very clear about what nakedness is. And look, just walk out of here, you probably wouldn't have to walk for long and you'll see women dressed like whores all over the place. Isn't it terrible, right? And look, for many people, that could be a temptation, that could be hard for them, because it's not normal to see that. It's not, I mean, King David, the righteous King David was up on his rooftop and he saw a woman washing herself and he got tempted, right? Okay, yeah, that was adultery. But look, there's a lot of people that are going to find that hard. And like I've said before, women do have a certain responsibility with that, okay? Because if you're just bearing nakedness when you're not in church, and I'm sure none of the women here do that, I hope they wouldn't. But if you're doing that, you're part of the problem. Yeah, I'm not saying you're to blame for it all, but that is part of the problem, isn't it? Because look, a lot of men will find that hard. And same the other way around, men who are just trying to be so smooth and charming and innuendos or whatever it is. Again, they're part of the problem, aren't they? And it's all wicked, it's foul. Because the Bible says it is. And because when you take a step back and you grow in your faith, you look at it, you go, yeah, that is a wicked sin, isn't it really? What's that? Why on earth have we got a world that makes out like it's normal? It's not normal, it's not okay. And God's even killed his people for it. And another thing you'll see as well, and you'll find is men who are just open, brazen, hall mongers. And you'll get men who, you get men of God, you'll get men in churches, even like ours, that will just start talking about the attractiveness of certain women and stuff like that. It's not okay. That's not okay. We don't want to be talking about that. That's not how we want to be objectifying women, really. I know that sounds a bit cliche, but it's true, isn't it? Because that's not what we're seeking. Yeah, we're seeking godly women. We're seeking women for men here. You should be, if you're a single man, you should be seeking a godly woman, shouldn't you? And you should want to be surrounded by them anyway. Yeah, and look, and for the women here, you should be seeking godly men, shouldn't you? Not, oh, who's like, you know, the smoothest, sexiest, and all, look, that's not what it's about. And I'll tell you what, in a few years time, you'll soon be thinking, what on earth did I do? If that's what you're going for. Well, look, the kids here, the singles here, should be able to come to church, be around their church family and get a break from it all, shouldn't they? Okay, there should be not even a suggestion, not even a hint, not even a question, not even a doubt in anyone's mind, yeah? They should be coming to church and not wondering, not assuming, and just being a church where it's clear as day that it's just a clean living, as far removed from fornication as possible, because everyone's getting bombarded with it, okay? And church, it should be somewhere where it's, whatever the word is, a sanctuary from that, yeah? It should be a sanctuary from that. Okay, so if someone is in fornication in a church, and look, there are many churches out there that don't give a damn about this, do they? Yeah, most of the so-called churches in this nation wouldn't even care, wouldn't even bat an eyelid if two people walked in clear as day, living together, shacked up, wouldn't even care. But if someone is in that, or appears that they are, then it starts to even normalize it amongst God's people, doesn't it? Because then we stop going, well, that's the world, and then you start seeing it amongst the church, and then you can understand why that little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, yeah? In this Corinthian church, they hadn't kicked this guy out, and that would have become more and more of a problem, because then more people try and justify and normalize it, okay? And then they start trying to come up with justification. Well, it's kind of like we're married, yeah? You heard that one before. Well, it was like a common law-type marriage. It's the same thing, isn't it? Well, we're gonna marry, or whatever. Look, it's not okay, okay? It's not okay. And it's so poisonous that we should be doing our utmost to show that there's no chance of it in our church, right? Because it is a tactic of the enemy, okay? You've got to understand that. This is a tactic of the enemy. I could have put this into my weapons of the enemy series, because it is. Fornication is one of the tactics of the enemy. It's to turn the Christian's head away from the things of God and ruin them like we just saw in Numbers 25, yeah? Turn to Revelation chapter two, which refers to the event that we just read about in Numbers 25. See, it wasn't just an accident. It wasn't that they just saw some good-looking, Moabite women and thought, yeah, you know, I just can't resist a bit of fornication. They were purposely enticed to destroy them. He's talking to the church at Pergamos here in Revelation chapter two and verse 14, and it says, but I have a few things against thee, because thou has there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. Now, Balaam was a false prophet that was hired to curse Israel. If you remember the story, it actually covers quite a few chapters in the book of Numbers. He wasn't able to curse them. God didn't allow him to do that. So instead he taught Balak, the king of the Moabites, to ensnare them. That's what he did. Now, we don't see that when you read through the book of Numbers, but then it's revealed to us in the book of Revelation here that basically having not been able to curse them, he then basically teaches the king of the Moabites to ensnare them instead, to trap them, to destroy them this way. And what he taught them to do was he taught him to ensnare them into eating things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. So it was a trap. It was a snare. It was a tactic of the enemy to destroy them. And nothing's changed with that, okay? The temptation, the way the enemy's been trying to get people of God to commit this sort of sin has continued ever since. It's a weapon of the enemy, but you want to make sure you're not the one used to encourage God's children with it, right? Okay, so you want to make sure women here that you're not enticing men, because it might be, oh, well, I just like the attention I get off this guy in the church. Okay, you might not, in your right mind, ever think about that, but maybe he's just kind of, then he starts looking at other women like that because you're basically trying to give off those sort of vibes, everything. We just want to just cut out that rubbish, yeah? Look, I understand singles are going to date, okay? That ain't a problem. We're not saying you can't date. Yeah, date. But you want to be making sure that there's not even any suggestion of fornication, okay? And that goes for kids as you go up, that goes for singles as you're in the church, because if there is, look, we don't have to catch you in the act, okay? If you're living together, if people believe it, then you're going to have to prove you're not, and I don't know how that's going to work for me. If we think you are, then it's better safe than sorry, right? Okay, now, look at verse seven. Back in 1 Corinthians chapter five. Paul said, to purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. So we're taught to get rid of fornicators, agreed? Yeah, okay, that's pretty clear. 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. I wrote unto you an epistle not to company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous or extortionists, or with idolaters, for then must your needs go out of the world. So he's not talking about the unsaved, okay? Because some people can get a bit carried away here and go, right, I need to avoid all fornicators. Well, you're going to have to avoid most of the world, the rate that it's going in this country. He's not talking about the unsaved. But now I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother, that's a saved believer, be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one, no, not to eat. And that's a nice early list for us. And we'll be working through that over the next few weeks. He said, for what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? Yes, we are told to judge them, right? Okay, that's what he's saying here. But them that are without, God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. Okay, that means to remove from the church and cut fellowship. And like I spoke about the other week, that means to block them on social media, okay? That means that includes phone calls, that includes messages, that includes Facebook friends, that includes, you know, any of that stuff subscribing to their YouTube channels, any of that sort of stuff, that means you cut off all fellowship, okay? Gone, done. Okay, they're removed, they're put away from among yourselves because it's wicked. Now, the problem is that people then start to feel sorry for people, don't they? And look, there's nothing, look, we should have a heart, yeah, when it's people that are in sin where it's not that they're clear, just reprobate enemies of God. Yeah, look, you might have a bit of pity at times, but you've got to understand, you've got to be hard with this because it's not loving on the rest of the church if you're just somebody who's just like covering for someone, turning a blind eye, not saying anything, because the rest of us, remember, are joined within that, okay? So if you are, if you're someone here and you're like, look, I'm involved in that, or maybe in the future, you look back at this sermon and you say, look, I'm tempted, or maybe I'm even involved in that, but you've got a couple of options. If you're in a relationship, so we say this to new believers, don't we? If you're in a relationship, you want to join a proper church. And look, being part of a proper church is a massive blessing, okay? We were desperate for a proper church, weren't we? We got a proper church, we're in a proper church. It's such a blessing. It's like the amount of, look, if you just took the rewards alone, everyone in this church is able and is currently earning for eternity just by being able to serve the Lord in a proper church, it's amazing, okay? And let alone the edification, the way you can raise your kids in the things of God, the fact that we're able to affect the area, the amount of people we're getting saved through being in a church like this, being sent out, soul winning, just hearing the word of God preached, just all the many blessings we get from it. Look, if you're saved and you want to be a part of that, then you need to cut out fornication for starters. And if you're living with someone or something else, then get married or dump them off. I mean, it's pretty simple and it's not hard to do. And we say with new believers, you got a couple of weeks and that's your lot, you know? And look, because a wedding doesn't have to be the latest, turn up in chariots and, oh, I've got to keep saving. The target's 100,000, because then I can have everyone I've ever met at my wedding. And then it's going to look really good on Instagram. Because it doesn't matter. What's the point in marrying? It's in the eyes of God, right? And don't get pulled into that junk because it is a nonsense, okay? So look, either have a quick marriage, shotgun wedding, or turf them out, get out, or get out of the church. Because we don't want it in this church. Okay, so now with something like this, okay, with something like fornication, there is a chance of genuine repentance and restoration further down the line, okay? So look, you know, because people, they want to try, like when you have a church, especially when you just kick people out, people want to act like you're just so unforgiving and you're not even giving people a chance. Fornication is a sin of the flesh, yeah? It's a clear sin of the flesh. And yes, you know, you could say everything on this list is a sin of the flesh, yeah? Okay, but fornication is something that people can get into and they could genuinely repent and show and make it clear and put an end to that lifestyle. And if we, you know, we would want to restore that person. Yeah, we don't want to scatter the sheep. Want people in the church. And that's something that any Christian who's unmarried here could get into, okay? And any Christian that's married can get into adultery. It's not just out of, oh, you're saved, no way. That can happen. But let me just explain something again here, because, and I don't think anyone here is unsure about this. When it comes to the combination of railing and church division causing, okay, that's not just something you just fell into a little bit of sin there. Oh, well, I just got a bit fleshly then. You know, I just couldn't resist but try and tear down the only proper New Testament church in this country. I just couldn't resist it. I just got a bit tempted by a bit of, I just fancied bearing a bit of false witness against the leader of a church and ripping down the church. Won't do it again. Sorry about that. I just happened to have a gang of people that I was confederate with for 18 months who tried any which way they could to destroy our church. And then at the end, I bared false witness, I'm a railer, I'm a division causer. Sorry about that, can I come back? That's not how it works, okay? And that's not, oh, we're just so unforgiving. No, because you've clearly shown what you are. Instead of any brother there, okay, those people aren't brothers and sisters, okay? And the Bible's clear, mark and avoid. Okay, mark and avoid. That's not mark and avoid for a couple of days and then bring them back on the weekend. Okay, that's not how it works, okay? So just to make that clear, but when it comes to things like on this list, fornication, covetousness depends because covetousness does go hand in hand with false prophets, okay? As we've seen recently, but there are people that can be covetous without being obviously a false prophet. Same with idolatry, same with railing. But again, it's very rare you'll see, look, railing, if someone had just got in a row at church, maybe just lied about what happened in that row because they just really wanted to prove that point. We'd proven that they were lying, the witnesses had come forward, we kicked them out for railing. Look, we could see a way of them coming back maybe in the future, but they would have to be genuinely repentant and come back and apologise to that, because it's still wicked, isn't it? Being lied about is horrible, isn't it? Yeah, because it's slander, isn't it? It's horrible, right? However petty some people might try and say it is or not. But railing against the leadership of the church, and yes, there is a different rule because there's only one goal when you're doing that. It's not, oh, well, I'm just a bit annoyed so I'm just going to make up a lie about you. Railing against the leadership of the church along with all the other division causing behaviour. Okay, that's not just, oh, well, we just kind of just snowballed into a bit of railing against the leader. That is wicked. Standing up in a church and bearing false witness against someone and thinking that they don't have any way of, like, can you imagine how that could have gone? Again, I'm not going to keep going on about this every week, but I just want to hit it one more time because I know that will be the next angle. I know there'll be those trying to whisper, oh, well, you know, were they all that bad? Maybe they should be forgiven. Look, these people were all that bad, okay? I have no doubt. I'm not in the habit of lying behind the pulpit and just coming out with things to suit me. That was some wicked people, okay? And I don't care what other people say. I care what I know from here and I care what the Bible says, mark and avoid. And every single one of them is a division cause and every single one of them is a railer as well. They're out of the church, okay? But if, and look, we're not encouraging you to do this sort of thing because a lot of people won't come back from biblical discipline because that is a big deal, isn't it? Getting kicked out for the other things on this list, getting kicked out for being a drunkard and then cleaning up and come back. That'd be hard though, wouldn't it? And you would feel like everyone's kind of suspicious and everything else that you just don't want to get kicked out, yeah? So just make sure that you don't, look, that you don't, you just be white, yeah? Be white to the white. Just there shouldn't be any of this on your list, yeah? Make sure that there's none of this. And look, and therefore, we're just going to have a happy fellowship here, aren't we? With a place where we could just come and just be confident and sure that we're just surrounded by other like-minded believers, right? And that's what we want, don't we? The ultimate goal is the protection of the church, by the way, not the result of the discipline. I heard someone say this, in fact, one of the people that got kicked out said, well, you know, the goal of discipline is restoration. This is when they're already trying to angle towards maybe getting some of these people back, yeah? Getting the gang back, you know? We're putting the gang back together, guys. No, okay? No, the aim of church discipline is to keep the church, right, is because a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. The aim of the church discipline is to protect the sheep, not that one sheep, the aim is the whole sheep. Now, look, great, if we can restore that person, great. Because then we've protected someone else as well. But the ultimate goal is to get rid of the wickedness, get that leaven out of the church for the church, for the children, for the whole lot, yeah? Okay. And that was the first of many sins that get you kicked out of church. And that's fornication. And the lesson to be learned here is don't be a fornicator. So on that, let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the clear lessons you give us from your word. Thank you for the clear examples and just, well, statutes there on church discipline. Help us to follow those accurately. Help us to be a church that just wants to follow your word, that wants to just be what you want us to be, the types of Christians, the type of people that you want in your church. Help us to resist all the temptation out there, especially when it comes to that wicked sin of fornication. Help us to have a mind that's in line with you and your teachings, not the world and its teachings. Help us to just resist it at all costs, to flee fornication. And Lord, we thank you for this church. Thank you for these great people. And we pray that everyone's able to return on Wednesday and if not on Sunday for another day in your house. In Jesus' name, we pray all of this. Amen.