"Don't Tolerate Sexual Immorality" I Cor. 5 Pt 5 Series

“Don’t Tolerate Sexual Immorality”

I Cor. Chapter 5 - pt 5

Opening Illustration: “Deception” from Sermon Spice- this clips reveals how deception works and how it redefines what is right and wrong in society.

Thesis: Sexual immorality is not to be tolerated in the church instead it should be asked to leave before the Spirit of Christ does! The question is: “Who do you want to stay?”

Scripture Text: 1 Cor. 5

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

Introduction:

Summary of 1 Corinthians 1-4.

Chapter one: We need to united in Christ not divided in Christ! The church was formed by Christ to serve one another and not to focus on ourselves. The church is not about me but about the message of Jesus and about service to the Kingdom of God!

Chapter two: The Spirit’s wisdom is the too lead our lives each day not our human intellect or another person’s human intellect. Why? So that we can witness the power of the Spirit and see lives transformed.

Chapter three: We are the Temple of God because His Spirit dwells within each of us who are “Born Again” and sanctified. We need to make sure that we build up our temple by the ways of God and not destroy this precious residence of the Spirit.

Chapter four: Scripture makes it clear that we as followers of Jesus need to be servants and not self-centered – we are to serve each other in the Body and root out any self-seeking behavior so as to please God. We are all called to be servant-leaders!

Chapter five: Sexual immorality is not to be tolerated in the church instead it should be asked to leave before the Spirit of Christ does!

Remember Bono’s quote: “Religion is what you have left when the Spirit leaves the building!”

So we want to make sure the Spirit never leaves our temple or this building!

I read this article this last week that I would like to pass on to you this morning – Listen to the thoughts: “Flee Sexual Immorality (Sex in the City, that includes you) Suzanne Hadley on Jun 6, 2008 at 9:35 AM:

Recently I wrote an article about world-friendliness. In it, I talked about how my media choices don’t always line up with my beliefs. Honestly, sometimes shows that promote values vastly different from mine seem pretty attractive. In discussing this disconnect, I gave the example of a professing Christian who openly raved about "Sex and the City" being her favorite show. Something seemed amiss.

Then yesterday I read an overall positive review of the movie Sex and the City ... on Christianity Today. Author Camerin Courtney is up front that "hedonism abounds" and calls the show "randy," but she seems to be looking for redemption in the wrong place. She writes:

Most of the few Christian voices speaking to the growing single segment of the population offer ten easy steps to find our soul mate. As if it’s that wondrously simple. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda, however, show how challenging it really can be for intelligent, accomplished, and admittedly neurotic women to find lasting love. They, unlike many Christians, don’t insult my intelligence. Instead they speak to the complexities of relationships in a postmodern age—addressing baby lust, the mommy wars, sexual temptation, dating outside your "class," commitment-phobia, the reluctant desire to be rescued by a man, and the simultaneous fear that you’ll lose your own hard-won identity in the process.