All over this country today God is leading CERTAIN PEOPLE to CERTAIN CHURCHES because they can make valuable contributions to these churches. As God leads people to join the church, we need to ask, “WHAT SHOULD THEY BE LOOKING FOR WHEN THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A CHURCH TO JOIN?”
Many have their own criteria set up. Some join a church because-
- They like the CHURCH BUILDING.
- They like the PROGRAMS that church offers.
- They like the PEOPLE who attend there.
- The church is CONVENIENT, being close to their home.
Listen, all of these things are nice, but the fact is that these are not the reasons a person should join a church! There are churches across this nation that meet those standards, but they do not meet God’s standards.
Let us suppose we could sit down with the Lord Jesus and ask Him, “WHAT SHOULD A PERSON LOOK FOR WHEN SEEKING A CHURCH TO JOIN?”
God’s criteria includes:
- That the people WORSHIP HIM there!
- That His WORD IS PREACHED there!
God is not interested, as we are, so much in how beautiful the building is, how many socials there are, or how convenient the location is.
Let us suppose that you lived in the times of the apostle Paul and were looking for a church. WHAT KIND OF CHURCH WOULD YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE IN? Do you think you would like-
- The church in Ephesus?
- The church in Philippi?
- The church in Galatia?
There would be many to pick from.
Sad to say, probably many American Christians would feel most comfortable joining the church at Corinth--it would best suit them because the folks at Corinth...
- Were spiritual babes.
- Were envious.
- Tolerated gross sin in the church membership.
- Fought among themselves, like children.
- Did not know the meaning of the word love.
- Were preacher worshippers, not God worshippers.
- Were spiritually ignorant.
- Desecrated the house of God during the Lord’s supper and at other times.
Paul was constantly having to teach and correct those folks. So that our church might not be like the church in Corinth, we will look at at least two things Paul taught.
I. PAUL WROTE THEM ABOUT MORALITY PROBLEMS IN THE CHURCH.
Notice, Paul talked to them about an issue that had become rumored widely about them. Look at I Cor. 5:1. We read, “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.” Paul was saying, paraphrase, “This horrendous thing I have heard about you is so bad that I do not even hear of the gentiles doing such a horrible thing.” Then he continued, “Rumor has it that one of your church members has actually committed fornication with his step-mother!”
Paul was shocked to hear such a thing had taken place among the people of the church at Corinth. He was even more shocked that the people were not ashamed of what had happened and that they were not doing anything about it.
Look at verse 2. “And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” We seldom hear the word, “ex-communicate” any more, but Paul was shocked that the person who had committed such ungodly acts was still a part of the church. He said that the person should have been, “...taken away from among you.” Paul would be shocked if he lived among us also. As one travels across this country he hears of terrible things still taking place among those who claim to be members of God’s Church.
Illus: One Christian man visited a church and said, “I am looking for a church for my family and myself.” He then went on to explain that the previous Tuesday, the deacons at the church he had been attending had a meeting and it ended up in a fist fight that even damaged the church building!”
Illus: One church had a division. The group that stood with the preacher announced among themselves a change in the time for the service. When the other group arrived they were locked out! They tried to tear the door down, and finally the police had to be called in. They came and sent everyone home.
Illus: One Christian man called the pastor aside one morning when he arrived at his church. He said, “Pastor, On my way to church this morning I saw something that shocked me. As I came by (a large, well-known church in town), there were two grown men fighting it out in the parking lot.”
So, we see, in some cases we hear of things happening among Christians that are worse than some of the things we hear that happen in the local saloons.
Paul said that he was not there, but in his spirit he judged the man who had sinned as if he were there. Look what Paul said should be done. In verses 4-5, we read, “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 an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Paul did not say that because he had a mean streak. He said it because he knew if they did not deal with that sin then the whole church would be corrupted.
Look at verses 6-7. We read, “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened...” Why did Paul say that? Because known sin can not be tolerated in God’s house. It will corrupt the whole church.
We mention public schools often, but it is because they are such a graphic example of this sort of thing. Since educators are more concerned about MONEY than they are about EDUCATION, children have been getting away with every kind of misbehavior and crime. Since every child that is enrolled in public school causes that school to receive around six thousand dollars, most administrators would not think of expelling the children no matter how badly they misbehaved. From their standpoint, every child they throw out, causes them to lose about six thousand dollars.
Listen, it should be that if a child continues to get into trouble and disrupt other students who would learn, they should be warned once, “The next time you get into trouble, you will be put out of school and you will NEVER! NEVER! be allowed to come back--NEVER!” Why should this be done. Because the students who misbehave cause other students to be corrupted.
Some big gossipers, liars, hypocrites, check bouncers. wife abusers, cursers, gamblers, etc., regularly attend God’s churches. No matter what they do, they are tolerated because churches are concerned about NUMBERS more than they are about PLEASING THE LORD JESUS.
The apostle Paul was concerned about the moral problems at the church at Corinth, so he dealt with them in these two letters--I and II Corinthians. WE SHOULD DEAL WITH SIN IN CHURCHES TODAY. THE RUINING OF GOD’S CHURCH’S REPUTATION IS THE TREMENDOUS PRICE WE ARE PAYING FOR IGNORING SIN AMONG GOD’S PEOPLE.
(1) The good testimony of many churches has been completely destroyed in the communities they were hoping to reach for Christ.
(2) By allowing KNOWN SIN to exist in our churches, we have totally MISREPRESENTED THE GOSPEL TO OUR YOUTH.
How will the young people know it is important to live a holy life unto the Lord if they do not see adults setting the good example before them? When they see adults getting away with sinning and still holding leadership positions in church they can only conclude that Christianity is something you talk about, but that is all it is--JUST TALK!
Paul wrote to let the Corinthian church know IT IS IMPORTANT TO LIVE A GODLY LIFE. Sin will destroy a church! We must not continue to accept sin as a harmless matter, as if we were playing with harmless snakes.
Illus: On Oct. 12, 1996, there were many homosexuals and others gathered in large groups to protest the fact the government was not putting out enough money for AIDS research. It may be true that some have been infected innocently through blood transfusions, but it is time somebody in this country had the courage to stand up to those people and tell them, “STOP YOUR SINNING, LEST YOU ALL DIE PREMATURELY!”
Sin is destructive. It destroys lives, neighborhoods, homes and churches. Each Christian has a responsibility to do all he can to eradicate it!
Illus: Billy Sunday traveled this country preaching against sin. On one occasion it is reported that he said, “I am against sin.
-I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot.
-And I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist.
-I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head.
-I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth.
When I am old and fistless and footless and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to glory!”
Godly preachers have preached, and continue to preach, against sin because they knew, and know, what sin will do TO THE INDIVIDUAL and to GOD’S CHURCH!
Illus: Dr. Wilbur Chapman used to preach hard against sin in the Methodist church. A leader in his denomination came to him and said, “Dr. Chapman, I want to urge you to stop preaching against sin. Tone it down by calling it ‘inhibition,’ or ‘mistakes,’ but do not call it sin!” Dr. Chapman turned, went straight to the medicine cabinet, and told that leader as he reached for a bottle of strychnine, “Would you object to my tearing off the label that tells us this is strychnine, and in its place put a label telling us it contains Wintergreen?” The man said, “I certainly would!” Dr. Chapman asked, “Why?” He said, “Because, someone may come along and innocently drink strychnine thinking all the time he was drinking Wintergreen.”
Dr. Chapman said, “Yet you would have me get in that pulpit and label sin as ‘inhibitions’ or ‘mistakes,’ not warning those who hear me preach of death being the result of sin. No, I will not tone it down. If anything, I plan to preach more on sin than I ever have!”
The apostle Paul knew how serious sin was. That was why he TALKED TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH ABOUT THE MORALITY PROBLEMS IN THEIR CHURCH. He knew, if they did not deal with those sins, they would destroy the whole church.
II. PAUL WROTE THEM ABOUT MISPLACED PRIORITIES IN THE CHURCH.
Look at I Corinthians 2:1-2, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Paul told them he was determined to do only one thing with his life and that was KNOW THE LORD IN ALL HIS GREATNESS. Did you know this is a life-long job.
Many have chosen other things. Some have chosen to dedicate their lives to knowing about cars, computers, aviation, some field of science, etc., but THE GREATEST THING YOU AND I CAN DEDICATE OUR LIVES TO IS THE SAME AS WHAT PAUL DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO--KNOWING HIM (CHRIST)!
One can spend hundreds of hours every week seeking to know Christ and still never know all about His greatness. Paul knew this, but still he said that he had DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO THAT ONE TASK--KNOWING CHRIST!
We live in a society in which people have dedicated themselves to MANY THINGS! Why? Satan leads them to do this knowing if he can get people involved in MANY THINGS, then we will not have time to dedicate our lives TO THE LORD. Let me suggest TWO things I believe the Lord would be pleased with our dedicating our lives to trying to accomplish.
A. Maintaining good PHYSICAL health. Often we take too lightly the fact that God gave us the body we reside in. It is the only body we will ever have. God lets us know it is a sin to purposely abuse it, which many people do every day. To maintain a healthy body, we have to be dedicated to...
1. Eating nutritious food. Did you know it is as much a sin to be a “glutton” as it is to be a “drunkard?” At least most drunkards recognize the danger of being drunkards. When they go out, they assign someone to be a “designated driver.” They have a motto “Friends do not let friends drive drunk.” Perhaps at our tables we should designate one to be the “designated monitor” of how much, and what we eat. We might invent a motto like, “Friends do not let friends go back for seconds!” Most of us know that people are digging their graves with their forks.
We should also be dedicated to...
2. Getting sufficient rest. Many will sit up late at night, watching television, fighting off sleep and then wonder why they are so sleepy every day. God has so designed our bodies that they get tired. To cure this He provided sleep. When you are sleepy at work your body is trying to tell you that you should turn the lights off and go to bed at night. We should also be dedicated to...
3. Exercising properly. Do you know what would happen to your arm if you put it in a sling and never used it? It would wither away. Why? Because God so designed the muscles to be exercised. They will deteriorate if they are not used. When you talk about being concerned about YOUR HEALTH (good nutrition, rest, and exercise), someone will be quick to point out that they know someone who did all these things and they died an early death. That may be true, you can find some who have tried to do all these things and still died young, but for every one you find like that, you can find a thousand who abused their bodies and died early. God is pleased when we dedicate ourselves to taking care of the PHYSICAL BODY He gave us. He is even MORE PLEASED when we dedicate ourselves to...
B. Maintaining good SPIRITUAL health. There are many who only care about their PHYSICAL CONDITION. They are fanatics about taking care of their bodies. Their bodies have become their gods. Then we have some who only care about their SPIRITUAL CONDITION! Listen, we should be concerned about our PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL condition. Just as there are some things we must do to maintain PHYSICAL health, there are also things we must do to “stay in shape” SPIRITUALLY. We have observed that...
1. The spiritual giants of today stay in the Word of God daily. Every day we should be dedicated to putting good, physical, food in our bodies. Every day we should be dedicated to taking in good spiritual “food!”
We should cleanse ourselves spiritually, just as people would cleanse themselves physically, and then be filled with the right kinds of things. That is, we should not spend all of our time reading ABOUT the Word of God--we should READ THE WORD OF GOD! This is our spiritual nourishment.
2. The spiritual giants of this land stay on their knees before God. Someone has said that before one can ever STAND, he must first be able to crawl on his knees. Every baby in this sanctuary teaches us this fact of life.
3. The spiritual giants of this land stay in the house of God. We need the challenge from God’s Word, and we need the fellowship of God’s people. You show me a Christian who neglects these things and I will show you a spiritual weakling.
Conclusion/Summary: Paul showed his concern for the Christians in Corinth.
I. HE WROTE THEM ABOUT MORALITY PROBLEMS IN
THE CHURCH.
II. HE WROTE THEM ABOUT MISPLACED PRIORITIES
IN THE CHURCH.
