 We'll begin reading in 2 Corinthians together at chapter 2. I'll read verses 1 and 2 then I'm going to give you some background to remind you of what is taking place and then we'll move into our study by picking up at verse 3 and concluding at verse 11 But I'll begin reading here at verse 1 2 Corinthians chapter 2 I'll read verses 1 and 2 and Introduce and then move into our study Paul writes 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1 I Determined this within myself that I would not come again to you in sorrow For if I make you sorrowful Then who is he who makes me glad but the one who has made sorrowful by me And so Paul has been defending his failure as some of you would remember his failure to come to the church The church at Corinth when he had stated that he would he had written an earlier letter And he had stated that he wanted to come in it had that actually had given them his basic plans And what he was hoping to be able to do and many hadn't shown up And so he's defending his failure to come to the church because his Opposers he has infiltrators he has enemies of the gospel Who have come in and are beginning to make charges against him and His detractors are are saying that Paul didn't love the Corinthians because if he did he had shown up and So this was all his detractors needed to know that he didn't show up in order that they might say something bad about him Something negative and they were inferring that Paul didn't love them They were saying that Paul wasn't concerned about them because had he been concerned about them and had he loved them he wouldn't have changed his plans and so The church should have known that this charge was false because as we've seen Paul was their father in the faith they They came to faith through his ministry. He planted the church. He was their father in the faith They should have all people they should have known that he loved them He loved these people as a matter of fact as we go through second Corinthians You're going to see various times then he makes it very clear that he loves and not only does he love them But he loves them deeply and he's very open to them, you know, some people think that Paul was just a Emotionist person That he was simply a theological intellectual, but this is a man who had a heart This is a man who who loved very deeply and you see this very often in this letter For example in second Corinthians, we'll see in chapter 6 Verses 11 and 12 how how he writes to them and how he says we have spoken freely to you Corinthians opened wide our hearts to you We're not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us In chapter 7 of second Corinthians verse 3, he said I do not say this to condemn you I've said before that you have such a place in our hearts That we would live or die with you In in chapter 12 verse 15 He went on to say I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good Even though it seems that the more I love you the less you love me He was very open very vulnerable very tenderhearted You see he knew that these infiltrators Were trying to undermine the gospel and his ministry in the church there in Corinth And he knew that one of the ways to undermine a ministry is to attack the minister Paul Knew that very well and Jesus taught that and these are things that occurred in the ministry of christ For example in Matthew chapter 9 verses 10 and 11 Matthew said well Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house Many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples But when the Pharisees saw this They asked his disciples Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? See they didn't attack him personally They went around him and went to his apostles and they began to say how come he's doing that? Everybody knows that these people are sinners and and yet your master who's supposed to be a spiritual leader Actually spends time with them. They were trying to undermine christ. So to undermine the ministry Speak poorly of the minister to those who love him You see if you undermine the leader those who respect them will have their faith undermined In mark 14 27 Jesus said to them All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night for it's written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered So pa was aware of what was taking place and because of this He was beginning to give explanations in 2nd Corinthians And here pa made it clear that he had not come because the spirit had not directed him to You see he knew as a spirit led man that the holy spirit leads you in certain directions Causes you encourages you to move in certain ways And he knew that he could make plans But he also knew that it's the lord who orders his way In the Psalms in Psalm 37 23 It says the steps of a good man are ordered by the lord and he delights in his way When it says the steps of a good man are ordered that word ordered in the original means to be directed Correctly to be prepared arranged or to be settled God leads us and what we do is we trust in the lord with all of our hearts and we seek god for leading Like it says in Jeremiah 10 verse 23. I know oh lord that a man's life is not his own It is not for man to direct his steps And so as a spirit led man pa was a man who was filled with integrity and character But the charge that was being leveled was that he was vacillating and insincere And he's making it clear you should know that that charge is untrue. I'm your father. I love you I opened my heart up wide enough for you to come in. You're the one restricting our relationship And that's how he's speaking to them. He's open and he's also explaining to them He doesn't necessarily have to explain but he does because he loves them And he made it clear we saw it in chapter 1 verse 21 that that he was a man who was established That he was anointed. He was sealed. He had the deposit of the holy spirit He loved them. He taught them. He refused to bully them. He encouraged them to walk in the spirit Well, that kind of man is trustworthy And that kind of man should be given the benefit of the doubt So he had said in verse 23 He had said moreover I call in chapter 1 more over I call God his witness against my soul That to spare you I came no more to Corinth. So he's explaining why he didn't come He didn't want them To have to be dealt with he wanted to spare them a painful visit So he chose to alter his plans He didn't want to see them under the former conditions that we'll be looking at in just a moment What he was doing is he was giving them time as a church to repent He gave them time to deal with a sin And this is something his detractors were using to lie about him They used his not coming as a reason to actually challenge his ministry Which again false false people infiltrating churches often do In first Corinthians chapter 4 verses 19 through 21. This is what he wrote He said I will come to you very soon if the Lord is willing And then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking But what power they have For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk But of power Now what do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip or in love? And with a gentle spirit So His not coming was not a sign of weakness. It wasn't a sign of indecision It was really an evidence of grace and patience with them There was a writer in the early history of the church name was august auguston And he wrote as severity is ready to punish the faults that it may discover So love is reluctant to discover the faults Which it must punish So he said I didn't come to spare you a grievous visit He had said in verse 24 of chapter 1 not that we have dominion over you the word dominion means to dominate It means to rule over or to be lord of I don't want to exercise dominion over you. I want to help you to grow I don't want to use my authority as a tyrant. I don't want to be an intimidating bully I want to encourage you in your walk with the Lord I want to be that man who helps you to walk with Jesus and that's what he was saying And then finally in verse 24 He made it clear. I can't live out your faith for you, but I do want to encourage you to grow You see ultimately you're going to stand On your own before the Lord and it's your own faith that'll be evidenced at that time You'll be standing before God alone. So I want to help you I want to be helpful as you grow and I want to be a helper of your joy And that's what he was saying because ultimately he says by faith you stand Now he moves on into verse 1 of chapter 2 and continues that thought by saying I determined this within myself That I would not come again to you in sorrow For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad? But the one who is made sorrowful by me I didn't want to cause you further sorrow If I'd have come on my original schedule I would have had to deal with the sin at that time And I don't want to have a painful visit So as I was praying and seeking God the Lord led me to wait You see I want my visit with you to be one of joy and fellowship not of correction and sadness And so that's what he's saying as he moves into verse 3 and continues to explain By saying and I wrote this very thing to you lest when I came I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy Having confidence in you all that might joys the joy of you all For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears Not that you should be grieved but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you And so verse 3 gives us some insight. He was from Tarsus, Saul of Tarsus But now we discover he was really a southerner because he keeps on saying y'all. Did you notice that? Having confidence in y'all that my joy is the joy of y'all see so that tells me something geographic Now somebody's writing that I'm just teasing and just kidding I didn't want to do something that was difficult for me You see I have written to you Paul would say 1st Corinthians I gave you some orders we'll be looking at those in a moment But I want to though I wrote with strong words. I want to reveal my heart to you And as he does so he's now answering and if you've been taking notes on this He's answering a sixth charge. You've already looked through five charges. This is number six So he's answering the sixth charge. I already alluded to it that he's an unemotional intellect Now if there was anything Paul could not be accused of It was of being an unloving man He loved these people. He felt deeply for them And he felt their pain any pain they went through he went through with them And we know that as we've been introduced to him and seen him he loved God And as a result he loved those whom God loved And he gave people not only the gospel But he actually gave his life to them also In 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8 one of my favorite scriptures concerning Paul It says so affectionately longing for you We were well pleased to impart to you Not only the gospel of God But also our own lives Because you had become dear to us We didn't just give you words We didn't just talk to you But we gave you our hearts We loved you Every ministry that is anointed and blessed by God Is going to be anointed and blessed by God if there's a presence of God's word As well as a presence of God's love And when God's word is there it's rightly divided it's being presented to the body of christ to instruct and help encourage and convict That's a good thing But when that word comes out of the heart of someone who loves those people As he loves his God That's even a better thing You can hear the word of God and you can be transformed by it because all you need to do is deposit faith in God's word and act on it But God didn't intend to just give his word to us. He also gave us his heart He had his word declared to us in the old testament you go through the old testament you see the word of God But God is the invisible God God commanded the nation of israel a nation that lived amongst the pagans People who who had carved images of their God and carried them around wherever they went their God was a portable God God said to the nation of israel you're not going to have a relationship with me the way the pagans have a relationship With their gods they carve them out of out of wood with human hands. He said I will not have you have an idol You will have no graven image So the nation of israel in in the midst of of pagan Religious systems all around them was the unique nation in that it had the invisible God and God said in the book of exodus chapter 20 verses 2 through 5 you will not make a graven image of me The invisible God Was worshiped in faith But the invisible God in chapter one of the gospel of john verse one Became flesh In the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God In verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us we beheld the glory And so what God did is he took the the question of his invisibility and answered it in the incarnation And so the people of israel had a God who loved them, but also a God with them immanuel And in ministry the word of God goes forth But paul said i i gave to you not only the gospel of god, but i imparted my life to you And what is he saying he's saying i love you and these who are creeping in these who are infiltrating these are Undermining my ministry. I'm your father in the faith. I brought you the faith in christ But they're saying that i don't love you they're saying i i'm an unemotional intellect alone. I have no heart That's not true He said i love you i love you deeply i've imparted my life to you So he's opening up his heart to them And he's saying though i open up my heart you may not understand me as i do so Look at what he says in verse four out of much affliction and anguish of heart i wrote to you with many tears See they're saying he's an unemotional intellect. He's saying no Affliction anguish and tears were present Not that you should be grieved But that you might know the love which i have so abundantly for you And so he speaks of this my letter was was prompted by deep emotional stress I i i had affliction and anguish of heart there were tears When he says affliction that speaks of something being pressed together it speaks of pressure distress When he uses the word anguish That means something that is pressed and held together. It's it's uh, uh distress that he's going through So he's saying the purpose was not to cause grief The purpose was to express to you the deepest love i have for you The christ centered love prompted me to write a word of correction for your own good I wrote that because i love you not because i want to hurt you I wrote that because i want you to grow in your understanding of christ and and to serve him properly On the face of the earth that's why i wrote and he says i wrote this because i abundantly love you Then he says in verse five, but but if anyone has caused me grief He hasn't grieved me but all of you to some extent not to be too severe And so as he's speaking concerning this paul is now referring to that first letter and he's giving to us further insight Now again as i mentioned in my introduction of second corinthians This church the church of corinth in greece was a young church As a young group of believers you can always expect problems Because problems will crop up as we grow together in the things of the lord Someone once said you can be saved in an instant But to become a disciple requires years And that's true You see the church was going through various problems that paul had to address and And as i mentioned that's what you see when you read first corinthians I mentioned that this church had divisions. They had questions about marriage They were dealing with questions of idolatry and issues concerning the role of women in the church That have never been answered Spiritual gifts various issues that that paul had to deal with But one of the serious problems Related to a sin that they didn't deal with at that time It was a sexual sin In first corinthians five one and two paul said this paul said i can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you Something so evil that even the pagans don't do it I'm told that you have a man in your church Who is living in sin with his father's wife And you are so proud of yourselves Why aren't you mourning and sorrow and shame? And why haven't you removed this man from your fellowship Instead of mourning over the sin you're boasting about it. That's the issue he's dealing with You actually became puffed up you you began to respond with arrogance You see when a believer continues in sin And this is what a lot of people don't know The actual effect is that it infects the church Sin is no longer taken seriously And the church becomes used to it And begins to accept it In first corinthians five six he said how terrible that you should boast about your spirituality And yet you let this sort of thing go on Don't you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning Soon all will be affected. Don't you understand that when sin goes unchallenged unrepented of it contaminates the body of Christ Don't you understand that? And so what had happened in his first letter is he had instructed them to enact what is called church discipline He said the answer to the situation is remove the person from the church And this is because the church is not the glory and sin The church is the glory and the holiness of God So he said in first corinthians five seven Remove this wicked person from among you so that you can stay pure Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us Now the Corinthians were spiritually young and they didn't understand sin's impact on the body They didn't realize that by not dealing with the sin the sin would become the norm And their misunderstanding of God's grace undermined the transforming power of God's gospel Grace was not an excuse to continue in sin Grace is extended that we might be free of its bondage And according to first Thessalonians four seven God didn't call us to uncleanness, but in holiness And so that's what paul begins to deal with that's what we're going to develop here and look at Because he said again in verse five If anyone has caused grief he has not grieved me But all of you to some extent not to be too severe So he's referring here to the brother in this sin and how his sin has affected them all How is it possible that what someone does with his own body affects others? Somebody might say You see many have come to believe that we are not to interfere in other people's lives And so they ask the question. Well, how can I be affected by someone else's sin? And who am I to say anything and who am I to to address them in any way? What right do I have to do that? Why should I do that? Why don't I just leave them alone? Let the holy spirit work on them God has a way of doing that You know, I don't want to be some gospel gestapo out there trying to look at everybody's life carrying a big old You know Magnifying glass to see what the wrong is and you and in many ways that's that's right. We're not to be that way Of course not and yet There are things in responsibilities that we have and we need to understand it and that's what paul's going to deal with And hopefully I'll I'll be able to help us to understand that together as a church Why is it important for us to be aware of these kinds of things and to act on them? Well, one we need to remember that we are the body of christ And as the body of christ, we have an effect on one another In first grinty is 12 13. We were all baptized by one spirit into one body In first grinty is 12 26 is if one part suffers every part suffers with it if one part is honored Every part rejoices with it. My body is a whole though. It's made up of many individual parts hands and feet eyes and all And uh, you know my hand doesn't boast against the foot and say I don't need you We need every part of our body. What part would I want to give up? If somebody approached me after church and said by the way, we're going to take a part of your body today What part do you want to give up? I'd like to keep it pretty much I really don't see anything that I want to get rid of and and that's the whole thing We are the body of christ, right? And so the body works in unity works together and so I can be affected by what others are doing You see the offender has caused grief to the entire church His sin has infected the church. It needs to be dealt with The body was getting callous to it is becoming indifferent to sin And because he was unrepentant Paul said you need to remove him from the church. That's called church discipline You see he says it in verse 6 He said this punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man What he had done is he had given the order for them to remove the man He was excommunicated taken out of the church And so he had done that and he's speaking of that punishment And notice again in verse 6 how he says this punishment which was inflicted by the majority So the word punishment refers to a penalty that fits the offense What they had done is they had enacted church discipline And so somebody says but wait a minute. I've never even really heard that term. What do you mean church discipline? What is church discipline? Well church discipline is a biblical method to promote holiness in the body of christ In first peter 116 it says it is written be holy for I am holy In heverse 12 14 follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the lord Church discipline helps to keep us in line with the things of god And it needs to be enacted quickly Because if it's enacted quickly it stops the spread In the person and in the church But when someone sin continues unchallenged It actually infects the church and it becomes the norm Ecclesiastes 8 11 says because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily Therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully said in them to do evil Every parent knows that if your kid's doing something they shouldn't do then you better deal with it quickly Because that little event becomes a habit and eventually becomes a character And if you don't begin to deal with things as you see them They're set in them. So you have to deal quickly with them. You have to you have to speak to them. You have to sometimes Apply apply the board of education to the seat of understanding to help them to see that what they're doing is wrong You have to deal with it, right every parent knows that And so if you don't act quickly it becomes the norm This guy was sleeping with his father's wife The church knew it and said nothing about it It became the norm of the church now they're glorying in to say look how grace filled we are We're doing nothing because we love him and he's saying no in doing nothing You're infecting the body of christ And the church is the bride of christ And as such is to be pure and paul was their father in the faith And he desired them to live pure lives in jesus christ later on in chapter 11 Verse two paul says it like this he says i'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy I promised you to one husband to christ so that i might present you as a pure virgin to him I'm jealous with a godly jealousy I want you to be presented spotless, which means i encourage you to live in holiness You see christians don't always live according to the word of god And sometimes their sin can bring dishonor to the name of christ and shame to the body of christ Sometimes we don't understand how it infects the church and how it impacts other people So what do we do we ignore it or we excuse it and eventually we simply accept it As christians we have the ability to see how sin becomes accepted in our society We have examples all around us The world is no longer What it once was i have said this more than once Many people have forgotten how to blush There are so many things that are accepted as normal that many of the younger generation is being raised thinking is acceptable And it begins early the the the teachings of accepting sin begins very early If you don't teach your kid about christ the world will teach him things about him that you don't want him to believe Because the world will teach will teach Our children how to live what to think what their philosophy is what morals is It does that what our ethics the world will teach them You know there was an ad that was rejected for the super bowl That was pro-life several of them actually that had Pro christian messages they were rejected but they're going to have some Some a man who dresses like a woman on in commercial to make that that's the acceptable norm See those kinds of things for the for many people today are are acceptable and normal But not to god See if i if i get my morals out of the newspaper and the news Then i'm going to agree with the wave that's going in a certain direction If i get my understanding from the word of god, then i know what is right and i know what is wrong I know that the world says something is sweet when god says it's sour I know that the world says something is is light when god says no, that's darkness But how do i know that i know that from reading the word of god And so that's what we do and yet today there are people who are accepting things that scripture is Prohibiting and there are even churches and pastors who preach messages to tickle the ear of the hearer But are not teaching the truth of the gospel and that's what's bad And in the Corinthian church, they weren't dealing with the situation. They weren't dealing with the sin Because it became the norm. It was something they gloried it. It was something they accepted And paul says no your glory is not good Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough Don't you realize that when you allow something to just settle in it begins to infect everything else Don't you realize that you've been saved out of darkness you to walk in the light Don't you realize that and don't you know that this man who's sleeping with his his father's wife He's even pagans think that that that is wrong and you're accepting it He said no sin is insidious It undermines the work of god and that's why in in chapter five of first Corinthians verses 11 through 13 That's why he commanded the church to deal with the sin quickly He said 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 But such a man don't even eat What business is it? Is it of mind to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside And then he went to say expel the wicked man from among you Deal with it don't allow it to be there rotting everything You get something that's rotten put it on something. That's not and the rot spreads Deal with it remove it the body of christ needs to be pure So what happens what happens when a fellow believer enters into sin for a prolonged period? Jesus gave us the model of how to enact this kind of discipline in matthew 18 In matthew 18 verses 15 through 20. This is what he said If your brother sins against you Go and show him his fault just between the two of you if he listens to you you've won your brother over But if you will not listen Take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses If he refuses to listen to them Tell it to the church if he refuses to listen even to the church Treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for It will be done for you by my father in heaven for where two or three come together in my name There am I with them. So what happens when I see somebody in sin and and uh, they're not dealing with it themselves Well one he said it should be person to person. I've seen it I have a love for them. I have a concern for them. So I talk to them And that is not easy to do some of you know that It's not easy to do you see they're doing something. You know, what's wrong You don't want to be you know, you don't want to be harsh with them at all But jesus said no go and speak to them one on one And and share with them. And so he says first you go to him alone. But what if he doesn't listen? Well second he says bring a witness That infers that others are also aware of this in in other words It's not just you seeing it, but there are others who are seeing it So you bring someone who can correlate what you're saying and then third if he doesn't listen to you or the witness Then you bring it to the church when he says bring it to the church That doesn't mean that we put it in the bulletin. So everybody knows and then have the camera on you during church and And point you out at the big arrow What that means is you bring it to the elders you bring it to the leadership and you say listen, I was sharing with his brother and This is what he's doing And I spoke to him about it And he didn't want to hear me. So I brought somebody else with me And because they know too they can they can they can say what I'm saying is accurate and true They spoke to him and he still doesn't want to hear it So there's nothing else we can do other than to bring it to you and share with you So that you can go and take care of it because that's what jesus taught us to do and then the church gets involved Now what happens if they don't want to hear from the church? He said then treat him like a pagan Does that mean that you that you throw rocks at him when he's near you and you say unclean unclean And what that means is is you treat him as one who doesn't know the lord You love him you encourage him you share with them You don't really have fellowship. You can't have fellowship in christ if he's not in christ And what you're wanting to do is you wanting them to see that it's valuable for you to have relationship Because if there's anything that the church is it's a community of believers And if there's anything that's valuable within the church It's having relationship with others with love and care and concern that we share with one another Because that shows that we're a family And that's how the lord works And so if he doesn't listen you treat him with kindness and love But you don't you don't have fellowship with him because he he will think that you're approving of his sin He needs to realize that sin separates You see church discipline has basically two expressions one is called preventive Preventive discipline comes through teaching and in encouragement it comes through sunday mornings wednesday nights whenever we gather together And the word goes out. It's preventive ministry It's teaching us what pleases the lord and what displeases him and and it's preventing us from having to go to the second which is corrective because When preventive is given Then corrective has a base by which I can appeal And I can say were you in study this last week? Yes, I was But did you hear the study about this? Yes, I did Well, that was intended to prevent this corrective action So that you know what god says so we can agree together that we're going to follow That's how it works. It's not done in a way to try and destroy. It's done in a way to try and and restore You see the true goal of church discipline is restoration True love for a fellow believer is is to lovingly confront in and healing so that healing might take place It's not used to destroy it's used to restore fellowship with jesus and the body of christ And it doesn't occur out of anger. It doesn't come out of self-righteous indignation It's to be enacted in the attitude of humility and concern for that person in Galatians 6 1 It says brothers if someone is caught in a sin you who are spiritual should restore him gently But watch yourself or you also may be tempted So when lovingly and properly enacted it provides a real warning to the body of christ And it can restore that person. Have I ever done that? Yes, I have Is it difficult? Yes, it is Do they always listen? No, they don't Most of the time almost every time When somebody is caught in sin and trapped by sin. They want the sin more than anything else They want the sin more than anything else they do They do And sometimes we try to take the grace of god And we abuse and use it We try to take his forgiveness and we abuse and use it. I got a phone call many years ago now Our church was maybe two or three years old at the time. I got a phone call It went to the Our receptionist secretary I was there in the office. I could take the call She She buzzes me. She says there's someone on the line wants to talk to you. I said, well, yes, of course I can spend a moment with them And I remember speaking to this guy on the phone And he asked me a question. I'll never forget it He said to me I pastor. I just wanted to ask you Is every sin forgivable And like a young novice pastor, I didn't see a trap was being said I didn't see it Is every sin forgivable is an open-ended question So naturally I answered in an open-ended way. I said every sin, of course Every sin is forgivable Every sin is forgivable even the sin of adultery I said every sin. I said Jesus christ died on the cross to forgive us of all our sins There's not a single sin that the blood of christ does not wash in cleanse, of course Every sin is forgivable He said thanks. I just needed to know that What I found out later is he was planning To run off with a woman to divorce his wife and he wanted permission to commit sin Before he committed the sin People sometimes will use theology to try and cover their sinful lives Well, god forgives every sin. Yes, he does. Of course, that's an open-ended one But you're planning on sinning. That's premeditated You're taking the grace of god advantage of it and extending it over your evil No, that is something you are willfully doing with no heart to reject or repent from And see that happens sometimes that I've had I've actually had conversations like that more than once More than once where people want permission to continue in sin So what do you do? Yes, I have sat down with people as a pastor Yes, I have had conversations with people as a pastor Yes, I have wept with people I know that surprises you that I can cry, but I have wept With people I love them I love them I love them I'll never forget the lady who said to me god has a perfect will and he has a permissive will His perfect will his permissive will was that I married my present husband His perfect will is for me to be married to his best friend And she divorced her husband to marry his best friend You can take the grace of god an amazing teaching from the lord And just use it to do whatever you want and then blame others for talking to you about what you're doing that is wrong And paul said this guy He said was committing sin. You gloried in it did nothing. I had to from a distance Render judgment and I told you cast him out He said and that's because you wouldn't do it You were so busy and you didn't you were unaware that leaven leavens your whole lump the whole church was becoming unholy Now the majority approved of dealing with it But there was a group of people in the minority who were calling paul An unloving intellectual no care for them And so they disapproved of bringing in church discipline because they knew that if the church began to be chaotic It would be easier to take over And that's what paul is dealing with here. There's terrible sin But they actually did Enacted and that's what he's referring to in verse 6 when he said the punishment that punishment Was inflicted by the majority And so the diff he says in verse 6 the discipline was sufficient In other words his response was repentance And seeing that he repented you need to restore him So in verse 7 So that on the contrary you ought rather to forgive and comfort him less perhaps such a wouldn't be swallowed up with too much sorrow Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him for to this end I also wrote that I might put you to the test whether you are obedient in all things Now whom you forgive anything I also forgive for if indeed I have forgiven anything I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of christ less satan should take advantage of us We are not ignorant of his devices And so sin leaves destruction in our lives And and when we are confronted and we begin to deal with it we can feel rejected and even ashamed And when someone has drifted from god and is sin deeply it leaves deep hurt But when they truly repent and turn from the sin the fruit of repentance will be seen And as terrible as the sin was he repented but the church had not welcomed him back Something to remember Every sin is forgivable if repented of In psalm 32 5 I acknowledged my sin to you did not cover up my iniquity I said I will confess my transgressions to the lord and you forgave the guilt of my life Rather my sin proverbs 28 13 he who conceals his sins does not prosper Whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy And so you sin and you've sinned greatly And you know it and someone shares with you and says You're you're you where you go? What are you doing? What happened to you? We used to go to church together. We used to serve the lord together. We went on mission trips together We had nights of prayer We've had opportunities to do so many things and and what you met somebody and now you got to live with them What happened to you? What you got depressed and you started to drink it now you're drinking you used to do it by yourself You thought nobody knew and now you're doing it openly. What happened to you? What happened? And you and you talked to him what happened wish and the guy says man, you know what? I just I've been broken You know what god can fix you And I'll be with you every step of the way. I'll help you if I can I'll be there I can't I can't be the healer god is but I can be a friend And I can be a shoulder that you can cry on I'll be there for you. That's what brothers do. That's what sisters do I'll minister to you. I love you, man. I don't want you floating out I see the misery of your life and then the guy repents and then what do you do? Or you can't come to church anymore because everybody knows you're a jerk No, what you do he should be welcome back You know they should kill the fatted calf everybody will be happy except for the calf, but you need to You need to bring them like their prodigal home And that's what you do You put your arms around them and you embrace them And you say man, I've missed you. I've missed the old guy. I missed you so much, man. It's so good to see you again It's good to see you again. Have I seen that? Yes Yes, I have Where they've come back and they've said what a miserable thing sin has been But now I'm just rejoicing To be back with god and his people and that's what he's saying God forgives every sin. You may be thinking the sins and the sin that you're committing or have committed Is unpardonable. It's not god forgives every sin He washes and cleans and he says therefore in verse eight reaffirm your love to him He repented welcome him back And he said in verse nine for to this end I also wrote that I might put you to the test whether you're obedient at all things You see this kind of action is not easy to exercise By obeying in the hard matter You're demonstrating that you really believe the lord and your obedience to this Demonstrated your acceptance of of my authority in your life And then he went on to finally say whom you forgive anything. I also forgive For if indeed I have forgiven anything I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of christ Less satan should take advantage of us. We're not ignorant of his devices This man sin had affected the church But when the church forgave Paul did too and together they reaffirmed their love for him and together they welcome him back And finally one last thing less satan should take advantage of us. We are not ignorant of his devices One of satan's tools to undermine the work of god Is discouragement He whispers in a variety of ways into your ear But it'll be the same message You're too far gone You have no hope you might as well give up give yourself over to what you've been doing Nobody loves you. Nobody cares for you Nobody even notices That's what he whispers to you That's what he says any discourages. It's one of his ancient techniques to destroy And and paul knows that if they keep the brother from fellowship with god, it'll spiritually hurt him So he says don't keep him out of the fellowship show him what restoration is Because satan works to create pain But restoration produces peace And that's what this man needs Welcome him back put your arms around him love him Forgive him and move forward with him What is the purpose of church discipline restoration? Restoration so that that person can walk with jesus and feel the joy of god's smile in his life That's why you enact it and the less that you do that the less you care about them enough to share with them the truth The more the sin takes over their life So if you know somebody that maybe sat next to you in church on a sunday That is no longer walking with the lord if he had that person is put on your heart Give him a call Just tell him i love you i've been thinking of you Love to see you walk with the lord again so what god can do perhaps That person can be restored Because that's what we do right Jesus goes out leaves the 90 and nine and he follows after the one that's walked away And he saves them comes again rejoicing And he says i found the one that was lost Well, maybe we can do that too i think maybe we can be loving friends because You need a friend Jesus is your friend, but you need a friend one last thing I was gone this last thursday marie and i were asked to go to lake havasu to To do a dedication service for a brother who came out of our fellowship and pastors at church He's been pastoring a church in lake havasu for 23 years And they built a building and he asked me to come and do a A service of dedication which we did And so two of our very dearest friends randy and janette walls went with us and it's a four and a half hour five hour Drive as some of you know It's a long drive But what makes those four and a half hours five hours pleasant Is your friends And so there i am with my friend randy's a fellow pastor. He's been pastoring in upland for 27 years And we're visiting and sharing what's the lord doing in your life? What's happening at church? We're enjoying ourselves and i came to remember how important it is to have accountability and relationship When you have accountability and relationship If you begin to fail Well, if one person falls his brother can lift him up And if there's anything missing in the church today, it's personal relationships We have substituted the Facebook and instagram and everything and tried to make that into real friendship and real relationship But we all know it's not We all know because you read the post Doesn't anybody ever read send me an you know a smiley face if you listen to me if you're reading this Pass this on to five of your friends And you're saying my goodness some people your your house bound and that may be one of your forms and and I understand that My heart goes out to you and and yes facebook and instagram and various other social media Can be used of the lord to reach into people's lives and they can read things at their home and everything I see that too, but it's not to be a substitute For being next to somebody As uncomfortable as it may be even for some of you right now To be seated next to strangers and you're saying to yourself I don't even know this person and their shoulders almost touch you mine They're gonna give me cooties or whatever. I mean when you're when you're there it can be uncomfortable, but god created us for relationship God created us to know one another pray for one another love one another confess our faults to one another Encourage one another exhort one another So many one another's in scripture. Why because the body of christ we need one another And so when you see someone failing you don't go to try and be the one who harms them with your words You want to bring words that are healing we love you Sin separates you please repent come back to god. Let's see what god can do in your life god can move If you just let go of that sin And grab back hold of him That's how it works And that's what paul said Man was committing a sin He repented You're a little bit too severe Welcome him back We don't want him discouraged because satan uses discouragement And we are not ignorant of the devices of the devil Welcome him back because he is truly repentant and he needs to go forward That's a good word that we the church need to remember