But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

1 Corinthians 5

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 1 Corinthians 5:11

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - aided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 5:1-6.  The main idea provided by the commentary*: "Christians must lovingly confront sin through church discipline to preserve the church’s holiness and to rescue the sinner’s soul." The introduction* sets the stage for this main point by sharing how church discipline is necessary for the health of the church but at the same time "no aspect of church life in our day is more neglected than this one. And it is a dangerous neglect."  The commentary* then outline four divisions for the text:

1. Neglecting Church Discipline Invites the Ridicule of the World (5:1): Here Paul warns against the sexually immoral sin of incest - condemned not just here by Paul but also in the Old Testament (Leviticus 18:8, Deuteronomy 22:30, 27:20). Even Roman culture refused to tolerate such sin and even mocked churches such as Corinth that tolerated such sin. The parallels to contemporary times are clear as the commentary* describes how churches appear open-minded and tolerant for "a season" but are ultimately "lampooned and scorned" as the gospel loses its power and the church is ignored altogether.  The commentary* warns us that we should not appear like the world because if so, people will not see a need for something they can get from the world (foolishly believing).     
   
2. Pride Instead of Sorrow Leads Us to Ignore Church Discipline (5:2): Paul warns the church in Corinth over its pride and admonishes it to instead be mournful over sin (see also Ezra 9).
   
3. Church Discipline Must Be Exercised Under the Lordship of Jesus Christ for the Good of the Whole Body (5:3-5): The commentary* unpacks the steps that are to be taken for excommunication: (a) assemble "in the name of the Lord Jesus, (b) remove and deliver to Satan the offender, (c) seek God's providence over Satan to use Satan as a purifying source in hope to restore the offender to the body of Christ following true repentance.  The commentary describes this as: "Jesus is Satan’s ruler. And he uses Satan, our archenemy, to save and sanctify his people. He brought Job to penitence and prosperity. He brought Paul to the point where he could exult in tribulation and make the power of Christ manifest. And Paul hopes that the result of handing over this man to Satan will be the salvation of his spirit at the day of Christ."
   
4. The Absence of Church Discipline Will Lead to the Church Being Infected with Sin (5:6): Paul warns about the broader impact of sin spreading from one in the body to others.  
   

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has provided others that model Christ, sharpen me, and help me avoid sinful influences - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus.  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa from her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

*Akin, Dr. Daniel L.; Merritt, James. Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

2 Corinthians 2

For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 2 Corinthians 2:6-8

I continue my study looking at the life of Paul using John Piper's 30 Reasons Why I Love the Apostle Paul.  Today, I move to chapter twenty-two - Backbone, Blunt, and Beautifully Affirming.  Here, John Piper admires and loves Paul for demonstrating a unique ability to encourage and affirm while also being "blunt and forceful when necessary*."  Piper first describes Paul's ability to encourage and affirm by pointing to 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (despite the challenges described by Piper in the church in Corinth: "conflicts over leaders, church discipline, food offered to pagan idols, the Lord’s Supper, the role of women in worship, the use of spiritual gifts, and more*") and 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8.  Piper then moves to describe Paul's ability to be blunt and forceful in the face of sin, etc by pointing to 1 Corinthians 11:17.  Piper also shares how being blunt and forceful has its limitations, saying how when we rebuke and correct it should be limited - "brief and redemptive*."  For this, Piper reminds us that we should be full of grace and forgiveness.  On this latter count, Piper refers us to 2 Corinthians 2:6-8.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are SO good - that You are SO full of grace and forgiveness for me - I am not deserving of such grace.  My sin is great indeed...and daily.  Please forgive me for my lack of grace and encouragement of others.  Help me turn from and overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.

Daniel 4

 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity. Daniel 4:27

I continue my pause of my study of Hebrews to study Daniel in conjunction with a disciple/small group study with my church's men's wake up call. This morning my focus is Daniel 4:1-27 as I lean on a commentary for its observations of this text. The commentary highlights three divisions for this text:

• v1-3 It Is Good to Honor Our Great and Sovereign God for Sorrow That Leads to Repentance: these verses describe Nebuchadnezzar's praise of God in reaction to seeing how God rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago from the fiery furnace (chapter 3); the commentary, in particular notes how the words used by Nebuchadnezzar echo biblical terminology and reflect praise of God found elsewhere in scripture, including Psalm 145
• v4-18 It Is Good When Our Great and Sovereign God Troubles Our Hearts in Order to Get Our Attention: here, the commentary describes the reaction Nebuchadnezzar had to his second dream and how he falls back into old ways going not to Daniel first to interpret the dream, but to his pagan wise men, but as to be expected these men could not and Daniel was then brought in
  
• v19-27 It Is Good When Our Great and Sovereign God Exposes Our Sin and Calls Us to Righteousness: here, the commentary discusses Daniel's reaction to the dream and his inner turmoil upon hearing how the dream reflects how God will punish Nebuchadnezzar - clearly a man whom at this point is someone the commentary shares that Daniel cares about; the commentary emphasizes how believers, when confronted with bad news that we must deliver about someone else's sin, particularly those we care about, we must be prepared to deliver God's message for both repentance and hope

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a good God who offers hope and grace, in spite of our sin - thank You Jesus!  I am of course not deserving...my sin continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah 36

The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. v24-26

God confronts Jehoiakim though Jeremiah and Baruch - much like God uses Nathan to confront David.  Yet unlike David's response of repentance, Jehoiakim, denies truth.  There will be people in the world that deny truth - Jesus implies as such in Matthew 7:13-14 with the wide and narrow gate.  

God wants us to proclaim truth. Much like Peter and John stand firm in Acts 4:20, we must not hesitate to speak truth.  

Yet it is not up to us who accepts Jesus into their heart - this is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).  

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has saved me - not through anything I have done - but entirely through grace.  Thank You Jesus.  I am undeserving of such grace.  I worry.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Jeremiah 11

But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause. v20

Jeremiah serves as God's messenger to the Israelites - warning them of coming punishment.  Yet the Israelites plot against Jeremiah.  This reminds me of the townspeople's reaction to Jesus driving demons from pigs (and restores two men) - see Matthew 8 - "they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region".  When confronted with truth, including truth about my own sin, do I repent or do I run?  Just like the townspeople and Jesus, the Israelites plot against Jeremiah.

We all need brothers and sisters in Christ to call out sin in our lives and to be with us to support and pray for us in our time of need. We need the Nathans, Jeremiahs, etc. in our lives.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who provides me with brothers and sisters in Christ who support and pray for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not worth such love.  I worry.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Please help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.

Judges 20

On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire. v46-48

Just as the Israelites confronted the Benjamites, we must confront sin in our lives - in our church and in our family of believers. How can we be a light to others if we allow sin to pervade our lives?

See also posts here and here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You lived a perfect, sinless life - yet You willingly laid down Your life so that I could have life to the full - including freedom from the sting of sin and death and eternity in heaven with You!  What an amazing act of love - I cannot even fully appreciate it.  I am grateful for such a gift - yet undeserving.  I worry.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.