“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
“For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV)
Christian, as long as we live in these flesh bodies, we are vulnerable to being tempted to sin and to giving in to temptation to sin. Thus, what happened to this man could happen to any of us if we do not daily put on the armor of God with which to fight against such temptations. It can happen to us, too, if we have slipped into entertaining ourselves with the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes via television, videos, games, music, movies, cartoons, plays, and the like. For what we feed into our minds is what comes out in our actions.
[These are not all bad, mind you, but much of what is for our entertainment today is bad for us, so we must be very discerning about what we are taking into our minds, which goes into our hearts, which then comes out in our actions. And we must also be discerning about how much time we should allot for such things as this, for these can be all consuming, and they can end up overtaking us and crowding out God and his will and purpose for our lives. So, please pray for wisdom to make wise and godly choices.]
And don’t ever say to yourself, “I would never do that!” For pride comes before a fall. So we are to take heed if we think we stand, lest we fall. For Satan is out there like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And he has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve to try to trip us up and to attempt to get us to fall. So, if we are not walking in close fellowship with our Lord, dying daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walking in obedience to his commands, in daily practice, doing his will for our lives, we are ripe to fall into temptation.
And then we must consider the culture and the times in which we now live, where pretty much everything goes. Sin abounds everywhere, even within the gatherings of the church (or in what is falsely being referred to as “church”). For so much of what is called “church” here in America is of the flesh of man and not of God, not birthed by his Spirit but created in the minds of human beings, utilizing marketing books and schemes and tricks on how to plant “churches” and on how to make them grow numerically.
Thus, the gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus and his NT apostles taught is being diluted and altered to make it more appealing and acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly of the world, which includes many professers of faith in Jesus Christ, sadly. And so death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, in obedience to his commands, is not being taught very much, or if it is, it is being presented as optional and not as required for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God.
Therefore, many professers of faith in Jesus Christ have not ever really come to genuine God-persuaded faith in Christ, for they never died with Christ to their sins, and so they were not raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And statistics now report that as many as 75% of “Christian” men regularly engage in the viewing of pornographic images, and as high as 35% of pastors are doing the same. So our men are being emasculated.
[And these statistics include women and children, but at a lesser degree, at least for women. I fear for our future generations. God help us all!]
So, what are called “churches” today here in America are largely these fleshly and worldly gatherings which are incorporated as businesses (not-for-profit) under the state, which are being run just like other businesses, and which are being marketed to the people of the world. Thus they have altered not only the character of what the Bible refers to as “church,” but they have altered the character of God/Christ and of his gospel message so as to attract the ungodly of the world to their gatherings.
And so the situation Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 5 pales by comparison to the situation in so many “churches” today which are worldly and fleshly and of man/humans, and are not authored by God, and are not being led by the Spirit, but by marketing books and schemes. And so sin is running rampant, especially sexual immorality, which is HUGE! And so many of these gatherings are just houses of entertainment and fun and “gospel lite,” if the gospel is even being presented in any form at all.
So, I believe the only way that these “churches” are going to be cleansed of the “old leaven” (verse 7) is if God Almighty causes something major to happen which will shake his people to the core to where we will have a genuine Holy Spirit revival in this nation that will bring people to genuine repentance (dying daily to sin) and walks of humble obedience to God and of surrender to his will. For the American church, overall, is the church in Laodicea, neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.
So we who are presently walking in obedience to our Lord in walks of holiness and righteous, although not claiming absolute perfection, and not claiming that we cannot ever fall, need to get on our knees (physically and/or spiritually) and we need to be praying for God to break through this wall of worldliness, which is engulfing “the church” and the lives of those professing faith in Jesus Christ (at large), and to change the hearts of the people so that we will all surrender to him and walk in his ways from now until death, or until Jesus returns to take his faithful ones to be with him.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
I Sing of His Mercy
An Original Work / April 10, 2014
Based off Psalm 32
Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven
By the blood of Jesus Christ.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does
Not count against them; freedom found.
When, in silence, I did not confess
My sin to You; had no strength.
Then I owned up to my sin and
You forgave and cleansed me within.
Therefore let the godly pray to You;
Draw near to You; grace they’ll find.
They will not be o’ertaken by afflictions,
But in Christ peace abounds.
Lord, You are my hiding place.
I find my refuge in You secure.
You protect me from all evil.
You give songs of vict’ry in You.
Lord, You teach me to walk in Your ways;
Counsel me in love, I know.
Help me to not be stubborn and
Unwilling to follow in Your truth.
Thank You for Your love and mercy.
I put my trust in You always.
I rejoice in my Lord and
I sing of Him throughout all my days.
https://vimeo.com/91747192
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