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My name is Jacob Rodriguez. 
I used to be a pastor here at 

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Church of the Resurrection from 
2021 to 2023. 

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For the past two years I have 
been teaching New Testament at 

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Trinity Anglican Seminary in the
Pittsburgh area and my 5 year 

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old, whom the Feinbergs gave a 
Pittsburgh Steelers hat to, has 

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decided she's going to be all 
things Pittsburgh. 

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She saw this Black Hat with a 
yellow pea on it and she said 

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daddy I want one of those and I 
said if you want to learn the 

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problem of evil at an early age 
then be a Pirates fan. 

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It is a joy to be here with you 
this morning. 

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My family and I will be here for
the next 5 Sundays and I get to 

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serve alongside the wonderful 
staff and pastors that we have 

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here at Rez and fellowship with 
you all. 

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Please pray with me before we 
dive into our text for today. 

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Heavenly Father, let your word 
be our guide, your Spirit our 

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teacher, and your greater glory 
our supreme concern through 

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Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

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Now here at Church of the 
Resurrection, we've been going 

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through First Corinthians and 
today we've arrived at chapter 

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5. 
They gave me an easy one for 

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today. 
You can find this passage on 

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page 897 in your Pew Bibles. 
Go ahead and turn there now if 

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you have one. 
Now, this is one of Paul's 

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letters to the church in 
Corinth, a church that he 

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planted and with whom he lived 
for about 18 months. 

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And as we've discussed in recent
weeks that Corinth was not an 

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easy place to plant a church, 
and it was not an easy place to 

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be a Jesus follower. 
Shortly after Paul left Corinth,

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he received news that the church
had more than a few problems. 

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They were plagued with disunity,
arrogance, sexual immorality, 

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greed, idolatry, and even 
denials of the resurrection. 

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And to make matters worse, they 
were taking one another to 

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court, giving Christ a bad name 
among the pagans. 

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Paul responds not just by 
telling them what to do, but by 

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telling them a compelling story.
He re narrates their world by 

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reminding them of the gospel. 
He reminds them of Christ's 

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victory over sin, over death, 
and over the devil. 

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He reminds them what they have 
been set free from so that they 

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could learn what they have been 
set free for. 

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Brothers and sisters, we never 
should move beyond the gospel. 

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That is our solid foundation. 
It is the grammar of our life. 

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It shows us what Christ has done
to win US, and it shows us the 

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people that we are to be if 
we're called by His name. 

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Now perhaps the central question
of First Corinthians is this. 

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With Christ's victory over sin 
and death and the devil, how 

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shall we then live? 
With Christ's victory as a 

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given, how shall we live at 
First Corinthians? 

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Chapter 5 gives us a vital 
answer to this urgent question. 

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How shall we then live now? 
This past Thursday, our country 

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commemorated 165 years since 
slavery was officially abolished

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in the United States of America.
That was on June 19th, 1865, and

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for nearly 250 long years prior 
to that day, men, women and 

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children of African descent were
bought, sold and mistreated on 

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American soil. 
Then, at long last, 

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emancipation. 
Freedom. 

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But anyone who has even had a 
cursory reading of the 

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subsequent history of 
Reconstruction knows that the 

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road after emancipation was not 
has not been easy. 

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In the struggle of 
Reconstruction all the way to 

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civil rights, the African 
American community consistently 

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appealed to the story of Moses 
and the exodus from Egypt to 

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shape their new identity. 
We have been set free from 

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enslavement, so how shall we now
live? 

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The Apostle Paul appeals to the 
same Israelite history in his 

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first letter to the Corinthians.
The Corinthians have been set 

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free, so how should they then 
live? 

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And Paul answers as follows. 
We, the church, as the temple of

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the living God, are called to 
corporate holiness. 

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And this corporate holiness is, 
first of all, grounded in the 

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law of God. 
Secondly, it's accomplished or 

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sorry. 
Secondly, it's to be protected 

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with vigilance. 
And 3rd, it's accomplished by 

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the sacrifice of Christ. 
Our corporate holiness to which 

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we are called, is grounded in 
the love of God, the law of God.

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It is protected with vigilance. 
And thirdly, it is accomplished 

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by the sacrifice of Christ the 
Church as the temple of the 

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living God. 
We're called to corporate 

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holiness, Paul said back in 
chapter 3. 

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Do you not know that you are the
temple of God and the Spirit of 

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God dwells in you? 
If anyone destroys God's temple,

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God will destroy him, for God's 
temple is holy, and you are that

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temple. 
As Father Dan recently showed 

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us, the apostle Paul was not 
only a tent maker by trade, he 

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was a spiritual tent maker, 
building God's holy Tabernacle 

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wherever he's sojourned, whether
in Ephesus, whether in Philippi,

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Thessalonica, or even Corinth, 
he took his work very seriously.

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And even as Israel was called to
keep the Tabernacle holy in the 

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wilderness after their 
deliverance from slavery in 

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Egypt, so the Corinthians were 
called to keep their corporate 

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Tabernacle holy. 
How were they to do this? 

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Again, first of all, by being 
grounded in the law of God. 

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Look at verse 1 of chapter 5. 
Paul introduces the specific 

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problem he is addressing. 
He says it is actually reported 

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that there is sexual immorality 
among you, and of a kind that is

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not even tolerated among pagans,
for a man has his father's wife.

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The Roman legal system at the 
time suggests that the man's 

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father had died, and so the 
illicit sexual relationship was 

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with his widowed stepmother. 
In addition to the drive of his 

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own lust, the man was perhaps 
also financially motivated, and 

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by enmeshing his mother-in-law 
to himself, the man was ensuring

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that he could keep his mother in
law's wealth rather than have it

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transferred to another man that 
she might later marry. 

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Also, given that men married 
women much their junior in age, 

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it is quite possible that his 
father's widow was not too far 

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from him in age. 
To make matters worse, not only 

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were the Corinthian believers 
allowing this man to continue in

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this sin, they amplified their 
arrogant boasting rather than 

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showing the corporate repentance
that was needed, rather than 

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grieving the sin that persisted 
in their fellowship. 

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Paul immense that even the 
pagans under the Julio Claudian 

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legal system had more sense than
this. 

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In verse one, Paul condemns this
man's sexual immorality and he 

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does so by appealing to 
Leviticus. 

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Leviticus 8 verse sorry. 
Leviticus 18 verse 8. 

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Deuteronomy 23 verse one, 
Deuteronomy 27 verse 20. 

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And Paul draws the phrase his 
father's wife directly from 

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these passages. 
Wait, hold on a second here. 

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The 21st century might be 
tempted to ask, isn't Leviticus 

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the book? 
With all the weird laws about 

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not eating shellfish and not 
sewing 2 garments together in 

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different fabrics, why would 
anybody base their code of moral

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conduct on this book? 
Now one could teach an entire 

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semester course and how the Old 
Testament law applies today. 

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But for now, let's just 
appreciate the fact that in our 

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Sacred Scriptures, the Apostle 
Paul, inspired by the Holy 

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Spirit, goes right to the Torah,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 

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Numbers, and Deuteronomy for his
moral foundation. 

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For Paul and for Jesus, the law 
is not abolished. 

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The law is transformed and 
expanded by Christ. 

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The law is not abolished. 
It is transformed and expanded 

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more far reaching in Christ. 
Most of the moral confusions 

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among Christians today, I argue,
are the result of us forgetting 

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this crucial principle that 
Christ did not abolish the law. 

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He transformed it, he expanded 
it, and crucially, he gave us 

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the power to obey it by filling 
us with his Holy Spirit. 

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Furthermore, it is in the Torah,
in the first five books of the 

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Bible, the law, that we find the
story of creation out of nothing

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and the story of redemption from
slavery in Egypt. 

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And we get this story before we 
even hear one commandment spoken

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from the fiery mountain of 
Sinai. 

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You see, the law given on Sinai 
combines with the story of 

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creation and redemption to show 
us who God created us to be and 

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to show us the pattern of life 
that leads to true human 

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flourishing. 
In particular, the laws in the 

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Torah regard in human sexuality 
are like pieces of a mosaic that

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when viewed as a whole, they 
constitute a beautiful icon of 

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what it means to be male and 
female, flourishing in God's 

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image. 
Why does Moses and why do Paul 

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and Jesus and all of Scripture 
forbid a man to have sex with 

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his father's wife? 
Because ultimately it undermines

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the grammar of marriage 
established in Genesis chapter 

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2. 
A man will leave his father and 

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mother and hold fast to his own 
wife, not the wife of his 

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father, and the two will become 
one flesh. 

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Furthermore, it's also good to 
remember that in an ancient 

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society where women were protect
particularly vulnerable to 

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exploitation, this law protected
women from the predatory 

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advances of stepsons living in 
the same households. 

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God's law then and now is good. 
It protects the vulnerable, it 

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constrains wickedness, and it 
shows us how to live in God's 

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image. 
This is why neither Jesus nor 

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Paul abolish the Law of Moses as
they establish an ethics for the

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New Testament church, whether on
the Sermon on the Mount or in 

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Paul's letter to the 
Corinthians. 

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And the stakes were high for 
Paul and the Corinthian church. 

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Brothers and sisters, it is an 
honor to be the temple of the 

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holy God. 
But it is also a sobering 

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calling. 
As in the days of Ezekiel the 

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prophet, when the glory of God 
departed from the temple because

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of perpetual unrepentant sin, so
the glory of God was under 

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threat and it could have 
departed from the church in 

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Corinth. 
You see, sin is not just a 

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personal matter, it is a 
corporate reality. 

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We and cultures of the West are 
prone to think of everything in 

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individualistic terms, but 
Scripture, not so. 

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Scripture teaches us that my sin
does not just affect me. 

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Your sin does not just affect 
you. 

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Rather, our sin affects the 
corporate holiness of our 

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gathered church. 
In chapter 5, verse 6, right 

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here in First Corinthians, Paul 
uses the metaphor of leaven to 

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describe this reality. 
He says, do you not know that a 

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little leaven works through the 
whole lump of dough? 

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This is serious stuff. 
This is why we begin every 

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service with the corporate 
prayer. 

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Almighty God, to you all hearts 
are open, all desires known, and

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from you no secrets are hidden. 
Cleanse the thoughts of our 

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hearts by the inspiration of 
your Holy Spirit, that we may 

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perfectly love you and worthily 
magnify Your holy name. 

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See, this is the prayer that 
invites the Holy Spirit and 

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opens our own hearts to receive 
from the Spirit the conviction 

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of sin as He brings to our minds
the ways that we have sinned 

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against God and thought word and
deed, by what we have done and 

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left undone, and how we have 
sinned against our neighbor. 

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Oh, and in such a glorious way, 
after confessing these sins 

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corporately, we cry out, Holy 
God, holy and mighty, holy 

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immortal One, have mercy on us, 
and then we receive the 

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absolution, the true declaration
of the Gospel, that, brothers 

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and sisters, you have been 
forgiven. 

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Now this brings us to our second
point. 

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This corporate holiness that is 
a gift to us from God, this 

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calling of being the holy temple
of God, it must be protected 

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with vigilance. 
Now, we moved into our house 

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just outside the Pittsburgh area
about two years ago. 

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And let me tell you, this house 
is still a fixer upper. 

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It's about 100 years old, and it
has a few quirks. 

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I can call them Pittsburgh 
quirks. 

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If anybody's been to the 
Pittsburgh area, look up 

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Pittsburgh potty. 
I don't know why they would put 

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a toilet in a basement with 
nothing around it. 

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It's a Pittsburgh thing and also
this is a 100 year old house and

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so it has a fun history of what 
we might call repairs or 

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improvements. 
Each generation who has owned 

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this house has done something 
else and left their own 

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eccentric twist to the house. 
We're kind of discovering things

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every week. 
It's it's a lot of fun. 

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Now, some of these things that 
we discover everyday, they can 

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be delayed by a few years if we 
don't have the money for it. 

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So for example, you know, if you
see really atrociously ugly 

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1970s wallpaper, like that's 
really bad, but that can wait. 

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You know that can wait. 
If you have something like a 

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loose wire underneath your sink 
that you know just barely has a 

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little bit of electrical tape on
it, or you know, a leaky roof 

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like that has to be addressed on
day one, or a spot of mold in 

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your basement, Get rid of that 
the first day you recognize it. 

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Those cannot wait until next 
year. 

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They need to be addressed 
immediately. 

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Every day that you delay, you 
risk compromising the whole 

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structure of your house, and it 
might even pose a hazard for the

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members of your household. 
When Paul hears the report of 

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this particular man's sexual 
immorality, and when he realizes

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the hazard that it poses for the
corporate holiness of the 

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Corinthian church, he calls for 
a drastic measure, the removal 

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of this man from the 
congregation. 

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Verse 2. 
Let him who has done this be 

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removed from among you. 
Verse three. 

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You are to deliver this man to 
Satan for the destruction of his

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sinful nature, so that his 
spirit may be saved on the day 

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of the Lord. 
Verse 11 Do not even eat with 

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such a man. 
Verse 13 Purge the evil person 

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from among you. 
The removal of a member from the

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church is what we call 
excommunication, and it is 

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important that we clarify from 
Scripture what this does and 

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00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:08,119
does not mean. 
Excommunication is not for 

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unbelievers outside of the 
church. 

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It is not for unbelievers who 
are sojourning among us, 

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inquiring about our faith. 
Rather, according to verse 11, 

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excommunication is for someone 
who calls himself a brother or a

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sister, someone who calls 
himself or herself a Christian 

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and continues brazenly in 
habitual sin even after they've 

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been confronted. 
Excommunication happens, first 

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00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,960
of all, out of care for the 
spiritual safety of the whole 

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church. 
Secondly, it happens only after 

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clear warnings have been given 
to the church member and lesser 

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forms of church discipline have 
already been attempted. 

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We can piece this together from 
what Paul tells Titus in Titus 

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chapter 3 and what Jesus tells 
the disciples in Matthew chapter

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18. 
Thirdly, excommunication happens

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with great care not to falsely 
implicate or falsely accuse the 

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innocent and the vulnerable. 
Paul would also appeal to Exodus

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23 that says do not falsely 
accuse a brother and do not 

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condemn the innocent. 4th And 
finally, excommunication happens

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pastorally with the hope of 
eventual restoration for the 

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church member. 
Paul says it in a kind of a 

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brash way here, but he gets the 
point across. 

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I think. 
Effectively hand the man over to

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Satan. 
In other words, send him out of 

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the church to have the full 
ramifications of what he 

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actually wants, to see the 
consequences first hand of what 

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his sin will bring upon him. 
But it's not a full stop there. 

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It's so that his sinful nature, 
that's how I think we should 

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translate the word for flesh. 
There his sinful nature might be

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destroyed and his spirit saved 
on the day of the Lord. 

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And perhaps this is the brother 
whom Paul says in Second 

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Corinthians he calls for his 
restoration to the church. 

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In our context today, these 
measures of church discipline, 

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and eventually, if it calls for 
it, excommunication, are usually

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taken in the form of barring 
someone, indefinitely if need 

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00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,640
be, from partaking in the bread 
and wine of Eucharist until this

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person has demonstrated true 
repentance. 

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It may take weeks. 
It may even take years, but our 

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00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:55,240
earnest desire as pastors is 
that our brother or sister will 

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repent and be fully restored to 
our table fellowship. 

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00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:04,040
Because holiness, brothers and 
sisters, is beautiful. 

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The Psalms call us to worship 
God in the beauty of holiness, 

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and when the bride of Christ is 
beautifully arrayed, then that 

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00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:20,800
shows the world again that icon 
of what God has created us to 

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00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,480
be, and that is the city on the 
hill. 

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00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,000
That is the light and the 
darkness, that is the salt of 

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00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,840
the earth. 
Now you may know that every 

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00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,120
priest that is ordination makes 
a vow to quote. 

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Work diligently with your whole 
heart to bring those in your 

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00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:45,280
care into the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of God, and

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00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:49,520
to bring them to maturity in 
Christ, that there may be among 

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00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:54,640
you neither error in religion 
nor immorality in life. 

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00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:00,240
And when our Bishop asked me, 
Underoath, whether I would be 

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00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,680
faithful to this task, brothers 
and sisters, I answered, I will,

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00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:10,480
the Lord being my helper. 
And the Bishop commended to me 

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00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,680
this truth, that if I fail in 
that and am unfaithful to this 

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00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:19,240
task, judgment will come upon me
and all the shepherds who have 

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00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,560
unfaithfully LED. 
So if I am your priest and I 

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00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,600
give you the body and blood of 
Christ at Eucharist, knowing 

302
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,480
that while you call yourself a 
Christian, you are living an 

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00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,400
unrepentant sin, and that in 
your sin you are leading others 

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00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,400
in the congregation to go 
astray, then I am breaking my 

305
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:41,040
vows that I made before God and 
my Bishop, and I'm failing to 

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00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,840
protect the flock that God has 
put under my care. 

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00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:48,280
Furthermore, I am a man under 
authority, the authority of my 

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00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,240
rector, the authority of our 
Bishop, and ultimately under the

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00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,520
authority of God. 
And so I too am subject to the 

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00:21:55,520 --> 00:22:01,280
same calling, the same standard 
of holiness, and I have other 

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00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,480
souls under my care for which I 
am accountable. 

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00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,600
Bishops and rectors and head 
pastors, as the head shepherds 

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00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,440
of our flocks, they have been 
entrusted with this sacred 

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00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,600
responsibility of 
excommunication to protect the 

315
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,880
holiness of the temple of God, 
to guard the flock that is 

316
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,560
vulnerable, and in the Lord's 
grace, to work toward the 

317
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,120
repentance and restoration of 
the excommunicated member. 

318
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,240
OK, anybody ready for a deep 
breath? 

319
00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:38,080
This has been weighty stuff and 
you and I, we may well ask, how 

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00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,960
can any of us live up to the 
standards of holiness that God 

321
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,720
demands? 
Who among us does not fall short

322
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,760
every single day? 
Is corporate holiness a fantasy 

323
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:54,880
for the self-righteous? 
This brings us to our third and 

324
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,760
final point. 
This corporate holiness is 

325
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:03,200
accomplished only by the 
sacrifice of Christ, our 

326
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,680
Passover lamb. 
Look at verses 7 through 8. 

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00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:11,200
Paul says, cleanse out the old 
leaven, that you may be a new 

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00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,800
lump of dough, as you've really 
already are unleavened. 

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00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,600
For Christ our Passover lamb has
been sacrificed. 

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00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,000
Let us therefore celebrate the 
festival not with the old 

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00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,520
leaven, the leaven of malice and
evil, but with the unleavened 

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00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:32,080
bread of sincerity and truth. 
Now, these two verses are 

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00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:37,080
literally, rhetorically and 
theologically right at the 

334
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,440
center of this passage. 
And many of the passages in 

335
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,920
First Corinthians, and one might
argue First Corinthians as a 

336
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,200
whole, Paul is doing this, what 
we call a chiastic reasoning. 

337
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,560
He's putting one point at the 
beginning, one point at the end.

338
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,920
They kind of mirror image each 
other. 

339
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,080
And right at the center is his 
main point. 

340
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,600
Right at the center of this 
passage is, I believe, his main 

341
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,920
point. 
He has the implications about 

342
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,560
what they have to do for this 
unrepentant brother, but he has 

343
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,560
the main point, grounding and 
all, and that is Christ, our 

344
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,640
Passover lamb has been 
sacrificed. 

345
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,400
We have the imperative, the what
we must do to cleanse out the 

346
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,000
old leaven. 
And this is a reference to the 

347
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,480
Israelite law in Exodus that 
once a year the people were to 

348
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,040
prepare for the Feast of 
Unleavened Bread. 

349
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,160
But the Feast of Unleavened 
Bread does not begin until 

350
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,560
Passover is finished. 
The Passover feast happens first

351
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:43,480
on the month of Nissan 15, and 
then 16 to 21 of that same month

352
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,760
is the Feast of Unleavened 
Bread. 

353
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,680
So, in other words, the Feast of
Unleavened Bread does not begin 

354
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:55,480
until the Passover lamb has been
sacrificed, until the blood has 

355
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,840
been put on the door, until we 
have been covered with all of 

356
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:04,840
our sin, with the blood of 
Christ our Passover lamb. 

357
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:10,720
As the hymn the hymn writer once
said, not the labor of my hands 

358
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,720
can fulfill Thy law's demands. 
Could my zeal no respite, no 

359
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:20,400
could my tears forever flow all 
for sin could not atone. 

360
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:30,160
Thou must save and Thou alone. 
Paul calls us to the standard of

361
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:35,000
holiness and shows us that our 
only hope is in Jesus Christ, 

362
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,120
who pay the penalty for our sin,
who has filled us with His Holy 

363
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:44,240
Spirit, has sealed us so that no
one can mount an accusation for 

364
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,480
those against those who are in 
Christ. 

365
00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,320
And with that, as our 
fundamental identity, we are to 

366
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,520
live into this reality that 
Christ has already created in 

367
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,800
US. 
And as the corporate body of 

368
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,800
Christ, this is where we found, 
where we find our strength, our 

369
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:08,880
wisdom to live in this way. 
Today's sermon has touched on 

370
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:13,440
some weighty matters, but the 
worth of something corresponds 

371
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,280
to how much it costs. 
What does it cost to be the 

372
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,400
church? 
On the one hand, it cost a price

373
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,280
that we can never pay, the 
sacrifice of Christ, our 

374
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,640
Passover lamb. 
On the other hand, if through 

375
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,880
our baptism into Christ we have 
joined this covenant community 

376
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:38,000
of the Church, then this will 
cost us our entire life lived 

377
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,000
for Christ and in community one 
with another. 

378
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,880
The cost of being the Church 
means nothing less than the full

379
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:52,920
allegiance to our King Jesus and
the uncompromising pursuit of 

380
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,520
corporate holiness. 
Christ, our Passover Lamb, has 

381
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:01,160
been sacrificed for us. 
Therefore, with joy, with 

382
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,480
gratitude, with vigilance, let 
us celebrate this festival. 

383
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,720
Walking in light, walking in 
truth, spurring one another on 

384
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,880
toward love and good deeds, 
Receiving the discipline of the 

385
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,440
Lord through His Word as it is 
preached to our own hearts. 

386
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:22,240
Coming to Him every day for 
forgiveness, and receiving the 

387
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:27,000
Gospel as it is proclaimed over 
you that your sins have been 

388
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,200
forgiven. 
As brothers and sisters, as the 

389
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:36,800
family of God set free from 
slavery to sin, death and the 

390
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:41,720
devil, let us pursue this 
holiness together, celebrating 

391
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:47,400
the Feast of our King Jesus with
sincerity and truth, in the name

392
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,760
of the Father and the Son and 
the Holy Spirit, Amen.

