1 Corinthians 5-6: Judge Not? (LSFAB S13E071) [TEASER - 0:00] Nobody likes a hypocrite. [INTRO S13E071 - 0:09] Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is a daily podcast, and you and I are reading the entire Bible in a year. How cool is that? The website is lifespringmedia.com. And this is Epistle Sunday. We'll read 1 Corinthians 5 and 6, and the episode title is "Judge Not?" Since it is Sunday, this is also a prayer request and praise day. And it's the 11th of December, so we'll have Christmas question number eleven today sent in by Chase Jacobson. Of course, our Christmas expert James Cooper of whychristmas.com has an answer for him. Today's music will be from Chuck Girard, who was a member of arguably the very first Jesus Music band when the Jesus Revolution began at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa back in the early 70s. And Chuck even goes further back than that. He was around during the dawning days of rock and roll. More about that later. Before we read. let's pray. [OPENING PRAYER - 1:10] Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for your Word and for revealing yourself to us in it. And I pray God, that as we read today that you would touch our hearts and open our minds and open our eyes, our spiritual eyes, that we might understand what it is you're telling us today. Bless our time together, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, let's begin. [1 Corinthians 5 (NASB) - 1:34] 1 Corinthians, chapter 5. (1) It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. (2) You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. (3) For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, (5) I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (6) Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? (7) Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. (8) Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (9) I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; (10) I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. (11) But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. (12) For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? (13) But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. 1 Corinthians 6 (GNT) - 3:27] 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. (1) If any of you have a dispute with another Christian, how dare you go before heathen judges instead of letting God's people settle the matter? (2) Don't you know that God's people will judge the world? Well, then, if you are to judge the world, aren't you capable of judging small matters? (3) Do you not know that we shall judge the angels? How much more, then, the things of this life! (4) If such matters come up, are you going to take them to be settled by people who have no standing in the church? (5) Shame on you! Surely there is at least one wise person in your fellowship who can settle a dispute between fellow Christians. (6) Instead, one Christian goes to court against another and lets unbelievers judge the case! (7) The very fact that you have legal disputes among yourselves shows that you have failed completely. Would it not be better for you to be wronged? Would it not be better for you to be robbed? (8) Instead, you yourselves wrong one another and rob one another, even other believers! (9) Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God's Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or homosexual perverts (10) or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves—none of these will possess God's Kingdom. (11) Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (12) Someone will say, “I am allowed to do anything.” Yes; but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave. (13) Someone else will say, “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.” Yes; but God will put an end to both. The body is not to be used for sexual immorality, but to serve the Lord; and the Lord provides for the body. (14) God raised the Lord from death, and he will also raise us by his power. (15) You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ's body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible! (16) Or perhaps you don't know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly, “The two will become one body.” (17) But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him. (18) Avoid immorality. Any other sin a man commits does not affect his body; but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body. (19) Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; (20) he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory. [COMMENTARY - 6:21] Well, in chapter 4 today, at the beginning of the chapter, Paul is reinforcing his qualifications with the Corinthian church. They didn’t recognize his apostolic authority, so he’s instructing them on his position and how they ought to think of him. He says that they should think of him and the other apostles as servants of Christ. Now there are several different Greek words that we translate as “servant.” The Greek word used here is “hyperetas,” which is the subordinate servant working as a free man. The more common Greek word is “doulos,” which is a common slave. “Hyperetas”, literally translated means “under-rower.” Think of a big galley ship. They had many, many men who rowed, and an “under-rower” acted without question under the direction of the one in charge. In the apostles’ case, they answered only to Christ. And then Paul said that the Corinthians should also think of the apostles as stewards. And a steward was the manager of a household. And in relation to the master of the house, the steward was a slave, but in relation to the other slaves, he was a master. Commentator Adam Clarke put it this way. “The steward...was the master’s deputy in regulating the concerns of the family, providing food for the household, seeing it served out at proper times and seasons, and in proper quantities. He received all the cash, expended what was necessary for the support of the family, and kept exact accounts, for which he was obliged at certain times to lay before the master.” So after laying this out to the church at Corinth, Paul told them that it didn’t really matter much to him that they had such a low regard for him since he answered only to Christ. And he said that not even his own judgment of himself mattered, but only the judgment of the one he served. So I’m bringing this out because, without the proper understanding of the first five verses, one might think that it was wrong to judge anyone. And as you heard chapter 5 clearly teaches that judging others is sometimes appropriate. So speaking of chapter 5, let's talk about that, now. You've heard it before, right? Someone is doing something that is patently wrong. And when they're called on it, they drag out the old “Judge not that ye be not judged” line. Or someone fails to take a stand on an immoral issue or person because they think it's not up to them to judge. Well, after reading chapter 5, what do you say? It sounds pretty clear to me that Paul encouraged the people of the church at Corinth to get the sinning person out of their fellowship. I think that would be classified as judging, wouldn't it? So then what did Jesus mean when he told us not to judge? As is usually the case, it's helpful to look at the context. The scripture is found in Matthew 7 verses 1 through 5. Let me read it to you. "(1) Do not judge so that you will not be judged. (2) For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. (3) Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (4) Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? (5) You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” So what Jesus was really talking about here was hypocrisy, wasn't it? He wasn't talking about judgment. And as you know, he wasn't very keen on hypocrites. That's something even non-religious people today have in common with our Lord. Nobody likes a hypocrite. So now let's get back to chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians. To look at evil and call it evil is something that we're called to do often in Scripture. To call someone on their sin is right if it's done with love and a goal to restore them to right living in fellowship. We want to bring them to repentance. James 5:20 says, "...let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins." So here's the bottom line. Keep your account with God clear. As much as is humanly possible, live your life in such a way that you will not be in danger of hypocrisy when you're called to confront sin. A few weeks ago, we read Matthew chapter 5. And in verses 13 through 16 in the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus said, "(13) You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. (14) You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. (16) In the same way, let your light shine before people so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven." If we allow the kind of compromise, especially in our own lives that was in the church at Corinth, how can we be salt and light in a lost and dying world? [LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE - 11:33] You have a comment? Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511, or comment at comment.lifespringmedia.com, or send me an email at steve@lifespringmedia.com. Tomorrow is The Law Monday and we'll read Genesis 40 through 43. [CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS - 11:51] Christmas question number 11. This one comes in from Chase Jacobson and he asked, "How did Christmas get its name? The first segment of the word, "Christ" makes sense. But can you explain the suffix, m-a-s? Where does that come in? And what does it mean? Thank you and ITM." Well, ITM of course means "in the morning" and right back at you, Chase. Thank you for the question. Well, James, you heard it. What's the answer? [JAMES COOPER ANSWERS - 12:16] It's a good question. Because we have Christmas all the time. But where does the name come from? Well, it comes from it being the Mass of Christ or Jesus. The mass service sometimes called Communion or Eucharist is where Christians remember that Jesus died for them and came back to life. The Christ Mass service was originally the only one in the church that was allowed to take place after sunset and before sunrise on the next day. So it was generally held around midnight hence we get midnight masses at Christmas. And so we get the name, "Christ Mass" shortened to Christmas. But did you know that as well as Christmas being celebrated on the 25th or sometimes the evening and afternoon of the 24th, it's celebrated on some other days in some different countries and churches? Orthodox churches in Russia, Serbia, Jerusalem, Ukraine use an old Julian calendar. And people in those churches celebrate Christmas on January the 7th. But in parts of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, they now celebrate Christmas on December the 25th as well. The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates on January the 7th. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tecla Heydo Church celebrates Christmas on the 7th as well. Most people in the Greek Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas on December the 25th. But some still use the Julian calendar and they celebrate it on January the 7th as well. And some Greek Catholics also celebrate it on January the 7th. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas on the 6th of January, and they also celebrate Epiphany on this date. And Epiphany is the end of the Christmas celebrations. Well, sort of. The Christmas season officially starts on the 25th of December, and it lasts for twelve days, i.e. the twelve days of Christmas until we get to Epiphany, which is the 6th of January, and it remembers the time that the wise men visited the Baby Jesus. And some churches also celebrate Jesus's baptism as an adult on this day. But before Christmas, we have Advent. This is normally a period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas, and it can move around depending on what day of the week Christmas is on. In many Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, Advent lasts for forty days and it starts on the 15th of November. And in Orthodox churches, which celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January, Advent starts on the 28th of November. It's confusing, all of this, isn't it? And remember that I said that Epiphany was the end of Christmas. Well, it sort of isn't. Epiphany, the 6th of January, is when you're meant to take Christmas decorations down as well. But if you're really hardcore, you can keep your Christmas decorations up until Candlemas. This is the official end of the Christmas and the Epiphany season and it finishes on the 2nd of February, forty days after Christmas. Candlemas is also known as the presentation of Jesus at the temple or the feast of purification of Virgin Mary, and it's when some Christians remember the time when Mary and Joseph took the Baby Jesus to the temple, where they met Anna and Simeon. Candlemas is a church service where traditionally the candles that were going to be used throughout church worship for the whole year were blessed. So we started with the Mass of Christ, and we end with the Mass of the Candles. And if you want Christmas to last as long as possible, you can start with Orthodox Advent on the 15th of November, and finish with Candlemas on the 2nd of February. [CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS (CONT'D) - 15:26] Well, that would certainly be a long Christmas season. I think the Lovely Lady LeeAnn would actually love that because she does love decorating our house with all the pretty Christmas decorations. Having a longer season just might make doing all that work of putting up the decorations more worthwhile. Thank you, James, for such a thorough answer. And thank you Chase for the question. Of course, you can find out more and, yes, there is a lot more, at whychristmas.com. And, Beloved, Christmas questions are still coming in, but I still need more to fill all the days before Christmas. And you still have a chance to be one of the ticket winners to see the movie "Jesus Revolution" which will be released in February of 2023. And by the way, he isn't named in the movie, but there is a Chuck Girard character in the movie. Chuck Girard, of course, as I mentioned at the top of the show, will bring our music today. With the questions remember that each one you send in will get you one entry to the drawing whether or not I use the question on the show. I have two pair of two tickets that I'm going to be giving away. And, of course, there is still the drawing where someone will win a signed copy of my book "Webb's Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide." And for that drawing, each question I use on the show gets an entry. Both drawings will be done on the Christmas Day show. That means we'll have three winners on that show. So if you haven't sent a question in or even if you already have, send more to steve@lifespringmedia.com. And put "Christmas question" in the subject line. That way when it comes through, I will be notified. [PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISE REPORTS - 16:58] Prayer requests and praises. Well, no new prayer requests came in this week. But Kathi still needs prayer, as does Cassie, and I'm sure Lifespring family member Kevin, whose brother passed away a few days ago would still appreciate our prayers. So let's pray. Our heavenly Father, we praise you for who you are. We praise you for your holiness and your righteousness, for your power, and for your grace for revealing yourself to us through your word for inviting us into a loving relationship with you. And we thank you so much for your mercy. And now Lord, we lift up Kathi, Cassie, and Kevin and his family to you now. Each of them need to feel your presence and they need your strength and your comfort. We ask you to pour out your blessings on them in your loving and lavish way. I thank you, Lord, for the Lifespring family and I ask you to meet every need according to your perfect will. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. [SUPPORT THE SHOW - 18:03] Your donation, yes, your donation, makes the show possible. As you may have noticed, we don't have any cheesy advertisers here. Because advertising equals censorship and the Word of God will not be censored on the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, so I rely on you. If you think the uncensored message of God's word is valuable, I'm counting on you to support the show. I need you. There is no other way to say it. No donations means no show. I can't do this on my own. To make a $1 donation go right here: [JINGLE SINGERS - 18:34] lifespringmedia.com/support [SUPPORT THE SHOW (CONT'D) - 18:37] To send sats, you do that with one of those shiny new podcast apps you find at newpodcastapps.com. [SEND YOUR FEEDBACK - 18:46] Comment on the show at +1-951-732-8511, or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com, or email me at steve@lifespringmedia.com. There's a really good chance I'll play your comment on the show or read your comment on the show unless you tell me otherwise. [OUTRO S13E071 - 19:10] Well, you've heard me say before on the show that I was around during the Jesus Movement in the 70s and I've talked about some of the pioneers of Jesus Music. Well, in 2008 I had a great thrill when Chuck Girard agreed to have me interview him. He and his band Love Song did not set out to create a new genre of music. They just loved the Lord and wanted to praise him with the kind of music that they knew. I interviewed him on the Lifespring podcast and if you'd like to hear it, I'll have a link on the show notes page for this episode at lifespringmedia.com/s13e071 to that episode with Chuck. He gave us permission for me to play some of his music on the show. So today's Christmas music will be one of his. It's called "The Heart of Christmas." And so here we are where I say until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for inviting me into your day. My name is Steve Webb. Bye. [CHUCK GIRARD SINGS "THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS" - 20:04] Christmas And all the tinsel trappings Christmas The snow is on the ground Christmas The ribbons and the wrapping Christmas The family gathers 'round Christmas The merry sound of laughter Christmas We leave our troubles behind Christmas The world is happy ever after Let us not forget Let us not leave behind The Heart of Christmas The Heart of Christmas Take us back To the Heart of Christmas The beating heart of God Who became a man Let us not forget What is the Heart of Christmas That God so loved the world That God so loved the world The Heart of Christmas Grateful The one who knows his forgiveness Hopeful The one knows his grace Satisfied The one who stays abiding Humble The one who sees his face Draw us near To the Heart of Christmas Draw us near To your heart, oh, God Let us remember The love that saved us The love that keeps us Keeps us The Heart of Christmas The Heart of Christmas The Heart of Christmas The Heart of Christmas Keep us near, keep us near to the Heart of Christmas, Lord The beating heart of the Savior and Son Keep us near to the Heart of Christmas Let us rejoice in the Heart of Christmas Let us rejoice in the Heart of Christmas Keep us near, keep us near To the Heart of Christmas... Transcribed by https://otter.ai