Church Discipline (Part 05) - Sins that Merit Church Discipline - Gal 5:19-20

Watch the video of this sermon on YouTube: Church Discipline (Part 5). For a master copy of the outline and the other sermons in the series, click here: Church Discipline. To listen to or watch the previous sermon in the series, click here: Part 4. To listen to or watch the next sermon in the series, click here: Part 6. C. Gal 5:19-21 i. Those that commit sins listed in Gal 5:19-21 "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." a. The kingdom of God is the local church (see Section V). b. Therefore, a man that is commonly known to have committed a sin listed in these verses will lose his inheritance in the kingdom of God by being put out of the local church. ii. Adultery n. (Gal 5:19) - (see 1Co 6:9 - Section VII,1,B) iii. Fornication n. (Gal 5:19) - (see 1Co 5:11 - Section VII,1,A) iv. Uncleanness n. (Gal 5:19) - 1. The quality or state of being morally or spiritually unclean; moral impurity; an instance of this. a. Unclean adj. - 1. Morally impure or defiled; unchaste b. Uncleanness refers to sexual sin such as fornication and sodomy (Rom 1:24; 2Co 12:21). c. Uncleanness is the opposite of holiness (1Th 4:7). d. Those who are commonly known to be sexually unclean will be put out of the church. v. Lasciviousness n. (Gal 5:19) - The quality of being lascivious. a. Lascivious adj. - 1. Inclined to lust, lewd, wanton. b. Lust n. - 1. Pleasure, delight. obs. 2. Desire, appetite, relish or inclination for something. 3. spec. in Biblical and Theological use: Sensuous appetite or desire, considered as sinful or leading to sin. Often pl. esp. in the lusts of the flesh, fleshly lusts. 4. Sexual appetite or desire. Chiefly and now exclusively implying intense moral reprobation: Libidinous desire, degrading animal passion. (The chief current use.) c. Lewd adj. - 5. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Bad, vile, evil, wicked, base; unprincipled, ill-conditioned; good-for-nothing, worthless, ‘naughty’. 7. [Developed from 5.] Lascivious, unchaste. (The surviving sense.) d. Wanton adj. - 1. a. Of persons: Undisciplined, ungoverned; not amenable to control, unmanageable, rebellious. Of children: Naughty, unruly. 2. Lascivious, unchaste, lewd. e. Lasciviousness is uncontrolled and ungoverned lust for forbidden things, whether sex outside of marriage or anything to which one has no rightful claim. (i) Lasciviousness is closely related to fornication and uncleanness (2Co 12:21) and is essentially the seed form of them. (ii) Lasciviousness is also the beginning of greediness (Eph 4:19). (iii) Lasciviousness, like many other sins, comes from the heart (Mar 7:21-22). (iv) If harbored, it will not stay in the heart, but will eventually come out (Mat 12:34). f. Viewing pornography fits the definition of lasciviousness. g. Those who are commonly known to be lascivious will be put out of the church. vi. Idolatry n. (Gal 5:20) - (see 1Co 5:11 - Section VII,1,A) vii. Witchcraft n. (Gal 5:20) - 1. The practices of a witch or witches; the exercise of supernatural power supposed to be possessed by persons in league with the devil or evil spirits. a. There are no good witches or wizards as Hollywood would have us believe. b. God hates witches, diviners, enchanters, and wizards (Deu 18:10-12). c. Witches were put to death under the law of Moses (Exo 22:18). d. Christians should never dabble in magic or the occult, including using Ouija boards, tarot cards, palm readers, or psychics. e. Christians that have pleasure in them that sin are just as guilty as the sinners themselves (Rom 1:32). (i) Therefore, no Christian or child of a Christian should watch movies or read books for entertainment that glorify witchcraft such as the Harry Potter books and movies. (ii) "Harry Potter is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the life of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." (Harry Potter, Wikipedia). f. Those who are commonly known to be witches or such like (Gal 5:21), or have practiced witchcraft or such like (Gal 5:21) will be put out of the church. g. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (1Sa 15:23). (i) Rebellion n. 1. Organized armed resistance to the ruler or government of one's country; insurrection, revolt. 2. Open or determined defiance of, or resistance to, any authority or controlling power. (ii) Those who are commonly known to be guilty of rebellion against God ordained authority will be put out of the church. viii. Hatred n. (Gal 5:20) - The condition or state of relations in which one person hates another; the emotion or feeling of hate; active dislike, detestation; enmity, ill-will, malevolence. a. Not all hatred is a sin; we should hate evil (Psa 97:10; Pro 8:13; Rom 12:9) and every false way (Psa 119:128). b. But hating one's brother or sister in the church is a serious sin and an evidence of eternal damnation (1Jo 2:9-11; 1Jo 3:10,14-15). c. Those who are commonly known to hate their brother will be put out of the church. ix. Variance n. (Gal 5:20) - II. 6. a. The state or fact of disagreeing or falling out; discord, dissension, contention, debate. a. Church members are all supposed to be of one mind and one accord (1Co 1:10; Rom 12:16; Rom 15:5-6). b. A contentious and disagreeable church member is a cancer in the church which must be rooted out (Pro 22:10; Pro 26:21). c. Those who are commonly known to be at variance with the church, debating and causing contention and discord, will be put out of the church. x. Emulation n. (Gal 5:20) - 1. The endeavour to equal or surpass others in any achievement or quality; also, the desire or ambition to equal or excel. 2. Ambitious rivalry for power or honours; contention or ill-will between rivals. 3. Grudge against the superiority of others; dislike, or tendency to disparagement, of those who are superior. a. Emulation is similar to envy. b. Envy n. - 1. trans. To feel displeasure and ill-will at the superiority of (another person) in happiness, success, reputation, or the possession of anything desirable; to regard with discontent another's possession of (some superior advantage which one would like to have for oneself). Also in less unfavourable sense: To wish oneself on a level with (another) in happiness or in the possession of something desirable; to wish oneself possessed of (something which another has). c. We are not to compare ourselves with others (2Co 10:12). d. We should rejoice with them that rejoice, not be jealous of them (Rom 12:15). e. Those who are commonly known to be emulating others will be put out of the church. xi. Wrath n. (Gal 5:20) - 1. Vehement or violent anger; intense exasperation or resentment; deep indignation: a. The reprobate are children of wrath (Eph 2:3). b. We must be slow to wrath (Jam 1:19). c. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God (Jam 1:20). d. We must ever be very cautious because one moment of public uncontrolled anger can cost of our inheritance in the kingdom of God, as was the case with Moses (Num 20:10-12 c/w Psa 106:32-33). e. Those who are commonly known to have had an outburst of violent anger will be put out of the church.