Scripture Reading:
#1. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen (Galatians 1:3-5)
#2. But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Hab. 2:20)
Prayer of Praise to God: Refer to the verses above and hymn below.
V1. Come, thou fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love.
V2. Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come,
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God.
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
V3. Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above
Reading of the Law: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12)
Silent Confession of Sin/Confession of Sin: Father of mercies, we confess that we have sinned against you. By your Holy Spirit, come and work repentance into our hearts. Help us to see you as you are: with outstretched arms, a loving heart, and power to save. Help us to see Jesus, the friend of sinners, and to follow him more faithfully. As we have received him, so strengthen us to walk in him, depend on him, commune with him, and be conformed to him. Give us an experience of your grace that makes us bold for others, that we might joyfully tell our friends and neighbors of your saving mercy. In Jesus’ name Amen.
Reading of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 8
Question #24
Q. How are these articles divided?
A. Into three parts: God the Father and our creation; God the Son and our deliverance; and God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.
Question #25
Q. Since there is only one divine being, why do you speak of three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
A. Because that is how God has revealed himself in his Word: these three distinct persons are one, true, eternal God.
Prayer of Thanksgiving: Give thanks to God for all the blessings he has given you.
Prayer of Supplication: Pray for the needs of those close to you and the church abroad.
Bible reading and commentary:
Read: 1 Corinthians 5
In Chapter 5, Paul rebukes the church at Corinth for another problem that has been reported to him (v 1). The congregation is tolerating a sexually immoral relationship between a man and his stepmother. The chapter is a powerful, clear reminder that God’s grace provides power for holiness not permission to sin. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Old Testament believers diligently purged their homes of all “leaven” in honor of God’s gracious deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Similarly, the work of Christ delivers Christians from bondage to sin, giving us joy and strength for purging our lives of ‘the old leaven” of disobedience (1 Cor. 5:7-8). Paul therefore bases his call to holy living on the redeeming death of Christ (“Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed”; (v. 7) and the new, holy status it gives believers (“you really are unleavened” (v. 7).
This section reveals two fundamental principles for gospel application. First, where the gospel is at work, holiness will result. Those who profess faith in Christ are therefore not to engage in immorality, sexual or otherwise, and they must be disciplined when they persist in sin. The most severe form of discipline involves being cut off from the fellowship of the church (vv. 2, 9, 11). Most commentators agree that discipline should be motivated by brotherly love rather than a vindictive spirit; it should seek the healing, not the destruction, of the wayward Christian; it is intended to be medicine, not poison, for sinners. The medicine is the gospel which offers hope that such offenders may one day be restored to full fellowship and “saved in the day of the Lord” (v. 5).
Second, the kind of holiness God desires cannot be produced apart from the gospel. When the sinful patterns “of this world” (v.10) surround us and tempt us to compromise, the proper response is to return to the unchanging grace of God, who made his saving mercies known in the Passover, and ultimately in Christ – acting as our Passover Lamb (v. 7). Christ was “sacrificed” in the past: “let us therefore celebrate the festival” (honoring Christ just as the Passover honored God) in the present by lives of sincere devotion and truth (v. 8).
Most commentators agree that Paul’s warning to the Corinthian Christians “not to associate with the sexually immoral people” refers to moral offenders within the church rather than in the world at large for the very reason that Christians could not do any business in this world if they did not associate with anyone who was not a Christian.
John Calvin on 1 Cor. 5:11: “Do not even eat with such a person.” First of all, we must know whether Paul’s commandment is binding on the entire church or simply on individuals. I answer: this commandment pertains to individuals, though nevertheless it depends on the discipline of the whole fellowship. For the power of excommunica-tion is not given to each particular member, but to the entire body. Yet individual believers should not have friendly relations with a person whom the church excommunicates. For otherwise, the authority of the church would become worthless, if individual members invited to their own tables those persons who had been excluded from the Lord’s table. By sharing of food Paul means here either living together or familiar association at meals. For if I enter an inn and see an excommunicated person sitting there, nothing prohibits me from eating together with him, for I have no power to exclude him. But Paul means that, as far as it pertains to us, we must avoid social ties with those whom the church has cut off from fellowship.
Not satisfied with this severity the Roman [church] has burst forth with its interdicts, prohibiting anyone from helping an excommunicated person with food, warmth, drink, or other necessities of life. Now such rigor is not discipline, but tyrannical and barbarous cruelty that is completely contrary to Paul’s intention. For he wants us to consider the excommunicated person “not as an enemy, but as a brother,” and we place this public mark of disgrace on him so that, filled with shame, he might repent.
Closing Hymn: Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Amen.
Closing Scripture: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
The Lord’s Prayer (together): Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.