Dear Friends,

Why do people say “Christians are all hypocrites?” and then reject Christ? (1) Since the Church does not discipline its openly sinning members some “Christians” are hypocrites. (2) Lost people really hate God (Romans 8:7) and will use any excuse to flee from Him. Today’s devotional will help explain. God bless you.

Because of Calvary,

John Janney

I Corinthians 5:1-13

“There is no pack of cards without a knave.” [A Treasury of Essential Proverbs collected, arranged and introduced by Rodney Dale, (Edison, NJ; Chartwell Books, Inc., 2004), p. 54]

“Unhappy leader, who has an Achan in his own camp! Better that Demas should forsake us, than that he should abide with us, and import the world into the church.” [Charles Haddon Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1890), p. 295]

“Want of discipline in the church. ― I. A serious evil ― it degrades all ― indicates declension of zeal, watchfulness, love and purity. II. Commonly associated with pride ― the offender may be respectable, or the offence ignored. III. A just cause for sorrow ― for the dishonor done to Christ ― the injury done to souls ― the discredit brought upon God’s cause.” [Lyth in Gray and Adams Bible Commentary V edited by James C. Gray and George M. Adams, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.), p. 117]

“It is a right inherent in every society, and necessary for its existence, to judge of the qualification of its own members; to receive those whom it judges worthy, and to exclude the unworthy. This right is here clearly recognized as belonging to the church. It is also clear from this passage that this right belongs to each particular church or congregation. The power was vested in the church of Corinth, and not in some officer presiding over that church. The bishop or pastor was not reproved for neglect of discipline; but the church itself, in its organized capacity.” [Charles Hodge, A Commentary on 1 & 2 Corinthians, (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1857, 1859), p. 83]

“Paul sentenced the immoral man in the Corinthian church to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Paul’s main objective was not to punish the man but to save him. He was not out to get rid of him but to reclaim him — and he did.” [Vance Havner, Repent or Else! (Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1958), p. 44-45]

“It is a principle of life that those who will not govern themselves must be governed.” [Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary V, (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2001), p. 585]