QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (96)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   Last month, we noted several questions about Pez candy.

 

B.   Today, let’s ask a few questions about Animal Crackers.

1.    When were Animal Crackers invented?  1902

2.    Who promoted Animal Crackers in their early years?  P.T. Barnum

3.    What did the original box look like?  It was a cage filled with animals

4.    What was the string on the box for?  Parents would hang them on Christmas trees as ornament presents

5.    How many animal characters have been formed?  17

 

C.   In our lesson today, we are not going to delve into any questions about animals.  The questions we will examine have to do with the Bible and Bible topics.

 

I.             QUESTION #1:  Withdrawal from the Fornicator

 

A.   Stated:  Please explain Paul’s words about church discipline in 1 Corinthians 5:5.

 

B.   Answer: 

1.    1 Corinthians 5:4-5

 

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

 

2.    The context of this verse begins in 1 Corinthians 5:1.

 

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

 

a.    Fornication is a broad term that involves several different types of sexual sins.

b.    In this instance, the sin was adultery.

1)    A man in the church was having a sexual relationship with his father’s wife.

2)    Most believe that this was his step-mother and not his mother because of the words “father’s wife.”

3.    The church had not responded scripturally to this sinful relationship according to 1 Cor. 5:2.

 

And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

 

a.    The church is supposed to be holy institution. 

b.    The church is not supposed to tolerate sins in which individuals persistently engage without repentance and confession.

c.    If the sinner will not repent, the church is supposed to withdraw fellowship from the individual.  This action is noted several times in 1 Corinthians 5.

1)    “…he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you” (v. 2).

2)    “Purge out therefore the old leaven…” (v. 7).

3)    “But now have I written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator…” (v. 11).

4)    “…with such an one no not to eat.”

5)    “Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (v. 13).

4.    The words of verse 5 are simply a commentary on the act of withdrawal

a.    “Deliver such a one unto Satan”

1)    Christians have been called out of the world and into the church.

2)    Their lives are lived in service to their Master Jesus Christ.

3)    They are to seek to be holy as their Father in heaven is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16).

4)    When a person persists in sin, the precious bride of Christ can no longer continue fellowship with this person.

5)    In this sense, he is delivered to Satan.

b.    “…for the destruction of the flesh…”

1)    The flesh is that sinful aspect of man that desires to fulfill the lusts of the mind and the flesh.

2)    It is hoped that by severing fellowship with the individual, he will feel the magnitude and shame of his actions and put the desires of the flesh aside.

c.    “…that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

1)    There is coming a day when Jesus will return and judge all men.

2)    Before that day, it is hoped that the sinner will have repented of his sins and confessed them before God.

3)    The desire is for the individual to be saved when Jesus comes again.

5.    Two points from 1 Corinthians 5:4

a.    Church discipline is done “in the name of Jesus Christ,” that is, it is done by His divine authority.

b.    It is done “when ye are gathered together.”  When the church assembled for worship, the church was to be notified of this action that would be taken.  Every member was supposed to honor this disciplinary measure.

6.    NOTE:  This writer was surprised by the comments of both Barnes and Clarke on this verse. 

a.    Both of them believe that this discipline involved the miraculous powers of the apostles.

b.    They believe that the offender was punished with sickness, diseases, or some type of bodily calamity.

c.    They believe it was needed because the church was in its infancy.

d.    They also believe that this type of discipline can no longer be carried out since the miraculous age has ceased.

 

II.           QUESTION #2:  Leadership Roles in the church for Women

 

A.   Stated:  What leadership roles are women allowed to have in the church?

 

B.   This is a question that desperately needs to be answered today.

1.    Over the years, the woman’s role in society has changed greatly.

a.    Prior to WWII, the woman’s role was clearly defined in society and in the church.

b.    Many changes occurred in society during the war and after.

1)    Women were taken out of the home and had to work in factories to assist in the war effort because the men were overseas.

2)    The Feminist Movement that began in the 1840s really picked up steam in the second half of the twentieth century.

a)    This movement focused upon the inequalities between men and woman.

b)    The issues:   women's liberation, reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence.

c)    In fact, three waves of the movement happened in the 1960s, the 1990s, and in the 2000s.

3)    Recently, we have seen another movement that has radically changed the relationship between men and women.  It involves the concept of gender.

a)    First, we are told your sexual organs do not determine your gender.

b)    It is asserted that there are many genders, eighty to one hundred.

c)    We can no longer define what a woman is.

d)    We are being taught that men can be women, and women can be men.

e)    It is also affirmed that men can now have babies.

c.    NOTE:  We bring all of these changes up because the world often has an extremely strong impact on the church.  It shouldn’t because the apostle Paul commands us with these words:  “And be not conformed to the world…” (Rom. 12:2).

2.    Thankfully, God has given us a rule, a standard, a law that governs us as the church.

a.    Scripture is our authority.

1)    Psalm119:105

 

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

 

2)    2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

 

3)    NOTE:  Regardless of how the world changes, God’s Word always remains the same (Ps. 119:89).

 

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

 

b.    Basic teachings of Scripture:

1)    There are only two genders (Gen. 1:27)

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 

2)    One gender is not better than the other gender, but there are definite differences between the two (1 Pet. 3:7).

 

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel…

 

3)    God is a God of order and not confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).

 

God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

 

a)    To have order, there must be a hierarchal structure in organizations.

b)    There must be someone in charge and those who follow the directions of those in charge.

c)    God placed the man over the woman both in the home and in the church.

-      In the home, the husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23).

 

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church:  and he is the Saviour of the body.

 

-      In the church, the woman is not to usurp the authority over the man (1 Tim. 2:12-14).

 

But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.  For Adam was first formed, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

 

4)    There are certain positions that a woman cannot occupy in the church.

a)    An elder for and elders is the husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3:2).

b)    A deacon for a deacon is the husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3:12).

c)    A leader in the worship service for in the assembly the woman is to remain silent (1 Cor. 14:34-35).

 

Let your women keep silence in the churches:  for it is not permitted utno them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.  And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbnds at home:  for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

 

5)    There are positions that women can occupy in the church.

a)    They can be teachers (Tit. 2:4), teachers of younger women and teachers of children.

 

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children.

 

b)    They can be servants (Rom. 16:1).

 

I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea.

 

c)    They can be doers of good works (Tabitha, Acts 9:36).

 

…this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

 

d)    They can be assistants in the realm of evangelism (Aquila and Priscilla, Acts 18:26; see also Phil. 4:2-3).

 

…help those women who laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow labourers…

 

e)    They can be lovers of hospitality (1 Tim. 5:10).

 

Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

 

f)     They can be examples to others (2 Tim. 1:5).

 

When I call to remembrance the unfeign faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

 

g)    They can be martyrs for the cause of Christ (Acts 8:3; 9:2).

 

And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

 

III.         QUESTION #3:  Prison Ministry

 

A.   Stated:  What work will OceanSide be supporting in March?

 

B.   Answer:

1.    We will be supporting the Florida Prison Ministry.

a.    This work was begun in 1971 by the Lake Butler church of Christ.

b.    It continues today under the oversight of the Buford church of Christ.

c.    They support Chris Carter in the work.

d.    NOTE:  This is now a state-wide effort.

2.    Questions:

a.    Are criminals lost in sin?

1)    To be in prison, they sinned against God, even if they only violated the laws of men (See 1Pet. 2:13).

2)    Most of them have never come in contact with Jesus’ blood.

3)    If there is a Christian in jail, he may still need to have his crimes forgiven.

b.    How many of us have ever reached out to someone who has committed a crime and attempted to convert them?

1)    Most Christians have never been involved personally in a jail ministry.

2)    Yet, Jesus said that part of our judgment would involve our going to those in prison.  “…I was in prison, and ye came to me” (Matt. 25:36).

c.    Did Jesus seek to teach the evil of society about the righteousness of God? (Matt. 9:10).

 

And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

 

d.    What is going to be the one thing that will change the heart of a criminal? 

1.    It is going to be the precious gospel of Jesus Christ if anything at all.

2.    Many of these men have been hardened against everything else. 

3.    Only the divine power of the gospel can prick their hearts and mold their lives into new men and women.

4.    Hebrews 4:12

 

For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedge sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   We have gone from withdrawal of fellowship to the role of a woman in the church to preaching the gospel to convicts.  That is a very diverse lesson.

 

B.   NOTE:  A person does not have to be in prison to be lost.  A person does not have to be a criminal to have a hard heart.  A person does not have to be in prison to need the powerful gospel of Christ to change his life.