Introduction

Good day to all, today we will be discussing 1 Corinthians Chapter 5. This chapter is particularly insightful, yet it may cause confusion for many. Therefore, we really need to learn to read the text closely. If we understand it, we will know how to deal with these people's issues. The theme of 1 Corinthians Chapter 5 is Maintaining the Purity of the Church. The church is the body of Jesus Christ, and it cannot tolerate filth and impurity.

Some suggest taking these people to heaven; I think it might be better to go to hell with them. This might sound a bit harsh, but what is the point of bringing all the garbage into the body of Jesus Christ? Today, brothers and sisters must understand that building a church is a high-risk endeavor because offending God is a serious matter. Therefore, we must build a holy, united, truth-abiding, and victorious army-like church. Maintaining the purity of the church is a significant lesson. Do not think that I have always been criticizing Peter; I am merely using someone with confused concepts as an example. Peter would attract three to five thousand people to believe in the Lord with every prayer or sermon, making him extremely happy. But there is actually nothing to be happy about. How many of these people are pure and pleasing to God? Even Jesus would not do that, and we certainly cannot.

Jesus consistently asked his disciples if they were sure about following him. Once they were sure, they had to repent. Those who did not repent were asked to leave immediately. Jesus' requirements were very high, and he wanted disciples. If there are those among us who were brought by demons, once it is repeatedly examined and proven that they intend to create impurity or garbage within the church and refuse to repent, they cannot enter our circle. A refusal to repent is a very serious problem. Repentance is having Jesus' precious blood applied, not treating Jesus' precious blood as a rag. Those who only repent but do not change will eventually be kicked out.

I. Expel the Wicked Person from the Church

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:11-13)

The statement Expel the wicked person from the church is very heavy. Those who are sexually immoral, greedy, idolaters, revilers, drunkards, swindlers, and even the lazy are called wicked. Although the scripture does not explicitly mention the lazy, because they are lazy and cannot earn money but still want to, that is greed. In the concept of building a church, many people have not gotten it right. They think that the more people in the church, the better. They believe that once a person makes a decision to believe in the Lord, they become a brother, but that is not the case. Today, I will explain what it means to be a brother. A brother is someone in the family of Jesus Christ. Those outside the family cannot be called brothers. Therefore, becoming a brother is a very high standard in itself, requiring at least the same vision and the same mission.

We can see in the Bible how the Apostles Paul and Peter built their churches. The church built by Peter ultimately provoked God's anger. God could not bear it and allowed persecution to come upon the church in Jerusalem, and many people left. That persecution did not come from demons but from God, because God wanted to purify the church, and Peter's view of building the church was absurd. Speaking of this, do not defend Peter. If Peter had done well, he would not have needed to be hypocritical. A hypocritical person cannot build a holy church.

A good person, or a pushover, cannot build a holy church because they do not expel the wicked from the church; they keep everyone. I do not know why they keep them. God has entrusted those outside the church to Satan; just hand those people over to Satan. The church is what we manage. It is our responsibility to build a holy, united, and glorious church. We must do it according to God's requirements, not according to our own. In fact, to build a church, one must know that Jesus wants disciples. Not everyone who believes in Jesus becomes a brother. We must be determined to be disciples; this concept is crucial, and we cannot be wicked. For example, the lazy and wicked servant, his wickedness comes from his laziness.

II. Clarity of Church Concept

Those who become brothers and sisters are those who live for God after repentance. We have several concepts here, and if the church concept is unclear, it will be troublesome.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)

Paul means the church must be holy; maintaining the purity of the church is crucial. I once attended a pastors' meeting where an older pastor shared the experiences of a younger pastor and prayed for him. The younger pastor suffered from depression for several years, and he was sued and investigated, living a very difficult life. The ones who accused him were people from his own church. At that time, I was seeking God, and God's word came upon me. Some may ask what it is like when God's word comes, whether it is audible or not. It is actually a thought that enters my mind, but I know this thought comes from God. God said that this person did not build a holy church but gathered a crowd of rabble. This was extremely shocking to me. I prayed and thought about what had happened to them.

Turning the church into a chaotic place is bound to bring trouble. I once entrusted a small group to a young couple in our church to manage. I found that when I went to observe other groups, they were holding criticism sessions about me in their group, pointing out that many things I did were wrong, even saying that my baptisms did not count and were ineffective. Later, a pastor I knew poached this couple to their church, and I have to thank God for that. An influential older pastor, upon hearing this, said, May God have mercy, a statement with deep meaning. As a result, this couple almost ruined that church, reducing it from several hundred people to just a few dozen. The pastor who had poached them suffered from depression for several years. How can a pastor with depression release others? In the end, the church had to expel this couple because they were too corrupt.

The point of telling this story is that the concept of the church must be clear. They bring these people in because their concepts are unclear. The concept of the church is that the church is the body of Jesus Christ and cannot be built with the old leaven or according to the world's logic, not with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. This means it must be done with heart and truth, and with unleavened bread that has been cleansed of sin. I thank God that our church also started as a corrupt church. Later, I repented deeply and clearly distinguished between those inside and outside the church.

This concept of inside and outside the church must be clarified. Although you may not know, I am very clear about who is inside and who is outside the circle. Do not think you have already entered the circle. That is just a nurturing process to make people holy and released. Therefore, we judge those inside the church, and that is our responsibility, while God judges those outside the church. For those inside the church, we do not cater to the flesh but speak directly, pointing out what is not right. If people have a repentant heart, we continue to nurture them. If they do not have a repentant heart, we say Sayonara, which means Goodbye forever in Japanese. Especially if people do not repent and insist on their own way, then we part ways completely.

We cannot build the church into a chaotic place. Expelling the wicked from the church is what builds a holy church. The concept of the church must be clear: the church is the body of Jesus Christ and cannot be built with the old leaven.

III. The Grace of the Lord Jesus is for Those Who Repent

It does not matter if the concept of the church is unclear, but the concept of the grace of the Lord Jesus must be clear. Only those who repent can receive grace. You must repent and correct what you have not done right in the past. The church is not built on the basis of a decision prayer. Many people think that after making a decision to pray, they can go to heaven, but can they go to heaven in that terrible state? Decision prayers are useless. Even today, many people think that after making a decision to pray, they belong to the Lord Jesus, but that is not the case at all. Some baptisms are also in vain, useless, because they were originally people belonging to the devil.

Today, to build a church, one must know what they are doing. We are building the body of Jesus Christ, bringing the disciples of Jesus Christ before God, and transforming carnal people into spiritual people. The transformation from carnal to spiritual begins with repentance. We are not sending people to heaven. People often ask me to quickly pray for someone who is about to die. But let them die; our church nurtures the living, not the dead. Asking me to pray for someone who is about to die is to send that person to heaven, but I am not selling tickets, nor do I have any tickets to sell. If I had tickets to sell, I would sell tickets to heaven and perform super-deliverance rituals, then I would be powerful, charging at least hundreds of thousands for each deliverance.

We are bringing God's people before God, building God's holy and glorious church, and we desire God's Spirit to dwell among us. Therefore, repentance is necessary. Some say that I have no love, but my love is the love in Jesus Christ. Do not even think about such wicked people; let them get far away. Others say that I am too unsentimental, but it depends on who it is. For those who are in the Lord and willing to seek God, I will do my best to nurture them. I know who does not want to repent, no matter who it is or how wealthy they are, I will really kick them out as we go along. Because I am not here to do good deeds; I am here to build the glorious church of Jesus Christ.

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Do not blame me for being ruthless. Expelling the wicked person is not because I do not nurture him, but because he has not repented and does not have the heart to build a holy and glorious church. He only has the heart to take his stepmother as a concubine, as if he has a lot of money. How evil is that? Even pagans do not do that. Yet the church is tolerant of this. In fact, those with great love cannot build a church. Once, a pastor couple cried to me, saying that they made dumplings for the church members, and an old woman complained that the dumplings were not tasty; she wanted fish dumplings. The pastor couple felt very hurt. I think that with such sensitivity, they cannot build a church. Building a church requires a very strong heart; otherwise, you cannot do this work.

You must repent step by step; do not think that because you repented in the past, you do not need to repent now. You are not holy enough and need to continue to be released and repent. Therefore, wherever you go, you will find that ghosts are especially afraid of me. The last time I went to visit a family, several brothers and sisters came. Before I even started to cast out demons, the demons were trembling. Later, everyone received much release. I am a demon caster. As long as people repent, the ghosts are cast out. If people do not repent, it is difficult to be released. Therefore, we must be released gradually. Some people have not been released again in four or five years because they have not continued to repent, so they can only suffer more. Wherever you do not repent, you are handed over to Satan, which means you were driven into the church by Satan.

Once a person is handed over to Satan, nothing good will come of it. There is no grace in that place, only Satan. Wherever there is catering to human desires, Satan is at work. Satan corrupts people, and after the corruption, people feel terrible. Wherever belongs to Satan, there will be catering to human desires, and there will be discomfort. Although you come to me to quickly pray for your release and drive out demons, you must first repent. What was done wrong in the past must be corrected now. Let me teach you another sentence: Do not come to me and tell me what you have done. I do not want to hear it. I only want to hear you say where you have not done things right. Recently, I ministered to a sister who was not right herself but had a big temper. I taught her not to explain why she did something stupid but to understand what the right thing looks like.

The grace of the Lord Jesus is given to those who repent. For example, regarding whether things are done right or not, we have not done them right, but God gives grace to those who repent so that you can do them right. If people do not want to repent and keep explaining themselves, they become annoying. Good people will corrupt the church. Peter was a good person. He did not want to offend anyone. He did not want to offend Paul, so he acted like Paul when he was with Paul. When people from James came, he acted like James. Today, brothers and sisters are beginning to understand this concept gradually. Do not be arrogant and think that what you are doing is right.

IV. Do Not Associate with Wicked People

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)

This concept is confused. Paul said that we should not associate with the wicked people who have sneaked into the church, wearing hypocritical hats and disguises. They may even brand themselves as Christians on their foreheads with a branding iron and then come to mix in the church. Everyone should know that ghosts especially like to mix in the church. We must not associate with these wicked people. They are mixed in to corrupt the church. If you associate with them, you are offending God. So why still associate with these people? Marrying the stepmother should be someone very rich. However, the church is not a place to collect offerings but a place to bless people. Even collecting offerings is to bless people.

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. (1 Corinthians 5:11)

This is a group of people who refuse to repent until they die. We will do this among us. If the small shepherd cannot shepherd them, I will find a slightly larger shepherd to shepherd them. And so on, if they cannot shepherd them, they are handed over to me to shepherd. If I cannot shepherd them, then hand them over to God. Handing them over to God sounds good, but are you really here to build the church, or are you here to challenge it? Are you here to build up, or are you here to corrupt? I cannot tell, but I do not care. Say I have no love, do you think I am afraid of you if you bring out the name of Jesus Christ and God? When I hand you over to神, it is almost the same as handing you over to Satan, letting Satan corrupt your body.

Do not associate with wicked people. The wicked people here do not refer to those wicked people in the world who have not yet known Jesus Christ. If we do not care about those people and only think about not associating with them and only want to be holy, then we can only leave this world and be with the Lord. If you read carefully, many people cannot understand even these few sentences. I really do not want to send him to Satan but want to send him to elementary school, so that a person in his forties can go to the first grade. It is not that we do not care if this person is a fornicator. We want to release him from fornication, but how can he be released if he does not want to repent?

Why do these things need Paul to tell the people of Corinth? Because the people of Corinth are confused and arrogant. They do not know what the church is, nor do they know what the church looks like. They do not know the grace of Jesus Christ, nor do they know what repentance is, let alone what evangelism is. They only know that their decision to believe in the Lord is great, but that is nothing. I also decided to believe in the Lord. My decision to believe in the Lord is to kick out you who think that deciding to believe in the Lord is great and hand you over to Satan. Some people still think we are brothers. You cannot say this casually. Take a piss and look at yourself. See if you look like a ghost or like God. If you have a heart of repentance, how can you look like a ghost?

Repent properly. Today, we who are building the church must not associate with wicked people, but there is another risk here. Many people make mistakes. Some people among us are very confused. A few days ago, someone was kicked out. His pastor heard that it was strange how this person was kicked out. Later, he saw that the person was fine. The reason why he was kicked out was because his small shepherd felt offended by this person. The small shepherd felt that this person did not give him honor, so he treated him as a wicked person and kicked him out. But it is not his turn to kick people. Brothers and sisters, listen again. We hand over those whom our small shepherds cannot shepherd to the牧区长(pastor of the pastoral district). If the 牧区长(pastor of the pastoral district) cannot shepherd them, hand them over to me. If I still cannot shepherd them, then we say さようなら (sayōnara). There is a slight difference between this and being kicked out. It is just giving people some face. At that time, I will take the substance, and you will take the face. Everyone gets what they need.

We fellowship with each other, which means we love each other, and our fellowship with each other is in Jesus Christ. We fellowship with people outside of Jesus Christ according to the logical system of Jesus Christ's diplomacy. Do not always act like you are holy, holy, holy. When people see you, they think you are like gods, just missing wings. If you continue, you will just have hair growing on your face and horns growing on your head. People must distinguish clearly and not drive people from outside out of the church. They have not even come in yet. What are you driving them out for?

V. The Work of Shepherding

It is the responsibility of a pastor to keep the church pure. The work of shepherding the church is to purify the church, which means to deal with the flesh so that people continue to grow in repentance. It is a long process for people to enter the church from the outside. When they first come, they take the 101 course, and then they read Genesis and begin to understand what is going on. That is a very long journey, allowing people to be trained. That is why our church does not exist to collect offerings but to be according to God's heart, to build up the body of Jesus Christ, and to be a holy church. From the day I repented and rebuilt the church, we have been walking in this direction. I once said that even if I am the only one left in this world, I will build a holy and unified church. If I were to build a smoky place and then gather a bunch of rabble, I would not be able to shepherd them, and if they were to shepherd me, I would be upset.

The church is to make people grow from carnal people to spiritual people. This is a process of healing and deliverance. People come to the church with a group of demons, so driving out demons is a very important job. If the church cannot drive out the demons in a person, then the person will come to the church with demons to corrupt the church. In front of the brothers and sisters, I have to say something a little harsh: either you drive the demons out of your body and be cleansed and delivered, or you will be used by the demons and eventually taken away by the demons. Being used by the demons is to come to the church to corrupt the church. As a result, after coming, things did not go well. The demons came happily but were driven out dejectedly. They thought it would be easy to bring these people to corrupt the church, but they did not expect that the church's level of driving out demons was very high and too powerful. When the demons want to take people away, they cannot take them away because people have decided to follow Jesus Christ on this path of repentance and to become holy step by step with Jesus Christ. This is the work of shepherding, shepherding God's flock.

I once went to a church and sat in the back to observe how they built the church. God opened my eyes and let me see a row of shiny, black, bat-like demons hanging above the stage, which was very scary. When I saw this vision, God told me that this was a church controlled by demons. Can you be blessed in this place? The church must be a place to drive out demons. Driving out demons is purification, and purification is inseparable from driving out demons. This is a very good example that our Lord Jesus Christ set for us: healing and driving out demons. If you are not released, it is difficult to grow, so you must be released for a lifetime. Because there are many demons in the first place, after driving away one who is watching the stall, the one who sent him to watch the stall comes again. As you drive them out, the demons become bigger and bigger, so healing, driving out demons, and building the church are inseparable. That is why the Apostle Paul did not talk much about driving out demons later because the Four Gospels had already made it clear enough.

Paul talked about building the church, and building the church is inseparable from healing and driving out demons. In Corinth, when Paul was writing the letter, many people were sick, and some had died. They asked the Apostle Paul why it was different from when the Apostle Paul was there. That was because they were messing around blindly. The church must constantly train the disciples of Jesus Christ to take on the responsibility of shepherding because a person goes from outside the church to inside the church, from repentance to accepting Jesus Christ, and walking this path of grace must constantly repent and constantly be released. Those who are self-righteous and arrogant cannot be released. You must all be careful, even the 牧区长(pastor of the pastoral district) is no exception. The devil is corrupting.

So today I have to tell everyone that building a church must be building a church that drives out demons. The devil's job is to corrupt the church. Once, when I was driving out demons, I told the demons to leave, but they refused because they had nowhere to go. After going out, they could not report back to the one who sent them. It would be better to die in my hands than to die in Satan's hands. Did they think it was honorable and have face to die in my hands? I asked them why they came here. They said that they were sparring with masters. If they could defeat us, Satan would give them a great reward when they went back. But in the end, they could not beat us.

VI. Building a Holy Church

Holiness and unity are inseparable. If you are called a brother, you must be in a unified relationship.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

To become brothers, brothers must be in unity. If one looks like a ghost and the other looks like Jesus, they cannot become brothers. Brother is a very high title, so building a holy church is to release brothers and sisters little by little. We have the same vision, mission, and Mingding Destiny to build God's glorious church. If you come to be blessed and I come to impart blessings, that is different. If you come to impart blessings to others and become a blessing to others, then you are almost a brother.

The devil's job is to corrupt the church, so building a church is a high-risk job. If you do not do it well, the devil will mess with you, and God will mess with you. I have only one pursuit in doing this job, and that is not to incur God's wrath. I must please God no matter what. If I do not know how, I will ask God, and God will definitely tell me how to build a holy church. Wherever I go, I carry this mission forward until I see the Lord's face. I also long for all of us brothers and sisters to have this heart to love the Lord and to build a holy church together, step by step, until we see the Lord's face, Amen!