This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 27, 1994.

We are beginning this morning our scripture reading in 2 Chronicles chapter 33, beginning at verse 1, give your attention to the word of God. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem, but did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down and reared up altars for the Babylonians, and made groves, and worshiped all the hosts of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, Also he observed times and used enchantments and used witchcraft and dealt with a familiar spirit and with wizards, and he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set up a proud image, the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever.”

Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers, so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.”

So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sin and to do worse than the heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh from the Thorns and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto and he was entreated of him and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

Now after this he built a wall without the city of David on the west side of Gihon in the valley even to the entering in at the fish gate, encompassed about Ophir and raised it up a very great height and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. and he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the Lord and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.” Then, turning over to 1 Corinthians 5, reading verses 3-5, 1 Corinthians 5, beginning at verse 3.

For I very, as absent in body but present in spirit, have judged already. Though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one, undisturbed for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Help us, our Father, in our prayers with respect to the Word. May we pray as we approach your Word that this Word may profit us to the full. And also, O God, give us a heart for those who proclaim your Word throughout the world in various places. And may they have the encouragement of your spirit as they preach, and may they be blessed with faithfulness as they proclaim the gospel. And may it please you, Lord, this very day, to save many, even those whom you have ordained unto everlasting life. We pray it in Jesus’ name.

Amen. there is something exceedingly great about the story of Manasseh. The story that appears here in 2 Chronicles chapter 33. This man was the most wicked king that Judah had ever seen. we might go even further and say that this man was the most wicked king that Israel in the entirety of its history had ever seen. We may even be bolder still and suggest that this man was the most wicked man that had ever lived. But it is specifically this man whom the Lord brings to repentance, so that he became as great in his humility before the Lord as he had been in his sin.

Now, there are many parallels between this story about Manasseh And the passage that we have been looking at recently in 1 Corinthians, the 5th chapter specifically. I’m not suggesting to you that the Apostle Paul has the story of Manasseh in mind as he goes and writes what he does in 1 Corinthians 5, but there is a common pattern as you move from one text to the other. are intriguing.

Look, for example, at 2 Chronicles 33 verse 9. In the New American Standard it reads this way, Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the sons of Israel. To say the least, the sin of Manasseh is proverbial.

It would seem that his sin exceeds the sins of the nations that had been dispossessed. But now look at what is said about the man in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, the first verse. This man who has been overtaken in this particularly deplorable sin That is, he is now living with his stepmother as if that woman were his wife. Paul says this about him, that this is such a sin that it does not even exist among the Gentiles.

So you have the enormity of the evil commented upon in both instances. But we also have the relationship, the relationship specifically that Manasseh sustains to Judah, his people. Once more, that ninth verse in 2 Chronicles 33, we are told that Manasseh misled Judah.

Look now at 1 Corinthians 5, verse 6, and what is said in the case of the man that is in view in that text. Here, Paul compares the iniquitous man to leaven and asks, Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? As Manasseh’s wickedness affected all Judah, this man’s notorious sin affects no better, in fact, the entire church at Corinth. Just as the sinner in Corinth is to be delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, verse 5, so Manasseh is delivered through the judgments of the Lord to Babylon, of all places, that he might be restored finally, ultimately, to that place which God has set for him among his people.

And finally, with regard to these parallels, which are in fact striking and intriguing, some have suggested for us quite strongly and cogently that this particular man of whom Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 5, so sternly to be disciplined through the Apostle’s admonition, is the very man for whom Paul then pleads in 2 Corinthians 2. where he says of this individual, assuming they are the same, sufficient to such a man is the punishment that has been inflicted by the men.

Now, if this is the case, if we can see that this man himself was restored, The man in you in 1 Corinthians. We have then record in each testament, old and new, of successful discipline administered, both incidents involving severe sin, the greatest of sins, and then resolution of the same, and reclamation of the transgressors. Combining these passages creates a uniform testimony from testament to testament, the impact of which is an encouragement, believe it or not, an encouragement to individual transgressors and to congregations of God’s people alike. To the individual transgressor, because we are assured that the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the discipline of the Lord can, in fact, bring restoration and reconciliation. If in the case of these notorious sinners, then so also in our case.

The Westminster Confession of Faith is found at the back of the Trinity hymnals, and on page 680 you have the chapter, Repentance unto Life, chapter 15. And there is a statement in that chapter from the Confession that I think is well worth committing to memory. I have in mind paragraph 4. What can, in fact, be as encouraging as these words to us, sinners that we are? Paragraph 4, chapter 15 of the Confession, reads, As there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation, so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.

Oh, marvelous stuff. Encouragement, then. And encouragement as it works itself out in the life of a congregation, in particular cases, need I remind this congregation of instances in which discipline has brought the desire of recovery. Manasseh, then, and the man of 1 Corinthians 5 communicate hope, hope to the spiritually and morally stricken, that through a godly discipline, restoration and reconciliation are possible.

This is why, then, we personally must not—and underscore that—must not resent or hold in contempt the discipline of the Lord, which would be brought to bear on our own individual cases. For we may find ourselves so desperately, personally in need of that discipline for a proper restoration and reconciliation amongst the people of the Lord and with the Lord himself.

Nor can the Church ever afford to hold discipline in contempt itself. It seems that the congregation in Corinth was guilty of this very thing. They were arrogant, to be sure, they were spiritually boastful, they were filled with all kinds of pride, and they couldn’t be bothered with taking care of the case of this particular man who had fallen into sin. But instead of following the course of the Church at court, the true Church is bound to pursue discipline because of its zeal for the purity of the Church.

Bound as the Church is to a holy Lord, and is that not the impact of verses 7 and 8 in that fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians, where Paul speaks about the old leaven, the leavening the whole loaf, where he speaks about Christ, our Passover, having been sacrificed where he calls upon us to celebrate the feast not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of mollusk and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. But furthermore, and of great importance with Manasseh and this man of 1 Corinthians 5 squarely set before us, The Church must not move down the road of discipline without the conviction that God can bring a glorious outcome to the effort, to the enterprise of discipline specifically. And here is a tendency that dogs too many steps these days. the judgment that the situation is beyond recovery.

Why even expend oneself? The sin is too great, the sinner is too obstinate to admit to any resolution. That sin and that obstinance preclude any prospect for a happy and glorious outcome. Let me be clear with you about this point. Such an attitude on the part of the Church is a form of unbelief. The situation is beyond recovery. The sinner is so thoroughly obstinate that we do better simply to ignore him. Let me say that one more time. Such an attitude is a form of unbelief. And it is especially this question of belief and unbelief that he is now the last dimension to the discipline process, as the Church would be engaged in that process.

You see, it is absolutely imperative that we believe God is present and active among his people. It is absolutely imperative that we believe that. Yes, not only in our personal lives, not simply as we are a Church congregated here and we have the confidence that God is present with us as we gather for worship, or even as we gather for the purpose of celebrating the sacraments and affirm the presence of our God with us in the celebration, say, of the Lord’s Supper. But even now, more going beyond those points, yes, it is absolutely imperative that we, the Church, believe that God is present and accurate in the discipline processes of the Church. From the telling of the story of Manasseh, As it appears in 2 Chronicles, this indeed is obvious.

And the Lord’s involvement, His presence, His activity, is direct, is it not? In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any other actor in the scene described for us than God Himself. He is the one alone, even though He may have used prophets to bring His word to man, so God is seen in that sense as the sole actor. the one who is present and active to administer discipline to this wayward king.

But let me tell you now that the Lord is no less involved, no less present and active, in 1 Corinthians 5 and in the discipline passage that is set out in front of us there. There is a change. There is a change, to be sure. The emphasis now is upon God’s indirect presence, and you have to be sensitive to that as you read through that text to pick it up. God is indeed present and active. How so? He is present and active through his servant, who is no other than the Apostle Paul. Note the manner in which the Apostle selects to frame this thought with respect to the presence and activity of God.

It is so thoroughly informing the mindset of the Apostle as he addresses the problem that it intrudes itself into the way in which he describes himself in his relationship to the Corinthians. Look, for instance, at 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 15. Here Paul speaks of himself as a father in relationship to the Corinthians. Now, I want you to drop down to verse 17, where Paul speaks about sending to the Corinthians his son, Timothy. And something’s sounding familiar here. First he describes himself as the father, and next he sends his son. If you move down towards the end of the chapter there, you have Paul describing himself in relationship to the fact that he is promised to come again to these Corinthians, and he is coming again to the Corinthians. in language that sounds very much like the second coming of Christ.

But he isn’t done. Did you catch it in what we read from the fifth chapter this morning? We’ve got the Father, we’ve got the Son in chapter 4. What are you waiting for? You’re waiting for the Spirit, aren’t you? Well, the Spirit comes, does he not? verses 3 through 5 of that fifth chapter. He says, I’m not going to be there in body, I’m going to be there in spirit. Father, Son, Spirit.

Paul will then indirectly communicate the truth of God’s presence and activity among these people by the very way in which he speaks of his relationship to them. Paul’s knowledge of God in his triune nature informs his understanding of his relationship to these Corinthians, and it communicates that sense of the presence of God, even God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the entire matter of his dealings with them in this issue of church discipline. It is this union, then, of the Triune God and His Apostle that continues to guarantee God’s presence with His Church in the discipline of the Church’s membership. You see, just as the Apostle is removed geographically from the Corinthians, he’s not there, he is also removed from us. He is removed from us in space and time. The Apostle is in heaven.

Nevertheless, there is that sense in which he continues to function in the midst of the Church of Jesus Christ, and that even to the end of the world. And how so specifically by his witness, by the word that comes through him, as that word has been recorded in the Scriptures.

The point being, as long as the apostolic witness is alive in the Church, God’s presence is among us to exercise His discipline upon us. We as much bound to believe now, here’s the point, we as much bound to believe that our God is present, specifically in disciplining us, as we are to believe that he is present at all in our worship, or even to be present with us in our celebration of the sacrament. We no longer look for a living and bodily present apostle, for surely none in the Church today should even dare to speak with the authority with which the Apostle Paul speaks. But God’s presence is bound to that witness. is bound to that witness, the witness of his servants. God’s presence is preserved in our midst, mediated by the apostolic word, the Bible. But secondly, the presence of the Lord is indirectly evident here in this text. demanding of us once more faith, the exercise of our faith that God is present through the specifics of church discipline.

And here I have in mind the actions of the judicatory that would be at work in the church at Corinth, something comparable to our session. charged with the administration of discipline within the people of God. And it is my judgment, and I believe an informed and correct judgment, that this is exactly what is going on in that long, complicated, difficult sentence that runs from verse 3 to the end of verse 5 in 1 Corinthians 5. In this text, in this long run-on sentence, in view, is not a general gathering of the congregation as at other times, such as at worship, but a specific gathering, the express purpose of which is the discipline of this man who has now been exposed in his sin. Nor is it, might I add, The assumption of these verses is that the whole of the congregation will in fact be present to administer this discipline. Rather, the meeting in view is one that specifically takes place in a gathering of the Corinthians with Paul’s spirit, using the words of those verses now, with the power of their Lord Jesus, for the purpose, verse 5, of delivering this man to Satan, that his spirit might be salvaged in the day of Christ. Not only is a specific meeting in view, but it is a meeting of the Church’s judicatory at which the Lord himself then will be present to administer the discipline for those whom he has called in the church to do just that. I might add that this is the specific interpretation of that famous verse that comes from Matthew 18.

If two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst. It’s not the encouragement to you that the Lord’s presence is with you as you gather together for your little Bible study on Tuesday nights. That text is about Church discipline. Read the context.

The promise is specifically related to the presence of the Lord in the administration of discipline over the people of God. Not only is a specific meeting in view, meeting of the Church’s judicatory recession, but it is specifically with the judicatory as it conducts its affairs on the basis of and consistent with the apostolic witness that God is present. And insofar as the decisions of the judicatory are treated as decisions of the whole congregation and embraced by the whole congregation, The congregation is called upon to give its assent that God is with it in the administration of justice within its walls.

As the world, and even much of the Church in our day, has decided that the exercise of discipline by the Church is a sign, a sure sign of hypocrisy, we must be biblical in our convictions. In this, that discipline is not only necessary as a mark that God is truly with us, but indispensable for the full and glorious restoration of sinners, though they be as sinful as Manasseh, and as corrupt as the man at Corinth.

Our Father, we are the first to admit that this whole matter of discipline is very difficult for us. It is difficult for those who have office, for the administration of it. It is also difficult for us in the congregation, for it is necessary, Lord, that we would receive your disciplined grace.

Help us, Lord, we who have office, to be about our task, and that, Lord, with our Savior in mind, and even as he is presented to us in the Scripture as that one who seeks and saves that which is lost. But Lord, we are asking at the same time that all of us who are subject to discipline, and that excludes no one, would have hearts that are ready to receive your admonitions as they are appropriate, as they come forth from your word, that we with all humility might receive this discipline so that, yes, there may be the destruction of the flesh and the preservation of the spirit in the day of Lord Jesus. Oh, help us, Lord, that we would be a glad people, even a people that welcomes your judgments, that by them we might be restored and reconciled. as is right. We pray these things through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is Head and King of the Church, in the confidence, yes, that our God is present, not only in our general worship, but also even in the administration of discipline for our good.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.