God will supernaturally get his attention He will speak in no uncertain terms and say to him in the inner man, "Now or never! If you persist in your sin you must face the consequences - judgment - exposure - you will suffer great loss! Yield and see my glory! Yield through love and holy fear, and I will cover you, forgive you, hide you in My secret pavilion from the strife of tongues." The servant of the Lord who hates his besetting sin - who cries out to be delivered - who yearns to be free, holy, pure - must face the final ultimatum from the Lord. He sends the Word He sends prophets and watchmen He speaks in a thousand ways, in love commanding, "Lay down your sin! Stop this flirtation with death and danger! I will have to expose you, chastise you, if you refuse to crucify this thing."
They had received what I call the Lord's Loving Ultimatum! The Holy Spirit comes to the child of God indulging in sin, and He convicts He warns He patiently endures failure after failure. Paul said, "Such were some of you, but." Paul is addressing brothers and sisters in the Lord who had at one time indulged the flesh, some even after their conversion. We lack bold prophets like Nathan who can't be bought, who have the courage to point a holy finger and cry out, "Thou art the man." God's Ultimatum The only way sin in the church can be challenged is by prophetic, Elijah-like preaching from men of God who have judged and forsaken their own sins. The cry for toleration often flows from unjudged flesh. So many have hidden dark parts in their own lives that they must excuse the sins of others. The church today seems powerless or unwilling to even judge righteous judgment - because we have lost a sense of defilement caused by wickedness in our midst. Then Paul adds these hopeful words, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). This suggests they had once been enslaved to a besetting sin, led astray by some form of idolatry. Paul was addressing the church at Corinth, adding further, "Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led" (1 Corinthians 12:2).
What could be clearer than the following warning: "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, not effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9,10). Paul admonishes us not to be deceived about God's hatred for sin in His house.
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