1 Cor. 6:1-11 Things God
expects you to know Part.1
As You glance at the whole scope of this sixth chapter of the book of 1st
Cor.
You see that over and over Paul addresses
Church ‑with the challenge, Don't you know?"
A)
And you get the hint of a bit a sarcasm in Paul’s voice when he writes this as
if he is saying "You who profess to
be so clever and intellectual can it be
that you are ignorant of these basic facts?"
B) In this Ch. Paul asks them
six questions that fall into two divisions.
C)
Notice the first three v.2 Do you not know that the saints will judge
the world?
(6:3)‑
3
Do you not know that we shall judge angels?
(6:9). Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
In
other words, focus "Remember what you are."
Look at the next three (6:15)‑ Do you not know that your bodies are members
of Christ?
(6:16,
17)‑ 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body
with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is
one spirit with Him
(6:19,
20). 19
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who
is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's
In other words-
"Remember to whom you belong."
Remember what you are
!!!!
With that in Mind lets look
at the first part of the Ch. V.1-11
Problem - Legal disputes
Believers suing each other / going to court
A) Paul says this ought not to
be ( Affected Churches Witness)
B) 1st - thing you
ought to know 2 Do you not know that the
saints will judge the world? And if
the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Now
we know that Christ will be the one that judges the world, but we are one in
Christ and so in him we will be participating in the judgment of the world.
Now
if that awesome responsibility is to be placed upon the church in Christ, then
surely we should be able to judge in these small matters exist between
brothers.
And
differences should be resolved if possible within the church.
Now Paul is not saying that,
if necessary, that we should not take legal recourse.
A) He is dealing, first of all, with a situation within the
church itself.
B)
There are issues outside the Church - need to deal w/
Paul
himself, when he was getting the political run around, before Festus, when
Festus said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and face these charges?"
And
he'd already spent two years waiting for justice to be done there in the prison
in Caesarea. And Paul realizing this is just one more little political go round
and he said, "I appeal unto Caesar." And he exercised his right as
a Roman citizen, made his appeal to Caesar.
Continuing the answer Paul
reveals the 2nd thing we ought to know
3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things
that pertain to this life?
4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life,
do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?
Fallen Angels which did not
keep their first estate. Who with
Satan, rebelled against the authority of God
And
Jude tells us that they are being reserved in chains awaiting the day of
judgment.
Now again, Christ will be,
no doubt, the one figure of judgment against the angels,
but
we are in Christ and we are associated with Christ, we are together with him,
joined with him in the kingdom age as one with him.
And so we join in him even in the judgment of
angels.
Paul is Challenging the
Church to not become shortsighted
A) Whether you are talking
about little petty disputes or - as in this case believers taking each other to
court
B) Paul’s point is to cause us
to see we are called to higher things - eternal things -
C) Really all that important
some of the things that we get so worked up about ?
Guy
we need to keep eternity in view -
A) Jesus store up treasure -
seek 1st the kingdom
B) Paul - know our inheritance
!
C) Book of Ex. Blue cord - blue
yarn - remind them of Heaven -
GUYS
KNOW WHO YOU ARE - KNOW WHAT YOU ARE CALLED TO
A) No time for - getting side
tracked by this stuff -
2Pet.
1 has given
to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him
who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious
promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue
knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
perseverance godliness, to godliness
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these
things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was
cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and
election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
1Cor.
6: 5
I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among
you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?
6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before
unbelievers!
Again
I detect a bit of sarcasm in Paul’s voice - that
there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge
between his brethren?
The Corinthians boasted of their great spiritual
gifts. Why, then, did they not use them in solving their problems?
If
the saints will one day help rule the entire earth, they surely are able to
rule themselves within the church now.
When Christians have earthly
quarrels and disputes among themselves, it is inconceivable that those who will
rule eternally should try to settle them through tribunals run by unbelievers,
by judges
who are of no account in the church.
If two Christian parties
cannot agree between themselves, they should ask fellow Christians to settle
the matter for them, and be willing to abide by that decision. The poorest equipped
believer, who seeks the counsel of God’s Word and Spirit, is much more
competent to settle disagreements between fellow believers than is the most
highly trained and experienced unbelieving judge who is devoid of divine truth.
Biblical illiteracy -
unwillingness to submit to God and
selfishness - leading causes
A) Magee story - Pastor such & such ( Did right thing - are you
willing to present this before the Elders -……
B) If they vote in my favor yes
/ if not no !!!!
the believers were presenting
a poor
testimony to the lost.
Even
the unbelieving Jews dealt with their civil cases in their own synagogue
courts. To take the problems of Christians and discuss them before the “unjust”
and “unbelievers” was to weaken the
testimony of the Gospel.
FACT IS NO ONE WINS WHEN BROS GO TO
COURT !!!!V.7
7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go
to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not
rather let yourselves be cheated?
8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to
your brethren!
Even if some of them won their cases, they had
incurred a far greater loss in their disobedience to the Word of God. “Now, therefore, there is utterly a
FAILURE among you”/
V.7 can be
translated, “It is already a complete
defeat for you.”
Paul was certainly referring to our Lord’s teaching
in Matthew 5:39-42. Better to lose money or possessions than to lose a brother
and lose your testimony as well.
The
right attitude of a Christian is to rather
be wronged, to rather be defrauded,
than to sue a fellow Christian.
It is far better to lose
financially than to lose spiritually.
Even
when we are clearly in the legal right, we do not have the moral and spiritual
right to insist on our legal right in a public court.
If the brother has wronged us in any way, our
response should be to forgive him and to leave the outcome of the matter in
God’s hands.
The Lord may give or take away. He is
sovereign and has His will and purpose both in what we gain and in what we
lose.
We should gratefully accept that.
When
Peter asked Jesus how often he should forgive a brother who sinned against him,
the Lord replied, “seventy times seven” UNLIMITED
To illustrate the principle,
Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving slave.
a)
After
being forgiven a huge, unpayable sum by the king, the man refused to forgive a
fellow slave for small amount and was handed “over to the torturers” by the
irate king.
“So shall My heavenly Father
also do to you,” Jesus said, “if each of you does not forgive his brother from
your heart” (vv. 23–35).
Because
God in Christ has forgiven each us of such great sin against Himself, no
Christian has the right to be unforgiving, especially of fellow Christians.
If he is unforgiving, the Lord will deliver
him to chastening until he repents or is removed.
If
we are wronged or defrauded we should be forgiving, not
bitter.
If
we cannot convince the brother to make things right, and if he will not listen
to fellow believers, we are better off to suffer the loss or the injustice than
to bring a lawsuit against him.
Now by going to court the
Corinthians were acting like unbelievers
A) Instead of living in stark
contrast to the world they were becoming more like the world !
B)
Paul mentions the 3rd thing that they should know - v. 9 Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul
writing to the Galatians in chapter 5 declares, "For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are
contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would, but
if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the
flesh which are manifest are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft [which is in the Greek
"pharmachia" the use of drugs], hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like of
the which I've told you before as I've also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
GUYS THAT IS PRETTY PLAIN
A) Paul said don't be deceived.
A lot of people are deceived into thinking that they can live however they
please and still inherit the kingdom of God.
B) Not so. And thus these words should come as a searchlight to our own hearts.
C) Now we are going to look at this list in detail next week -
But
I believe Paul is not suggesting that because they had taken their brother to
court that they had lost their
salvation
But
He was Challenging them to consider where they are really at !
How
are they living - has there been a
change - what are the Characteristics
Quite
frankly there are many who name the name of Christ - not saved - still living
for their flesh .
V.11
11 And such were some of you. AWESOME
But you were washed, but you
were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
PC
Though that may have been a
part of your past life, that's where it should be, in the past life. If any man
is in Christ, he is a new creation, and the old things are passed away. But
what do I say if the old things are not passed away? Then obviously you're not
a new creation. Don't be deceived. Do not be deceived in taking the grace of
God as a cloak for lasciviousness thinking because the grace of God is covering
my life, I can live as I please after the flesh.
Justification - Blown away
Sanctification - New life
A) How can I live in sin &
think that I am right w/ God
Malcolm Wild - If the Son of
God was separated from God - because of our sin - what makes you think that we
can live in sin & still be ok w/ God
All
the way through this epistle Paul adopts the principle that the mightiest
drawing power to lift a man out of carnality, worldliness and sinfulness is the
cross of Christ.
We
need to remember how we have been redeemed, what we are in the sight of God, and to whom we belong, our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Paul
simply reminds them that they are not their own; they have been bought with a
price.